FAFNIR
FAFNIR
Real Name: Fafnir
Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Asgard) mystic
mutate;
condemned by Odin (monarch of Asgard)
Occupation: Vengeance-seeker; former king
Group Membership: Formerly the Ravagers from the realms of Ice and Death (Fafnir the Storm Giant, Forsung the Enchanter, Midgard Serpent, Nidhogg, an Ice Giant, a pair of Ice Dwarves)
Affiliations: Former agent of Kurse
formerly ally of Loki Laufeyson;
former ruler of the people of Nastrond
Enemies: Eilif Dragonslayer, Fandral, Hogun, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Lorelei, Odin Borson, Steve Rogers, Thor Odinson, Volstagg, Young Gods (Brightsword, Genii, Harvest); crew of The Astraglia; people of South Bronx, New York City, New York
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Dragon King, Great Dragon, Lord Fafnir
Base of Operations: Unrevealed location in Asgard;
formerly Hel;
formerly a subterranean cavern under Manhattan, New York;
formerly Nastrond
First Appearance: Thor I#134/2 (November, 1966)
Powers/Abilities: Fafnir is an immensely strong and
durable dragon. At the peak of his power, he surpassed Thor's Class 100 strength
and was virtually invulnerable; even Thor's mightiest blows might only knock him
off his feet. He could exhale mystic flames capable of incinerating gods and
other mystic beings of Asgard, though their exact temperature extreme is
unrevealed.
Fafnir can project an illusory image of himself as an aged
man, affecting both visual and auditory senses.
He could mentally ensorcel others with wills weaker than his own, even affecting others with persuasive/hypnotic powers. Fafnir can exist indefinitely without food, water, or oxygen.
Height: Unrevealed; (human/illusory form) varies (12'-25' seen)
Weight: Unrevealed; (human/illusory form) varies
(approximately 375 lbs. and 300 lbs. seen)
Eyes: Red; (human/illusory form) green
Hair: None; (human form) white; possibly another color in his youth
History:
(Thor I#288 (fb) - BTS) - Fafnir of Nastrond was named after the Storm Giant
Fafnir, brother of Fasolt, involved with the Rhinegold.
(Thor I#341 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#17 (fb) - BTS) <An unrevealed number of centuries ago> - Fafnir of Nastrond was a mortal (see comments) king who dallied with paltry evils.
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#17 (fb) - BTS) - King Fafnir was the most evil of the people of Nastrond, who were infamous for their malevolent, immoral ways.
(Thor I#134/2 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#17 (fb) - BTS) - In Nastrond, under Fafnir's leadership, the "evil race" dared defy lord Odin. So monumental was Odin's wrath that he laid waste to the countryside so that nothing could live there. Even rivers were turned to cracked crystal.
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#17 (fb)
- BTS) - It has been said that Odin destroyed the people of Nastrond, while
Fafnir was sentenced to death and left to starve to death in the barren Nastrond.
(Thor I#134/2 (fb) - BTS) - Fafnir took refuge in the Cave of
the Ancients, in
which he found a radiant pool, where "deadly rays of shimmering energy feed upon
themselves eternally." Though fearful of the energies, long years of exposure
changed Fafnir's form and bestowed upon him great power, transforming him into
an immense dragon able to survive the deadly land but possessing the ability to
project the image of an aged man.
For untold ages, Fafnir waited in the cavern, gathering new
strength, new power with each passing day, and waiting and hoping for a
visitation from the sons of Asgard.
(Thor I#135/2 (fb) - BTS) - In more recent years, Odin suspected Fafnir had somehow lived on. Odin realized that Fafnir's defeat was needed in order to restore life to Nastrond.
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#17 (fb)
- BTS) - Odin was either incapable or unwilling of restoring life to Nastrond
until Fafnir was defeated.
(Thor I#134/2 (fb) - BTS) - Odin sent Thor and the Warriors Three to inspect Nastrond and survey his handiwork, but did not reveal his secret intent for Thor to encounter and defeat Fafnir.
(Thor I#134/2) - After a day of surveying the land, Thor and the Warriors Three made camp for the night in preparation to return to Asgard in the morning. Volstagg volunteered to stand watch, but eventually fell asleep. Taking the form of an elderly man, Fafnir approached, awakening the sleeping Volstagg and quietly offering to take him to the Cave of the Ancients, where no Asgardian had ever trod, wherein he would find knowledge fit only for the greatest of warriors. His ego stoked by this ruse, Volstagg accompanied Fafnir (who had not identified himself) into a cavern. Volstagg wondered how the man could have survived in a land where no life endures, and the man showed him the radiant pool, revealed his origins, and began to assume his true form. Volstagg fled to no avail, and the immense Fafnir snatched him into the air. Fafnir was most pleased to have Odin's son Thor present as well as a perfect hostage to entrap Thor.
(Thor I#135/2) - When Thor, Fandral, and Hogun went in search
of the missing Volstagg the next morning, Fafnir, waiting beneath a rocky
overpass, suddenly burst through the ground as the gods walked above him.
Announcing his name and intent to slay Thor, Fafnir grabbed Thor and proved
immune to Fandral's blade when Fandral tried to free Thor. With a mighty blow of
Mjolnir, Thor stung Fafnir into releasing him and demanded Fafnir reveal
Volstagg's location. Refusing, Fafnir unleashed his fiery breath, but Thor
unleashed his hammer again, driving back but still failing to harm Fafnir.
Observing from within his palace via his Universal Mirror
(aka Eterna-Screen) and confirming his suspicions of Fafnir's survival, Odin
noted how Thor must crush this form of evil in order to restore life to Nastrond.
(Thor I#136/2) - As Fafnir approached again, vowing to slay
Thor, the son of Odin struck Mjolnir against the ground, creating a lightning
storm that lashed out against Fafnir until causing the ground beneath Fafnir to
shatter. Fafnir fell into a gigantic chasm in which he was trapped.
Locating and freeing Volstagg, Thor and the other Warriors
Three fled the firestorm Thor had created, after which rain fell in Nastrond for
the first time since Odin's destruction of the land.
From the rain, eventually grass and plants grew, symbolizing
new life.
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#17 (fb)
- BTS) - Fafnir was released from the chasm in which he was trapped by an
earthquake.
(Thor I#286 - BTS / Thor I#287 (fb) - BTS) - Odin sent the Warriors Three on a mission to a cavern in "another world."
(Thor I#287) - As the unsuspecting Warriors Three arrived in the cavern, Fafnir confronted them, stomping Fandral flat, swatting and then snaring Hogun with his tail and cornering Volstagg against a wall. Noting that they were there on an errand from Odin, Volstagg asked that they be allowed to complete it and they would part peacefully, but mentioning Odin's name enraged Fafnir, who vowed to have vengeance by slaying Odin's lackeys.
(Thor I#288) - Volstagg dodged Fafnir's flames and struck
Fafnir in the belly, but his sword bounced off the dragon's flesh. Fandral
hurled his own sword into Fafnir's left eye, causing the dragon to release both
Fandral and Hogun, but his agonized spasms stunned the gods, leaving them
weaponless as well. Noting that the gods' could only be taken to Valhalla if
their bodies remained to be transported there, Fafnir unleashed a fiery blast
that engulfed them.
Odin observed this from his Universal Mirror, grieving the
warriors' seeming loss.
(Thor I#291) - With Fafnir and the Warriors perhaps held in temporal stasis (as the scene in Universal Mirror had not changed since Sif first glimpsed it), Fafnir was suddenly struck down by the Young Gods Genii, Brightsword, and Harvest (in giant form).
(Thor I#318 (fb) - BTS) - Fafnir somehow returned to his
former cave in Nastrond, the core of which remained bare despite most of the
kingdom returning to life.
(Thor I#318) - Loki traveled to Fafnir's cave in Nastrond, offering Fafnir vengeance on Thor and a new kingdom. Willing to do anything for such opportunities, Fafnir was transported by Loki to an island in the Pacific Ocean, to which Loki lured Thor by causing a tidal wave via the Norn Stones. After Thor dealt with the tidal wave, Loki animated a series of stone statues to attack Thor, then to the cavern where Fafnir awaited. As Loki laughed, Fafnir missed Thor with a fiery flame burst, then stunned him with a slap. As Fafnir cursed Odin's name and curse, Thor recovered and struck Fafnir to the ground with a mighty blow of Mjolnir. When Loki prepared to aid Fafnir, Thor used the Norn Stones he had recovered to focus a lightning bolt that stunned both foes. Odin then appeared, telling Fafnir had he petitioned him for a second chance, he would have obtained it; instead, having chosen the base path of vengeance, he was banished back to the bleak core of Nastrond eternally in his dragon form.
(Thor I#341 (fb) - BTS) - Somehow trapped beneath Earth, Fafnir grew larger and more powerful over time.
(Thor I#341 (fb) - BTS) - During some sort of quake, Fafnir was released from his prison.
(Thor I#340) - Off the coast of Cape Cod, Fafnir suddenly surfaced, destroying The Astraglia tanker and swearing to have vengeance on Odin by slaying Thor.
(Thor I#341) - Advised of Fafnir's location by Loki, Lorelei traveled to a hidden passageway in an abandoned subway station. Confronting Fafnir, Lorelei attempted to use her magical allure to bend his will to hers, but instead, also possessing the power of persuasion, Fafnir enslaved Lorelei instead.
(Thor I#341 - BTS) - Fafnir had Lorelei suspended from the top of a crane in a Manhattan construction site (under Jerry Sapristi, who had just hired Thor in his mortal guise of Sigurd Jarlson).
(Thor I#341) - When Thor saved Lorelei, Fafnir confronted
Thor, shattering the building-in-progress on which he stood. Protecting himself
and Lorelei with a vortex created by Mjolnir, Thor broke free from the rubble
and smashed Fafnir in the chest with Mjolnir. Thor threatened Fafnir to tell how
he came there and what he wanted, but Fafnir instead attacked, with fists and
fiery blasts. Narrowly dodging the flames and noticing the rubble had been set
alight, Thor summoned a powerful storm. Fearing the lightning assault that had
defeated him long ago, Fafnir fled, burrowing into the ground to choose another
battle site at some future date so that Thor could not trap him beneath the
Earth again.
Thor prepared to follow, but Fafnir's escape path had broken
through into the river, and Thor had to stop to block a flooding of the subways.
(Thor I#342) - Having returned to another cavern beneath New York City's streets, Fafnir raged, realizing with his current greater power that he should not have feared Thor's assault. Seeking to draw Thor's attention for another battle, Fafnir quickly battered his way to the surface in the South Bronx, vowing to destroy the city unless Thor was brought before him.
(Thor I#343) - Fafnir continued his assault on the South
Bronx, repeating his ultimatum for them to bring him Thor or her soul destroy
the city. Present in a lost Antarctic valley alongside the last of a Viking
tribe, Eilif (whose spear Odin -- in mortal guise -- enchanted). Riding atop the
winged Valkyrior steed Cloudstrider, Eilif joined Thor in confronting Fafnir,
shortly after Fafnir defeated the National Guard in the South Bronx. Thor
knocked Fafnir from his feet, but the dragon struck with his tail, and Eilif's
enchanted shield deflected the blow from Thor. When Fafnir tried to grab Thor,
Thor knocked his hand back with his hammer, then summoned the storm's fury, but
Fafnir proved impervious to even this assault. Fafnir next struck at Eilif with
a fiery burst, which Eilif's shield withstood, but then Fafnir's tail unseated
Eilif from Cloudstrider, and Eilif fell to the ground far below. With Thor
distracted with Eilif's injury, Fafnir knocked Thor from his Toothgnasher and
Toothgrinder-driven cart, then swatted Thor down with his tail.
As the magic that had restored the aged Eilif's strength
faded, Eilif, realizing he was dying, nonetheless climbed atop the highest point
and leapt atop Fafnir, driving his enchanted spear into the dragon's flesh.
Fafnir howled in pain and swatted Eilif away, then turned to finish him off, but
the reviving Thor spied Eilif's spear lodged in Fafnir, then flew into the air
and drove the spear deep into Fafnir with a blow of his hammer, using all of his
and its power. Screaming in pain, Fafnir fell, dead. Granting Eilif a Viking's
funeral, Thor hurled Fafnir's form at Eilif's feet, then summoned lighting to
incinerate it. The Valkyrior arrived, under Odin's watchful eye, and guided
Eilif into Valhalla, the last Viking.
(Thor I#486) - Guided into invading Hel and defeating Hela by Malekith, Kurse led the Ravagers from the realms of Ice and Death, a number of deceased villains and monsters, including both Fafnir of Nastrond and Fafnir the Storm Giant (as well as the Midgard Serpent, an Ice Giant, a pair of Ice Dwarves, Forsung the Enchanter, and Nidhogg), to Earth to assault Thor (Malekith had ensorcelled Kurse to see Thor as Malekith).
(Thor I#487 (fb) - BTS) - Kurse promised the Fafnirs and other warriors he rose from Hel an honored place in Hel if they destroyed his enemies.
(Thor I#487) - Under Kurse's guidance, both Fafnirs (and the others risen from Hel) assaulted Manhattan and then Sif, who stood by Thor's side. Sif was soon aided by the Godpack and the High Evolutionary, with a lightning blast from Blitziana driving back Fafnir of Nastrond. Blitziana continued her assault on Fafnir of Nastrond, who nonetheless unleashed a fiery blast against Sif. Balder, the Warriors Three, and Beta Ray Bill soon arrived to aid Thor and the Godpack.
(Thor I#488) - When Fafnir of Nastrond tried to stomp on Sif, Thor stopped Fafnir's foot and hurled the giant dragon into a nearby building. When Kurse assaulted Thor, Beta Ray Bill took on Fafnir, unwittingly knocking the dragon back into a building that collapsed atop Sif and Jane Foster-Kincaid. Hela arrived soon after and put a halt to the Ravagers' assaults, and Thor dissuaded Hela from using the Ravagers to seek out Malekith by agreeing to become her slave. Hela thus transported the Ravagers back to Hel.
(Thor III#5-6 - BTS) - Fafnir was presumably restored to existence when Thor revived the various forces of Asgard following the most recent Ragnarok (see comments).
(Avengers Prime#2 (fb) - BTS) - All nine realms of Asgard were
disrupted by Thor bringing the Asgard landmass to Earth.
(Avengers Prime#2) - A group of giants (or ogres or trolls) captured Iron Man (Tony Stark) who had been transported to Jotunheim (?) by a mystic disruption that also de-powered his armor, and they brought him before Fafnir in his humanoid form. Fafnir was uninterested in him until the captors noted he had stated himself as an ally of "Lord Thor," at which point Fafnir returned to his dragon form, noting his ire. As the giants dismantled Iron Man's armor, Fafnir noted his anger with Asgard's disruption and the invasion of humanity, blaming Thor (and all of Odin's house) for it all. Fafnir prodded Stark with his talons, then held him still as a red hot iron was applied to his chest. When Thor's lightning appeared in the sky soon after (as Thor battled Hela), the giants were startled, Fafnir noted it as a sign, and Stark told them all they had better run.
(Avengers Prime#3) - When the giants learned Thor has actually
returned to life, they started to fight against Fafnir, as they feared Thor
would kill them. An angry Fafnir breathed fire, killing many of the giants and
when Fafnir turned back around, Stark has escaped on a horse. Fafnir killed
Stark's giant guard and chased Stark, setting fire to much of the forest around
him. Fafnir was soon met by Steve Rogers, who fought Fafnir single-handedly.
After Rogers stabbed Fafnir several times, Fafnir reverted to the form of an
elderly humanoid and fell (presumably) unconscious. Stark and Rogers departed to
find Thor.
Meanwhile, Thor realized they were all in Hel.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta.
In Thor#341, Fafnir described himself as "once a mortal
king"...but OHotMU DE describes Nastrond as part of the Asgard landmass, making
me think he wouldn't be "mortal."
Michael Hoskin suggested mortal meant "humanoid" in this
instance...not sure that's an accurate definition, but it it most likely an
accurate assessment.
Circa
Thor#340-343, Thor describes Fafnir as someone he had opposed ages ago (in Tales
of Asgard from Thor#134-136), when he had just fought months before in Thor#318.
I know the writer/editor may have made the mistake, but any reason covered in a
letter page or something else? A No-Prize, maybe?
That could be overlooked, but more significant is the fact that the flashback in
Thor#341 describes (referring to Thor#134-136 encounter)
Thor: "...and I split the very Earth asunder so that you were swallowed up and vanished."
Fafnir: "True! All true! I was trapped beneath the Earth for eons, growing and hating, until recently the ground shook again and broke, releasing me from my prison!"
at which point, he escaped in Thor#340...
What about shape-changing power to describe his significantly different appearance circa Thor#318, or just artistic license?
Not sure if that was supposed to be Fafnir's true form in Avengers Prime#2-3, rather than just the illusory form he adopted, as he reverted to it upon being wounded.
Since the encounter with Fafnir took place in Hel, it may be that he was never resurrected.
I thought the Ravagers from the realms of Ice and Death were called the Ravagers of Midgard somewhere, but didn't see it in reviewing Thor#486-488...probably just missed it.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Fafnir of Nastrond was named for:
but has no KNOWN connections to:
images: (without ads)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#17: Fafnir profile - art
by Walt Simonson?
Thor I#134/2, pg. 3, panel 2 & 3 (body & face of illusory old man appearance)
pg. 4, panel 2 (radiant pool)
pg. 5, panel 1 (Fafnir nabs Volstagg)
Thor I#287, pg. 10, panel 3 (vs. Warriors Three)
Thor I#318, pg. 16, panel 4
Avengers Prime#2, pg. 12, panel 2 & 3 (illusory form, body & face)
Appearances:
Thor I#134/2-135/2 (November-December, 1966) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack
Kirby (penciler), Vince Colletta (inker)
Thor I#136/2 (January, 1967) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (penciler),
Vince Colletta (inker)
Thor I#287-288 (September-October, 1979) - Roy Thomas (writer/editor), Keith
Pollard (penciler), Chic Stone (inker)
Thor I#291 (January, 1980) - Roy Thomas (writer/editor), Keith Pollard (penciler),
Chic Stone (inker)
Thor I#318 (April, 1982) - Doug Moench (writer), Gil Kane (artist), Jim Salicrup
(editor)
Thor I#340-343 (February-May, 1984) - Walter Simonson (writer/artist), Mark
Gruenwald (editor)
Thor I#486 (May, 1995) - Roy Thomas (writer), M.C. Wyman (penciler), Mike
DeCarlo (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Thor I#487 (June, 1995) - Roy Thomas (writer), M.C. Wyman (penciler), Mike
DeCarlo & Charles Barnett III (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Thor I#488 (July, 1995) - Roy Thomas (writer), M.C. Wyman (penciler), Mike
DeCarlo (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Avengers Prime#2-3 (October-November, 2010) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer),
Alan Davis (penciler), Mark Farmer (inker), Lauren Sankovitch (associate
editor), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Last updated: 10/05/10
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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