Ran Jutul

**Ran Jutul** (portrayed by Synnøve Macody Lund) is a main character in the Netflix Original Series *Ragnarok*.

## Biography

Ran is the widow of Vidar and the mother of Saxa and Fjor. She actually isn't Saxas or Fjord biological mother, she can't have children. She is a beautiful woman whose appearance exudes discipline and manners. She is the principal of Edda Secondary School, where her stepchildren Saxa and Fjor are studying. Like the whole Jutul family, she hides her real identity as one of the few surviving giants of Ragnarök, and will go to great lengths to prevent the return of the gods.

### In the series

#### Season 1

Vidar tells his wife Ran that he killed Isolde because she saw something which she shouldn't have. As shocked as she was by such confession, Ran chose to let it slide by making love with Vidar in order to comfort him.

Ran sleeps with two students at the spring party.

When the Jutuls invite Magne and Laurits to dinner and after drinking mead Magne realizes the family is not as they seem, such as mother Ran Jutul holds him to a standstill, then defeats him at arm-wrestling.

Ran takes a bath in a bathtub full of milk.

Ran gets roasted by Laurits at the Constitutional Day speech. Laurits shows up with hair dyed platinum blonde just like Ran's, is wearing the "traditional" female dress and cap just like Ran, and gives a speech completely trashing, in a humorous way, Jutul's business practices. She just has to sit and smile and pretend to take it in good humor while she's obviously internally fuming, and the townsfolk all think it's really funny.

## Personality

Ran is an authoritarian figure who seemingly kind and helpful, (as expected from being the principal of Edda Secondary School) at first glance. This is further backed by her notable charisma which allows her to influence public opinion and the authorities in order to avoid problems at Jutul Industries. Yet, it is all part of a façade to conceal her more malevolent qualities: She is in truth, an arrogant, selfish, calculating, and cold-blooded killer who is dismissive towards the prospect of retribution from every harm she has done to others. In fact, she responded to Magne's threats in the light of her murder of Wenche by walking away with a smug smile. She hates anyone and everyone who is a threat to her and her family, like Magne, Laurits, Wenche, and all the other gods.

Despite her original role as the voice of reason among the Jutuls thus the one who ensures them not to be reckless, Ran ironically displayed severe emotional issues stemmed from being born sterile, mostly manifesting in extreme vindictiveness. This comes to light following the revelation of Laurits being the byproduct of an affair between her husband and his mortal one-night sexual mortal partner Turid, along with the latter's relation to their worst enemy Magne as his half-brother. While her failed attempt to run Magne, Laurits, and Turid over was admittedly part of the plan to indirectly trick the reincarnated Thunder God into leading her to Wenche so she can kill the latter, Ran didn't bother to hide her frustration from failing to kill two birds with one stone. Her mentality crumbles further following Vidar's death, and she is visibly obsessed with killing Laurits, who is barely responsible simply because of his status as her late husband's bastard son. Ran only relented to spare Laurits' life and took him in as her and Fjor's situational ally, once the latter revealed the existence of a weapon to match Magne's reforged Mjölnir. Overall, Ran is the most dangerous and unstable of the Jutuls.

## Appearance

Ran is tall, blonde, and has blue eyes. Ran is an attractive woman who has several admirers among the students. In her true form, she appears as an intimidating-looking elderly woman with grayed hair and glowing yellow eyes.

## Relationships

### Laurits Seier

Ran hates Laurits with all her heart because she has never been able to conceive a child and the half-giant, (later half-god) boy represents everything she wishes she could have given Vidar, but couldn’t. This takes the worst turn after Laurits' unwitting role in Vidar's death which drove her into a murderous rage, attempting to kill him twice in revenge before begrudgingly sparing his life after he reveals the existence of Jörmungandr.

Laurits on the other hand, despite once humiliating her via. his speech during Constitutional Day in retaliation of ruining Magne's reputation, made sincere attempts to bond with Ran upon learning her ties with Vidar as his wife, moreso to make up the guilt from his unintended part in his death, but his every attempt only add more fuel to Ran's burning hatred. After he revealed the existence of reincarnated Jörmungander, the only thing that can possibly defeat Magne, it's presumed she accepted Laurits as her situational ally at best.

### Magne Seier

Originally treating the young man like other students in her school, Ran eventually saw Magne as a threat due to his nature as Thor reincarnated. Because of the principle of against killing children her family/clan initially uphold, she at first only had him expelled and framed with false psychological diagnosis in response of his attempt to expose Jutul Industries A/S' dark secrets. Although, when Magne angrily confronted Ran for her cold-blooded murder on Wence, she outwardly dismissed his death threats despite being informed by Vidar about his growing powers beforehand, something she perhaps regretted later on once the Thunder God reincarnated later shower up with reforged Mjölnir in his possession as the sign of him fully embraced his destiny... if her genuine fear when the latter successfully using it to destroy Fjor's car was any indication.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Supernatural Strength**: Ran possesses great strength, shown when she was in the fight with Magne Seier and destroyed the living room table. Another example was when she managed to pierce a wooden log with a knife with enormous force.
* **Supernatural Speed:** Being a giant she is much faster than humans.
* **Supernatural Durability:** As a giant Ran hardly gets tired, requiring enormous physical effort.
* **Supernatural Senses:** As a supernatural creature, giants possess enhanced senses, such as hearing beyond the limits of humans.
* **Master Archery:** As the only ranged fighter of her family, Ran is a ridiculously skilled archer, capable of hitting a black bird in mid-flight, in the dark of night, from several hundred meters away, with her first shot.
* **Immortality:** Because he was a giant (Jötunn), Ran was immortal. Her immortality allows her an almost limitless accelerated healing factor, the only things that can kill her are old world weapons.
* **Shapeshifting:** During Power to the People, it is revealed that Ran and all the other giants possess the ability to change their appearance by increasing and decreasing their age and changing the color of their eyes, which are originally orange, which is why she and the rest of the Jutul family were not discovered as giants. Furthermore, her true form is an old, wrinkled woman with orange eyes and white hair, which she disguises in human form.

## Weaknesses

* **Old World Weapons:** Being a giant, Ran can only die if she is wounded with weapons from the Old World.
* **Emotional Issues**: Ran's emotional issues which attributed to being sterile as stated previously proved to be more detrimental than she realized. Due to recently plagued by the discovery of biological relation between Laurits and Vidar, she didn't bother to check whether Wence truly died after shooting her down from the night skies allowing the mortally wounded seeress to pass her necklace to Wotan so he can awaken Odin within himself and provide Magne necessary materials to recreate Mjölnir (her falcon form's feather and Ran's arrow). Similarly, her blatant murder attempts Laurits in a fit of rage ultimately what forced Magne to reconsider his part in the fight against her and her fellow giants.

## Equipment

### Bow and Arrow

   Her personal Old World weapon is a black war bow that she knows very well how to use.

## Episodes

Season 1
* "New Boy"
* "541 Meters"
* "Jutulheim"
* "Ginnungagap"
* "Atomic Number 48"
* "Yes, We Love This Country"

Season 2
* "Brothers in Arms"
* "What Happened to the Nice, Old Lady?"
* "Power to the People"
* "God Is God, Though All Men Death Had Tasted"
* "Know Yourself"
* "All You Need Is Love"

Season 3
* "War Is Over"
* "Till Death Do Us Part"
* "Losing My Religion"
* "My Precious"
* "A Farewell to Arms"
* "Ragnarok"

## Trivia

* In Norse mythology, Rán was a goddess seen as the personification of the dark side of the sea, queen of the ocean floor where the drowned people go. Her husband, the giant and friend of the Æsir gods, personified the good part of the sea. As with Vidar, choosing the name for the character should only be a quick reference, even though the sinister personality of the goddess described above bears some resemblance to that of Ran in the series. Still, in Ragnarok, Ran is the powerful matriarch of the family of giants, and is completely against the resurgence of the gods.
	+ Alternatively, Ran could be the reincarnation of Elli, a personification of old age who, in the *Prose Edda* book *Gylfaginning*, defeats Thor in a wrestling match.