Gorr the God Butcher

: "This is my vow. All gods will die."
: ―Gorr the God Butcher[src]
Gorr was a vengeful galactic killer who sought the extinction of all gods, being titled as the God Butcher. Once a devout and peaceful man, Gorr lost his faith after the death of his daughter. Enraged at how the gods belittled his suffering, Gorr happened upon the All-Black the Necrosword. With his life entwined with the blade, Gorr embarked on a campaign of slaughter against the gods, while seeking Eternity to grant his wish to bring about their extinction. Requiring the Bifrost Bridge to open the Gates of Eternity, Gorr kidnapped the children of New Asgard to lure Thor to him, intending to steal Stormbreaker, which could summon the Bifrost. Confronted in the Shadow Realm, Gorr took Stormbreaker, proceeding to seek out Eternity, where he was confronted again by Thor and the Mighty Thor, who shattered the Necrosword. Managing to reach Eternity, the dying Gorr was convinced by Thor to use his wish to bring his daughter back, whom Gorr entrusted her to Thor, dying as a content man.
== Biography ==
=== Early Life ===
==== Disciple of Rapu ====
Gorr was born on an unnamed planet, and was given a daughter. They both constantly prayed to their planet's god Rapu, with his daughter drawing pictures of him while Gorr prayed. He had his head tattooed with symbols of his devotion to Rapu. However, despite Gorr's continuous prayers to Rapu, the people of Gorr's planet died from the heat and lack of food and water, leaving only Gorr and his increasingly weakening daughter left.
=== Losing Everything ===
==== Demise of His Daughter ====
: "Oh, great and mighty Rapu... we pray to you for water and sustenance. I pray to you, not for me, but for my daughter."
: ―Gorr[src]
Sometime later, Gorr was forced to carry his daughter up to their altar, with Gorr pleading to Rapu to provide them substances. However, when Gorr noticed his daughter was on the verge of death, Gorr cradled her, telling his daughter that there was going to be a great land and water for them, but his weakened daughter just told Gorr that she was tired before passing away in Gorr's arms.
==== Gaining the Necrosword ====
: "You are no god. I renounce you."
: ―Gorr to Rapu[src]
Awaiting his own death, Gorr mourned for his daughter, until he heard a voice beckoning for Gorr. Confused, Gorr followed the voice into a lavish forest, where he gratefully swam in the stream, gaining water after a long time, and ate some fruit that was in front of him, where he was interrupted by someone.
Recognizing the person as the god Rapu, Gorr immediately bowed in front of him, before introducing himself as the last of his Disciple, while believing that the fruit was a part of the "eternal reward" that Rapu had promised.
Mocking Gorr, Rapu clarified that there was no eternal reward, and that they were celebrating the death of the Dark Shadow Lord, who had been the last wielder of All-Black the Necrosword, whom was threatening his empire. Gorr pointed out how there's no empire left, where Rapu answered, stating that there will always be more followers to replace him. Saddened, Gorr told how his kind have suffered, and how they and his daughter died in his name.
The now enraged Gorr stated that Rapu didn't deserve to be worshiped, tearing off his medallion of Rapu. The god grabbed Gorr by the throat, proclaiming that Gorr now had a purpose, to die by his hand. However, the shadow that Gorr and Rapu cast, allowed the Necrosword to rise into Gorr's hands, telling him to find Eternity by using a Bifrost Bridge, where he proceeded to stab Rapu in the throat.
Putting him down, Rapu explained to Gorr how the Necrosword had chosen him, and that now Gorr will be cursed by the sword. However, as the Necrosword physically changed Gorr, he told Rapu and the other gods that it didn't feel like a curse, but a promise, before stating that his vow is to kill all gods, before beheading Rapu.
=== Cosmic Killing Spree ===
==== Slaughtering the Gods ====
: "The God Butcher is coming. He seeks the extinction of the gods."
: ―Sif to Thor[src]
After taking the Necrosword's goal, Gorr traveled the cosmos through the Shadow Realm, and with the help of the Shadow Monsters slaying any gods he can find, until he found Eternity, eventually being known as the God Butcher, being feared by the like of Zeus among others. On his journey, Gorr killed Sky Lords of Indigarr, leaving the Indigarrians unprotected, allowing Habooska the Horrible and his army to invade the planet.
==== Attack on Falligar the Behemoth ====
: "I've been hunting a madman. I followed him here, but it was a trap."
: ―Sif to Thor[src]
Gorr then went out into the universe on a killing spree with the Shadow Monsters, leaving the planets that his victims once protected to be ransacked by invaders. During his time, Gorr would be challenged by Falligar the Behemoth and Lady Sif, however Gorr killed Falligar and cut off Sif's arm, proceeding to find other Asgardians.
==== Attack on New Asgard ====
Gorr traveled to Earth and went to New Asgard, Norway. He stared out at New Asgard, before sending out the Shadow Monsters to attack the Asgardians. Gorr then approached himself and saw that the monsters had already caused quite a bit of destruction. He eventually spotted Thor, and used the shadows to closer to him.
After ambushing him, Gorr used the Shadow tentacles to pin Thor to a car. Gorr noticed that Thor possessed the Bifrost imbued Stormbreaker and tried to take it, but Thor fought back. Gorr was soon cornered by Thor, Valkyrie, Mighty Thor, and some Einherjar. He let them go, slipping into the shadows. Gorr then used the Shadow Monsters to kidnap the Asgardian children and shove them into a shadow cage, Gorr turned around and saw as Thor and Mighty Thor charged at him, before he teleported himself, along with the children. He now had a bargaining chip against the Asgardians.
==== Threatening the Children ====
As Gorr flew the cage to the Shadow Realm, he overheard Axl Heimdallson recounting the story of how Thor went to Nidavellir to forge Stormbreaker, and then used it to decapitate Thanos. Wanting to intimidate the children, Gorr teleported into their cage suddenly, startling them. He told them what a nice story that was, before introducing the children to Octy. He asked what it likes to do, before tearing off its head, frightening the children.
Gorr mockingly asked why they were upset as they had liked the decapitation story earlier. He then threw Octy's head at them. Gorr then noticed a young girl and told the rest how he had a daughter, telling them how she had like to draw but that the gods were not there to protect her. When he stated they were alone, Axl reassured the children that Thor would find them, which Gorr told them that he was counting on it before leaving the kids by themselves.
==== Ambush at the Shadow Realm ====
Gorr, knowing that eventually Thor would come to take the kids back. Gorr prepared a trap for Thor by building a hut, and hiding the kids elsewhere. As Gorr observed Thor's team with Zeus' Thunderbolt looking for him, by using Thunderbolt to destroy the Necrosword, with Mighty Thor eventually realizing Gorr's plan and getting rid of Stormbreaker immediately, Gorr finally showed the real look of the hut, wrapping up Mighty Thor, Brunnhilde, and Thor.
Proceeding to mock them, Gorr acted starstruck about meeting the former Valkyrie, before asking her about her pain about the gods refusing to help her out with her pain over losing her sisters-in-arms.
Gorr pulled in Foster closer, noting how he felt something was paining her, with Gorr telling her that the worst part is that the gods won't even try to help her.
Finally pulling in Thor, Gorr realized his deep feelings for Mighty Thor and tortured Thor by tightening the restraints on Brunnhilde and Mighty Thor's necks, telling Thor to choose love and to summon the axe. However, Thor summoned Stormbreaker, while fully powered, causing the entire hut to be destroyed, and freeing the heroes.
In return, Gorr summoned many different Shadow Monsters to distract them, with Gorr eventually facing off Thor and silently demanding Stormbreaker, which Thor silently challenged Gorr to grab it. Gorr charged at Thor, but the energies from both weapons would blow them back, with Gorr eventually getting into a sword fight with Valkyrie using the Thunderbolt against the Necrosword.
Despite Valkyrie stabbing Gorr in the shoulder with Thunderbolt, Gorr used the shadows to stab the King non fatally in the back, causing Thor to call a retreat by using the Bifrost Bridge to pull the team back to New Asgard. However, before Thor could get off the Shadow Realm, Gorr emerged from the shadows, using the tentacles to keep him and Stormbreaker on the ground, before flinging Thor off into the bridge, to Thor's horror. Finally having his key to Eternity, Gorr prepared a trip to his end goal.
==== Reaching Eternity ====
With everything he needed, Gorr sent himself, the kids, and Stormbreaker to the center of the universe at the Gates of Eternity. After arriving, Gorr planted Stormbreaker into the ground with Shadow Tentacles before using the Bifrost energy to begin opening the passageway to Eternity. Now having no use for the kids, Gorr damaged a statue of One Above All that almost crushed the children, only for Thor, who used Thunderbolt to travel there to pick it up and break the statue to a more harmless rubble.
Noticing Thor's newest attempt to stop him when he was so close to his goal, Gorr summoned legions of Shadow Monsters to finish the God of Thunder and the children; Thor, however, briefly imbued the kids with his powers to take down the Monsters while he dealt with Gorr and tried to free Stormbreaker with Thunderbolt, in order to begin to crack apart the Sword.
Eventually Gorr threw Thor to the ground, and attempted to impale Thor with the Necrosword, only for Mjølnir to knock Gorr off of him and being faced by Mighty Thor.
Now having to deal with both Thors, with Thor finally freeing Stormbreaker, but it already having opened the path to Eternity, Gorr tried to take on Mighty Thor one-on-one, mocking her by calling her "Lady Thor," however Mighty Thor told Gorr to either call her Mighty Thor or Dr. Jane Foster before using Mjolnir to finally break apart the Necrosword and capture the shards into Mjolnir. Not relenting Gorr began to use the hilt of the Necrosword to summon each shard back into the Sword.
However, Mighty Thor realized this and use immense levels of lightning to vaporize the shards, causing the hilt and the sword to be destroyed for good, depowering Gorr and slowly killing him. Now with nothing left Gorr crawled his way to the gateway, as the kids went home with Stormbreaker. While Thor and Mighty Thor tried to stop Gorr, he successfully entered into Eternity's realm, taking Thor and Mighty Thor with him.
==== The Ultimate Wish ====
: "How... dare you turn your back on me?""You've won, Gorr. Why would I spend my last moments with you... when I can be with her? I choose love. You can, too. You can bring her back."
: ―Gorr and Thor[src]
Now standing before Eternity in an open watery plane, the powerless Gorr, now retaining his original appearance, made his way to the entity. However, once Thor told him not to do this, Gorr asked him what kind of father would he be if he stopped. Thor explained that he felt his pain but that it shouldn't be the way saying that he does not feel that Gorr was not looking for death and revenge. Gorr angrily questioned what did he seek, which Thor asked him to choose love, stating that he was not going to use his last moments to fight Gorr, instead he went to care for the weakened Jane Foster.
Gorr began to slowly succumb to the side effect of wielding the All-Black the Necrosword, saying that she would not have someone to look after. But Foster told Gorr that his daughter wouldn't be alone. Knowing what she meant, Gorr asked Eternity to revive his daughter, which he did. With his daughter now in Eternity's place Gorr hugged her, as he and Foster were passing away. Turning to Thor, Gorr asked for Thor to raise his daughter, before finally dying in the cosmic oasis.
== Personality ==
: "I know your pain. Love... is pain. I had a daughter once. I put my faith in a higher power, hoping it would save her, and she died. Now, I understand. My daughter is the lucky one. She does not have to grow up in a world of suffering and pain, run by wicked gods."
: ―Gorr the God Butcher to Thor[src]
Prior to his fall, Gorr was a simple, devout man who cared deeply for his daughter and his people, loyally praying to the god Rapu for salvation for his people and his daughter prior to her death. Even after his daughter's death, Gorr still believed in his idol Rapu, and believes that Rapu can bring his people to a bright future and bring them an “eternal reward” after all the suffering his people endured. This changed after he met the very god he prayed to, an arrogant spiteful being that showed no empathy towards mortals and mockingly dismissed Gorr's hopes that he would come to the aid of his people, or that he would reward them at the end of their lives, even dismissing Gorr as merely a disciple who could be replaced by future ones. Gorr's purpose of his entire life was defeated as he lost faith in his idol and other gods. As he renounced his god, All-Black the Necrosword called to him and was summoned into his hand, and he decapitated Rapu, swearing an oath to kill all gods.
After he acquired the Necrosword, the corruption of the sword steadily eroded Gorr's mind, making him increasingly vengeful in his quest to kill all gods, even killing kind gods like Falligar the Behemoth, who wasn't arrogant like Gorr's original idol. Gorr believed that all gods were arrogant and would only use their disciples, as reflected when he told Mighty Thor she was used by gods, who did nothing to ease her pain and disease and even exacerbated her cancer with the continued use of Mjølnir. Gorr believes all gods are equally guilty and that he is truly creating galactic peace by exterminating gods. This reflects that Gorr in fact became delusional after his fall, and would stereotype all gods as arrogant. He gained a dark sense of humor which he would use on everyone to unsettle his enemies and to scare the Asgardian children he took as hostage. He would also behave visibly excited when he met Valkyrie in Shadow Realm. However, it could be inferred that Gorr still retained a liking of children after being corrupted by the Necrosword, just like Gorr's love of his own daughter prior to his fall, as Gorr had kidnapped Asgardian children and, in a twisted act of trying to play with the kids, killed Octy and scared the kids instead. Gorr was also manipulative. In an attempt to persuade Valkyrie in believing in his twisted view, Gorr told her that her gods did nothing when her lover died fighting Hela. This manipulative trait stems from his delusional views though, as Gorr failed to see that not all gods are as he thought.
The corruption of the Necrosword also made Gorr arrogant. Even after losing the Necrosword, Gorr asked Thor why Thor dared turn his back on him, reflecting that Gorr has truly became arrogant and somewhat condescending in his ways, demanding gods to respect and fear him even though he lost his powers along with his weapon.
Though, in front of Eternity and free from the Necrosword's influences, Thor reminded Gorr that his rampage and hatred against gods were in fact fueled by the love for his deceased daughter. Gorr realized that with the ultimate power of Eternity, he could revive his daughter whom he missed very much. Seeing Thor return to Jane Foster out of love after he told Gorr to make his wish to exterminate all gods at once, Gorr realized it wasn't too late to change his ways, by resurrecting his daughter who he truly wants. With his own will, in his last moments of life, Gorr chose love over revenge and was even willing to entrust his daughter to be raised by a god.
Ultimately, Gorr deeply loved his daughter, as shown when he was on the verge of weeping while telling Rapu how he and his people suffered leading to the death of his daughter. In front of Eternity, Gorr also asked Thor what kind of father he would be if he stopped his conquest in the last moment, falsely believing he did justice to his daughter by killing all gods, when he was actually using the death of his daughter as an excuse for his villainous deeds.
== Powers and Abilities ==
=== Former Powers ===
: "He travels through shadows.""And he creates monsters with them."
: ―Mighty Thor and Valkyrie[src]
* All-Black the Necrosword Empowerment: After gaining the Necrosword from the Dark Shadow Lord, Gorr took the sword's goal for the extinction of all gods using it to kill many entities and to travel in the shadows and call on the Shadow Monsters, while the sword slowly was killing Gorr, with Gorr finally dying after its destruction.
** Superhuman Strength: The Necrosword gave Gorr immense levels of superhuman strength, much stronger than other alien species and even gods, as he was capable of overpowering and killing dozens of them during his reign of terror, being strong enough to exert immense amounts of force, allowing him to rip Octy's head clean off easily. His strength is enough to even rival the extraordinary physical strength of a god as powerful as Thor, able to lock the Necrosword evenly with Thor's Stormbreaker and even hold the axe down as the Bifrost was pulling both it, Thor, and Gorr up. He was able to deliver blows of sufficient strength to somewhat rattle and knock down Thor and when he tried to push the Necrosword into Thor's throat, Thor was unable to push back Gorr but only hold him to a stalemate.
** Superhuman Durability: The Necrosword gave Gorr superhuman durability surpassing normal species but equal to gods. This allows him to take in many hits from equally powerful beings. At the Gates of Eternity, Gorr took repeated blows from Thor and Mighty Thor and was still able to stand back up swiftly and fight them.
** Superhuman Speed: The Necrosword gave Gorr superhuman speed stronger than humans but equal to gods. It allowed Gorr to move around his battles more swiftly.
** Superhuman Agility: The Necrosword gave Gorr superhuman agility surpassing many species but equal to gods. Allowing Gorr to move with perfect agility, equilibrium, flexibility, dexterity, balance, and body coordination.
** Superhuman Stamina: The Necrosword gave Gorr superhuman stamina above many species and equal to gods. It allowed Gorr to produce less fatigue toxins during battle.
** Superhuman Reflexes: The Necrosword gave Gorr superhuman reflexes faster than normal species but equal to gods. This allowed him to avoid many blows from both Thor's charging at him and the kids he'd kidnapped. He was also able to dodge Mjølnir being thrown at him in close range and block Thor's lightning after it was fired.
** Regenerative Healing Factor: The Necrosword gave Gorr a regenerative healing factor equal to gods, letting him be able to heal from numerous injuries but retaining many scars. He also recovered quickly after the fight between Valkyrie and the two Thor's.
** Divine Slayer: The Necrosword was able to power Gorr enough to be able to go against and kill gods. After gaining the Necrosword from the previous user, Gorr was able to slay his former idol, Rapu, by first stabbing the sword into his throat and then beheading him. Using the Necrosword, he was also able to slaughter gods in his conquest.
** Shadow Teleportation: With the Necrosword, Gorr was able to traverse to the Shadow Realm from other shadows. During the attack on New Asgard and the ambush at Shadow Realm, Gorr repeatedly disappeared in the shadows and reappeared to give a surprise strike or evade attacks from his enemies. During the fight at New Asgard, Gorr retreated using the shadows when Thor, Mighty Thor and Valkyrie surrounded him. Most notably, at Shadow Realm, Gorr was able to travel using shadows to teleport behind Valkyrie and stab her in the back, severely wounding her, and traverse to the Bifrost to grab Stormbreaker from Thor when he tried to escape back to New Asgard.
*** Dimensional Travel: The Necrosword was able to allow Gorr to travel from shadows to the Shadow Realm.
** Conjuration: The Necrosword gave Gorr the ability to conjure Shadow Monsters and weapons. By stabbing his Necrosword into the ground, Gorr could summon a variety of Shadow Monsters from the shadows and help Gorr in battle.
** Weapon Calling: Gorr was able to summon the Necrosword, even when it was fractured by Thor and Mighty Thor.
** Constructs Creation: Gorr was able to create other items to help bind his enemies from whips to a giant cage. He used the cage to hold the Asgardian children hostage, in an attempt to lure Thor to Shadow Realm and take Stormbreaker to fulfill his quest.
*** Tentacle Manifestation: Gorr was able to summon smaller beasts to hold back any of his enemies. In the Shadow Realm, Gorr was able to summon tentacles to restrain Mighty Thor, Thor and Valkyrie and wrap tentacles around their mouths to stop them from talking, and even sending them away. In addition, Gorr can control these tentacles to strangle Mighty Thor in the Shadow Realm, nearly resulting in the latter's death had Thor not summoned Stormbreaker. When Thor attempted to retreat back to New Asgard from the Shadow Realm, Gorr called on monster claws to wrap themselves on Stormbreaker, and with enough force from these tentacles, Gorr was able to take Stormbreaker from Thor. At the Gates of Eternity, Gorr used tentacles and claws to hold Stormbreaker in place while it was opening the gates to Eternity.
: "You wanna tell me why you just threw Stormbreaker out the window?""He needs it to open the Gates of Eternity."
: ―Thor and Mighty Thor[src]
* Stormbreaker Capabilities: Gorr was able to briefly use some of Stormbreaker abilities.
** Bifrost Summoning: Gorr was able to summon the Bifrost Bridge to open the portal to Eternity's Realm.
=== Abilities ===
: "Gods of the universe, I come here to ask for your help, to raise an army. There's a maniac called the God Butcher who seeks to end us all. His destruction is everywhere. Entire planets, realms have been left completely unprotected. He's left nothing but chaos in his wake."
: ―Thor[src]
* Master Combatant: Despite not having formal combat training, Gorr proved to be a very capable fighter. With his Necrosword, he slaughtered a number of powerful beings, including Rapu and Falligar the Behemoth. He was able to briefly fight both Valkyrie and Mighty Thor, fight Valkyrie using both the Thunderbolt and her sword equally before catching her off-guard to critically injure her, and even contend with Thor in battle multiple times, nearly killing him at the Gates of Eternity had Mighty Thor not interfered and arrived in the battlefield due to Thor using the unfamiliar Thunderbolt, although Thor proved to be the superior fighter in the end.
: "He also wields the Necrosword. How do I know that? Because he almost speared me in the face with it."
: ―Thor[src]
* Sword Mastery: Gorr was able skillfully wield the Necrosword in battle, even holding up against other powerful weapons such as Mjølnir, Stormbreaker and the Thunderbolt used by Jane Foster, Thor, and Valkyrie, respectively.
: "Thor is on his way.""Yes. I'm counting on that. That's why you're here."
: ―Axl Heimdallson and Gorr the God Butcher[src]
* Expert Tactician: Despite not having much skill, Gorr was able to take many of Asgard's children hostage to use against the Asgardians, and was able to trick Thor's team to falling into a trap for Gorr to steal Stormbreaker.
== Equipment ==
=== Former Weapons ===
: "Hey, is that the Necrosword? That's cool. I've only ever read about it in stories.""Then you know this is going to hurt."
: ―Thor and Gorr[src]
* All-Black the Necrosword: After gaining the Necrosword, Gorr took the sword's goal for the extinction of all god's using it to kill many entities and to travel in the shadows and call on the Shadow Monsters. However, the sword was slowly killing Gorr and he finally died sometime after its destruction.
* Stormbreaker: Gorr would actively try to steal Stormbreaker from Thor, due to its ability to travel with the Bifrost Bridge to reach Eternity. He would eventually steal it from the God of Thunder in order to successfully breach Eternity's Realm, although Thor eventually reclaimed the axe.
== Relationships ==
=== Family ===
* Love - Daughter
=== Allies ===
* Shadow Monsters - Former Subordinates
* Cosmic Entities
** Eternity - Situational Ally
* Thor - Former Attempted Victim
* Jane Foster/Mighty Thor † - Former Enemy and Indirect Killer	
=== Enemies ===
* Rapu † - Former Idol and Victim
* Sky Lords of Indigarr - Victims
* Falligarians
** Falligar the Behemoth † - Victim
* Asgardians
** Brunnhilde/Valkyrie - Attempted Victim
** Sif - Attempted Victim
** Axl Heimdallson - Former Prisoner
** Grace
* Olympians
** Zeus
* Korg
* Miek
* Warsong
* Octy † - Victim
== Trivia ==
* In the comics, Gorr the God Butcher was a mortal alien who grew to hate the gods after losing his mother, mate and children. Armed with All-Black the Necrosword, Gorr vowed to seek vengeance against all gods for never answering his prayers, which led to an altercation with Thor.
** A depiction of a monster in Werewolf by Night directly mirrors Gorr's appearance in Thor: God of Thunder Vol 1 #5.
* Gorr is one of the few MCU villains to have made his comic debut in the 2010s.
== Behind the Scenes ==
* Christian Bale stated in an interview with Total Film that Count Orlok from Nosferatu and the music videos of Aphex Twin were influences on his performances as Gorr the God Butcher. He also revealed that he and Taika Waititi originally intended to include a scene in which Gorr dances to a song by Kate Bush, but it was scrapped early on and never shot.
* According to Jeremy Slater, early scripts of Moon Knight (specifically episode 3 in the Ennead Council meeting) had references to Gorr but they were cut.
* Adam Hart and Garth Hadfield were stunt doubles for Christian Bale in the role of Gorr the God Butcher.
== References ==
The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Gorr the God Butcher.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of quotes related to Gorr the God Butcher.
# ↑ Jump up to:1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Thor: Love and Thunder
# ↑ Marvel Studios' The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline
# ↑ 'Thor: Love and Thunder': Christian Bale's Gorr scream was too scary
# ↑ Christian Bale reveals the surprise influences behind his terrifying Thor: Love and Thunder villain | GamesRadar+
# ↑ Moon Knight Removed Thor: Love and Thunder References (Exclusive)
== External Links ==
* Gorr the God Butcher on Marvel Database
* Gorr the God Butcher on Wikipedia
* Gorr the God Butcher on Marvel Website