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Note: This article is about the incarnation of Hela from the Marvel Cinematic film series. The mainstream version can be found here: Hela (Marvel).
| “ | Darling, you have no idea what's possible. | „ |
| ~ Hela to Thor during their confrontation in Norway |
| “ | I'm not a queen or a monster... I'm the Goddess of Death! | „ |
| ~ Hela's most famous quote |
Hela Odinsdottir is the main antagonist of the 2017 live action film, Thor: Ragnarok. She is the first born daughter of Odin and the elder biological and adopted sister of Thor and Loki Laufeyson who is bent on taking over Asgard with her own army of Berserkers at her side and rebuilding it in her own image.
She was portrayed by the two-time Academy Award winning actress, Cate Blanchett, who also played Irina Spalko, Marissa Wiegler, and Lady Tremaine.
Biography
Origins
Hela started out as the firstborn child and sole daughter to Odin and Frigga. She served her father as an executioner and leader of the Einherjar in Odin's plot to conquer the Nine Realms. However, as the years go by, Hela start to develop her own ambitions in overthrowing her father and taking control of Asgard to herself. Having noticed his daughter's ambitions as well her warmongering behavior, Odin was forced to fight Hela and defeat her by banishing her to a realm called Hel, where his life force would be the only lock to keep her from escaping. Hela also tried to break free from Hel, which prompted Odin to send female Asgardian warriors called the Valkyries to stop her. The plan was a pyrrhic success, though it was at the cost of all the Valkyries, except for one.
Odin then proceeded to write out Hela from all of Asgardian history, even replacing the murals of her conquests with those of his other children.
Return to Asgard
Several years following the deaths of Frigga, Malekith and the Dark Elves, Thor battled against the fire demon Surtur, who foretells him of an event called Ragnarok that will destroy all of the Asgardians once his crown is united with the Eternal Flame within the city. Undaunted, Thor defeats Surtur and takes his crown, believing that he has averted Ragnarok.
However, Odin dies of old age after being found by Thor and Loki in Norway, but not before he tells them about the existence of Hela to them. Following Odin's death, Hela was able to escape from Hel through a portal-like gateway, musing that she would have liked to see her father die in which during their humorous encounter that when Thor introduces himself as her sibling, much to her shock in which she replied that he does not resemble Odin after all. When Loki proposed a truce, she sarcastically stated he sounded more like Odin. Forgoing all civilness, Hela then demanding her brothers to bow down before her and acknowledge her as their new queen. Thor and Loki defiantly refuse before the former throws his powerful hammer (the Mjølnir) at Hela, but unfortunately, she catches the hammer (in which the hammer was first wielded by her) and destroys it instantly with her bare hands before adjusting her headdress. A shocked Thor and Loki then attempt to escape to the Bifrost Bridge, but Hela pursues them and easily throws both of them out into space, leaving them to crash-land at a nearby planet named Sakaar (ruled by the notorious Grandmaster).
With both Thor and Loki banished, Hela took the opportunity to take over Asgard by eliminating the Einherjar (the elite army of Asgard) along with the Warriors Three (Volstagg, Fandrall, and Hogun) and eventually appointed a downtrodden Asgardian named Skurge to serve as her Executioner after the latter spared him upon her arrival in Asgard in which she killed Volstagg and Fandrall with ease for resisting her. Upon destroying the remaining army and with Asgard left defenseless, Hela then swiftly assumed the throne and destroyed the murals that Odin created which she described it as "lies" upon seeing within its murals that depicted peace treaties, festivities and exchange of gold and goblets; which its destruction revealed several of its darker murals that foretold her history before proceeding towards Odin's Vault with Skurge in which she discovered several artifacts stored in there as she declared the Infinity Gauntlet "fake", the Casket of Ancient Winters "a useless object", viewed Surtur's crown as 'smaller than she thought', became interested in the Tesseract but proclaimed the Eternal Flame the greatest of all. She smashed through the floor to the mausoleum underneath while wielding the Eternal Flame as she demonstrated to Skurge her true powers before descending down and used the Eternal Flame to resurrect her dead pet Fenris Wolf and her own army (known as the Berserkers) to cement her new role as Queen of Asgard.
With her subjugation of Asgard complete, Hela plans to use the Bifrost Bridge to expand the Asgardian empire through the universe, but Hemidall (the sentry of the Bifrost Bridge who was banished earlier by Loki) secretly returns as he covertly steals the sword controlling the bridge rendering it useless before hiding away with the rest of the Asgardian citizens to form a resistance against Hela's reign. A furious Hela then orders Skurge along with her troops to take down the resistance so that she can use Hemidall's sword to activate the bridge and proceed with her plans.
Final Battle and Death
Eventually, Hela, Skurge and the Berserkers manage to discover the location of the Asgardian resistance with an information from a Asgardian civilian who exposed the location in which he revealed that the resistance took refuge on an old fortress within Asgard after Hela coldly ordered Skurge with a threat to execute a young and innocent Asgardian woman and upon hearing the plea of the civilian which led her to promptly convince Skurge to spare the woman.
Using the information that she gained from the Asgardian civilian, Hela and Skurge along with the Berserkers then begin their assault on the old fortress (by tearing down the ancient gate with her spikes) where Heimdall is hiding with the Asgardian civilians but the echo from Asgard's throne room that was sounded by Thor's hammering of an iron staff prompted her to return and confront him in which she was surprised that Thor managed to survive from their encounter in the Bifrost Bridge while Thor sarcastically stating of her actions by tearing down the murals as "redecorating" which he discovered the now revealed darker murals upon his arrival earlier while Hela replied that was "father's solution to cover it up" then demanded Thor to leave the throne but he refused which led to engaging in a fight with him, thereafter. This distraction also allowed Heimdall to evacuate the Asgardian civilians from the old fortress and led them to return to Asgard through the Bifrost Bridge only to be cut off from behind by Skurge and the Berserker army and in front by the enormous Fenris as both fronts began to attack them; However, the battle's tide is turned when Loki returned after defeating the Grandmaster's forces and escaping Sakaar (with the help from the Hulk and several gladiators) on one of the Grandmaster's giant ships. It also turns out that one of the gladiators named 142 happens to be the sole Valkyrie who previously survived Hela's attack during her previous attempted escape from Hel. The Hulk and 142 then proceed to fight against Fenris, Skurge, and the Berserkers while Loki and the gladiators evacuated the remaining Asgardians on the ship.
With the defeat of Fenris and the Berserker army faltering, the duel between Thor and Hela continues to intensify, but he loses an eye and receives a vision from Odin that only Ragnarok can defeat Hela. It was then Thor realized that the true meaning of Asgard meant for protecting its citizens, not its land. Deciding to let Surtur bring about Ragnarok, Thor, 142 and the Hulk distract Hela while Loki takes Surtur's crown and unites it with the Eternal Flame, causing Surtur to be reborn as he eventually engulfed the portion of Asgard. Realizing that she's been distracted and witnessing the heroes and the remaining Asgardians escaping on the giant ship, an angry Hela attempts to stop them by pinning the ship with her spikes, but a repentant Skurge sacrifices himself to allow their escape by taking down several Bersekers (who were attempting to board the ship and attack the Asgardian citizens) before being stabbed to death by Hela with her throwing knives. Being left at the mercy of Surtur, a terrified Hela is forced to watch as Surtur proceeded to destroy all of Asgard despite her efforts to destroy Surtur by impaling the fire demon with a multitude of spikes, and she is ultimately finished by Surtur upon being struck on the tip of his mighty flaming sword down upon her, causing her to disappear in a blast of green energy, seemingly killing her for good, and her remaining Berserkers are incinerated to their deaths in the process.
With Asgard destroyed and Hela along with her forces vanquished, Thor (taking over as the new King of the Asgardians) decides to build a new Asgard for his fellow people on Earth.
Personality
| “ | Asgard is dead and it will be reborn in my image. | „ |
| ~ Hela |
Hela is extremely raging, ambitious, and manipulative. Her easily angered and impatient nature make her prone to killing and maiming anyone who stands in her way. These traits made her an effective and brutal leader, and essential to Asgard's violent conquest of the Nine Realms. Hela was a wonderful wartime leader, or executioner as she called herself; proudly serving as Odin's general in conquest. However, when Odin transitioned into a peace-time King, he realized that Hela could not and was a threat to his new society. Furthermore, Odin saw her overambitious goals to be a risk to his ruling over Asgard, especially considering how powerful she is, Odin banished her from Asgard for several millennia.
After her freedom, she immediately conquered Asgard and Heimdall himself said she was so power-hungry that if she could access the Bifrost Bridge, she would conquer all of the Nine Realms and even all the Cosmos. Hela proved that Odin was wise to imprison her, rather than let her rule Asgard during peacetime. She quickly made it clear that she would exterminate her whole nation if they stood in the way of resuming her conquests. Hela was quite content to rule over a dead nation of dead soldiers completely loyal to her as she would conquer more worlds.
Hela was also extremely cantankerous and resentful of her imprisonment at the hands of her own father Odin, who she at first appears to be loyal enough to at first that she willingly executed his will and helped him conquer the Nine Realms. She gleefully mocked his death and openly expressed her wish to have been able to see it herself. However, she also feels highly betrayed by Odin due to her imprisonment, as she was quickly angered by the fake displays of The Castle that displayed only Odin, Thor and Loki as well as his peaceful conquering of the Nine Realms to the point that she immediately threw her swords at those false images and shattered them to reveal the true images of Odin's violent deeds.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
| “ | Our sister destroyed your hammer like a piece of glass. She's stronger than both of us, she's stronger than you; you don't stand a chance! Do you understand what I'm saying to you? | „ |
| ~ Loki to Thor |
Hela possesses all of the various superhuman attributes common among Asgardians. However, being part of Asgard's royal family, (more specifically the eldest child of Odin), her attributes are significantly superior to those of any other Asgardians, even her younger brother Thor, as she can draw power from Asgard itself to increase her own might, with the coming of Ragnarök being necessary to take her down. This makes Hela incredibly powerful, and an almost unstoppable foe for Thor and the Revengers, with only Surtur at full power, and Odin in his prime, having enough power to defeat her.
- Asgardian Physiology: As the eldest child of Odin, Hela has tremendous superhuman abilities and supernatural powers, far superior to those of any other Asgardian, even her younger brother Thor. It appears only the late Odin in his prime surpassed Hela's power among Asgardians, making Hela the second most powerful Asgardian of her time and one of the most powerful beings in the Nine Realms.
- Superhuman Strength: Hela possesses tremendous levels of superhuman strength, which allowed her to single-handedly wipe out all of the Valkyries (with only their leader barely surviving), and to even easily catch Mjølnir with one hand after it was thrown at her with full speed, before crushing it in her hand with no visible effort, in spite of it being one of the most powerful weapons in existence, causing it to explode in a blast of lightning. Hela later slaughtered the Warriors Three, Skurge, and the combined might of the Einherjar with ease. Furthermore, she was able to easily physically dominate Thor himself in two of their three battles, sending him flying with her attacks, and proved to have enough strength to injure the nearly invulnerable Asgardian, easily overpowered and tossed Valkyrie. away. Even after Thor gained his full powers, Hela proved to be still too strong for him. Only a fully-empowered Surtur and Odin at his prime was stronger than Hela, with Odin imprisoning her in Hel and Surtur managing to destroy her by destroying Asgard.
- Superhuman Durability: Hela's body, much like that of Thor, appears nigh-invulnerable, although her durability surpasses even her brother's, which allowed Hela to easily block spear strikes from a Gungnir-wielding Thor with her bare hands, and to even catch Mjølnir without injury. Hela was even unharmed after grabbing a handful of the Eternal Flame, impaled through the torso with an Einherjar's sword and stabbed with Gungnir by Thor without her body or her clothing being damaged, and emerged completely unharmed after a fully-empowered Thor hit her with massive lightning bolts. Indeed, only revived and enhanced Surtur's Twilight Sword was able to crush her, thus sending the Goddess of Death into oblivion.
- Superhuman Stamina: Like all Asgardians, Hela's musculature produces considerably less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of humans or normal Asgardians, allowing her to defeat numerous Asgardians, as well as fight against the combined might of Thor and Valkyrie without tiring.
- Superhuman Speed: Hela can move at exceptionally high speeds, as she was fast enough to keep up with and even outpace Thor and Valkyrie in combat, as well as even being fast enough to catch Mjølnir with one hand.
- Superhuman Agility: Hela naturally possesses greater agility, dexterity, balance, and body coordination than that of a human, and even most other Asgardians, with her managing to dodge and outpace Thor and Valkyrie's attacks for the majority of her battles with them and easily jump through a crater and land fully on her feet.
- Extended Longevity: Due to her connection to Asgard and to Hel, Hela is immortal and will not die, so long as the realm of Asgard exists.
- Connection to Asgard: As the first born of Odin, Hela has a supernatural connection to the realm Asgard, and can draw power from Asgard itself to perform incredible supernatural abilities. Hela can manifest various physical structures out of thin air, ranging from weapons to ground structures to even her own armor. She can even draw power from Asgard to enhance her natural abilities.
- Control over Life and Death: Hela was exiled for all eternity in the afterlife realm of Hel where the souls of those who died without being honored are driven to.
- Weapon Manifestation: Hela can manifest various weapons out of different parts of her body, though she would usually generate Necroswords, daggers, spears, and axes. These weapons are incredibly durable and sharp, enough to not only instantly kill the likes of Warriors Three and Skurge, but also even pierce right through Thor's nigh-invulnerable body, with Hela thus gouging his right eye out with a Necrosword. She also manifested the Bloodaxe, which she then gave to Skurge. Hela later generated oversized blades from her body to weigh door and collapse the large gate to a secret cave where the fleeing Asgardians were hiding. She was also able to generate these spike-like constructs from the ground to pierce Surtur with, but that ultimately proved ineffective against the Fire Giant.
- Structure Manifestation: Hela could manifest metallic, blade-like structures from the ground surrounding her, as seen when she attempted to prevent Loki's spaceship containing the Asgardians from launching from the doomed realm, and later when she attempted to gain elevation during her short battle with Surtur.
- Armor Manifestation: After being freed by Odin's death, Hela was able to repair the damage to her clothing and make her headdress appear and disappear from her head.
- Necromancy: Hela, as the self-proclaimed "Goddess of Death", demonstrated being able to resurrect her allies, using a handful of flame from the Eternal Flame and tossing it against the ground to create a huge blast of green infernal energy. As such, she was able to revive her pet wolf Fenris and her Berserkers after discovering their corpses under Odin's Vault. She has ruled in the realm of Hel, where the souls of those who died without being honored are driven to.
Abilities
- Master Combatant: Hela is immensely skilled and deadly in both armed and hand-to-hand combat, as she was the original owner of Mjølnir and the chief of the legion of Asgard as well as Odin's Executioner. Her skills are so great that she easily managed to singlehandedly slay the entire Einherjar army of Asgard, as well as swiftly slay all of the Warriors Three. Indeed, Hela's combat skills are superior to even those of the extremely skilled Valkyrie and Thor, with her notably able to battle both of them simultaneously, and beat Thor into submission in two of their three battles, even gouging out Thor's right eye with her Necrosword, as well as easily defeating Valkyrie in battle while she single-handedly slaughtered the Valkyries. While a fully-powered Thor (after receiving guidance from Odin's spirit) was able to almost match her to a stalemate, Hela still proved herself too much for him, necessitating Loki to resurrect Surtur and start Ragnarök. Only Odin was ever able to defeat Hela in battle, having been the one who cast her out of Asgard and imprisoned her in Hel.
- Swordmanship: While Hela usually prefers to fight with her bare hands and telekinetically hurled weapons, she is also an incredibly skilled swordswoman, typically wielding a Necroswords. Indeed, Hela's skills allowed her to easily slaughter all of Asgard's Einherjar and Valkyries and even gain the upper hand over Thor using Gungnir and easily disarm him of his blades.
- Arcane Lore: Hela has been shown to have an encyclopedic knowledge of mystical artifacts and energy and also has great skill in handling them, as demonstrated when she easily caught Mjølnir (possibly due to being the hammer's original wielder) and shattered the nearly indestructable Asgardian Hammer, withstood repeated attacks from Gungnir, and withstood grabbing a handful of the Eternal Flame. She was also quickly able to tell that the Infinity Gauntlet in Odin's Vault was a fake replica, that the Casket of Ancient Winters was no longer functional, that the Crown of Surtur was supposed to be much larger, and that the Tesseract could still be useful to her.
- Expert Leader: As the Chief of the Legion of Asgard and Odin's Executioner, Hela was known to be a very effective and brutal leader, with her skills in Leadership being essential in Asgard's violent conquest of the Nine Realms.
Relationships
Family
Allies
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Enemies
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Gallery
Promotional
Thor: Ragnarok
Trivia
- In Norse Mythology, as in the comics, Hela is the illegitimate daughter of Loki. She was raised in the care of Asgard for a time until she was appointed as ruler of Hel and Niflheim by Odin.
- But this incarnation of Hela is rewritten as Odin's daughter, making her Thor and Loki's older sister.
- Additionaly, the Marvel Cinematic Universe's version of Hela presents some elements of Gorr, the God Butcher, a vengeful killer of gods who has the power of the All-Black the Necrosword.
- Hela was originally conceived as the main villain of Thor: The Dark World, instead of Malekith.
- Hela is the first female main antagonist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film franchise.
- Charlize Theron was considered for the role of Hela before Cate Blanchett was cast.
- Cate Blanchett's portrayal of Hela received critical acclaim which was considered by the critics as the best villain within Thor Trilogy.
