Heimdall | God of War Wiki | Fandom

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Power

Enchanced senses Superhuman Strength Superhuman Speed and Agility Superhuman Durability Bifröst Manipulation Conjuration Foresight Precognition Chronokinesis Swordsmanship


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Codex Description [ ]

“ Heimdall, the bearer of Gjallarhorn . Mimir said he was dangerous, a "true believer" of Odin . He didn't mention what a complete jerk he is. Or that he seems able to read people somehow. The less time I spend around this guy, the better... ” –Atreus

“ Heimdall was everything described - a cruel, pompous bully, and a formidable foe. His gifts of intuition were nothing to be ignored, nor was his unexpected mastery of the Bifröst . When I struck a blow that should have ended the fight, I tried to heed the voice in my head, that he was beaten, not worth killing. But Heimdall sensed my pity, and it shamed him. His pride would not allow him to accept my mercy... so in the end I gave him none. It was not my choice... and yet, I feel... satisfied. Have I proved the Norns wrong, or I have proved them right? ” –Kratos


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Personality [ ]

“ He's a lot. I know. Very perceptive, but sometimes he just forgets to think, you know? ” – Odin to Loki about Heimdall

Heimdall was described as a loyalist and true believer in Odin's cause. As such, he is incredibly loyal to Odin, but he will try to go against Odin's will if he senses a threat to the All-Father. He is snarky, condescending, arrogant, and cruel. This is best seen when he belittled Atreus and Thrúd, as he knew that they are inferior to him in power. Despite his power, however, Heimdall is somewhat cowardly and fearful of people of greater power, as he backed down from harassing Atreus due to Thor's intervention and begged Kratos to stop attacking after the latter impaled his arm to the wall with the Draupnir Spear. Nonetheless, Heimdall can still be defiant in the face of adversity even towards superior opponents and his extreme arrogance would overpower his sense of self-preservation. When Kratos had impaled his arm and even blew it off Heimdall still rejected his mercy and continued to mock him and threaten Atreus, furious that someone would attempt to decide his fate and fought to his last breath until it eventually resulted in his violent death.
Even then, he is vindictive and cocky, as he believed he could take down Kratos despite the knowledge of the man's horrible deeds and reputation. His vindictiveness and fragile ego ultimately lead to his demise, as he was infuriated with the idea that Kratos was looking down on him, continuing to fight to the death after Kratos offered to spare him, something that Heimdall's pride would never allow him to accept.
His rivalry with Atreus appears to have been formed out of jealousy as Heimdall's hatred for Atreus stems from Atreus getting special treatment from the All-Father, which makes Heimdall feel begrudged and pulled down since Odin is deliberately ignoring his warnings that Atreus is a threat to him and Asgard. After Atreus and Thrúd release Garm, Heimdall is more than eager to voice his excitement over Atreus having to explain his mistake to Odin and he repeatedly tries to assert dominance over Atreus by pointing out his flaws.
His foresight is something he held in great confidence as it was the one power that made him untouchable, above everyone else. Due to his invaluable, irreplaceable position as Odin's mind-reader meaning Odin and his allies could never truly get rid of him, coupled with his abilities contributing to a record of having never lost a fight, Heimdall's ego grew massively. This escalated to the point that he became extremely arrogant and fond of bullying others around him simply because he could get away with it. He has a habit of giving insulting and cruel nicknames to belittle everyone around him, referring to Atreus as a “half-breed”, Freya as “Queen Mistletoe", Freyr as "Sizzles", and Kratos as "Sunshine". Despite this, his foresight was not infallible. Brok figured out that with such heightened senses they could be overwhelmed given enough stimulation. When this was proven right by the spear created from the self-multiplying ring Draupnir, Heimdall was infuriated and surprised when his signature ability failed him, causing him to become even more careless in his rage and forced to rely on the physical abilities he had neglected for so long.
In addition, he doesn't hold many people in high regard, as he can see into a person's mind - including things that they don't even know about themselves - causing him to see the worst in everyone; the only exception being Odin. He proves to be wound up extremely tight and distrustful of everyone around him due to this, causing Sindri to even use "straighter than Heimdall" as an adjective to describe the quality of his mistletoe arrows. Furthermore, Sindri mentions that Heimdall is "unpopular at parties," showing that even among the Asgardians, he is widely held in contempt. In The Great Lodge , he is seen drinking mead away from the rest instead of socializing with any of them, likewise, a few Asgardians are even heard by Atreus complaining about the God of Foresight. This profound misanthropy is shared because of Heimdall's abilities he detests everyone lying to him and themselves and likewise Atreus claims “everyone hated him” after his death directly to Odin and his father only agreed. Even Heimdall's personal mount, Gulltoppr, is treated with contempt, insulting it whenever it fails in any way and kicks its corpse when the beast is slain by Kratos. However, Heimdall does show a measure of interest, or more accurately, amusement when he is unable to perceive the intentions of someone when they don't have a full grasp of who they are and what they want, as is the case with Atreus. Ironically and somewhat tragically, Heimdall was blind to the true nature of Odin, a notorious liar and manipulator, only seeing what he wanted in his father or genuinely believing his father was a benevolent ruler.
Odin himself notes that Heimdall's powers of perception are blatantly imbalanced by his inability to think things through much less cope actually well with the consequences of his own actions, a dangerous combination to harbor in a person. True enough, as the All-Father predicted, Heimdall's arrogance and short temper became his downfall in the end, getting reckless during his fight with Kratos after the God of War only got a single hit in and refusing to stand down when the latter offered him mercy. The irony in this is perhaps best exemplified by Heimdall's own statement that "[Kratos] will not decide [his] fate", only for him to seal it himself by repeatedly provoking the God Killer.
Despite his arrogant, rude and pompous demeanor, he is not entirely devoid of redeeming qualities. The fact that he despises those who hide their true intentions and never mean what they say shows he dislikes lying and prefers to tell the truth. This is likely the reason for his openly contemptuous and demeaning attitude, as he believes it is better to be honest about his supposed superiority over treating others with a false kindness, an attitude that Atreus ironically began to develop when he learned about his godhood. Furthermore, many of his actions are driven by the love he has for Asgard and his willingness to protect it.
Heimdall is also shown to be as vain about his appearance, given his luxurious taste in clothing and accessories. He was particularly annoyed when Kratos touched his bracers during their fight. Even his mount, Gulltoppr is adorned with gold and saddled with high-quality leather.


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Powers [ ]

“ ”Now tell me of this power Heimdall wields. He sees the future?” “More like… he reads the person. Sees their intention” “My intent will be to kill him. Knowing that will be no advantage” “Brother, this is no one to underestimate. Any move you make, he’ll have seen it coming. ” – Kratos and Mimir about Heimdall

As an elite Norse God and an Aesir, Heimdall possessed immense superhuman physical abilities and supernatural powers. He possesses immense skill and combat capability, personally trusted as the watchman of Asgard and the left-hand servant of Odin himself, famed for never being harmed or losing a battle thanks to his senses according to Mimir and Sindri. The only Aesir that surpass him in power is Odin , who entrusted Gjallarhorn to his eldest son knowing no one would be able to surpass his foresight.

Immortality : As a Norse God, Heimdall is immortal. Only a sufficiently powerful weapon or an extremely powerful being can kill him. Enhanced Senses : Being the God of Foresight, Heimdall can hear and see things in the Nine Realms further than anyone else down to the smallest detail. This is seen as he was aware of Atreus climbing on the wall and when he was eavsdropping by Odin´s cabin while being inside. Superhuman Strength : As a god and one of Odin's sons, Heimdall possessed great strength. Although Kratos easily proved to be steadily stronger than Heimdall in the majority of their phases, after Heimdall conjured a spectral arm with Bifröst energy after he lost his arm, he was able to punch Kratos several feet into the air, knocking him away even though Kratos tried to block the punch. Heimdall also can briefly grapple with and stun the Greek God of War with his blows. He also was able to shove his hand into the ground and lift out a sizable chunk of stone, throwing it a great distance. Superhuman Durability : As one of the most powerful Aesir gods, Heimdall possesses strong durability, being able to endure hits from all of Kratos' weapon arsenal. Although, he isn't as durable as other Aesir gods, as Kratos was able to make him bleed with a single punch and used the Draupnir Spear to pierce through and blow up Heimdall's right arm. Heimdall, however, does possesses fast adaptation and great endurance, as he is able to quickly recover from the pain brought upon by his destroyed arm and is able to continue fighting aggressively soon after. Superhuman Speed : During the battle with Atreus and Kratos, Heimdall was able to move at extremely fast speeds around them to the point of almost looking like teleportation at times. Even in point-blank range, Heimdall has superhuman fast reflexes, capable of dodging and parrying superhumanly fast attacks and casually dodging Atreus' arrows, blasts of lightning, Kratos' punches, and even the extremely fast strikes of the Blades of Chaos, an achievement in which not even any of Kratos' adversaries, including Greek gods, have ever done before. Bifröst Manipulation : Heimdall could utilize Bifröst energies to attack his enemies with projectiles, make prosthetics in case of injury, and coat himself in a protective aura that acted as armour to nullify attacks. His mastery of Bifröst was such that he could utilize the energy in ways none else could with exception of Odin, who was the only one who could surpass him in this regard. Conjuration : After losing his right arm to Kratos, Heimdall was able to conjure up a spectral version of his arm out of Bifröst energy to act in place of the one he had lost. This spectral arm works just as well as his actual arm and was corporeal despite its intangible-looking appearance. In addition, he was able to summon spectral armor around his body which protected him and allowed him to deal out extra damage. He could also infuse his energy arm with even more power so that it would explode on impact with a target before reforming it and on capable of picking up boulders and, infused the boulder with Bifröst energy, and sent it flying at Kratos. The Bifröst energy also increased his physical strength, empowering Heimdall to effectively punch Kratos a great distance away. Foresight : Heimdall is able to see a person's next moves and intent by locking eyes, even to the point of being able to read another person's mind and thoughts. However, this precognitive capacity is based on the extent of the observed party also being consciously aware of the moves they are about to make, diminishing Heimdall's ability to anticipate them if they were randomly executed and not necessarily planned, meaning that he cannot read his target instinct and follow through erratic and unpredictable attacks. Therefore, he can be struck through pure chance; Brok notes that one can bypass the god's foresight by overwhelming his senses via forcing him to focus on more than one target at once. Hence the Draupnir Spear , able to near-infinitely multiply itself and having several of its copies thrown at the target's general location by the wielder from multiple trajectories. His own mindset also affects this ability, as the more blows Kratos landed on him, the more this ability diminished due to the rage and frustration of being hit clouding his mind. Precognition : While not displayed in his battles, Heimdall is stated to be capable of seeing, to an extent, a person's future. [ 1 ] This can be supported by the conversation Heimdall had with Atreus upon his arrival in Asgard, as the former said he can see cities burning in destruction and the latter was responsible for it. Chronokinesis : While fighting Kratos, Heimdall could slow down time to enhance his movements even further. While this doesn't affect him, it would affect Kratos to the point he was frozen in place for a few seconds. In addition, it also makes him immune to any time slowing effects that are used against him.

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In Norse Mythology [ ]

In norse mythology, Heimdallr is a god who possesses the resounding horn Gjallarhorn , owns the golden-maned horse Gulltoppr , is called the shining god, the whitest of the gods or the god with gold teeth. Heimdallr is the son of Odin and the nine daughters of Ægir and Rán (goddesses that personified waves) who are Bára (or Drǫfn ), Blóðughadda , Bylgja , Dúfa , Hefring , Himinglæva , Hrǫnn , Kólga and Unnr , although in the poem Völuspa hin Skamma it is claimed that Heimdallr is the son of Odin and nine sisters giantesses who are Angreyja, Atla, Eistla, Eyrgjafa, Gjálp, Greip, Imor (or Sindur), Járnsaxa and Ulfrún. Heimdallr is attested as possessing foreknowledge, keen eyesight and hearing, and keeps watch for invaders and the onset of Ragnarök while drinking fine mead in his dwelling Himinbjörg, located where the burning rainbow bridge Bifröst meets the sky. Heimdallr is said to be the originator of social classes among humanity and once regained Freyja's treasured possession Brísingamen while doing battle in the shape of a seal with Loki . Heimdallr and Loki are foretold to kill one another during the events of Ragnarök. Heimdallr is additionally referred to as Rig , Hallinskiði , Gullintanni and Vindlér or Vindhlér .
Heimdallr is attested in the Poetic Edda , compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material; in the Prose Edda and Heimskringla , both written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson; in the poetry of skalds; and on an Old Norse runic inscription found in England. Two lines of an otherwise lost poem about the god, Heimdalargaldr , survive.