Odin's Trophy Room

The Vault, also known as Odin's Trophy Room is a underground vault holding all of Odin's prized possesions and spoils of war, such as The Orb of Agamotto, The Infinity Gauntlet, The Casket of Ancient Winters, The Enternal Flame, The Tablet of Life and Time, and The Warlocks Eye.

The Infinity Gauntlet
A more prominent item in Marvel Comics history is that of The Infinity Gauntlet. It’s formed when all six “Infinity Gems”, the Mind Gem, the Soul Gem, the Power Gem, the Space Gem, the Time Gem, and the Reality Gem, are placed into Thanos’ gauntlet, granting its wearer – in basic terms – god-like powers and control of the universe. The first appearance of one of these gems came in The Power of Warlock #1 (1972) but the first time all six appeared together under the “Infinity” moniker came in 1977 with Avengers Annual #7 when the villain Thanos collected all six gems.

The Infinity Gauntlet got its own self-titled six-issue series in the early 90s, which followed Thanos placing the gems in his glove to create the Infinity Gauntlet and using it to destroy half of the universe. In Marvel Comics fashion, however, things get fixed in the end so Thanos didn’t win.

We saw the item on display at Comic-Con in 2010 and its appearance in Thor hints at the greater cosmic universe yet to be explored in these films.

Tablet of Life and Time
The text written on the Tablet of Life is actually a chemical formula, the “Lifeline Formula,” which augments its user into a superior being, the best of their species. It and its more evil counterpart (Tablet of Death and Entropy) have played a prominent role in Spider-Man comics for years. Another tablet, the Tablet of Order and Chaos represented the plot device for last year’s successful Spider-Man: Shattered Dimension video game.

If you’re into Marvel history, The Amazing Spider-Man series reveals that the Tablet of Death and Entropy originates from from Lemuria and the Tablet of Life and Time from Atlantis. Atlantis, later home to Namor the Sub-Mariner and the Homo mermanus race, were enemies to the Deviants, the people of Lemuria whose continent was sunk by the Atlanteans 21,000 years ago.

The Orb of Agamotto
Another treasure of Odin's Trophy Room is the Orb of Agamotto. Like the Eye of Agamotto, this Orb is another item in possession of Dr. Strange in the comics. He stores it in the Chamber of Shadows, a room in his Sanctum Sanctorum (his mansion and base of the New Avengers ).

The Orb of Agamatto offers Dr. Strange clairvoyance since it can locate where magic is being used, or dangers to the world. It can be, however, blocked by other powerful magic users (i.e. Asgardian sorceress Enchantress) to keep their location secret.

Eternal Flame
Also known as the Eternal Flame of Destruction, this mystical flame was stolen from Surtur by Odin and his brothers to prevent the demon and enemy of Asgard from lighting his sword and starting a war that could end the Norse Gods of Asgard.

In the Thor film, we met the Frost Giant army. Think of Surtur as a fiery version of them with his fire demons. You can also learn more about Surtur and his flaming sword in the Thor tie-in animated feature, Thor: Tales of Asgard.

The Warlock's Eye
What appears to be The Eye of Agamotto (described above), is really The Warlock’s eye, a mystical weapon in the comics stolen by Thor and the Warrior’s Three from Harokin, an Asgardian enemy of Thor.

The Casket of Ancient Winters
The Casket is powered by a limitless supply of magical energy. When opened, it releases powerful arctic weather that is capable of freezing anything in its path; killing humans and immobilizing Asgardians. The Casket can only be opened and handled by a Frost Giant; anyone else who attempts to open it would be burnt by the powerful cold aura that surrounds it. Its magic is also strong enough to temporarily disrupt the powers of Odin.

In the film, the Casket is used by the Frost Giants in an attempt to take over the Nine Realms, starting with Earth. When the Frost Giants are defeated by Odin, the All-Father takes the casket back to Asgard for safekeeping. He later displays it to his two young sons; Thor and Loki, when he is telling them stories about the war with the Frost Giants.

Prior to Thor's coronation as the new king of Asgard, the Casket is almost stolen by several Frost Giants who have managed to enter the castle armory where the box is kept. The theft is sensed and stopped by Odin who calls the Destroyer to destroy the thieves.

Later in the film Loki discovers that he can handle the casket without being harmed. The casket also temporaily disrupts Odin's magic; causing Loki's true Frost Giant physical charactaristics (blue skin and red eyes) to appear.

The Cosmic Cube
In Captain America: The First Avenger, the Tesseract is said by Johann Schmidt to be the jewel of Odin's treasure room. It is believed that the cube was left on Earth during the war with the Jotuns and may have been placed back in the trophy room after The Avengers when Thor brings the cube and Loki back to Asgard. Schmidt broke in to a Nordic church and opened a tomb looking for the Tesseract. He takes a clear cube (shown left) from the deceased's hands and shatters it on the floor, then proceeds to a secert compartment on the wall carving of Yggdrasill, the world tree. He pushes a snake's (Níðhöggr) eye and removes the Cosmic Cube from the wall. He later develops weapons using the Tesseract's energy. Along with the Odinforce, the Tesseract is the most powerful force in Asgard. Humans cannot touch the Cosmic Cube less they be destroyed, as Schmidt was disinegraded into deep space.

Mjolnir
Before Thor was trusted with the mighty hammer, Mjolnir was placed in the Vault. It is seen early in the film Thor as Odin with his young sons Thor and Loki leave the Vault.

The Destroyer
The Destroyer, when not in use, is kept in the Vault, and its duty is to protect the treasures of Odin's Trophy Room.