i liek ur beard
Name: Amry
Personal LJ: soonerbee
Contact Info:
IM: tomochan2000
Plurk: soonerbee
Character Name: Thor Odinsson, called Redbeard, Troll-basher, Giant-Slayer, the True One, the Bear, the Battle-Ready, the Driver, the Thunderer, and a host of other names and kennings. But just Thor will do.
Character Series: Norse myth, with the Poetic and Prose Eddas the primary canon.
Character Age: 3000 or so
Background: Wikipedia article on Thor is here. Anything not covered in his specific background has probably been covered in the other Norse characters’ apps. But if more information is needed, I can certainly supply it!
A note: This Thor has not yet been through the events leading up to Ragnarok. In Mayfield, Thor will not have witnessed the death of Baldr or Loki’s imprisonment, nor will he know the exact circumstances and details surrounding these events. All he knows of Loki’s treachery and the twilight of the gods is that he will die killing Jormungandr, and the worlds will end and be reborn.
Personality: Thor in every way embodies the appearance, thoughts, and actions of the ideal man, provided one picked up one’s standards for “ideal” in Scandinavia sometime around the 10th century. One way or another, he makes a strong first impression - though it’s best to hope his first impression of you is a favorable one.
To those who find his favor, Thor is genial, generous, loyal, and openhearted, a willing friend and protector. He likes people, and tends to believe the best of them; in his own time he was revered as the protector of mortal men, and he is quite a social god, known for his generous treatment of hosts and guests alike and willingness to fight for the cause of a friend. To those who manage to make him angry on a first meeting, however (possible crimes include tricking him, stealing from him, or just being from Jotunnheim), his wrath is swift and violent, and few can stand before him. He knows this well, and unless the matter is very pressing he has no problem using intimidation as a weapon (though part of the intimidation stems from the common knowledge that he has no trouble backing it up).
Thor isn’t the type to delude anyone into thinking he feels differently about them than he does, however. He finds dishonesty detestable and is straightforward, sometimes to a fault, and neither lies convincingly nor is able to catch when people are lying to him. This is why Loki has managed to pull the wool over his eyes so many times - you’d think Thor would have learned after the eighth or ninth time, but he continues to take everything that’s said to him at face value. He knows his wits are not his forte, and even prides himself on not needing to use them often. Having to rely on words is, in his opinion, the mark of a man too weak to solve his problems the honest way. Only when other options are exhausted will he resort to trickery, as when (at Loki’s behest) he donned a wedding dress and traveled to Jotunnheim disguised as the goddess Freyja, intending to retrieve his stolen hammer - and then he agreed only because without his hammer, his usual option of “kill everything” was not available to him. (It also helped that the last line of the plan was, essentially, “and then Thor takes the hammer back and kills all the witnesses.” Which is what happened.) Being pretty much the largest, most physically intimidating person in the nine realms (and having Loki as a wingman), Thor doesn’t really need to be clever most of the time. This is perfectly fine by him.
Just as he knows he can’t win battles of wits, Thor hates nothing more than being tricked, outwitted, or made a fool of in any way. Defeat and impotence are Thor’s worst enemies - he loathes being confronted with a task he cannot complete or an enemy he cannot face down. He turns sulky and angry when he’s thwarted, and like a storm on the horizon, it’s best to duck for shelter and ride out the impending disaster when this happens.
But! Luckily for those who cannot resist taking advantage of the thunder-god’s gullible streak, Thor doesn’t often hold a grudge. He is quick to anger, but also quick to forgive, and he has a soft spot for a sincere apology. (This is the primary reason Loki survived until Ragnarok.) Once recompense has been made, he usually sees no reason to continue an argument. His emotions and actions are generally decided on impulse, based on what seems most useful, entertaining, or likely to end in glory for him. And, well, he’s the thunder god - he’s not used to being called on his decisions, wise or otherwise. Much of his easy confidence comes from the fact that everyone he has ever known regards him with a mix of respect and fear, and he knows how indispensable his prowess in battle is to the Aesir. Moreover, as a god who knows the time and the circumstances of his own death, he knows he doesn’t have much to fear from any threat before that. Basically: Thor really and truly doesn’t afraid of anything.
Thor also has ingrained in him the customs and beliefs of his time and people. A world like Mayfield, where men are expected to fear death, where pastimes like drinking and fighting are frowned upon, and where everyone looks to an invisible world ahead rather than working for what glory they can find in the life they are given, is completely alien to him. Being forced to exist in a world where he has no control over the laws and isn’t automatically at the top of the system is intensely frustrating to him, moreso because his name and titles mean nothing to the majority of Mayfield. He will deal with this by being angry. Things will probably break.
Abilities: Before coming to Mayfield, Thor was a god with all related powers - he had control of storms, strength considered vast even among the Aesir, and even some skill with magic, for example the ability to slaughter the goats that draw his chariot and resurrect them again from bones. His hammer, Mjollnir, was a weapon with no equal, so powerful that even Thor could not wield it without magic iron gloves and a belt that doubled his strength when he wore it. The hammer came with its own set of abilities; it never missed nor failed to strike, always returned to the hand of the one who threw it, and even shrank down for easy transportability!
Unfortunately, Thor has lost all of this upon entering Mayfield. All he has kept of his former glory is a talent for wrestling and the ability to out-drink most freight trains.
Sample Entry: Thor in action! Thor in conversation!
This entry will double as Thor's HMD post! Please feel free to share any and all crit about Thor's characterization! Have I made an embarrassing historical/mythological error? Does my interpretation lack consistency? Is the archaic speech pattern painful to read? Don't be shy!! There are a million ways to write a mythological character, and I'm always up for discussing them! :D
Comments are screened, anon commenting is on.
Personal LJ: soonerbee
Contact Info:
IM: tomochan2000
Plurk: soonerbee
Character Name: Thor Odinsson, called Redbeard, Troll-basher, Giant-Slayer, the True One, the Bear, the Battle-Ready, the Driver, the Thunderer, and a host of other names and kennings. But just Thor will do.
Character Series: Norse myth, with the Poetic and Prose Eddas the primary canon.
Character Age: 3000 or so
Background: Wikipedia article on Thor is here. Anything not covered in his specific background has probably been covered in the other Norse characters’ apps. But if more information is needed, I can certainly supply it!
A note: This Thor has not yet been through the events leading up to Ragnarok. In Mayfield, Thor will not have witnessed the death of Baldr or Loki’s imprisonment, nor will he know the exact circumstances and details surrounding these events. All he knows of Loki’s treachery and the twilight of the gods is that he will die killing Jormungandr, and the worlds will end and be reborn.
Personality: Thor in every way embodies the appearance, thoughts, and actions of the ideal man, provided one picked up one’s standards for “ideal” in Scandinavia sometime around the 10th century. One way or another, he makes a strong first impression - though it’s best to hope his first impression of you is a favorable one.
To those who find his favor, Thor is genial, generous, loyal, and openhearted, a willing friend and protector. He likes people, and tends to believe the best of them; in his own time he was revered as the protector of mortal men, and he is quite a social god, known for his generous treatment of hosts and guests alike and willingness to fight for the cause of a friend. To those who manage to make him angry on a first meeting, however (possible crimes include tricking him, stealing from him, or just being from Jotunnheim), his wrath is swift and violent, and few can stand before him. He knows this well, and unless the matter is very pressing he has no problem using intimidation as a weapon (though part of the intimidation stems from the common knowledge that he has no trouble backing it up).
Thor isn’t the type to delude anyone into thinking he feels differently about them than he does, however. He finds dishonesty detestable and is straightforward, sometimes to a fault, and neither lies convincingly nor is able to catch when people are lying to him. This is why Loki has managed to pull the wool over his eyes so many times - you’d think Thor would have learned after the eighth or ninth time, but he continues to take everything that’s said to him at face value. He knows his wits are not his forte, and even prides himself on not needing to use them often. Having to rely on words is, in his opinion, the mark of a man too weak to solve his problems the honest way. Only when other options are exhausted will he resort to trickery, as when (at Loki’s behest) he donned a wedding dress and traveled to Jotunnheim disguised as the goddess Freyja, intending to retrieve his stolen hammer - and then he agreed only because without his hammer, his usual option of “kill everything” was not available to him. (It also helped that the last line of the plan was, essentially, “and then Thor takes the hammer back and kills all the witnesses.” Which is what happened.) Being pretty much the largest, most physically intimidating person in the nine realms (and having Loki as a wingman), Thor doesn’t really need to be clever most of the time. This is perfectly fine by him.
Just as he knows he can’t win battles of wits, Thor hates nothing more than being tricked, outwitted, or made a fool of in any way. Defeat and impotence are Thor’s worst enemies - he loathes being confronted with a task he cannot complete or an enemy he cannot face down. He turns sulky and angry when he’s thwarted, and like a storm on the horizon, it’s best to duck for shelter and ride out the impending disaster when this happens.
But! Luckily for those who cannot resist taking advantage of the thunder-god’s gullible streak, Thor doesn’t often hold a grudge. He is quick to anger, but also quick to forgive, and he has a soft spot for a sincere apology. (This is the primary reason Loki survived until Ragnarok.) Once recompense has been made, he usually sees no reason to continue an argument. His emotions and actions are generally decided on impulse, based on what seems most useful, entertaining, or likely to end in glory for him. And, well, he’s the thunder god - he’s not used to being called on his decisions, wise or otherwise. Much of his easy confidence comes from the fact that everyone he has ever known regards him with a mix of respect and fear, and he knows how indispensable his prowess in battle is to the Aesir. Moreover, as a god who knows the time and the circumstances of his own death, he knows he doesn’t have much to fear from any threat before that. Basically: Thor really and truly doesn’t afraid of anything.
Thor also has ingrained in him the customs and beliefs of his time and people. A world like Mayfield, where men are expected to fear death, where pastimes like drinking and fighting are frowned upon, and where everyone looks to an invisible world ahead rather than working for what glory they can find in the life they are given, is completely alien to him. Being forced to exist in a world where he has no control over the laws and isn’t automatically at the top of the system is intensely frustrating to him, moreso because his name and titles mean nothing to the majority of Mayfield. He will deal with this by being angry. Things will probably break.
Abilities: Before coming to Mayfield, Thor was a god with all related powers - he had control of storms, strength considered vast even among the Aesir, and even some skill with magic, for example the ability to slaughter the goats that draw his chariot and resurrect them again from bones. His hammer, Mjollnir, was a weapon with no equal, so powerful that even Thor could not wield it without magic iron gloves and a belt that doubled his strength when he wore it. The hammer came with its own set of abilities; it never missed nor failed to strike, always returned to the hand of the one who threw it, and even shrank down for easy transportability!
Unfortunately, Thor has lost all of this upon entering Mayfield. All he has kept of his former glory is a talent for wrestling and the ability to out-drink most freight trains.
Sample Entry: Thor in action! Thor in conversation!
This entry will double as Thor's HMD post! Please feel free to share any and all crit about Thor's characterization! Have I made an embarrassing historical/mythological error? Does my interpretation lack consistency? Is the archaic speech pattern painful to read? Don't be shy!! There are a million ways to write a mythological character, and I'm always up for discussing them! :D
Comments are screened, anon commenting is on.