Asgardians (Earth-7642)

The **Asgardians**, or the **Æsir**, are the inhabitants of Asgard, on which the gods of Norse mythology are based. They are a race of extraterrestrial similar to the human beings possessing a highly advanced form of technology resembling magic and sorcery, which their entire civilization is built on. They are ruled by Odin Borson and seek to keep the peace between the Nine Realms of the cosmos, and are presumably the first alien culture to contact humans.

 Though these god-like beings are generally peaceful, they are a brave and powerful warrior race whose passion for adventure is their religion. Like the Vikings of Earth, they believe that the only way to gain access into Valhalla (heaven) is to die in glorious battle.

 The Asgardians are a brave and a powerful warrior race whose passion for adventure is their religion, and their reputation as one of the mightiest races in the universe has earned them the respect and fear from other races. Having interacted with humans in Scandinavia centuries ago, they informed their culture and religion and thus share many characteristics with the ancient Norse.

## Overview

### Culture

The Asgardians share Norse cultural and religious values with the Vikings of Earth. Like the Vikings, their foundations are built upon honoring one's ancestors and those who are killed in battle. The Asgardians believe that one has to die in battle to gain admittance into Valhalla, which loosely translates to "hall of valor". Like the Vikings, a traditional funeral involves sending the dead out to sea on a ship as archers burn it with flaming arrows. Asgard has a monarchist government where the bloodline of Buri are the "Allfather". Many famous Asgardians were worshiped as gods by Scandinavian cultures.

## History

### War against the Dark Elves

Eons ago, Bor, one of the first Kings of Asgard, led his armies in battle against the Dark Elves. Under the rule of Malekith, the Dark Elves set about to destroy the Nine Realms at the time of the Convergence, using the Aether.
After many years of fighting, Bor and the Asgardians defeated the Dark Elves and stole the Aether before Malekith could unleash its power on the realms. Bor ordered the Aether to be hidden away, somewhere no one would be able to find it. Unknown to the Asgardians, Malekith, his lieutenant Algrim, and various other Dark Elves escaped in a ship and went into hibernation until the time of the next Convergence. The remaining Dark Elves were put under the rule of Queen Alflyse.

### Aesir/Vanir War

Aesir and Vanir eventually became rivals. And Eventually Bor was succeeded by his son Odin, the young king Odin of the Aesir tried to force the union of the two tribe, and went to war with Freyr and the people of Vanaheim. Seemingly over a matter of pride, Freyr refused to bend, and received support from  Surtur of Muspelheim. The war ultimately ended with a peace treaty and marriage between the two royal families, as Odin was betrothed to Freyr's daughter Frigga. Their union marked the union of the two people.

No matter the peace, and despite the fact that the records of the war were destroyed, a certain grudge existed among the Vanir towards the Aesir and Asgard remained, even beared by Njord, who despised Odin's race. Although, Vanir and Aesir mixed, and couples were wed at the Temple of Union.

### Galactic Exploits

Being an advanced, spacefaring people, the Asgardians interacted with various other races and cultures. Among those known included the Kree, the Centaurians, the Korbinites, the Thanagarians, the  Kryptonians, the Dominion, the Green Lantern Corps and the United Planets, as well as Knowhere.

Their encounters with other galactic groups helped the Asgardians build a higher reputation for themselves, earning respect from the other races, while also making them enemies of some. As children, Asgardians are taught about the many races, including even learning their languages.

Although they have a history of contact, Asgardians do not have very close ties with cultures from worlds other than the Nine Realms. Even though they are recognized, Asgardians are not seen as one of the prominent members of the integrated space community.

#### Conflict with the New Gods

At some point the Asgardians came across the New Gods of Apokolips and New Genesis, though their encounter ended with the Asgardians becoming enemies of the former, but also having a uneasy alliance with the latter. There relationship with the Asgardians fluctuated between uneasy peace and open warfare, although the Asgardians considers the New Gods as a cousin race.

### Traveling to Earth

#### War against Jotunheim

In 965 AD, the Frost Giants of Jotunheim set about to conquer the Nine Realms, starting with Earth. The Asgardians, now under the rule of Bor's son Odin, arrived in humanity's defense. The Asgardians eventually drove the Frost Giants back to Jotunheim, where Odin personally defeated the Jotun king, Laufey to the point of surrender. After a truce was made, the Asgardians claimed the Casket of Ancient Winters, Jotunheim's greatest weapon, and took it back to Asgard for safekeeping.

While on Jotunheim, Odin found Laufey's abandoned son and decided to raise him as his own alongside his own son, Thor. Odin named the child Loki and planned to eventually use him to unite the two kingdoms and bring about a permanent peace.

#### Becoming Norse Legends

Asgardians also began travelling to Earth and formed a strong relationship with the humans. Thor  and Loki visited Earth with Odin. The Asgardians greatest worshipers were the Vikings, Norse seafaring humans active, during the late 8th to late 11th century. They operated in the regions of Scandinavia, Northern Europe, Greenland, Iceland and the British Isles.

The Asgardians taught the Norse people their language and culture and displayed their abilities; this caused the Norse people to believe the Asgardians to be deities, and bestowed upon Thor and Loki the monikers "God of Thunder" and "God of Mischief". This tradition was continued for many years. During one of these visits, Odin brought the Tesseract from his vault and brought it to Tønsberg, Norway, where he left it in the care of devout Asgardian worshipers. The Vikings later converted to Christianity and the Asgardians withdrew from Midgard.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Asgardian Physiology**: The god-like Asgardians are physically and technologically superior to humans on Earth, which lead them to be worshiped on earth hundreds of years ago by humans in Scandinavia, which are known as Norse myths, these include;
	+ **Super Density:** Asgardians's molecular structure is denser than normal humans. This contributes to their super strength and durability. The materials of Asgard are denser then those of Earth, as is mentioned with asgardian metals, used to make many items for the use of asgardians such as their swords and armor. The denser, stronger materials of Asgard are the reason why asgardians themselves are denser.
	+ **Superhuman Strength:** All Asgardians are superhumanly strong with the average Asgardian male god able to lift (press) about 30 tons under optimal conditions and the average Asgardian goddess able to lift (press) about 25 tons under optimal conditions
	+ **Superhuman Speed:** All Asgardians have the potential of being able to run and move at speeds much greater than the finest human athlete. Only Hermod and a few others can supersede the majority of the Asgardian gods.
	+ **Superhuman Durability:** The bodies of the Asgardian gods are considerably more resistant to physical injury than the bodies of human beings. Low and medium caliber bullets bounce off of asgardians, seeming to effect them no more than an airsoft BB.
	+ **Superhuman Reflexes:** Asgardians can catch arrows in mid flight, making their reaction time more then 5x faster than normal humans.
	+ **Accelerated Healing Factor:** Even though Asgardians are resistant to injury, if they do get hurt, they heal remarkably quickly. As with most of their other powers, the speed and extent of these powers varies from one Asgardian to another and is greater for more powerful Asgardians.
	+ **Superhuman Longevity:** Asgardians have an extremely long life span and can endure for thousands of years, but they are not truly immortal like the Olympians or New Gods. They age at a much slower rate, but they are not immune to the effects of aging. Their bodies are also immune to all known Earthly diseases and infection.
	+ **Magics:** Many Asgardians possess and use magical abilities or objects. e.g. Thor's hammer Mjölnir, Odin's manipulation of the Odinforce, Frigga's (and Loki's) ability to create and manipulate illusions. Magic is the basis of asgardian technology.
	+ **Special Powers:** Some Asgardians have unique powers. e.g. Only Thor and Odin can lift Mjölnir and Heimdall has extraordinarily heightened senses.

### Abilities

* **Master Hand-To-Hand Combatants:** Asgardians are a warrior race and most all asgardians are trained in fighting techniques.
* **Master Swordsmen/Swordswomen:** Asgardians are a warrior race and most all asgardians are trained in sword techniques. Even Lorelei able to defeat Sif (Asgard's greatest female warrior) at least once in a sword fight.

## Miscellaneous

**Type of Government:** Monarchy

**Level of Technology:**Advanced: The Asgardians are among the most advanced societies in the multiverse. To many races, their science and technology is beyond comprehension, often thought of as supernatural. Asgardian science and technology are based around magic, a type of energy manipulation.

* **Directed energy weapons**
* **Melee weapons:**The Asgardians possess swords, daggers, knives, arrow heads, spears and axes forged in highly advanced magical smithies from metals denser and stronger than the metals commonly found on Earth, such as Thor's hammer which is made of Uru. They have been shown to glow with some sort of energy along the edge that would logically increases their already potent ability to cut through targets.
* **Armor and shields:**Asgardian armor and shields are made out of Asgardian metal, the armor comes in both plate mail and scale mail form, well the shields are usually round but come in other shapes. It is very dense and strong, and has been shown repelling various projectiles of humans and alien races, and energy discharges from several sources. It has been overwhelmed by very sharp strong projectiles fired at high velocities, Jotun ice abilities, Dark Elf rifles and damaged by extended battle. Loki can make his armor seem to disappear so as to appear less threatening and the hammer Mjolnir can create Asgardian armor out of energy.
* **Force fields:**The Asgardians make use of force field technology to contain prisoners and protect key areas of Asgard.
* **Anti gravity**
* **Wormhole manipulation:**The Bifrost Bridge, the means by which the Asgardians travel among the Nine Realms and beyond, is a machine capable of creating wormholes.
* **Flying vessels:**Asgardian soldiers also pilot small flying vessels which resemble traditional Viking boats. It is unclear whether their ability to fly is magical or merely technological.
* **Automotons:**The Asgardians have some knowledge of artificial intelligence; the Destroyer, once guardian of Odin's vaults, was an empty suit of armor which would accept and carry out commands.

**Representatives:**

* Balder
* Bor
* The Enchantress
* Executioner
* Fandral
* Frigga
* Heimdall
* Hela

* Hogun
* Karnilla
* Loki
* Odin
* Sif
* Thor
* Valkyrie
* Volstagg