Such is the power of Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, that when it's hurled:
Well, don't expect to be standing after it impacts.
Now, there have been plenty of Thor's opponents who have risen to their feet and come back swinging after Mjolnir has been thrown at them, the Hulk being one of them. But it's a rare day when Mjolnir has been hurled to absolutely no effect against an unflinching foe.
Which brings us to our hard-hitting
Marvel Trivia Question
What characters have been able to laugh off this guy's pitch?
Turns out you have to scrape the barrel for the list. First of all, there's Galactus:
Galactus admitted to feeling pain at the strike--but any guy who not only stays on his feet but in the same breath threatens retaliation qualifies for this list, in my book. Besides, does he look like he was struck by anything other than surprise?
There's also Him, who angered Thor by making off with Sif:
Let's just say that Him didn't do quite as well against Thor as he did against the hammer.
Then there was Hyperion, from the Squadron Sinister:
No idea why this guy wasn't nailed. Then again, if you have the power to "obliterate a planet," I guess you'd be on even ground with Mjolnir.
And out of left field, we had the Radioactive Man:
Radioactive Man was actually the first human formerly billed as having the ability to resist a strike from Mjolnir--which was an odd choice, since, when Thor battled Kang, Mjolnir proved it could not only resist radioactivity but also harness it:
Thor also couldn't make a dent in adamantium, the ultra-strong metal devised by physicist Myron MacLain of S.H.I.E.L.D.--so by extension that also meant Ultron, when he recast himself in the new metal after having the Vision steal it:
And Mangog went them all one better, by actually belting Mjolnir away:
We'd also naturally think of the Celestials in this kind of scenario--but I was trying to restrict this question to a hurled hammer vs. one swung by Thor's arm, and I haven't seen an instance of the former in any of Thor's encounters with the Celestials--as opposed to the latter, where he's been known to actually crack open one of the space-gods. Galactus, in contrast, is unique in being able to casually withstand both methods of attack (though not Mjolnir's raw power itself when merged with Thor's strength).
Another being who I thought certainly would be in Hyperion's class would be Gladiator, but considering this little exchange:
I can't imagine Gladiator would have had any better luck with just a flung hammer.
So I throw it out to you: who else in the Marvel universe is a card-carrying member of this little club?
juggernaut
ReplyDeleteYes, good call!
ReplyDeleteOdin. Well, not that I can recall a specific moment when Thor's pop was hit by Mjolnir. But when strange circumstances have the hammer coming his way, he simply catches it and takes ownership.
ReplyDeleteThe Destroyer is sometimes tripped up and sometimes the engine of destruction takes the hammer strike in stride.
Super-de-dooper Count Nefaria. In that Avengers story, the Count stopped Mjolnir in mid-swing with the palm of his hand.
Durok the Demolisher. The creation of Karnilla and Loki stayed standing after the first blow Thor tried against the monster. In the following issue, Thor obviously put more pepper in his attack, because Durok became one of the "knocked down but unhurt" league.
Back in the glory days, the first encounter with the Colonizers of Rigel showed a group mind defense of five Rigellians was enough to project a field capable of stopping Mjolnir before impact...temporarily.
I'd not write off Gladiator there. If I recall the story correctly he was A) some years older (I want to say "50") than we generally see him due to time travel and B) had just been going flat out in days of combat and was bone-tired when he encountered Thor.