Thor

> "I am Thor Odinson, defender of Asgard."
>
> - Thor Odinson

***Thor*** is one of the four *Marvel* pinball tables released as part of the *Vengeance and Virtue* pack, and is the fourth and final table in that pack to be released in late 2011, available for *Zen Pinball 2*, *Pinball FX 2* and *Pinball FX 3*.

Based on a fictional version of the famous god of thunder in Norse mythology of the same name, created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, this table explores his valiant efforts to master his incredible lightning powers and potent strength to defend his home realm of Asgard from dangerous threats, including the treachery of his mischevious stepbrother frost giant Loki, the ice demon Ymir and the powerful sentient Destroyer armor that Loki sometimes hijacks.

Despite being released on the same year Paramount Pictures released a film adaptation of the character set in the early years of Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe, this table solely draws on his original depiction in the comics.

## Table overview

### The upper half of the table

The back wall of the table contains a toy model of the city of Asgard, mainly its front walls. A large orbit, with the left side being lava-red and the right side conversely being pale white with ice, wraps around all the table's major lanes, with the former spelling SURTUR, the fire demon and ruler of Muspelheim. To the left of the right orbit, which is gated by a flag, is a green ramp that spells SERPENT and functions as a one-way orbit, arcing under the front walls of Asgard and undulating all the way down to the left orbit, becoming part of the Midgard Serpent, a monstrous creature. The end of this ramp is the head of the Serpent, whose mouth would open to drop the ball onto the leftmost inlane, but before the ramp becomes the Serpent's neck and throat, there is a trapdoor that can be opened with one tap of the launch button to drop the ball down onto the left end of a miniloop.

There are two dueling loop ramps between the left orbit and the entry to the serpent ramp: a crossramp that spells ARMOR and brushes against the left orbit and a central ramp that spells ASGARD that is directly covering much of the crossramp's path. Their habitrails crisscross each other, with the former leading down to the second left inlane and the latter leading down to the right inlane. In between the two is a forking pathway branching into two short lanes leading to sinkholes that is blocked by a large sinkhole that can be sealed by a drawbridge marked with URU, the material used to construct the Mjolnir, Thor's iconic hammer, and hold its magical powers. The left sinkhole represents Hela, the goddess of death who can command an army of the undead. The right sinkhole takes the ball across the Bifrost, or the Rainbow Bridge, leading into the gates of Asgard. Between the two is a target representing Odin, Thor's father.

There are two stone platforms floating above the lanes, one containing a figure of the Destroyer armor, an enchanted automaton created by Odin to defend Asgard and the other containing a figure of Loki, a Frost Giant who is Thor's stepbrother and sometimes also his nemesis, the god of mischief. At the back left corner of the table are two habitrail exits that drop the ball either down the Serpent ramp's left side or down the central ramp's habitrail, while the back right corner contains a habitrail that drops the ball down the right orbit.

In front of the left orbit are a series of three bumpers representing mini volcanoes, as well as the fiery realm of Muspelheim, ruled by the fire demon Surtur. In front of the frontmost bumper is a sinkhole blocked by a drop target representing a Golden Apple of Idunn, known to rejuvenate Asgardians. The rightmost bumper is also placed behind a reverse scoop that drops the ball down the exit habitrail of the crossramp, but the scoop can also collapse to expose a hidden sinkhole where the ball can be locked into. A target bank that spells SIF, a warrior and ally of Thor, is also placed right of the rightmost bumper. To the left of bumpers is a miniloop leading directly into the center of the bumper area.

To the right of the right orbit is another miniloop that wraps around a right mini-flipper used to shoot the ball into the crossramp. A sheet of translucent ice covers it, acting as a platform in front of an ice cave in the cold realm of Niffelheim, where a figure of the frost giant Ymir may emerge. The bottom end of the loop spells his name.

### The lower half of the table

To the left of the miniloop is a left flipper that is used to make cross shots into the right miniloop in Niffelheim on the other side of the table. In front of that miniloop are a pair of targets spelling MJOLNIR that can be knocked down to reveal a hidden sinkhole. There are two rebounds reflecting the texture of Thor's Mjolnir and five return lanes, three on the left and two on the right, that spell FROST GIANT, with one letter of each word in each return lane. There are also two flippers and two spring-loaded kickbacks, one in each outlane, but each kickback applies a different amount of power when it is used.

The aprons are also textured off of the Mjolnir and a figure of Thor Odinson stands on the left apron. A model of Mjolnir itself is planted headfirst into the right apron, near the plunger.

### The plunger

The plunger is a straight shaft that eventually makes a diagonal left turn, with a battering ramp providing the force to launch the ball. At full force, it will launch the ball up the crossramp. The player is challenged to find the right power to hit a lit SIF target on the target bank to score a skillshot.

## Objective and missions

The goal of this table is to help Thor Odinson fiercely defend his homeworld of Asgard from various threats in the Nine Realms, using his lightning powers wielded through his enchanted hammer, Mjlonir, through five missions. To start a mission, the player must lower the drawbridge blocking the rainbow bridge sinkhole by spelling URU with shots to the sinkhole that it will cover, then shoot the rainbow bridge sinkhole itself now that the drawbridge has lowered. Missions must be completed successfully without draining the ball, which will end the current mission in failure.

The following five missions must be completed to access the wizard mode:

* **Brother's Duel**: Loki at times has become Thor's greatest rival and nemesis, and Thor must take him on in an intense duel. The two each have 7 health points, meaning that the battle ends when either is struck seven times. Thor can successfully attack Loki if the player shoots any of five blue lit lanes (the left orbit, the reverse scoop, the right mini-loop or either of the two dueling loop ramps), but the opposite will happen if the player shoots the green serpent ramp or the right orbit. If the player helps Thor vanquish Loki, the mission will end successfully.
* **The Destroyer**: Unable to face Thor personally, Loki has hijacked the Destroyer to do the dirty work of fighting him. The Destroyer and Thor will then get caught in an intense energy clash, and the player must help Thor overpower the Destroyer and escape by reducing its power to zero, starting from 50%, to win the fight and the mission. The Destroyer's power decreases as long as the ball in the bumper area, and this can be best accomplished with a full right orbit shot that lands it into the bumper area. However, if the Destroyer reaches full power, he will knock out Thor and the battle will end in failure.
* **Ymir's Attack**: Ymir, a frost giant of Niffelheim, terrorizes Thor and seizes him in his icy grip, in which he begins to freeze. The player must help Thor break free of Ymir's grasp by shooting any of 3 lit lanes that change every 8 seconds seven times, but every time the lanes change, Thor will lose more body temperature rapidly. However, Loki can use his powers to save Thor and hold off Ymir if the player spins the flag in the right orbit to slow the freezing.
* **The Destroyer in Asgard**: Loki has hijacked the Destroyer to assault the city of Asgard and terrorize its citizens. Thor must stop the Destroyer before it's too late by hitting him three times with a charged throw of his Mjlonir, and each hit is scored by first using the right mini-flipper to hit the crossramp, then using the opposite mini-flipper to shoot the right miniloop and lastly, locking the ball inside the sinkhole behind the collapsed reverse scoop, all within a time limit. If the player doesn't make the attack within a time limit, the Destroyer will blast Thor, and after three hits on him, the battle will end in defeat. Hitting the Destroyer three times will complete the mission successfully. *(If the player shoots the drawbridge sinkhole, the ball will alternate between either dropping down the right orbit or into the left miniloop for a chance to make either of the cross shots needed for the attack sequence.)*
* **Ymir Rages Again**: Thor must defeat Ymir once and for all, using fire to exploit his weaknesses. The player must shoot the center ramp and the serpent ramp to damage Ymir, but both of them are blocked by ice blocks that can be melted with two hits from a burning ball, obtained from the two sinkholes near the Muspelheim bumper area. Burning balls will burn for about 30 seconds, so the player needs to be quick to eliminate the ice. As the player works on attacking Ymir, time is of the essence, as Ymir will blast Thor with ice breath to freeze him, causing his temperature to decrease as shown on the display. If it depletes, Thor will be defeated and the mission will fail. Hitting Ymir three times will complete the mission successfully.

After all five missions are completed successfully, the player will unlock the wizard mode, which is the **Final Battle** to defend Asgard against Loki and defeat him once and for all. This mission is started the same way as the other missions and is a 3-ball multiball mission. The player must shoot each of the 8 major lanes of the tables once with the 3 balls in the order indicated by which lane is lit at the time. Once all 8 lanes are hit, the player must finish the mission by locking all remaining balls into either of the two sinkholes at the Muspelheim bumper area and claim final victory. The player is only allowed one attempt at the wizard mode.

## Side modes

There are no definite side modes that provide a separate challenge that can be completed for points on this table.

### Multiball

There are two multiball modes that can be started when no modes are running:

* **Surtur Multiball**: Surtur is a menacing fire demon of Muspelheim and can unleash deadly fireballs to rain down destruction. Thor can draw the wrath of Surtur after destroying a legion of his fire elementals. Every bumper hit represents a fire elemental that Thor defeats, and after every 25 elementals are defeated (i.e., 25 bumper hits), the player can lock a ball at either of the two sinkholes in the Muspelheim bumper area. Once 3 balls are locked in this manner, a multiball will begin where Surtur will unleash fireballs that can be shot into lit lanes for jackpots, but after a certain number of jackpots are handed out, the player must help Thor counter Surtur's attack by locking the balls back into the large sinkhole under the drawbridge for a super jackpot that ends the mode.
* **Day of the Dead**: Hela, the goddess of death, has a legion of undead at her command to wreak havoc. When no missions are running and the drawbridge to the rainbow bridge sinkhole is lowered to allow access, the player can lock a ball into the Hela sinkhole to the left of that sinkhole instantly to lock a ball for Day of the Dead Multiball. After 3 balls are locked in this manner, a multiball will begin where Thor will face off against Hela's undead allies, which must be vanquished as targets blocking lanes for jackpots. Eliminating all of them will increase the jackpot and spawn a new wave of enemies to defeat.

## Perks

The following perks can be activated during play:

* **Sif's Ball Saver**: Lady Sif is a powerful warrior who stands by Thor's side to defend him when he is in trouble. A 30-second ball saver will be activated at the start of each ball and multiball mode, but once it expires, the player can briefly activate it again by spelling SIF on the target bank in front of the crossramp, but it will be shorter than usual.
* **Kickbacks**: Spelling FROST on the return lanes will activate the left kickback and spelling GIANT will activate the right kickback. Both kickbacks are spring-loaded, but deliver a different level of power depending on position. They are only good for the current ball.
* **Odin's Gift**: Odin seeks to guide his son Thor and help him whenever he can. If the player lowers the drawbridge while no mission is running, the player can hit the target between the Hela sinkhole and the Rainbow Bridge sinkhole for a time-limited chance to shoot the right orbit to claim a random award, which may range from extra points to an extra ball.
* **Golden Apple Score Multiplier**: The Golden Apples of Idunn can rejuvenate Asgardians like Thor and provide a score boost. The player can collect a random amount of Golden Apples to progress towards raising the score multiplier by opening the left sinkhole with a hit to the golden apple drop target blocking it and then dropping the ball inside it. 10 apples will raise the score multiplier up to 2x, 20 apples will push it up to 4x, and so on. The score multiplier is only good for the current ball.
* **Wielding Mjolnir**: Thor can release the full power of Mjolnir to inflict great destruction on his adversaries. If the player spells MJOLNIR with 7 hits to either of the two targets in front of the right orbit, they will lower to expose a sinkhole that can be shot to cause all scoring to be doubled for 30 seconds.
* **Lightning Strike**: If the ball enters the right miniloop, Thor can use a powerful bolt of lightning to push it up the crossramp, which occurs when the player taps the launch button while the ball is in the miniloop.
* **Jackpots**: It is possible to increase the amount of points awarded for shooting lit lanes during missions or multiballs by spelling out certain words through repeated lane shots:
	+ Spelling SERPENT on the Serpent ramp raises the score for successfully attacking Loki during Brothers Duel.
	+ Spelling ARMOR on the Destroyer crossramp raises the score for shooting lit lanes for missions involving fights against the Destroyer (The Destroyer and The Destroyer in Asgard).
	+ Spelling YMIR with right cross shots up the right miniloop will increase the score for attacking Ymir during missions involving fights against him (Ymir's Attack and Ymir Rages Again).
	+ Spelling SURTUR with left orbit shots raises the jackpots for Surtur Multiball.
	+ Spelling ASGARD with center ramp shots raises the reward for shooting a lit lane during the wizard mode, Final Battle.
* **Extra Ball**: Extra balls are awarded by maxing out the score multiplier with lots of Golden Apples in the same ball, or by getting one from Odin's gift. Once awarded, extra balls are claimed immediately.

## Tips

* Since draining the ball during a mission will end it in failure, take full advantage of the kickbacks and ball saver to extend ball survivability and reduce the likelihood of mission-ending drains. Get the kickbacks turned on quickly at the start of each ball, and use late cross shots from the right mini-flipper or certain angled shots from the right flipper to spell out SIF on her target banks to reactivate the ball saver, but be aware that it's shorter than the one given at the start of each ball.
* You will need to master cross shots in order to complete the missions more effectively. While left cross shots into the crossramp with the right mini-flipper are not hard to execute, right cross shots into the right miniloop with the opposite flipper can be much trickier to pull off because of how very little time you are usually given for it. Nonetheless, this can be made easier with a shot up the Serpent Ramp and tapping the launch button at just the right time before it approaches the trap before the Serpent's throat so that it drops down. Once the ball drops, you have less than a second to shoot the ball up the right miniloop for a chance to execute a Lightning Strike by tapping the launch button that will blast the ball into the crossramp if done correctly. Thus, it can be very helpful to practice and master cross shots into the right miniloop.
* Right before you start a mission, after you've lowered the drawbridge, you can ask for a blessing from Odin to help you on your journey by hitting the target between the two sinkholes behind the drawbridge, then shooting the right orbit. There is a chance that it can be an extra ball that can help you very much, and is much easier to get than maxing out the score multiplier with dozens of Golden Apples.

## External links

* Official table trailer
* Table walkthrough by ShoryukenToTheChin (PDF)
* Official table soundtrack on Bandcamp (tracks 8 - 14 of *Marvel Pinball: Vengeance and Virtue Soundtrack*)