Valkyrior
The Valkyrior as seen in Fear Itself: The Fearless #1 (October 2011). Art by Mark Bagley.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Thor #133 (October 1966)
Created by	Stan Lee (writer) Jack Kirby (artist)
Characteristics
Place of origin	Asgard
Pantheon	Norse
Notable members	Brunnhilde Hildegarde Danielle Moonstar Misty Knight Jane Foster

The Valkyrior is a fictional organization appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Based on the Valkyries of Norse mythology, the group, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, first appeared in Thor #133 (October 1966). Within the context of Marvel's shared universe, the Valkyrior is a group of female warriors led by Brunnhilde / Valkyrie that was originally designated by Odin to bring the souls of slain heroes to Valhalla. In 2013, the team became the subject of the short-lived series, The Fearless Defenders.

Publication history

The Valkyrior, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, first appeared in Thor #133 (October 1966). The team, led by Valkyrie and Misty Knight is the subject of the 2013 series, The Fearless Defenders by Cullen Bunn and Will Sliney. Bun said about his book: "The basic idea of the book is that Valkyrie is choosing a new team of Valkyrior, and she's been asked to choose all these women from the heroes of Midgard, instead of from Asgard. She has completely failed in this task. Valkyrie has been unable to choose anyone that she feels is worthy to be one of the hosts of the shield maidens. So she just hasn't done it. She's dropped the ball. Because she's not done what she said she would do, nature—or supernature, as it is—abhors a vacuum. The absence of the Valkyrior has opened the door to something terrible. Something awful is waking, and Valkyrie finds that it's really her fault that she's put everything at risk".^[1]

Fictional history

The Valkyrior are warrior goddesses of Asgard who ride winged horses. Originally, under the leadership of Brunnhilde, they took mortally wounded human heroes from German and Scandinavian battlegrounds and brought them to Valhalla, an area of the Asgardian dimension where the astral forms of the dead Asgardians and human heroes eternally feast and compete in friendly battles. The Valkyries were no longer able to perform this task when Odin, ruler of Asgard, vowed to the Celestials a millennium ago that he would severely restrict Asgardian contact with Earth.

In later years, Brunnhilde became a member of Earth's Defenders. The remaining Valkyries were killed in a war between Odin and Hela over rule of Valhalla. Odin restored the Valkyries to life after he regained possession of Valhalla, but these Valkyries only have physical form within Valhalla; outside it, they exist only in astral form. Valtrauta has taken Brunnhilde's place as ruler of the Valkyrior, and Hildegarde's sister Krista (aka Mist) has filled the role of the ninth Valkyrie, left open since Brunnhilde's departure.

During the "War of the Realms" storyline, Valkyrie and the rest of the Valkrior are massacred by Malekith and his forces invading New York. During the battle, Valkyrie is beheaded by Malekith.^[2][3] Afterwards, Jane Foster then takes up the mantle of Valkyrie.

Members

In other media

The Valkyrior appear in the 2017 live-action film Thor: Ragnarok.^[23] Odin sent them to Hel to prevent Hela from escaping. However, the attack turned into a massacre, as Hela killed every Valkyrie with the exception of Valkyrie / Scrapper 142. The trauma of the massacre led Valkyrie to abandon Asgard and settle on Sakaar.

References

External links

• Valkyrior at The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
• Valkyrior on Marvel Database, a Marvel Comics wiki