Hela () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is based on the goddess Hel from Norse mythology, and was first adapted by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Journey into Mystery #102. Hela is the Asgardian Goddess of Death who serves as the ruler of Hel and Niflheim. The character is usually depicted as an adversary of the superhero Thor.
Hela made her live-action debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Thor: Ragnarok (2017), portrayed by Cate Blanchett.
Publication history
Hela was adapted from Norse myths by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Journey into Mystery #102 (March 1964).
Fictional character biography
Hela was born in Jotunheim, the land of the giants. She is the child of Loki (albeit a different incarnation who died during a previous Asgardian Ragnarok) and the giantess Angrboða. When she came of age, Odin appointed her as the Goddess of the Dead, giving her rulership over the dead in the realms of Hel and Niflheim.
Queen of Hel
Hela often tried to expand her power to the dead who dwell in Valhalla as well. These attempts often brought Hela into conflict with Odin or his son Thor. She once appeared to Thor while he was on the verge of death after battling the Wrecker, who knocked a building onto him while he was depowered. She failed to tempt Thor into entering Valhalla, despite an image of one that dwelled there.
Later, she stole a portion of the sleeping Odin's soul while he was on the Sea of Eternal Night due to Loki planning to take over Asgard, thus creating a powerful entity known as Infinity. Hela then unleashed Infinity upon the universe. Infinity even took control of Odin. Hela slew Thor, who was restored to life by the sacrifice of her servant, the Silent One. Hela was then slain by Odin to save Thor, but then returned to life by Odin after being convinced by Thor to restore the natural balance of life and death. Hela slew Thor after tracking him down by putting humans in danger, but restored him to life after Sif offered to die in his place.
Hela later battled the Olympian Death-god Pluto for the right to claim Odin's soul, as Odin had been killed by the monster Mangog. As a result, Hela restored Odin to life to prevent Pluto from claiming him. Some time later, Hela confronted Thor. Some time after that, she confronted Odin. She then plotted with Loki to bring about Ragnarök by slaying the god Balder then attacking Asgard. She summoned Volla's spirit before this to tell her and Loki about Ragnarok, after which she prepared an army of monsters to attack Asgard. However Odin used his powers to prevent Balder dying. Later Balder was restored after the Asgardian's death and resurrection battling the Celestials.
Hela then summoned the Valkyrie to aid in a war against Ollerus, while Hela encountered the other Defenders. Hela was then forced to join a conspiracy of Loki and Tyr against Odin. She also unwillingly entered an alliance with the death-gods of other Earth pantheons, joining their realms together to create a vast hell. As a result, she was destroyed and devoured along with other Death-gods by Demogorge the God-Eater, though it happened to her last, who was wakened by the joining, but was restored to life with Demogorge's defeat.
Hela later allied with Malekith, and took souls of Earth mortals to Hel using special food of the faerie. She then appeared in Asgard to claim Odin's soul, but was driven off by Thor. She encountered the X-Men and New Mutants in Asgard. She appeared to claim Wolverine's soul, but was driven off by the X-Men and Mirage. Hel was then invaded by Thor, Balder, the Executioner, and the Einherjar to rescue the captive mortal souls. Hela wrestled Thor for the captive mortal souls. Hela raised an army of the dead to stop Thor's escape from Hel.
During this fight with Thor, in revenge for his defiance and invasion of her realm, Hela cursed Thor with a dark form of eternal life, making him incapable of dying while also making his bones weak and brittle so that they would break more easily and wouldn't heal from the damage inflicted, Hela reflecting in satisfaction at the image of Thor coming to long for death while she refuses to grant it. Hela then contested against Mephisto who attempted to possess Thor's soul. Thor creates special mystical armor as protection, but after battling and defeating the Midgard Serpent, his body is pulverized into jelly. Thor eventually forces Hela to lift the curse by using the Destroyer as his host body to invade Hel, forcing Hela to restore his body to life and health before he could destroy her.