As far as Marvel’s superheroes are concerned, Thor is certainly one of the most powerful and popular ones. Even the basic version of the character, a true Asgardian deity, is enormously powerful, and I won’t even tell you how some later versions, such as Rune King Thor, measure on the power scale of Marvel’s universe. Now, today’s article is going to, obviously, be about Thor, but I am not going to talk about the evolution of the character but rather about an event that happened in the early 1990s and has a lot to do with the Asgardian’s powers and abilities.
Due to his Asgardian physiology and powers, Thor is certainly capable of holding and using an Infinity Gem. In the comic books, he has, indeed, done it when the Power Gem caused him to go on a rampage across the universe and, ultimately, clash with an unimpressed Thanos.
In today’s article, I am going to discuss Thor’s powers and abilities, as well as how they relate to the Infinity Gems. You are going to find out about Thor’s powers in general, which I am going to use to explain why he can or cannot use an Infinity Gem. You’re also going to find out whether he was ever in contact with an Infinity Gem or with the Infinity Gauntlet. Let us begin!
Is Thor able to use an Infinity Gem?
This question is really all about whether Thor is powerful enough to hold and use one of the six Infinity Gems; if you want to read more about them, be sure to check this text.
In order to give you a proper answer to this question, I am going to give you a brief overview of the mighty Asgardian’s powers and abilities so that you can also see for yourself why the answer is such as it is.
Thor, being the son of Odin and Gaea, is among the most powerful Asgardians. His powers include superhuman strength, endurance, speed, agility, and reflexes. As a god, he is immune to natural death and unlike other Asgardians, his powers do not suffer any reduction when moving from Asgard to Earth.
He is almost completely invulnerable, his senses are acute enough to allow him to locate objects moving at superluminal speed or to perceive a sound on the other side of the planet, his endurance is also truly amazing.
As Asgard’s best warrior, he is a superb fighter with both bare hands and bladed weapons, especially the hammer, sword, battle-ax, and mace. If taken to the limit during a fight, Thor is able to enter a state of mind known as “warrior’s madness”, thanks to which he greatly increases his fighting skills but completely loses control of himself, attacking enemies and allies alike.
In addition to being able to heal his wounds in a few moments using mystical forces, he exerts an innate control over the earth’s surface from his maternal heritage.
Thor also speaks all the languages of the Nine Realms.
Thor occasionally uses Megingjord, a belt capable of doubling his strength, although his usual weapon is the Mjölnir, can only be wielded only by those who are worthy, capable of always returning to its owner. Mjölnir gives Thor additional powers, including absorption and emission of energy, dimensional teleportation, time travel, and the manipulation of atmospheric agents such as snow, rain, wind, and above all lightning.
As “God of Thunder” Thor is in fact able to emit lightning bolts far more powerful than those present in nature, to use them to perform defibrillation and to generate rays of electrical energy with immense offensive power (God-Blast), thermal (Thermo-Blast), or able to repel other energy forms (Anti-Force).
Through Mjölnir, Thor is also able to manipulate matter, dark matter, and antimatter, create force fields and, by rotating it quickly and then launching it in the desired direction while clinging to the leather string at the bottom of its handle, fly to supersonic (in the earth’s atmosphere) or superluminal (in space) speed.
Although he rarely uses it, the God of Thunder also possesses a war chariot pulled by Tanngnjóstr and Tanngrisnir, two Asgardian goats endowed with mystical powers that make them able to travel between the Nine Realms at almost the same speed as Mjölnir. After Doctor Strange infuses a part of Thor’s soul into Mjölnir to repair it from damage sustained in battle, the Asgardian’s life becomes tied to his weapon.
As you can see, it’s quite evident that Thor is perfectly capable of holding and using an Infinity Gem and there should be no doubt about that based on his powers. Now, I can continue and tell you whether he actually did it in the stories.
Has Thor ever used an Infinity Gem?
Well, now that we know that Thor has the potential power to use an Infinity Gem, let us see whether he has done it in the comics. If we go back to the 1990s – 1993, to be precise – we’ll see that there was a Thor-centred storyline called “Blood and Thunder” that spanned through several issues and series.
In that series, we actually see Thor hold and use an Infinity Gem. Which one? The Power Gem! Thor became enormously powerful, and he even went on a rampage across the universe.
The storyline eventually sees him face off with Thanos the Mad Titan, who ends up being on the receiving end of Thor’s Power-Gem-enhanced Mjölnir blast. He bled, but he wasn’t all that impressed with Thor’s powers, and he was able to handle it, although anyone else would probably end up being destroyed by the enormous power present in the God of Thunder’s enhanced attack.
Can Thor wield the Infinity Gauntlet?
Seeing that all the answers so far have been positive and knowing that Thor has very similar powers to his father, Odin, there is absolutely no reason why anyone should doubt that Thor couldn’t use the Infinity Gauntlet with all the six Infinity Games.
Certainly, Thanos might be a tad stronger than the Asgardian God of Thunder, but their difference in power is not that large and Thor is an extremely powerful character in his own right. That is why I am certain that Thor could use the Infinity Gauntlet, and with this conclusion, this article comes to a close.
