Einherjar

* Manga
* Anime 1
* Anime 2

The **Einherjar** (Japanese: 神殺しの13人**エインヘリャル** *Einheryaru*, Old Norse: ɛinˌherjɑz̠, "army of one" or "those who fight alone") are a group of thirteen Humans that have been selected by Brunhilde to participate in Ragnarok and go against the Gods Fighters in order to save Humanity.

## Overview

The Einherjar were warriors meant to be used as an army for the Gods. However, a rumor has floated around since ancient times that they were not an army for Heaven. Instead the Valkyries would bond with them and transform themselves into weapons befitting of the wielder in a pact that would be known as Völundr. These souls would then fight against the Gods' chosen warriors should Ragnarok begin. If the Einherjar win Ragnarok, mankind will be allowed to live for the next 1.000 years, however if they lose, it will truly be the end for Humanity.

## Plot

### Gods' Council

For the 21st Century assembly of the gods, a unanimous verdict was had that mankind was no longer worthy of continuance.

Before the ratification of the final judgement for the extinction of humanity, Brunhilde of the Valkyries interrupted the Gods' vote in opposition of their vote of extinction, much to heö little sister Göll's trepidation. While the gods weren't keen on hearing from a Valkyrie, Brunhilde countered their decision with the recognition of the clause in their divine treaty, a proposal for a contest by humanity to challenge the gods for their survival: Ragnarok.

The gods initially refused in disregard for humanity having any chance to challenge them, finding their vote final. But Brunhilde used their pride against them, making aloud the possibility that they were afraid of humanity, riling them up until she got them to accept. Eager for a fight, Zeus picked out 13 fighters for the Gods and placed Brunhilde in charge as she picked 13 fighters for the Humans.

### First Round

Brunhilde decided to choose the Flying General, Lü Bu, to fight in the first round against the Thunder Berserker, Thor. To help Lü Bu overcome the power of Thor's Divine Weapons, Brunhilde assigned the fourth sister, Randgriz, to do Völundr with Lü Bu and she became his Sky Piercer. With the Sky Piercer, Lü Bu was able to fend off Thor's Hammer and injure Thor. With Sky Piercer, Lü Bu was able to hold his own and show the god he was a warrior of great renown.

Afterward, Lü Bu managed to destroy one of Thor's Járngreipr gloves, which forced him to fight drop Mjölnir for a short duration. However, the thunder god revealed that his Járngreipr was to protect his hammer from his power, as Mjölnir was a living thing which mutated when out of Thor's hand and reached its full power. After Thor disguarded his other Járngreipr, he was able to wield Mjölnir safely again and shattered both of Lü Bu's legs with his counterattack.

Ultimately, Lü Bu lost against Thor because of the awakened Mjölnir and his Sky Piercer broke, which resulted in the deaths of Lü Bu and Randgriz. Out of loyalty to their fallen lord, Chen Gong, Red Hare, and the rest of Lü Bu's army then decided to follow their commander and let Thor kill them to reach him. It was this fight that revealed to Göll that the Valkyries die with their bonded Einherjar, distraught at never seeing her sister again.

### Second Round

After the first round resulted in a loss, Brunhilde decided to select her trump card: the Father of Humanity, Adam. She had the seventh sister, Reginleif, perform a Völundr with him, providing him with a knuckleduster. While Shiva was supposed to go up against Adam, the God Father of Cosmos, Zeus, went up instead after forcing a change to the roster, unable to contain his own excitement. Shiva is forced to accept, but warns Zeus that he owes him a favor.

Due to being a copy of the Gods, Adam was able to use an ability called **Divine Reflection**, allowing him to copy all of Zeus' attacks and techniques to use against him. This helped Adam to fight on par and even overwhelm Zeus at some points, also managing to counter his The Fist that Surpassed Time, but he ended up narrowly losing after being forced into a situation where he had to exhaust his **Divine Reflection** to its very limit.

Zeus used his own secret technique, Adamas, to reshape his physicality and fight Adam without restrictions, eventually overwhelming his **Divine Reflection** by powering through it. As a blood drop blinded Adam, Zeus had the advantage and fought Adam, even after the progenitor of man died still fighting him. Eventually, Zeus collapsed in exhaustion while Adam had died midway into their close quarter assaults, earning the Greek god's respect and offering hope to humanity for future rounds.

### Third Round

Brunhilde was extremely angry at Zeus ruining her trump card so easily before being notified that the Gods chose the Tyrant of the Seas, Poseidon, to go up in the third round. She began wondering who to choose to go against the "Zeus of the Sea" and at that moment, History's Greatest Loser, Kojiro Sasaki, came in and volunteered. Göll is quick to note that Kojiro should be at his prime at the time, as souls show up in Valhalla when they were at their peak strength.

Kojiro revealed that he refined his skills in the centuries after his death, learning from other swordsmen and combatant until he was at his posthumous prime. Impressed by his skills, Brunhilde decided to believe in Kojiro and had her second sister, Hrist, do Völundr with him and Hrist became Kojiro's Monohoshizao. During the third round, while Kojiro was able to predict the sea god's attacks for a time, showcasing his honed swordsmanship, and was able to deal damage to the revered sea god. Shortly thereafter, Poseidon chose to change the battle into one of strength and force Kojiro into a defensive posture.

Poseidon soon cut Kojiro's Monohoshizao in half, but thanks to Kojiro resonating with both of Hrist's split personalities, they were reforged into a katana and a kodachi, shifting his fighting style to dual wield. In his growing despair, Kojiro was cheered by the swordsmen from his past in the audience, motivated to finally claim his first victory. Using a combination of all the sword styles he has encountered during his time on Earth and learning to predict all of Poseidon's moves, Kojiro was able to beat Poseidon, giving Humanity its first win.

### Fourth Round

After Heracles told her he was fighting in the fourth round, Brunhilde revealed she already prepared his opponent beforehand and picked Humanity's Most Infamous Serial Killer, Jack the Ripper. Before the fight, Jack had petitioned Heracles to have the arena tailored to replicate the familiar 19th Century London, and Heracles naively agreed to the request. Brunhilde then forced her eleventh sister, Hlökk, into doing Völundr with Jack and became his gloves, a divine treasure that could turn anything they touch into a Divine Weapon.

Using a combination of gloves, repeated deception about what *exactly* his Völundr was, and the specialized arena benefiting Jack, the Einherjar now had ample material with which to slay his new target. Heracles eventually landed several blows on Jack, revealing his Soul Eye and Jack's motivation for his historic killings. This changed Heracles' opinion on Jack and the demigod resolved to save Jack from his pain.

When Heracles used his twelfth labor, the fight led to close quarter combat with Hercules seemingly having the advantage before Jack dropped a building on Heracles, buying him time for his finisher. With Heracles still standing and Jack seeing his unwavering willpower, Jack resolved to make Heracles' final moment be with fear and the heroic demigod welcomed his opponent to try. Resuming close quarters again, Heracles overpowered Jack with his indomitable strength until Jack stumbled.

But when Heracles dropped his guard for the final blow, Jack seized the opportunity and was able to kill Heracles by turning his blood covering his gloves into a Divine Weapon, piercing Heracles' powerful physique in the center of the chest with both hands. As Heracles didn't die in fear, Jack considered it a loss but was content with the result, while Heracles embraced him in his steadfast love for Humanity.

Heracles faded asking Humanity be saved and Jack was genuine love for the first time. Thus, Jack's victory ended up helping to tie the score with the Gods. As the Gods were embittered at their hero's death and the humans feeling mixed given Jack's legacy, while Jack himself felt sad for the first time before leaving to see the nurse to treat his injuries, swearing to meet a special someone one last time.

### Fifth Round

To break the tie, Brunhilde selected the Peerless Rikishi, Raiden Tameemon, to go next. Raiden ended up going against the Cosmos' Bhairava, Shiva, whose turn was being pushed back since the second round. Brunhilde enlisted her third sister, Thrud, to do Völundr with Raiden. Oddly enough, the two fell in love and Thrud became a Mawashi of Flesh and Bone, which helped Raiden to break his **Hundred Seals** and fight with all his muscles at their fullest extent. Raiden and Shiva battled with a respect befitting two legendary warriors, earning the other's respect as they fought.

Although Shiva sustained very heavy injuries in the process, even losing three of his four arms, the Indian god came close to burning himself with the **Tandava Karma**, which turned the fight in his favor. Despite his superhuman strength, combined with the disciplines of sumo, Raiden ended up losing against Shiva, as Tandava Karma incinerated much of his muscles and destroyed his right arm. Raiden was proud to have fought him and accepted his death alongside Thrud, happy to have brought honor to Sumo.

### Sixth Round

After mourning Raiden, Brunhilde was approached by Buddha, who informed her that Zeus wanted him as the God's representative in the sixth round. However, Buddha chose to fight for Humanity, as he didn't really like the other Gods telling him what to do. Brunhilde flatly thanked him for telling her as she already expected that Buddha would betray the Gods. In the sixth round, after Buddha announced his betrayal, they sent Bishamonten as his replacement to fight Buddha.

Bishamonten ended up fusing with the rest of the Seven Lucky Gods to become their original form, Zerofuku. During their fight, Buddha managed to make Zerofuku realize what true happiness was and helped him to become the God of Fortune he once was. But thanks to a secret experiment done on Zerofuku by Beelzebub, Zerofuku ended up being absorbed into the Demon Lord of the Sixth Heaven, Hajun, who began fighting in Zerofuku's place after consuming his person. After Hajun destroyed his Six Realms Staff, as the originator of Völundr, Buddha made a Völundr with Zerofuku's Misery Cleaver and created **Great Nirvana Sword – Zero**, a new Divine Weapon. This change in the battle helped Buddha to defeat Hajun and tie the score with the Gods once more.

### Seventh Round

After talking with Michel Nostradamus about him being her Joker, Brunhilde was notified that the King of the Netherworld, Hades, was taking Buddha's place and would be fighting for the Gods in the seventh round. Though surprised, Brunhilde immediately knew who to pick and decided to use a ruler against a ruler. She picked "The King Where It All Began," Qin Shi Huang, to fight in the seventh round. When they couldn't find him in his waiting room, Brunhilde and Göll followed the holes of destruction in the corridors that Qin Shi Huang made and found him in the Gods' VIP section with Ares and Hermes. There, Brunhilde told him he was going up next, much to his delight.

In grand spectacle, all of the Emperors of China's history formed a walkway for Qin Shi Huang to descend from the VIP section and enter the arena. Brunhilde decided on the tenth sister, Alvitr, becoming Qin Shi Huang's partner before the round and they performed Völundr in the arena, with Alvitr becoming the Almighty Spaulders. During the battle, Qin Shi Huang pushed Hades to a corner with the use of his secret techniques. That forced Hades to bring out his trump card, **Ichor: Desmos**, and overwhelm Qin Shi Huang through gouging out his left shoulder.

With the reveal of Qin Shi Huang's Mirror Touch Synesthesia, Hades would injure himself and seap his blood into his weapon to extend his power, with his blood soaked body shielding him from Qin Shi Huang's pressure point breath strikes. Eventually, Qin Shi Huang won thanks to Alvitr changing into the Shi Huang Goujian Sword, and Qin Shi Huang exploiting a vital weakness in Desmos. Due to Hades merging with Desmos via his blood, the weapon became a living thing and thus had Qi passing through it. As a result, Qin Shi Huang was able to use **Tortoise Ripple** to depower the weapon and create an opening to slay the God. This victory meant that mankind was in the lead, for the very first time.

### Eighth Round

Now that they were in the lead, Brunhilde decided to choose the man called "Human History's One and Only Sorcerer", Nikola Tesla to go against the Lord of the Flies, Beelzebub.

Brunhilde chose the ninth sister, Göndul, to do Völundr with Tesla, where she became a big robotic suit called Super Automaton β – a suit that Tesla had come up with as a theory. When the fight started, Beelzebub seemed to overwhelm Tesla but the scientist, instead of despairing, was elated upon figuring out how Beelzebub's vibrations work in tandem with his Divine Weapon, the Staff of Apomyius. He then constructed the **Gematria Zone**, an electrical cage filled with Super Tesla Particles (that were spread by Tesla's electrified punches), that allowed Tesla to use the anti-gravity system inside his Völundr.

Now able to reach top speed without any need for acceleration, Tesla began landing minor blows on Beelzebub through his vibrational barrier, often moving in an unpredictable manner.

Beelzebub eventually began to predict how Tesla would attack and would block accordingly, which prompted Tesla to use his ultimate move, the **Tesla Warp**, to teleport behind Beelzebub, catching him off-guard. He then finally landed a **Plasma Pulse Punch** directly on Beelzebub, which injured the God quite a bit. However, Beelzebub quickly deduced three limitations regarding **Tesla Warp**, which impressed Tesla as the Super Tesla Coil over his left fist shattered as a result of using his ultimate move. Soon after, Beelzebub used his own ultimate move, **Original Sin of the Netherworld – No.0: Chaos**. This explosion devastated the fighting ring and the **Gematria Zone**, forcing Tesla to sacrifice the Super Tesla Coil over his right fist to offset the blast, though it still resulted in major damage to both Tesla and the Super Automaton β.

Despite his injuries, Tesla stood tall and reactivated the Gematria Zone, attempting to overwhelm Beelzebub with his speedy attacks. This led to Beelzebub using **Sorath Tau: Prayer of Darkness**, an attack which destroyed the **Gematria Zone** yet again and caused even more damage to Tesla. Despite that, Tesla expressed his excitement over how this fight had been incredible for his research. He then used the final Super Tesla Coil on his chest to cause electricity to wrap around his Völundr, going on about how Humanity has always evolved whenever it's been pushed to a crisis. Tesla began to overwhelm Beelzebub with **Plasma Pulse Punch Moebius** in order to gather the necessary amount of Super Tesla Particles to enact his final plan.

However, residual damage caused by Tesla's interaction with Chaos forced him to stop mid-barrage. He tried resuming but Beelzebub pushed him back and prepared to end it. With the time for the synchronisation of Super Tesla Particles now up, Tesla utilised **Plasma Pulse Punch Jet** to propel himself forward. While swinging his right fist, Tesla thanked the Gods as science could progress again. Tesla proceeded to use **Tesla Warp** to teleport his right fist behind Beelzebub. As the right fist came at Beelzebub from behind, Tesla swung his left fist at the same time, using **Plasma Pulse Punch Cross** to catch Beelzebub in an inescapable pincer attack. But having seen that coming, Beelzebub managed to knock away Tesla's right arm and used **Sorath Resh – Satan's Horns** to stab Tesla's heart. Despite losing, Tesla maintained his composure and used his final moments to give a rousing speech to the rest of Humanity, encouraging them to never stop progressing before he died.

### Ninth Round

Now that the score was tied once more, Brunhilde found out that the Gods had chosen the Sun God, Apollo, to go next. This prompted Brunhilde to pick the Strongest Rebel in Human History, Leonidas, to fight him. When he heard he was going next, Leonidas was initially not interested as he wanted to either go first or last. But when he heard that Apollo was to be his opponent, with some kind of vendetta, Leonidas agreed to fight in the ninth round.

## Potential Members

While Brunhilde was choosing the 13 humans to represent humanity, she went through a large list of candidates. Among them were:

* Abraham Lincoln
* John Lennon
* Mother Teresa
* Salvador Dali
* Marilyn Monroe
* Che Guevara
* Steve Jobs
* Mahatma Gandhi
* Ludwig van Beethoven
* Albert Einstein
* Adolf Hitler
* Mao Zedong
* Pablo Picasso
* Nefertiti
* Sakamoto Ryoma
* Hideyo Noguchi
* Marianne
* Cleopatra
* Fukuzawa Yukichi
* Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Most of these individuals were only seen on Chapter 1, Chapter 3 and Chapter 7 when Brunhilde was wondering which human she should choose as humanity's vanguard. She ended up choosing Lü Bu and only after the first round did she finished choosing all of the remaining members.

## Trivia

* In Norse mythology, the **Einherjar** are a group of warriors made up of those who have died in battle and were brought to Valhalla by the valkyries. In Valhalla, the einherjar eat their fill of the nightly-resurrecting beast Sæhrímnir, and valkyries bring them mead (which comes from the udder of the goat Heiðrún). The einherjar prepare daily for the events of Ragnarök, when they will advance for an immense battle at the field of Vígríðr.