Thor Girl

Thor Girl (Tarene) is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Dan Jurgens and artist John Romita Jr., the character first appeared in Thor vol. 2 #22 (April 2000).[1][2] Tarene is the object of a prophecy stating that she will help life reach a new level of existence throughout the universe.[3][4]

Thor Girl
Tarene / Thor Girl.
Art by Tom Raney.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceThor vol. 2 #22
(April 2000)
Created byDan Jurgens
John Romita Jr.
In-story information
Alter egoTarene
SpeciesAlien
Team affiliationsThe Initiative
Notable aliasesThe Designate
The Supreme
Thunder Girl
Thor Girl
Abilities

Publication history

Tarene debuted in Thor vol. 2 #22 (April 2000), created by writer Dan Jurgens and artist John Romita Jr.[5] She appeared in the 2011 Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt series.[6]

Fictional character biography

In the beginning of time, an alien sorcerer named X'Hoss foretold the creation of the Designate, who will help evolve sentient beings to the next level of existence. Billions of years later, Tarene is born. She is told about the fate of the evil Destroyer and together with others seeks a way to stop him. In the meantime, Thanos (later retconned as a clone) obtains X'Hoss' knowledge and destroys Tarene's home-world. With Thor's help, she defeats him.[7]

Tarene later transforms herself into an Asgardian goddess and becomes Thor's loyal ally, taking the name "Thor Girl" and the human identity of Jake Olson's "cousin" Tara.[8] She tries to assist Thor in his adventures, aiding him in his confrontations with Gladiator,[9] and Nullitor.[10] She is transferred into the shell of the Destroyer by Loki, causing her to fight Thor. With the help of Amora, they find Tarene's body and Odin casts her back into her body, where she takes her vengeance on Loki.[11] In a later battle against a revived Surtur she sacrifices nearly all of her cosmic powers to contribute the additional power needed to defeat him.[12] Upon Odin's apparent death, Thor Girl loses most of her cosmic powers.[13] She retains the powers she had as Thor Girl.[14][15] She returns to Earth in an attempt to live a normal life as Tara Olson, but is also seen adventuring occasionally. She knows that she is destined to, and one day will, regain her full power and then some, to become the Designate.

Civil War/The Initiative

Thor Girl is one of the heroes who registers with the Superhuman Registration Act that was forged during the 2006-2007 "Civil War" storyline. After the Superhuman Registration Act is passed, Thor Girl interferes in a jewel theft undertaken by the Grey Gargoyle, a previous foe of hers, and dispatches him, preventing the jewel heist in the process. In return, the Grey Gargoyle undertakes a lawsuit with the assistance of Mallory Book at the Superhuman Law Offices of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway.

Thor Girl is one of the first recruits for the Camp Hammond training facility. Other trainees included: Bengal, Cloud 9, Slapstick, Trauma, Armory, Rage, and Komodo.[16]

The Initiative recruits are sent as crowd control in Manhattan with Thor Girl aiding mass evacuation when the city is attacked by the Hulk, who is seeking revenge upon the Illuminati. However, Rage breaks ranks to try to help the Avengers in battle against the Hulk and his Warbound, and Thor Girl is among the trainees who sides with Rage. Easily defeated, Thor Girl and the others are imprisoned at Manhattan Square Gardens and controlled by obedience disks. The Initiative's black ops team, including the empathic metamorph Trauma, are sent in to free Thor Girl and her compatriots, with Trauma assuming the form and powers of Thor as he battles the Warbound, leaving Thor Girl awestruck by the encounter.[17]

Subsequent to Trauma's assumption of Thor's form, Thor Girl has expressed a kind of hero worship of and becomes enamored with Trauma. However, both Tarene and Trauma are brutally attacked by the MVP clone, calling himself KIA (Killed In Action). Tarene is badly burned while protecting Trauma, who is then stabbed in the chest by KIA.[18]

Thor Girl recovers fairly quickly. At first, she assists in a mass super-human effort dedicated to rebuilding New York.[19] Later, she is assigned together with Ultra Girl to the Cavalry, Georgia's local superhero team, once her Initiative training is complete.[20]

Secret Invasion

During the Secret Invasion storyline, the Skrull Dum Dum Dugan calls all the sleeper agents in the Initiative, causing Ultra Girl and Thor Girl to fight each other out of fear. When the Skrull Kill Krew arrives to the scene, 3-D Man confirms that Thor Girl is a Skrull, killing her with her own hammer with the help of Gravity.[21] It is unclear at this point how long the Skrull agent had been impersonating Thor Girl.

After the invasion is over, the real Thor Girl is shown in a support group meeting with the others that had been replaced by Skrulls.[22] She attends a therapy session with Trauma, when Camp Hammond is attacked by the Thor clone Ragnarok. The clone beats Thor Girl badly, until Gauntlet intervenes.[23]

Fear Itself

During the Fear Itself storyline, Thor Girl joins Steve Rogers' New Initiative, under Prodigy's leadership. She is quite confused about why Odin took all of the Asgardians back to the Asgard Realm, and is still deciding as to whether she should join them. While saving some people in the city, she is attacked because she has a hammer similar to those which had been appearing all around the earth, and accidentally kills a police officer who shot at her by deflecting the bullets back into him. At Prodigy's request she turns herself in and is kept in a holding cell. But when she is accosted by men outside the cell, who attempted to interrogate her as to the nature of the Worthy, Cloud 9 arrives to rescue her and subdues the men. After defeating Quicksand, who was on a murder spree, they joined in the battle against Juggernaut, who was transformed into Kuurth: Breaker of Stone, in Las Vegas and rescued civilians. Due to a misunderstanding she was attacked by the other heroes, despite her attempts to explain herself or she was only acting in defense. During the battle, her designate powers returned. She declared Earth's heroes to be little better than those who tortured her and as a whole proof that humanity is still too flawed to be worthy of ascending. She left Earth for the stars.[24]

Powers and abilities

Tarene has the conventional physical attributes of Asgardian gods after turning into an Asgardian goddess.[25][26] She possesses superhuman strength, stamina, durability, speed, agility, and reflexes. Her godly life-force enables faster recovery time. Tarene has a wide range of cosmic powers.[27][28] She is effectively immortal and immune to all Earth-based diseases.[29]

Additionally, Tarene wields a golden hammer which returns to her when thrown.[30] She can use it to fly, fire energy beams, control the weather, and traverse dimensional barriers, such as from Earth to Asgard.[31][32]

Reception

Critical response

Screen Rant included Tarene in their "Marvel Comics: 15 Most Powerful Enchanted Hammer Users (Who Aren’t Thor)" list.[33] Comic Book Resources ranked Tarene 1st in their "Avengers: The 10 Most Powerful Recruits From The Fifty State Initiative" list,[34] 9th in their "15 Craziest Versions Of Thor" list,[35] and 19th in their "20 Strongest Versions Of Thor" list.[36]

Other versions

An alternate version of Tarene appears in one alternate future world. She tried to reach back in time to empower the alien Desak trying to locate a missing Thor.[37][38]

In other media

Video games

References
  1. DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019). The Marvel Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. p. 373. ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
  2. Buxton, Marc (July 18, 2014). "Those Who Have Been Worthy: Marvel's Many Mighty Thors". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  3. Kantor, Jonathan H. (2019-11-19). "Thor: Ranking Every Hammer Worst To Best". WhatCulture. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  4. Wood, Robert (September 9, 2022). "Thanos' Most Brutal Death Is Too R-Rated for the MCU". Screen Rant. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  5. Paugh, Steve (2017-04-11). "Gotta Catch 'Em Mjolnir: The 15 Coolest Versions Of Thor's Hammer". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  6. McNally, Victoria (October 31, 2016). "18 Marvel heroines who are better at being Thor than that Hemsworth guy". CafeMom. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  7. The Mighty Thor Vol 2 #25 (July 2000)
  8. Thor vol. 2 #34 (April 2001). Marvel Comics.
  9. Thor vol. 2 #34-35 (2001). Marvel Comics.
  10. Thor vol. 2 #33 (March 2001). Marvel Comics.
  11. Thor vol. 2 #36-38 (2001). Marvel Comics.
  12. Thor vol. 2 #38 (August 2001)
  13. Thor vol. 2 #40 (October 2001). Marvel Comics.
  14. Thor vol. 2 #41 (November 2001). Marvel Comics.
  15. Blunden, Fred (2017-04-22). "Thor's 16 Greatest Hammers, Ranked!". Screen Rant. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  16. Avengers: The Initiative #1. Marvel Comics.
  17. Avengers: The Initiative #5. Marvel Comics.
  18. Avengers: The Initiative #9. Marvel Comics.
  19. World War Hulk Aftersmash: Damage Control #1-3 (March 2008)
  20. Avengers: The Initiative #12. Marvel Comics.
  21. Avengers: The Initiative #18
  22. Avengers: The Initiative #20
  23. Avengers: The Initiative #21
  24. Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt #1-6
  25. Marvel (April 11, 2019). "5 Other Thors". Marvel.com. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  26. Burlingame, Russ (July 19, 2014). "Who Is The Female Thor? Five Possible Answers". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  27. Shiach, Kieran (August 3, 2016). "The Replacements: Odinson And The Legacy Of Thor". ComicsAlliance. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  28. Martin, Michileen; Stevens, Timothy (July 11, 2022). "The Many Thors Of Marvel". Looper. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  29. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Vol 1 #12 (January 2010)
  30. Stalberg, Allison (May 11, 2018). "Infinity War: Ranking 20 Of Thor's Great Hammers From Weakest To OP". TheGamer.com. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  31. Marvel Avengers: The Ultimate Character Guide Vol 1 #2 (March 2015)
  32. Ryder, Jamie (2019-07-02). "10 Most Powerful Asgardian Weapons In Marvel History". WhatCulture. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  33. Beaty, Drew (2021-09-02). "Marvel Comics: 15 Most Powerful Enchanted Hammer Users (Who Aren't Thor)". Screen Rant. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  34. Harn, Darby (2020-04-26). "Avengers: The 10 Most Powerful Recruits From The Fifty State Initiative, Ranked". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  35. C. B. R. Staff (2017-04-22). "Thor Corps: The Absolute Craziest Versions Of Thor". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  36. Lune, Matt (2017-08-14). "Thors To Be Reckoned With: The 20 Strongest Versions Of Thor". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  37. Thor Annual 2001
  38. Thor vol. 2 #48, 50
  39. Chrysostomou, George (2021-09-06). "Lego Marvel's Avengers Characters: 10 Tips For Beginners". Screen Rant. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  40. "Voice Of Thor Girl – Behind The Voice Actors". Behind The Voice Actors. Check marks indicates role has been confirmed using screenshots of closing credits and other reliable sources{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
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