Odin is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is first mentioned in
Journey into Mystery #85 (Oct. 1962), then first appears in Journey into Mystery #
86 (Nov. 1962), and was adapted from the Odin of Norse mythology by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. He is the
father of Thor and former king of Asgard.
Sir Anthony Hopkins portrays Odin in the 2011 superhero feature film, Thor, and reprised his role in the 2013 sequel, Thor: The Dark World.
As
King of the Norse Gods, Odin possesses vast strength, stamina and durability far greater than a normal Asgardian, along with resistance to all Earthly diseases and toxins, incredible resistance to
magic, and courtesy of the Golden Apples of Idunn, a greatly extended lifespan. Odin has all the abilities of his son Thor, but to a much greater degree. Odin is capable of manipulating the Odin Force—a powerful source of energy—for a number of purposes, including energy projection; creation of illusions and force fields; levitation; molecular manipulation, communicating telepathically with other Asgardians even if they be on
Earth and he in Asgard, hypnotizing
humans; channelling lightning to
Earth from Asgard, controlling the lifeforces of all Asgardians, and teleportation. The character has also used the Odinpower for greater feats such as transporting the entire human race to an alternate dimension; stopping
time; pulling the remains of distant planets down from outer space to crush his foes, compressing the population of an entire planet into a
single being, the Mangog and then recreating the race and taking a
soul away from the arch-
demon Mephisto. The Odin Force extends Odin's power to a cosmic level, allowing him to engage entities such as Galactus on their own terms.
