Odin Borson

"I have sacrificed much to achieve peace. So too must a new generation sacrifice to maintain that peace. Responsibility! Duty! Honour! These are not mere virtues to which we must aspire! They are essential to every soldier, to every king! " - Odin

Odin is the father of Thor and the ruler of Asgard in the film, Thor. He is based on one of the gods of Norse mythology.

Thor
Odin is a member of the Asgardian race, once looked upon by people of Northern Europe as gods, and is the ruler of Asgard. At one time he led a force of Asgardians against the jotuns in defence of people on Earth. The Asgardians beat the jotuns back to their home realm of Jotunheim where Odin granted them mercy and offered them a truce. In the process, he also confiscated the Casket of Ancient Winters that gave them much of their power and rescued a baby jotun who had been abandoned in the conflict. The infant Loki grew up as a brother to Odin's real son Thor, and Odin kept the boy's heritage a secret in the hope that he would one day come to end the enmity between the two races.

Centuries later, Odin held a ceremony to name Thor as his heir, but the event was interrupted by several jotuns breaking into Odin's vault. He activated The Destroyer in defence of the vault, thus ending the threat of the jotuns reclaiming their artefact, but opted not to press the matter any further. Thor insisted that he launch an attack on Jotunheim, but Odin rejected the idea, preferring instead to preserve the shaky truce. Thor then defied his father's will and launched a small-scale attack of his own. Upon learning of Thor's defiance, Odin went to Jotunheim himself and drew his sons and their friends back to Asgard. Thor had foolishly reignited the war with the jotuns, and for his transgression Odin banished him to Earth.

Loki had discovered the truth of his long-concealed ancestry during the fight on Jotunheim and confronted Odin with the discovery. Odin could only relate an historical account of how he had found and rescued Loki before lapsing into his restorative "Odinsleep". With Odin incapacitated and Thor exiled, Loki seized the throne of Asgard for himself. He manipulated the others around him as Odin slept, even going so far as to arrange Odin's assassination at the hands of the jotuns.

Odin finally awoke after Thor had secured a return to Asgard with an act of self-sacrifice and had defeated Loki. He raced to witness Thor grabbing hold of Loki's spear as Loki fell into an endless void and in turn grabbed Thor to prevent both his sons from falling. Loki, dangling from the spear, looked up and appealed to Odin that he did what he did for the good of Asgard. Odin quietly rejected this, and then watched with sadness when Loki released the spear and fell.

Some time later, Odin was approached by a sullen Thor. They both had suffered loses, and Thor had come to make an admission that he'd been wrong and hoped that one day he'd make his father proud. Odin, understanding the personal sacrifices that Thor had made for the good of three races, told Thor that he had made him proud.

Friends and Allies

 * Thor
 * Frigga
 * Sif
 * Jane Foster
 * Fandral
 * Volstagg
 * Hogun
 * Heimdall

Enemies

 * Loki
 * The Destroyer
 * Laufey

Behind the scenes
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Appearances/Actors

 * Canon (1 film)
 * Thor (First appearance) - Anthony Hopkins