A lot of creatives in the entertainment industry have been inspired by stories from mythology and folklore to create characters and plots. One that can be recognized by millions is Thor, which was originally a comic book character. He was inspired by Norse mythology, as are the other characters, and here are their counterparts.
Thor
The God of Thunder in the movies is portrayed by Chris Hemsworth. The movie franchise was spawned based on Marvel comics that depict Thor as the hammer-wielding and long-haired blond who wears a winged helmet. He's not far off from Norse mythology's Thor.
One key difference is that in mythology, Thor is actually a red-haired man with a very bushy beard. He also didn't have the toned physique that Chris Hemsworth had. In some texts, he was described as a burly man with a rounded stomach from all the feasts and mead.
One thing they did get right is Mjolnir, which is what Thor's hammer is called. It also has a shirt handle as it was described in mythology because the god Loki tried to sabotage the blacksmiths who were trying to create the perfect weapons.
Odin
The Norse Mythology Odin went by many names, but he was mostly called the All-Father. Just like the movie's Odin, he only had one eye, although it wasn't really mentioned in the movie franchise how that came to be.
In Norse mythology, Odin sacrificed his eye so he can drink from Mimir's well. The waters under the sacred tree Yggdrasil were said to grant its drinker enlightenment, which Odin wanted. There's also the part where mythology Odin is immortal, while Odin in the movies died.
Loki
Loki stays true to his title in the movies as God of Mischief. Although, he wasn't an adopted son of Odin in the mythology. He was just Loki, sometimes helping the gods in their endeavors and sometimes playing tricks against them and even arranging their deaths such as Baldr.
The movie "Thor" movie franchise partly got his origins right by showing that he was the son of a Frost Giant called Laufey. In mythology, Loki was the child of Farbauti who is a jötunn, a kind which is sometimes regarded as a giant in some texts.
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Hela/Hel
Hela was first introduced in the movie "Thor: Ragnarok," which you can watch on Disney+. There are a lot of key differences between the characters between the movies and mythology. Hela was inspired by the mythological figure, Hel.
For one, Hel is not the daughter of Odin but of Loki. In the movies, Hela was portrayed as Odin's eldest child. One similarity is that Hela was a Goddess of Death, while Hel was a being that looked after the realm of the dead, also called Hel, in Niflheim.
We also saw the giant wolf Fenrir appear in the movie as the Hulk fought him off. In mythology, Fenrir is also a child of Loki, therefore a sibling to Hel. The movies did not indicate what Fenrir was to Hela, but the wolf looked more like a deadly companion than a brother.
In terms of appearance, she's not as flawless as the movie's portrayal. In mythology, she looked gloomy and ominous. Only half her face looked humanlike. In some texts, the other half was described as blue, like it had already died, while others say that's rotten like a decaying corpse.
