Vidar (comics)
| Vidar | |
|---|---|
 Thor fighting Vidar on the cover of Thor Annual #12 (1984). Art by Bob Budiansky. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Thor Annual #12 (1984) |
| Created by | Alan Zelenetz and Bob Budiansky |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Vidar |
| Species | Asgardian |
| Place of origin | Asgard |
| Team affiliations | Asgard |
Vidar is a fictional character appearing in the Marvel Comics universe, based on the Víðarr of Norse myth.
Fictional character biography
He is the half-brother of Thor and foster brother of Loki. Vidar was a huntsman when he was younger, but became a farmer and warrior, living in a valley in the Asgardian Mountains.
Vidar is seen assisting in the defense of Asgard against the 'Armies of Discord'.[1]
Alongside Thor, Vidar sought vengeance for the murder of his wife Solveig by Storm giants. In this task he was assisted by Thor and Hoder.[2] Armed with Thor's power, Vidar later fought as Asgard's champion against an alliance of the Storm Giants and Frost Giants.[3]
During Ragnarök, Vidar was slain in battle with trolls, who had invaded his lands at Loki's command; when Thor found Vidar's body, he had Vidar's farms set ablaze to serve as his funeral pyre.[4]
Genealogy
Vidar's family tree as it appears in Thor #500 (July 1996):
| Buri | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mimir | Bor | Bestla | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jord | Grid | Odin | Frigga | Vili | Ve | Laufey | Farbauti | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thor | Vidar | Tyr | Hermod | Balder | Loki (adopted by Odin & Frigga) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Odin has another brother, Cul, introduced in the 2011 storyline, Fear Itself, who in the comics was erased from all known history.[5][6]
Powers and abilities
Vidar is a member of the race of superhumans known as Asgardians, granting him superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability, agility, and reflexes. Vidar is 10 feet tall, and his great size is due to his physiology as the hybrid son of an Asgardian father and a Storm giant mother.
Vidar is an expert with the staff and the sword. He wields a six-foot staff, once imbued by Odin with power equal to that of Thor's hammer. Vidar rides a flying chariot pulled by a giant ram.
Other characters named Vidar
The original Vidar of Asgard appeared in Thor #293-294 in an account of how the original Asgard perished and how its nine survivors (including Vidar) gave birth to the present Odin, but this account may be apocryphal. In any case, this earlier Vidar was not the same person as the current Vidar.
References
- ↑ Thor: Heaven and Earth # 1 (2011)
- ↑ Thor Annual #12
- ↑ Marvel Super-Heroes Vol. 2 #5
- ↑ Thor Vol. 2 #82 (2004)
- ↑ Fraction, Matt (w), Immonen, Stuart (p), von Grawbadger, Wade (i). "Worlds on Fire" Fear Itself 4 (September 2011), Marvel Comics
- ↑ Fraction, Matt (w), Ferry, Pasqual (a). "Fear Itself: In the Beginning" Thor 7 (December 2011), Marvel Comics
External links
- Vidar at the Marvel Universe wiki
- The Official Site for Thor Comics
- Vidar at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
- Vidar at MarvelDirectory.com
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||