Can Thor Summon Lightning Without Mjolnir? (Powers Without Hammer)

Thor is a God of Thunder with the ability to summon and control lighting. But what are Thor’s abilities without his famous hammer – Mjolnir? Can Thor summon lightning without Mjolnir?

As was demonstrated in several comics, Thor can indeed summon lightning without Mjolnir; the Hammer works as a vessel that elevates his powers, but as Odin put it nicely in the movie – Thor is not the God of Hammers, but the God of Thunder.

Now that we’ve given you a short version of the answer, let’s take a deeper look into how exactly Thor summons lighting and what are Thor’s powers without his hammer, Mjolnir.

How does Thor summon lightning?

Most people think that Mjolnir, Thor’s famous hammer, is actually a vessel he uses to summon lightning and control the weather, but that is just not true. While Mjolnir is powerful and it does increase Thor’s powers, it’s not a vessel that Thor uses to access his powers. Mjolnir is just a weapon, like a sword or a bow and arrow, albeit significantly more powerful. So, how does Thor summon lightning?

In this scene from Thor: Ragnarok, Odin comically asks his won whether he is the God of Hammers, since he seems to doubt his abilities. This question was aimed at showing Thor that his powers are not dependent on the Hammer, but rather on the powers he has as himself.

Asgardian biology hasn’t been exactly explained, but we do know that Thor does have divine powers that enable him to manipulate the weather, especially lightning, so we can say that he can summon lightning thanks to his usual divine powers. There’s really nothing more to that.

Can Mjolnir summon lightning?

When Odin created Mjolnir, he inscribed on it the following enchantment: “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.” What does this mean?

As far as Thor is concerned, this doesn’t really mean much, as we have established in the preceding paragraph. Thor is able to summon lightning without Mjolnir, so this inscription doesn’t really have any influence on that.

As far as any other worthy wielders of Mjolnir – and there is a certain number of those – the hammer’s powers can be very important. Namely, Mjolnir is primarily a weapon through which Thor focuses his powers, but other characters, who don’t have Thor’s powers, use it as a source of their powers. In that aspect, Mjolnir can indeed be used to summon lightning, but that is only necessary with characters who don’t have the divine powers Thor has.

Can Thor summon lightning in space?

Another interesting question related to Thor is whether he can summon lightning anywhere in space, or does he have to be in a place where the laws of physics allow for lightning, like Earth, for example. We’re going to see the answer to this question in the following paragraphs.

Due to the fact that his powers are of a magical source, Thor is – indeed – able to summon lightning anywhere in space, including those places where there are no general conditions for the appearance of lightning. This has been shown in comic books on several occasions, including the panel above.

The thing is, due to his powers being magical, Thor doesn’t really need to respect the laws of nature to summon lightning or storms, which is a good thing if you’re a space-based Avenger and need to use your powers against a large number of cosmic enemies.

What are Thor’s powers without Hammer?

Before we finish our article, we are going to give you an overview of God of Thunder’s general powers and abilities, all of which he can use without his hammer, Mjolnir.

Thor is a god and as such, he has a lot of the same powers his father, Odin, has. But he is still weaker than Odin. He is superhuman in most aspects (strength, durability, intelligence, longevity, etc.) but unlike Thanos, he is not immortal. He is practically invulnerable, but he does age and, like all the other Asgardian gods, will eventually die; it’ll just take him longer than your average bear to do so.

The thing with Thor is that he has access to a variety of unimaginable powers that stem from Asgard, the best-known being the powers of Mjolnir, the Stormbreaker, and the Odin Force. Thor can also use other forms of energy and blend with them, as he did with Power Cosmic. There’s also the forbidden Warrior’s Madness, which can turn Thor into an unstoppable beast, but also destroy his psyche, which is why it was banned by Odin.