"I am Hela, Odin's firstborn, Commander of the legions of Asgard, the rightful heir to the throne, and the Goddess of Death."―Hela[src] Show Hela Odinsdottir was the Asgardian goddess of death and former Executioner of Asgard. Imprisoned in Hel for millennia by her father Odin, Hela was only released from her prison in the wake of his death and went to restore her power over Asgard while simultaneously engaging in a series of encounters with her younger brothers Thor and Loki. Gaining her power from Asgard, Hela planned to rule Asgard and create an Asgardian Empire. When all the people of Asgard refused to bow to her, Hela set about massacring Odin's armies and enslaving their people, while recruiting Skurge to be her own Executioner in the process. Eventually, however, Thor then returned with the newly formed Revengers and then reengaged Hela, which had then resulted with Loki unleashing Surtur, who then destroyed Asgard by finally causing Ragnarök and killed Hela as a result. BiographyRise and FallConquests with Odin"We were once the seat of absolute power in the cosmos. Our supremacy was unchallenged."―Hela to the Einherjar[src] Hela was the firstborn child of Odin, king of Asgard. She served as his personal executioner and commander of the Einherjar, Asgard's army. Together, Hela and Odin embarked on a bloody conquest, bringing all of the Nine Realms into Asgard's power. During their campaigns, Odin rode his steed, Sleipnir while Hela mounted a giant wolf named Fenris. In battle, she wielded the mighty hammer Mjølnir and her own Necroswords.[1] Banished to Hel"We were unstoppable. I was his weapon in the conquest that built Asgard's empire. One by one, the realms became ours. But then, simply because my ambition outgrew his, he banished me, caged me, locked me away like an animal."―Hela[src] Hela and Odin charge into battle together Hela's ambitions exceeded the realms of Yggdrasil, however, and she began plotting a wider and bloodier conquest of other worlds. By this time, Odin had realized that peace was a better way to maintain order than constant war, and had ended his expansionary campaigns. Father and daughter clashed, with Hela eventually attempting to take the throne by force in a violent coup at the Royal Palace of Valaskjalf. Hela ruling over the Nine Realms with Odin Odin was able to subdue her, banishing her to the desolate wastes of Hel, condemned to rule an eternity. To ensure she could not escape, Odin bound his lifeforce to Hel, seeing to it that Hela could not escape for as long as he lived. Odin proceeded to wipe all mention of Hela from Asgardian art and record, ensuring that she was completely forgotten by history, however in the Earth was known as the Goddess Of Death of Germanic mythology.[1] Killing the ValkyrieHela battles against the Valkyrie "Her power comes from Asgard, same as yours. When it grew beyond Odin's control, she massacred everyone in the palace and tried to seize the throne. When she tried to escape her banishment, he sent the Valkyrie to fight her back."―Valkyrie to Thor[src] Eventually Hela had attempted to escape from her imprisonment within Hel, seeking to continue her quest to take the throne of Asgard and enslave all the Nine Realms. Hela's attempt at freedom prompted Odin to send the Valkyrie to stop her and ensure that she was unable to get free. As the Valkyrie charged forward atop of their steeds, Hela saw them coming and prepared to fight back. Hela successfully massacres the Valkyrie Hela proceeded to use her Necroswords to slice down the Valkyrie as they charged towards her, quickly proving herself to still be vastly more powerful than the entire army of the elite warriors. Hela was successful in overpowering the Valkyrie and, with the exception of their leader Brunnhilde, killing them all, however, she was overpowered when Odin intervened and re-imprisoned, remaining sealed for thousands of years, awaiting the death of her own father.[1] Return to PowerConfrontation in NorwayHela escapes Hel after an entire millennia "Kneel." In the wake of the death of Odin, his power over Hela's imprisonment within Hel finally waned until there was no longer any force keeping her at bay. She stepped out of a portal-like gateway soon after and arrived in Norway on Midgard, the site of her father's death as she mused that she would have liked to see his death. Confronted by Odin's younger children who were waiting for her, Thor and Loki, Hela then mockingly noted that Thor did not look like Odin at all. Hela catches and easily destroys Mjølnir When Loki had attempted to make a truce with her, Hela sarcastically stated he sounded more like Odin than Thor did. Forgoing all civility, Hela authoritatively ordered both her younger brothers to kneel down before her, as she is their new queen of the Nine Realms. Thor then defiantly refused and instead chose to end their conflict quickly as he then promptly launched Mjølnir towards her, but as she had been the hammer's first wielder, Hela easily caught it still in mid-air. Hela attempts to kill both Thor and Loki Thor, incredulous, declared such a thing impossible, but Hela cruelly sneered that he had no idea of the possibilities that await, followed immediately by her proceeding to destroy the hammer with her bare hands and restoring her headdress. In a state of surprise and panic, Loki ordered Volstagg to take him and Thor back to Asgard where he believed they would be safe from Hela's homicidal rage, which Thor desperately attempted to stop from happening, but was too late. Hela throws Thor and Loki out of the Bifrost Bridge However, as the Bifrost Bridge was opened, Hela had swiftly followed them, leaping through the light of the Bifrost after the two, where she knocked Loki out of Bifrost Bridge to another location after catching and throwing back his knife when he had tried to defend himself. She then proceeded to chase Thor, subduing him and knocking him out of Bifrost as well. Assuming the two princes of Asgard had died, Hela continued towards Himinbjorg immediately after.[1] Siege of AsgardHela finally returns back into Asgard "Good soldiers dying for nothing, all because they couldn't see the future. Sad. Look, still alive. Change of heart?" Emerging into Himinbjorg, Hela had immediately begun regaining her powers as she then encountered Himinbjorg's two guardians, Volstagg and Fandral, who demanded to know who Hela was. Ignoring their demands, Hela simply responded by promptly executing the Warriors Three soldiers in cold blood without a second thought. Hela prepares to finally return into Asgard Observing the murders from a distance was Skurge, who knelt down as Hela approached him and claimed that he was merely the janitor as he tried to protect his own life knowing he was no match for Hela. Declaring him to be a smart boy who also likely had good survival instincts, the goddess offered him a job before crossing the Rainbow Bridge that led to Asgard, smiling as she considered the power that would soon be coming her way, with Skurge following her. Hela stands against Asgard's entire army Upon reaching the city's entrance, Hela found Hogun and the entire armies of the Einherjar waiting for her. Hela then calmly revealed her identity before announcing that Odin was now dead, along with both Thor and Loki, making her the sole heir to the throne. Hela then gave the soldiers the chance to become her allies only for Hogun to state they would never recognize her as their leader as he then led the entire army of the Einherjar in charging towards her. Hela slaughters the army of the Einherjar The disappointed goddess simply commented on how she thought the Asgardians would have been happy to see her before she then proceeded to summon her Necroswords and engaged the army in combat, using her powers to slaughter them as well as destroy several Asgardian Skiffs. Having smashed Hogun through a wall, Hela managed to overpower every soldier attacking her until the ground was littered with corpses. Hela prepares to finally execute Hogun When the last of the army was taken down and slaughter, Hela took great pleasure as she slowly made her way through the courtyard, relishing in her reawakened bloodlust as a horrified Skurge followed her in silence. Hogun made a final attempt to stop her, demanding that she return back to Hel and attempting to avenge his friends, only for Hela to cut him down easily with a spear through his chest before deciding to finally return into Royal Palace of Valaskjalf at long last.[1] Rebuilding the ArmyHela shows Skurge the true history of Asgard "Does no one remember me? Has no one been taught our history? Look at these lies. Goblets and garden parties? Peace treaties? Odin. Proud to have it, ashamed of how he got it."―Hela to Skurge[src] With its armies wiped out, Asgard remained defenseless allowing Hela to finally retake the throne for herself. Upon arriving back inside of the Royal Palace of Valaskjalf, Hela saw the ceiling was decorated with a mural of Odin ruling the Nine Realms in peace. Disgusted, Hela then destroyed the mural of her father above it, revealing the original behind it which showed herself and Odin using violence to conquer the Nine Realms. Hela explores Odin's Vault for his treasures Noting that the armies of Einherjar were once buried underneath the palace, Hela and Skurge then broke into Odin's Vault to look upon the treasures he had hidden away inside there. Upon arriving inside however, Hela declared the Infinity Gauntlet displayed there as being a fake, before calling the Casket of Ancient Winters a weak object and viewed the Crown of Surtur as smaller than she thought it would be while making her way down the Vault's long corridor. Hela takes the power of the Eternal Flame Although Hela became briefly interested in the Tesseract, she still focused her attention on the Eternal Flame which she declared was the greatest of them all. Placing her hand inside the fire, Hela took the flame into her hand before turning to Skurge and offering him the chance to see what true power looked like. Hela then summoned a pointed hammer and used it to smash through the floor of the Vault, revealing the secret tomb which was hidden underneath. Hela resurrects her army of the Berserkers Leaping all the way down inside of their secret tomb, Hela explored the legions of dead Asgardian soldiers buried there and discovered the corpse of Fenris, much to Hela's horror and sadness. Hela then proceeded to use the power of the Eternal Flame to resurrect Fenris and the fallen soldiers, turning them into her Berserkers. As all of the soldiers and wolf came before her, Hela welcomed them into her new army while claiming that she had missed all of them.[1] Promoting SkurgeHela decides to make Skurge her Executioner "Every great king had an executioner. Not just to execute people, but also to execute their vision. But mainly to execute people. Still, it was a great honor. I was Odin's executioner. And you shall be my executioner. Let's begin our conquest."―Hela to Skurge[src] With her entire army of Berserkers by her side, Hela finally retook the throne of Asgard only to discover that the Asgardians themselves were beginning a revolution against her and were attempting to break into the Royal Palace of Valaskjalf to dethrone her. Wishing to show her true strength to all of these rebels, Hela dubbed Skurge as her Executioner, gifting him with a Bloodaxe which she had created. Hela learns that Heimdall has stolen Hofund Unbeknownst to both Hela and Skurge, however, Heimdall had just recently returned to Asgard and had successfully stolen his former sword, Hofund from Himinbjorg. As Hela and Skurge had arrived at Himinbjorg with the Berserkers, Hela realized that the sword was gone, noting that it controlled the Bifrost Bridge, which prevented Hela from conquering the Nine Realms as she had been planning to do for years, which had greatly enraged Hela.[1] Hunt for the SwordHela and Fenris threaten all of the Asgardians "Some misguided soul has stolen the Bifrost sword. Tell us where it is or there will be consequences. Bad ones.
Well?" Discovering the disappearance of Hofund, Hela set about punishing the people of Asgard with her Berserkers until Heimdall had finally surrendered the sword. With the Asgardians gathered before her, Hela ordered Skurge to give them all one final chance before she chose one woman at random from within the crowd of terrified innocents for Skurge to then execute with his Bloodaxe, while Hela and Fenris watched all this terror unfolding before them with delight. Hela attempts to locate the hidden Asgardians Hela's plan eventually worked as one of the men in the crowd finally stepped forward and confessed to the sword's location in order to save the woman. Hela and her Executioner then located the Hidden Stronghold where Heimdall and the remaining Asgardians opposed to her rule were hiding out. Hela proceeded to use her Necroswords to destroy the doorway to the Stronghold, only to discover that they had fled shortly before her arrival having sensed her coming.[1] Duel in the Royal Palace of ValaskjalfHela discovers Thor waiting to challenge her "Valiant effort, but you never stood a chance. You see, I am not a queen or a monster. I'm the Goddess of Death. What were you the god of again? "―Hela to Thor[src] However, while both Hela and Skurge had just been searching for all the Asgardians who had escaped them, Thor and the Revengers had returned to Asgard in order to evacuate its people and fight Hela. Thor went inside the throne room and awaited Hela's arrival, banging Gungnir on the ground of the Royal Palace of Valaskjalf to summon her. Hela arrived soon after as she expressed her surprise that Thor had survived falling out of the Bifrost Bridge during their last encounter. Hela demands that Thor get out of her throne Hela and Thor then discussed Odin and his many faults, with Hela noting how Odin covered up every problem, he would cast it out, continuing that he had told them both they were worthy. Hela then claimed that Thor had never known his father had his best, noting that during their Subjugation of the Nine Realms, Hela and Odin had drowned entire civilizations in blood before he chose to rule in peace. Thor accepted Hela's rage but insisted that she could not rule. Hela furiously fights against her brother Thor As Thor and Hela quoted Odin's message that the wise king should never seek out war, but must always be ready for it, they charged at each other and engaged in a fierce battle for Asgard. With Thor now armed with Gungnir and the power of Odinforce, he furiously battled against his sister, who was able to absorb many of the blows without being badly wounded, before claiming to have expected more and unleashed her own power, launching Thor across the palace. Hela proves herself to be the superior warrior With her power considerably stronger than Thor's, Hela managed to grab her brother by the throat and pinned him against a gold pillar, claiming that the difference between them was that she was Odin's firstborn and the rightful heir to the throne and the true savior of Asgard, all while Thor was nothing. Hela then threw Thor across the palace and, despite Thor putting up a strong fight, Hela was easily able to overpower him and knock him down to the floor. Hela manages to cut out one of Thor's eyes Despite Thor still desperately trying to fight back against her, Hela merely drew her Necroswords and sliced him across the stomach, causing him to drop onto his knees. Hela then commented that her victory was so obvious even a blind man could see it before slashing at Thor's face, resulting in the loss of one of Thor's eyes. Seeing this, Hela merely winced before commenting that without one of his eyes Thor finally looked a lot more like their father. Hela grins as she vastly overpowers Thor Dragging him onto the balcony, Hela forced Thor to watch on as her undead army of Berserkers as well as Fenris assaulted his allies and the remaining Asgardians, including Heimdall, on the Bifrost. Hela began tormenting Thor, claiming she would soon take Hofund and unleash her army on the Nine Realms despite Thor's efforts; however, she then witnessed the arrival of Loki on the Statesman with several Sakaaran gladiators including Korg and Miek had come to help. Hela is hit by Thor's massive lightning bolt But even with those reinforcements, Hela's army was still slowly overwhelming them as she continued taunting Thor by claiming to be the goddess of death and asking what he had been the god of. Thor, however, experienced a vision of Odin offering up his wisdom. Thor then unleashed a massive lighting blast, destroying a balcony of the Royal Palace of Valaskjalf and temporarily stunning Hela. He then leaped down to the Bifrost to fight off Hela's Berserkers and save his people.[1] Battle of the Rainbow BridgeHela stepping back onto the Rainbow Bridge "We
just need to hold her off until everyone's on board." Having eventually recovered from Thor's incredibly powerful blast of lightning, Hela arrived onto the Rainbow Bridge, where she had then discovered that her army of Berserkers had been overpowered, due to the arrival of both Loki and the Sakaaran Rebellion. As Hela took her time walking back to the Bridge, she was challenged by Thor and Valkyrie who were discussing how they could possibly hope to defeat Hela, who was clearly more powerful than any of them. Hela is furiously attacked by the powerful Thor Realizing they were attempting to get the Asgardians to safety, Hela made her move towards them as Thor charged himself up with his lightning. Seeing this, Hela then launched Necroswords at him, which Thor was able to destroy in midair before attacking Hela. While Thor furiously slashed at Hela with his twin swords which were now both charged up with his lightning, these attacks had almost no impact as Hela simply backed away before launching Thor over her shoulder. Hela manages to block all Valkyrie's strikes However, just as Hela got back to her feet, she was then attacked by Valkyrie who had slashed at Hela with her Dragonfang, attempting to avenge the Massacre of the Valkyrie. Hela was still able to block all Valkyrie's blows, taking no damage as she threw Valkyrie aside, only to immediately be attacked by Thor once again. Hela had continued launching her necroswords at Thor, but he simply destroyed them all in midair, before landing his heavy lightning blow against Hela. Hela refuses to let all the Asgardians escape Eventually, Hela struck Thor hard in the shoulder with a necrosword before focusing on fighting Valkyrie. During this, Thor told Heimdall to escape with the remaining Asgardians, only for Hela to see this and throw him aside. Unwilling to allow all the Asgardians to escape with their lives, Hela launched several massive necroswords out from the water which pierced the underside of the Statesman, causing it to be unable to leave as even more Berserkers then began attacking. Hela nonchalantly executing the Executioner Just as the Berserkers had reached the Statesman and cut down the guards, Hela was betrayed by the Executioner who refused to allow all his people to be slaughtered. Using Des and Troy, the Executioner began gunning down the Berserkers, destroying the necrosword and allowing the Statesman to escape from Asgard. Upon witnessing this betrayal, Hela launched a single necrosword that pierced through the Executioner's Asgardian Armor, as he fell onto the ground dead.[1] Destruction of AsgardHela watches while the Asgardians escape "Whatever game you're playing, it won't work. You can't defeat me!" With all the Asgardians now escaping onboard the Statesman due to the actions of the Executioner, Hela was then called out by Thor who demanded that they end their fight once and for all. Turning away from Valkyrie to face her brother, Hela was told that if she wanted, she could have Asgard, although Hela refused to believe that Thor was not playing his games with her, which she claimed would never work and noted that Thor stood no chance of being able to defeat her. Hela being struck down by Thor's lightning To Hela's surprise, Thor acknowledged that he would not be able to defeat her, pointing back to their Royal Palace of Valaskjalf and claimed that he knew who could. Hela then watched in horror as Surtur emerged from the Palace, having been given his Crown by Loki and regained full strength. Before Hela could react, Valkyrie then stabbed her from behind with Dragonfang and Thor then unleashed his lightning strike that sent her through the Bifrost Bridge and into the water below. Hela attempting to fight back against Surtur As Surtur fulfilled his destiny to cause Ragnarök, destroying Asgard by burning it to the ground and proclaiming himself to be Asgard's doom, Hela refused to allow the source of all of her power to be lost, launching out the water on her massive Necroswords. Determined to destroy Surtur before Ragnarök could come true, Hela had launched every necrosword she had at Surtur but caused almost no damage as he had still continued to burn down everything below him. Hela is obliterated by Surtur's Twilight Sword Unable to stop Surtur's rampage, Hela was then defenseless as she witnessed Surtur lift up his Twilight Sword high above his head and prepared to fulfill his destiny once and for all. Hela then looked on in horror as Surtur plunged the massive blade down, impaling Hela and completely obliterating her body. Surtur's blade continued down into the core of Asgard, causing the realm to be destroyed in the massive explosion, incinerating any possible remains of Hela into oblivion.[1] LegacyHela's actions on Asgard brought dire consequences to the surviving Asgardians. Following her massacre of the Einherjar, the Asgardians began to lack the military they needed to defend themselves during the Attack on the Statesman, which resulted in the deaths of half of the surviving refugees, Heimdall and Loki included, at the hands of Thanos and the Black Order.[2] By 2024, a new play Hela's On Earth: Ragnarok in the Round had been written and performed in New Asgard, with the ending scene being Hela shattering Mjølnir and Thor and Loki asking to be transported via the Bifrost Bridge during the Skirmish in Norway.[3] Personality"Our destiny is to rule over all others. And I am here to restore that power. Kneel before me... and rise into the ranks of my great conquest."―Hela to the Einherjar[src] Hela has a raging, impatient, volatile, and supremely ambitious personality, which makes her prone to killing or maiming anyone who stood in her way. However, much of this is masked by a casual confidence and appearance of friendliness, such as when she returned to Asgard, she casually murdered Volstagg and Fandral, but then offered Skurge a job as if nothing had happened. During Asgard's violent conquest of the Nine Realms, she was an effective and brutal wartime leader due to these traits, and therefore essential to Odin's conquest being a success. However, when Odin transitioned into a peace-time King, he realized that Hela could not, for her ambitions had grown out of his control, and her formidable powers made her a threat to his new society. Indeed, Hela rebelled against Odin and hence, he banished her from Asgard, and later imprisoned her personally when she revolted against him. After her freedom, she immediately conquered Asgard with little effort, and Heimdall himself described her as being so power-hungry that, if she could access the Bifrost Bridge, she would conquer all of the Nine Realms and even the entire Cosmos. Though Thor acknowledged Odin's paternal deficiencies, during a heart-to-heart confrontation between him and his sister, he still confessed he believed that their father's decision to imprison her instead of letting her rule was an accurate one - Hela made it clear that she would exterminate her entire nation if they stood in the way of her resuming her conquests. She even went as far as to state that she was neither a Queen nor a monster, but the goddess of death, which in turn revealed that she was quite content to rule over a dead nation of dead soldiers completely loyal to her. Hela was also extremely resentful of her imprisonment at the hands of her own father, Odin, whom she was initially loyal enough to willingly execute his will, and even help him conquer the Nine Realms, although she would eventually rebel after Odin grew to become a benevolent king. She gleefully mocked at his death, and openly expressed her wish to have been able to see it herself. However, it was evident that she still felt a high level of betrayal from Odin due to her imprisonment, for she was quickly angered by the concealing murals that displayed only Odin, Thor, and Loki, as well as his peaceful conquering of the Nine Realms. In fact, she was so provoked by them that she immediately threw her swords at those false images, shattering them to reveal the truth of Odin's violent deeds. Apart from her ambitiousness, Hela's most prominent feature would be her overwhelming confidence; during her first encounter with her brothers, before crossing swords with them, she already made it clear that she viewed them as inferiors who were no match for her, and she later also demonstrated no fear at all when confronting Asgard's army. Though she subsequently proved her point by crushing Mjølnir with only one hand and slaughtered the entire Asgardian army with ease, Hela's hubris also turned out to be her downfall - she underestimated Thor's wisdom, which ultimately led to her being destroyed by Surtur. Hela is not completely without mercy. The only time she shows mercy is when people agree to serve her or do not stand in her way. When she displayed her overwhelming power, she asked Hogun, who survived her initial onslaught if he was willing to change his mind. Even though Skurge displayed cowardice upon their first meeting, Hela decided to mentor him. However, Hela lacks attachment and will kill anyone who betrays her, even Skurge without hesitation. Hela's only true display of affection was to her companion, Fenris, being saddened upon discovering her death and becoming joyful upon the Asgardian wolf's resurrection. Powers and AbilitiesPowers"She draws her strength from Asgard... and once she gets there, her powers will be limitless."―Odin to Thor[src]
Abilities"She's stronger than both of us. She's stronger than you. You don't stand a chance."―Loki to Thor[src]
EquipmentWeapons
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Appearances
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Behind the Scenes
References
External LinksHow old is Hela from Thor?He is 1,500 years old. According to MCUWikia, Hela was imprisoned for millenia by her own father.
Is Thor younger than Hela?Cate Blanchett as Hela: Thor's older sister and the goddess of death, based on the deity Hel, who is inadvertently released from prison following Odin's death.
Is Hela the first born?Biography. Hela, Odin's first born, served as Asgard's Executioner and Goddess of Death, as her and her father made their way through the Nine Realms bringing death, destruction and conquest along for the ride.
How old is Hela in human?Hela was born around early 679 B.C. (March 24th by modern dating systems). This makes her: 1642.37443938, or 36.69358314 in human years, when Thor was born. 1643.28841123, or 36.70278771 in human years, when Loki was born.
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