25 Most Powerful Thor Villains, Ranked (MCU & Comics)
Join us on Reddit for the latest Marvel & DC news!
Thor, the God of Thunder and the self-proclaimed mightiest of Marvel’s Avengers, has incredible powers, making him such a great, fan-favorite superhero. However, no hero can be as awesome as Thor without facing some awesome villains – and the Asgardian Prince faced a ton of them.
Without further ado, here’s a list of the 25 most powerful Thor villains, ranked from least to most powerful. Keep in mind not all the characters on the list are villains, per se – but were Thor’s adversaries at one point or another. Let’s dive in!
25. Mongoose
Mongoose was a somewhat silly character that first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #283. The High Evolutionary had done some oddball stuff, but the genetic engineering experiments that created Mongoose were probably the most “huh?”
So, Mongoose was just a regular guy before the experiments that turned him into a human mongoose. He had all kinds of superpowers, including great reflexes, superhuman speed, and the strength to lift up to ten tons.
Mongoose was a criminal, once hired to try to beat Thor. While he’s not the most powerful guy out there, with one of the worst supervillain names of all time, Mongoose is just where he belongs on the list – at the last place, probably to be forgotten by the end.
24. Skurge the Executioner
Skurge the Executioner was one of Asgard’s finest warriors and of Thor’s villains. We’ve seen a version of Skurge appear in the MCU as well, though one might argue the comics version was much better.
The guy wasn’t as strong or powerful as Thor but was just as good of a combatant and a highly experienced warrior that presented a challenge for the God of Thunder. One-on-one, he’d lose every time. However, he usually never fought Thor on his own.
The Enchantress (who’ll be on this list, too) usually manipulated Skurge into fighting Thor for her, combining her magic with his combat skills and might. She also used her brains to control Skurge, who was not the brightest bulb. The Executioner is best known for his mighty axe, capable of cutting through dimensions, slicing magic, shooting ice and fire blasts, etc.
23. Ulik
Every superhero has a villain that might not be the most powerful enemy ever but the most relentless, coming back again and again. For Thor, that villain is Ulik, the most powerful Rock Troll in existence, is one of the few characters who weren’t afraid to meet Thor at his own game – meeting force with force, trading a hit for a hit.
The two fought numerous times, and Ulik was never afraid to get dirty and engage in a fistfight with the God of Thunder. The guy is almost invulnerable to physical damage and has an indomitable will that makes him keep pushing.
He joined Loki once to lead an attack on Asgard and even pretended to be Thor for a while during the Fear Itself storyline. Ulik is not the strongest, but he is a great foe for the Asgardian Prince.
22. Ragnarok
No, not Ragnarok, the event. Ragnarok, the character, is an android/cyborg, an AI clone of Thor created by Tony Stark and Reed Richards to fight for them during the Civil War. However, their plan backfired, as the being had almost all Thor’s powers and skills – including a fake Mjolnir – but lacked any human traits.
Imagine a Thor with no conscience and an undying thirst for killing, and you get Ragnarok. The worst part was that Thor didn’t even know the two used his DNA for their pet project. Eventually, it wasn’t Thor who defeated Ragnarok, but Hercules, albeit he had the God of Thunder’s help.
21. The Absorbing Man
If Carl Creel wasn’t such an idiot, he might’ve been one of the most dangerous villains ever on Earth. Luckily for everybody, the lowlife petty criminal was quite dumb, so he had a weakness when Loki slipped him some magical Asgardian roofies.
You see, he called himself the Absorbing Man later because the stuff Loki gave him granted Creel incredible powers to absorb the physical properties of any object he touched. Even when he touched Mjolnir, he gained the properties of the powerful enchanted hammer.
Thor fought the Absorbing Man more than once, but luckily for Thor and other Midgardians, Creel’s brains limited his combat skills and his ability to do any real harm before being beaten.
20. Enchantress
Love can be deadly, sometimes. In the case of Thor and the Enchantress, that couldn’t be more true. Amora was adopted by Karnilla at a young age but was soon let go from being the sorcerer’s apprentice because she lacked discipline. Amora didn’t give up, though, and continued to learn magic herself, coercing other wizards and witches to teach her.
Soon, she became the Enchantress, one of the most powerful sorcerers to ever walk on Asgard. What’s more, she had an infatuation with Thor, leading her to do all kinds of silly things—like, manipulating Skurge into attacking Thor or simply attacking him herself.
However, despite her manipulating tendencies, the Enchantress’ magic is incredibly powerful. She went toe-to-toe with the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange, and beat Nightmare in his dimension. She’d be higher on this list of Thor’s Villains if she weren’t so in love with the blonde Prince of Asgard.
19. King Laufey (& The Frost Giants)
Now, the Frost Giants of Jotunheim have been Asgard’s sworn enemies for centuries, led by King Laufey. We’ve seen them in the MCU, too, and learned that Loki is indeed a Frost Giant himself, but taken in by Odin and raised as his own.
They are huge beings, led by a mighty warrior, and they have awesome powers, especially when surrounded by water, ice, etc. However, even King Laufey couldn’t take Thor one-on-one. That’s why they usually come in groups – even armies – placing the Frost Giants among the most dangerous enemies not just for Thor but entire Asgard.
18. Loki
There’s nothing in this world that can overcome brotherly love. Except, maybe, brotherly hate. Loki has probably tried to kill Thor more often than anybody else, and despite that, the God of Thunder always forgave the God of Mischief.
We all know a lot about Loki, thanks to Tom Hiddleston’s brilliant depiction of the character in the MCU. You can always see that dark, naughty side of him, but you can feel that deep down, Loki is not that bad of a guy, just sick of never being good enough.
His phenomenal skills include illusions, magnificent manipulation, combat, and strategy skills, along with shapeshifting, hypnosis, teleportation, astral projection, and much, much more. What makes Loki even more dangerous for Thor is the fact that Thor never wishes to harm his half-brother, so he holds back. The same can’t be said for Loki.
Easily my favorite Marvel character of all time.
17. Malekith
Loki is mischievous, sure. But, if you’re looking for pure, dark, unfiltered evil, then look no further than Malekith, the ruler of the Dark Elves and one of the most violent foes Thor has ever faced. While Malekith might not be physically dominant, the guy just loves chaos and watching the worlds burn.
There have been several times where Malekith cooked up and instigated wars between planets, or even Realms, just to get more power for his selfish needs. Apart from that, he simply just enjoys killing and is one of the most powerful Dark Faerie magicians ever.
The biggest danger from Malekith is his mere existence – as long as the guy breathes, you better believe he’s cooking up something horrible to do. As the Dark Elf leader, Malekith ruled with fear. Those who opposed him got killed – and Malekith enjoyed it as if he was killing his mortal enemy, with a big grin on his face every single time.
16. Hela
It feels like poor Thor could never catch a break with his family. Don’t worry, there are other relatives on this list, too, but first, let’s talk about Thor’s long-lost sister, Hela. She was so sinister that her father, Odin, banished her to Hel, which was as pretty as the name suggests. I mean, Hela’s title would be the Goddess of Death – that tells you all you need to know.
Her powers match or even exceed Thor’s. The MCU version, portrayed by Charlize Theron, was able to hold Mjolnir off with ease and then shatter it into million pieces. And the comic version was even stronger. Hela has a Death Touch, meaning complete control over life and death. Her mission is to claim Thor’s soul – and all other souls on Asgard; she’s not that picky.
15. Cul Borson (The Serpent)
The list of family jerks keeps growing for the Asgardian Prince. This time, we’re talking about his uncle, Odin’s brother, Cul Borson, aka the Serpent. He appeared for the first time in Fear Itself #1 as the main antagonist, seeing that Cul is the God of Fear.
As the fear in people grew, the Serpent became more powerful, at points surpassing Thor’s might. The guy could resurrect the dead, tear Captain America’s vibranium shield into pieces without breaking a sweat, and create two hammers similar to Mjolnir and just let them out in the world for anyone to claim them unleashing total mayhem.
Thor had to wield the Odinsword to defeat his uncle, eventually destroying the God of Fear.
14. The Destroyer
If the Destroyer had a more sentient mind, he (or it) would be much higher on this list. However, it heavily depends on the mind that controls it, meaning it’s only as powerful as the one using it.
The Destroyer is that colossal metal suit-thing we’ve seen blast ultra-powerful rays of energy from its face in the first Thor movie. In the comics, the mightiest Gods on Earth joined forces to create the giant suit, including Zeus and Odin. They combined their magic and created the unfathomable powerful suit that needed to be controlled with one’s mind to be used.
Sadly, that feature was highly misused, like when Loki sent it to kill Thor. The thing is made out of a mysterious metal even more powerful than uru (a moonstone which Mjolnir is made of). It’s virtually invulnerable, can literally kill gods, and is physically at least twice as strong as Thor. Imagine Odin and Zeus combining their power into one being, and you get the Destroyer.
It’s not a villain, per se, but was put into the wrong hands one too many times not to be on this list.
13. Fafnir
Fafnir was a very interesting character that first appeared in Thor #134 in 1966. He was once a King of Nastrond. It was an extradimensional realm in proximity to Asgard. However, the people of Nastrond, including Fafnir, were incredibly evil and vile, so Odin took his armies to destroy them.
Fafnir was left to die in ruins but found a magical pool that gave him unfathomable powers – turning the King of Nastrond into a fierce dragon. His strength was similar to Thor’s, but Fafnir could spit fire, cast illusions, mind-control the lesser beings, had incredible durability thanks to thick, impenetrable dragon scales, and more.
He was killed by Thor in Thor #341-343 with an enchanted spear through the heart, but was later resurrected by Kurse and unleashed against the God of Thunder, but was eventually transported back to Hel. Fafnir was an incredibly powerful foe that was easier to incarcerate than to kill or defeat in battle. Well worthy of the 13th spot on the list.
12. The World Serpent
The fact that such a mythical, colossal, menacing beast is only number 12 on this list shows you how powerful and dangerous Thor’s villain gallery is. The World Serpent, also known as the Midgard Serpent, is a horrifying mythical creature that wants nothing more than to destroy Odin and the Asgardians.
Jurmungand, or the World Serpent, was Loki’s son with the sorceress Angerboda. Odin saw how incredibly evil and dangerous the creature was, so he banished it (yeah, Odin does that a lot) to the bottom of the ocean on Midgard. It took a while, but the Serpent returned with a lust for blood and revenge.
It’s a terrifying, powerful, huge creature, large enough to encircle the entire Midgard. It’s one of Thor’s deadliest foes, not just from its size, but sheer power – immortal, invulnerable, incredibly lucid and intelligent, has telepathic skills, venomous fangs powerful enough to kill gods… shall I continue?
The prophecy stated that Thor and the Midgard Serpent ought to kill each other during Ragnarok.
11. Kurse
The colossal, superstrong Dark Elf monster, Kurse, is among the physically most powerful characters Thor has ever faced. There aren’t many characters that can beat Thor with pure physical violence, but Kurse has done that more than once. There have been many creatures that became Kurse, but the original was the strongest, called Algrin the Strong.
Algrin single-handedly beat Thor, Loki, and Beta Ray Bill – a guy who’s probably as powerful as Thor himself. Also, after some magical enhancements from the Beyonder, Kurse became four times as strong as Thor. Having the power of the God of Thunder is amazing. Having that times four is just overdoing it.
However, I can’t put Kurse higher on the list since there have been multiple versions of the monster, and Thor eventually beat every single one of them. Did I mention they have a weakness for iron?
10. Perrikus
Perrikus is the leader of the Dark Gods, a dark, ancient civilization of beings completely opposite to the Asgardians. They waged war on Asgard numerous times – but were one of the rare who had Odin, Thor, and the rest of the Asgardians on the brink of complete destruction.
Perrikus and the Dark Gods are extremely powerful, but their true power lies in their cunning, malevolent actions. When they took over Asgard, they did so silently with a sneak attack, enslaving Odin and the Asgardians. When Thor came to help, the Dark Gods outclassed him on a whim, and Perrikus simply chopped Mjolnir in half.
It resulted in Thor losing his powers, but not his will. He teamed up with Hercules and the Destroyer armor suit and unleashed the full wrath of the God of Thunder to defeat Perrikus and the Dark Gods. It was a brutal fight and one that was barely taken by the God of Thunder.
9. The Black Winter
There are a few characters that infuse fear as much as the Black Winter. The entity is a primordial, massive, dark cosmic cloud that has the power to swallow and destroy entire galaxies. The Black Winter is so powerful that even Galactus himself had difficulty defeating the being.
Black Winter destroyed Galan’s galaxy, but he escaped, so now the entity is tracking him down to destroy him, devouring everything on its way. Galactus sought help from Thor, making him his herald, and creating one of the most powerful versions of Thor ever.
After realizing Black Winter only wants Galactus, not the galaxy, Thor lets the two go after each other before destroying both of them. More on the Galactus – Thor battle a bit later.
8. Mephisto
Mephisto is a well-known supervillain for Marvel fans and one we’re so eagerly waiting to see in the MCU. Mephisto is an incredibly powerful demon, ruling over Hell, his own realm and dimension. When there, the demon is nearly omnipotent. However, outside of Hell, Mephisto isn’t as powerful – but still, one of the most powerful beings out there.
Mephisto defeated some of Marvel’s most powerful characters, including Doctor Doom, Galactus, Ghost Rider, Spider-Man, the Silver Surfer, etc.
He is so evil that goodness literally hurts Mephisto. In Thor #180, when Thor got trapped in Hell, Mephisto’s realm, he defeated the demon by radiating his inner goodness, causing immense pain to Mephisto, who ultimately surrendered. They fought again in Thor #204, but this time, Thor could only do enough to escape, not to beat Mephisto.
7. Gorr The God Butcher
Gorr, the God Butcher, is coming to the MCU, and I couldn’t be more excited. One, Christian Bale is joining Marvel to portray Gorr. Two, the character is so powerful and epic that I bet he’ll have a huge impact not just on the God of Thunder but the entire MCU.
Gorr is thousands of years old and the only survivor of an unknown species and planet once destroyed in a war. Gorr begged the gods to help, but they never responded, so he developed an undying hatred toward all gods. Gorr wants to kill every god in existence, creating a godless universe.
At one point, he came into the possession of All-Black, the Necrosword, the deadly blade of Knull, the Lord of the Abyss. It’s powerful enough to one-shot decapitate Celestials, and the more one kills with it, the more powerful the sword and the wielder become.
Gorr killed countless gods and struck fear into Thorl like nobody else. I can’t wait to see them fight on the big screen in Thor: Love and Thunder because Thor literally had to become King Thor and possess Odin’s powers, too, to even come close to defeating the God Butcher.
6. Odin
Yes, I know. Odin is not a villain. However, he fought his son at least a dozen times for different reasons. One of the most common reasons was Thor’s disobedience and irresponsibility, which angered the All-Father mightily.
Odin is one of the most powerful gods in the universe. In his prime, not even primordial beings like the Celestials could take him down. Even when Odin got older, Thor could never match an angry Odin. I promise he’s the last family member that Thor fought from this list.
As proof of Odin’s immeasurable power – the guy created entire galaxies, destroyed others, beat Thanos one-on-one, fought off Galactus, and scared Dormammu enough for the being to avoid him completely. After he died, the loss of his energies impacted not just the galaxy but the entire cosmos. If he ever went for the kill against Thor, he’d probably be higher on this list.
However, he usually settled for a nice father-son spanking, so I can’t put him in the top five.
5. The Celestials
These guys seem to be everywhere and fight everyone, but the fact remains – the Celestials are among the most powerful beings in the universe. They are primordial beings that have been around since the First Cosmos, with unfathomable cosmic powers and abilities to control the entire universe and its existence.
Battling one Celestial is impossible for most, and I’d say Thor would have a hard time going one-on-one with, for instance, Arishem the Judge or other members of the Fourth Host. When they are in a group, there’s nothing you can do about them.
I mean, Odin gathered the entire life force of Asgard and teamed up with Thor and the Eternals, but they still lost to the Celestial in Thor #300. Luckily, they spared Earth from destruction and wiped humanity’s memories of them clean.
4. Surtur
Remember the huge, flaming dude that destroyed the entire Asgard in Thor: Ragnarok? That’s Surtur, one of Asgard’s biggest enemies, prophesied to bring forth Ragnarok, the complete destruction of Asgard.
Surtur is massive, and can never really be defeated, as he’s more of a nature’s force than a being. He fought Thor, Odin, and Loki together and defeated them like it was nothing. Pair that with incredible intelligence, wielding the almighty Twilight Sword that shatters dimensions and unfathomable magic; Surtur is as powerful as one can imagine physically and mystically.
There’s no defeating or killing Surtur. All you can do is trap and imprison him sometimes. Odin managed to do so a couple of times, but the flaming Lord of Muspelheim always finds a way to return.
3. Thanos
I know Thor never really fought Thanos alone, but their fights were nothing short of spectacular. In fact, Thor is one of the few that gave Thanos a run for his money, even with the Infinity Gauntlet in place.
As we know from the MCU, Thanos is a horrifying supervillain that set out to wipe clean half of the universe to “restore balance,” believing the universe will run out of resources and collapse on itself if he doesn’t do that.
Even without the Infinity Stones, Thanos is unfathomably powerful, but with all six Stones, he can literally destroy the universe with a snap of his fingers. He’s the only one with the will and the wits to collect all six Stones, and such power deserves this high of a spot on the list.
2. Mangog
You might’ve never heard of Mangog before, but this dude is among the most powerful beings ever created in Marvel comics. And, all that power is set out to destroy Asgard and Thor out of sheer hatred. Mangog first appeared in Thor #154 and instantly became one of Thor’s mightiest opponents ever.
Odin wiped out Mangog’s entire race – and his race and planet were huge. After that, Mangog was born as the physical embodiment of the power and hatred of his entire race, counting a billion billions of individual beings – all set into one, hideous, giant body.
Mangog’s powers are unlimited, beating Odin and Zeus combined and being unphased by Thor’s most powerful Mjolnir attack rammed inside his throat. He defeated Odin, Cul Borson, Heimdall, Thor, and the Destroyer together.
The Mighty Thor, Jane Foster, managed to destroy Mangog by tying him to Mjolnir and throwing the hammer into the sun. We aren’t sure if it killed him, but seeing the unfathomable power of the being, he’ll probably be back quite soon.
1. Galactus
Finally, it feels like everybody has beaten Galactus at this point, but nobody seemingly killed the guy as Thor did. Despite Galactus being used as a plot device recently, the fact remains that he’s one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Galactus is the embodiment of the entire cosmic energy, wielding a force called the Power Cosmic.
Galactus devours planets to feed – he turns them into cosmic energy and then absorbs it. When he’s well-fed, he can literally destroy anybody. A well-fed Galactus’ powers are unlimited – he can do anything the plot requires him to do.
He creates heralds, such as the Silver Surfer, that he gives only a fraction of his Power Cosmic to – and they instantly become one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Imagine how powerful the guy that created them is, then.
Unfortunately for him, when he decided to make Thor his herald to help him fight the Black Winter, Thor used his newfound powers to destroy Galactus himself.
When not well-fed, Galactus grows weaker, but we’ve never even seen Galactus at his full strength – or if “full strength” is even possible for him. It seems the guy only gets more and more powerful.
Liked this article? Join us on Reddit for the latest Marvel & DC news!