ULTIMATE THOR

First Appearance: The Ultimates #4

Real Name: Thor or Thorlief Golmen
Known Aliases: None
Identity: (Thor) publicly known; (Golmen) known to authorities
Occupation: Guardian deity; formerly psychiatric nurse
Citizenship: (Thor) Asgard; (Golmen) Norway
Place of Birth: (Thor) Asgard; (Golmen) Norway
Known Relatives: (Thor) Odin (father), Loki (half-brother); (Golmen) Gunnar Golmen (brother)
Group Affiliation: Formerly Ultimates
Education: Unrevealed

Height: 6'5"
Weight: 285 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blond

Abilities & Accessories:  Thor possesses immense superhuman strength (able to lift well in excess of 100 tons), endurance and resistance to injury. His powers are partially boosted by his belt of strength, Megingjord; it appears Loki temporarily transferred all Thor's power to it, but this has apparently been rectified by Odin. Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, enables flight, weather control, lightning bolt generation, and teleportation. Thor is not adept with computers, and is barely able to open his e-mail.

Intelligence: Normal
Strength: Superhuman (75-100 ton range)
Speed: Warp Speed (transcending light speed)
Durability: Superhuman
Energy Projection: Medium range, duration, single energy type
Fighting Skills: Experienced fighter

History: Thor is the legendary Norse thunder deity, whose battles with his mischievous half-brother Loki go back amore than a millennia. Every time the pair came into conflict, Loki would inevitably lose, but no matter what punishment was meted out to Loki by their father, Odin, he would always return to try again. Around 300 years ago their last battle ended with Loki being locked within the Room Without Doors, a punishment presumably meant to last for eternity. Though historically Thor was considered more an impulsive warrior than a thinker, by modern times he had apparently matured, happy to use reason more readily than force to get his opinions across. The Asgardians withdrew from Earthly matters hundreds of years ago, but in recent times Odin sent Thor back to Earth to spread peace amongst mankind. It's unclear whether Thor was incarnated as a child and only recalled his heritage after reaching adulthood, whether Thor turned the body of an existing human into his avatar, or whether Odin simply altered the world to give his son an Earthly identity, but the first official human records of Thor identified him to be former psychiatric nurse Thorlief Golmen, who suffered a nervous breakdown, afterwards suffering from the delusion he was Thor. He began spreading his message through lecture tours and books, gathering a number of followers; though skeptical of his claims of godhood, SHIELD's commander Nick Fury did not doubt Thor's powers, and tried to recruit him for the new Ultimates team, but was rebuffed. However when the Hulk rampaged through New York, Thor was persuaded to help subdue him, albeit only after a promise to double the US foreign aid budget.

Though wary of the motives of those controlling the Ultimates, he agreed to help out when serious threats arose, seeing the raised public profile this bought as advantageous to his mission, and he soon formed genuine friendships with some of his teammates, notably Tony Stark (Iron Man). He accompanied the Ultimates when they attempted to recruit Chicago vigilante Hawk-Owl, was instrumental in saving the Earth from the extraterrestrial Chitauri and their doomsday weapon, helped capture the renegade X-Men following Magneto's attack on SHIELD's Triskelion, defended the White House against Norman Osborn's "Six," battled the time-traveling Tomorrow Men, fought Kree observers so that others could steal a Kree database on the world devourer Gah Lak Tus, and took part in Operation High Hopes to track down Chitauri survivors. However when SHIELD sent Captain America into the Middle East to rescue US hostages, Thor quit, convinced this was a prelude to using the Ultimates for pre-emptive strikes against hostile powers. Shortly afterward he was contacted by fellow Asgardian Volstagg, who informed him Loki had escaped and was manipulating events to discredit Thor and destroy his allies; midway through their conversation, Loki altered reality to make Volstagg vanish. Only Thor recalled he had ever been there, making the thunder god appear delusional to onlookers. Loki's persecution continued; Captain America accused Thor of leaking to the press that Bruce Banner was the Hulk, and then in Rome Loki manipulated Italian police into attacking a peaceful protest march, driving Thor in turn to assault the police. Passing himself off as Gunnar Golmen, Thorlief's scientist brother, Loki convinced the Ultimates that Thor was his delusional brother and had stolen super-soldier technology to get his powers, and after Loki covertly transferred Thor's powers to Thor's easily removed belt, the Ultimates captured Thor and imprisoned him in the Triskelion. However when Loki's allies, the Liberators, invaded America, Odin freed Thor and restored his powers; Thor confronted his brother, and when Loki unleashed Asgard's giants, trolls and dragons on Earth, Thor called down the Rainbow Bridge, matching Loki's hordes with his own warriors, before slaying Loki's mortal form, sending him back to Asgard for punishment. In the aftermath the Ultimates chose to declare their independence from the US government, and Thor rejoined them.

Since then Thor has battled the extradimensional Squadron Supreme, and has assisted Tony Stark in reshaping the Ultimates, and dating new teammate, the Valkyrie.