Iron Man has his armor, Captain America has his shield, and Spider-Man has his web-shooters,
but there are few superheroes who are as strongly identified with their equipment as Thor.
For centuries, he's been depicted wielding the mighty Mjolnir, whose crushing blows resound
with the sound of thunder across the Nine Realms.
But in the comics, that’s not the only weapon that the God of Thunder has wielded against
the forces of evil.
Join us as we take a trip through the Asgardian armory to rank Thor’s hammers from weakest
to strongest!
Ultimate Mjolnir I
The original version of Mjolnir that we saw in the pages of The Ultimates wasn't actually
Mjolnir at all.
Instead, in keeping with that book's questions about whether Thor was actually a god or just
some delusional but super-powered Norwegian gentleman, it was the product of technology,
not magic.
While he would eventually turn out to be the earthly reincarnation of the God of Thunder,
Thor's original set of equipment was based entirely on super-science, with a weather-controlling
costume powered by a battery inside a giant hammer.
While it was certainly formidable, it was far from flawless.
As a weapon made by humans, it lacked both the sheer power of the magical Mjolnir and
the enchantments that made Thor the only one able to use it.
That made it pretty easy for villains to replicate, including a Soviet super-soldier who paired
his hammer with a similarly powerful sickle, because comics have never exactly been subtle.
Ultimate Mjolnir II
After spending a few years swinging around his technological hammer, the Thor of the
Ultimate Universe got his hands on the genuine article.
Like the core universe's version of Mjolnir, this version granted its wielder incredible
powers, most of which involved the ability to smash problems into a fine red mist.
It did not, however, have the worthiness enchantment or anything else that could keep bad guys
like the Ultimate Universe’s genocidal version of Magneto from picking it up.
Needless to say, this caused a lot of problems.
When it found its way to the core Marvel universe, it was used by Volstagg, one of Thor's closest
Asgardian allies.
When he hefted it in order to defend his realm, the noble but definitely past-his-prime warrior
wasn't just turned into Thor, he was turned into an incredibly powerful version called
War Thor.
Unfortunately, that transformation also made him prone to violent rages and when it was
destroyed by Mangog, left Volstagg in a coma.
A pretty high price to pay just to use a hammer that's also an axe.
Jarnbjorn
While it's technically not a hammer, Jarnbjorn definitely deserves a spot on the list.
The Odinson wielded this axe in the days before he proved his worthiness of Mjolnir, and more
recently, when he found himself unworthy once again.
While it lacks Mjolnir's ability to channel lightning, it's still a gigantic magic battleaxe
crafted by the gods.
That alone makes it pretty formidable, and allows it to live up to the meaning of its
name: the Iron Bear.
It's incredibly sharp, can slash through the armor of the space gods known as the Celestials,
and was also enchanted to be at least as indestructible as the original Mjolnir.
It's worth noting that Jarnbjorn's most memorable powerful moment isn't exactly one of its best.
The first time Thor took it into battle after losing his hammer, it was taken away from
him by Malekith, who promptly used it to cut off Thor's arm.
That's the sort of thing that's going to happen when you're used to swinging around a weapon
no one else can lift, but any weapon that can almost effortlessly sever a god's limbs
has to be pretty potent.
The Golden Hammer
After Mjolnir's destruction, Thor contacted a dwarven blacksmith named Screwbeard, and
got him to make a new hammer.
The bad news is that this hammer broke on its first outing when Thor shattered it by
hitting the unstoppable Juggernaut.
The good news is that Screwbeard had made plenty of backup hammers, and teleported an
entire arsenal to Thor.
Eventually, he found one that would stand up to some heavy use.
The Golden Hammer is still new enough that it hasn't been named yet although Screwbeard
mentioned that one of the other destroyed hammers was called "Hulksmiter" so it's difficult
to judge its true power.
It has, however, been mentioned in the comics that it's made of a less pure form of the
metal ore Uru, and likely won't hold up as well as the original Mjolnir did.
Mjolnir
The original Mjolnir has long been considered one of the Marvel Universe's most powerful
artifacts, and for good reason.
Even if it was just an indestructible uru mallet empowered by the Odinforce, it would
be a pretty respectable weapon, but that's just the tip of this particular enchanted
iceberg.
What really makes Mjolnir so powerful is that it's directly tied into the power and godhood
of Thor.
The enchantment on the hammer means that anyone worthy enough can truly become the God of
Thunder by lifting it, including Jane Foster, Beta Ray Bill, and even Loki.
But while Mjolnir weathered plenty of figurative and literal storms in its time, Odin probably
should've asked about a lifetime warranty.
In the movies, Hela crushed it into bits, and in the comics, it was destroyed when Thor
Jane Foster took it into battle against the otherwise unstoppable Mangog, launching it
and the villain into the sun.
The only thing that survived was a pebble-sized chunk of Uru that was still pretty difficult
for the unworthy to lift.
Still, you have to give it credit: a hammer that can only be destroyed by something that's
27,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit and constantly exploding with nuclear reactions isn't exactly
fragile.
Stormbreaker
In the movies, Stormbreaker is Thor’s devastating new Groot-handled hammer, but in the comics,
it belongs to Beta Ray Bill.
He’s an alien hero who once found himself battling Thor, and during the fight, he was
able to prove his worthiness by lifting the hammer and briefly taking over the identity
of Thor.
After Odin decreed that the two heroes would battle to the death to determine who would
get the hammer and the title a battle that Bill actually won Bill once again proved himself
by saving Thor's life, and swore an oath to be an ally and "oath-brother."
To reward his valor and cement the alliance, Odin granted him Stormbreaker, a new golden
hammer said to be Mjolnir's equal in every way.
So if they're equals, why does Stormbreaker rank higher?
Simple: Mjolnir got destroyed, but Stormbreaker's still around.
Being in one piece tends to give it a bit of an edge.