History ComicBook / ThorVikings

Unlike [[ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX other prominent titles]] of the brand, this miniseries takes place in the mainstream Marvel continuity instead of its own stand-alone universe.

* CanonDiscontinuity: Despite the enormous impact that this story should have on mainstream Marvel canon, not a single reference to this story or any of the fallout from it has ever appeared in any Marvel comic that came afterwards. [[ArmedWithCanon Different authors have also contradicted Garth's claims that it was ever considered canon in the first place.]] Harald Jaekelsson was later made canonical when he was name-dropped in a 2018 issue of the main ''Thor'' series. However, the comic did not establish who Jaekelsson is or describe him in detail, nor does it make any mention of anything that happened in ''Vikings''. Therefore, while the character of Jaekelsson himself is canon to the main Marvel universe, the events of ''Vikings'' are likely not.

* CanonDiscontinuity: Despite the enormous impact that this story should have on mainstream Marvel canon, not a single reference to this story or any of the fallout from it has ever appeared in any Marvel comic that came afterwards. [[ArmedWithCanon Different authors have also contradicted Garth's claims that it was ever considered canon in the first place.]]

* HornyVikings: Harald and his crew represent the darkest vikings aspects.

** The miniseries itself was on the receiving end of one in a later ''Thor'' comic, when a flashback shows a female Viking cursing about "the gutless [[BestialityIsDepraved goat-lovers]] who follow Haral Jaekelsson". This is, in fact, the ''only'' reference to any aspect of ''Vikings'' in any other Marvel work.

* WriterOnBoard: Garth Ennis is well known for his unabashed dislike of superheroes, and this comic shows: Thor is a borderline ButtMonkey, Dr. Strange is a DrJerk and the Avengers [[CurbStompBattle are curb-stomped by the zombies offscreen]]. Its really telling when they need the help of relatively normal people to fight the threat.

** The miniseries itself was on the receiving end of one in a later ''Thor'' comic, when a flashback shows a female Viking cursing about "the gutless [[BestialityIsDepraved goat-lovers]] who follow Haral Jaekelsson".

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Jaekelsson is a prolific [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rapist]] and sexist, calling [[ActionGirl Sigrid]] a "whore-at-arms" and is baffled to see a female police officer taking up arms against him. Note that ValuesDissonance is at play, as he belongs to a different society and time period, and his sexism is ''far'' from [[WouldHurtAChild being the worst]] [[{{Sadist}} thing about him]].

* MadeOfPlasticine: Apparently, your bones turn into thin glass if try to hit Harald, even with a melee weapon. Thor manages to break his wrists hitting him with Mjolnir.

* InfantImmortality: Played with. While its made very much clear that Jaekelsson's men butcher children along with adults and we see kids being attacked, we don't actually get to see any of them being murdered onscreen like with the adult victims.

* {{Gorn}}: Why it's a MAX title; unlike a lot of other stories (such as ''ComicBook/MaximumCarnage'') that feature villains committing wanton and mass slaughter, this one showcases all of it in grizzly detail instead of toning it down or having the worst occur off-panel.

* GentleGiant: Magnus of the Danes is a very tall and strong Teutonic knight, in fact so big that he ''towers over Thor'' (himself TheBigGuy to ComicBook/TheAvengers) while standing next to him. Despite his introductory scene setting him up as some [[TheFundamentalist religious zealot who massacres heretics]], he turns out to be extremely friendly and nice to others, he doesn't even object fighting alongisde Sigrid, who is a both a Norse pagan and a warrior-woman, which respectively clashes with his strong religious beliefs and traditional views of women from his time period.

** CanonDiscontinuity: Despite the enormous impact that this story should have on mainstream Marvel canon, not a single reference to this story or any of the fallout from it has ever appeared in any Marvel comic that came afterwards. [[ArmedWithCanon Different authors have also contradicted Garth's claims that it was ever considered canon in the first place.]]

* ReligiousBruiser: Magnus is a devout Christian who is introduced putting an entire village of heretics to the sword. Surprisingly he is not TheFundamentalist, as he doesn't mind fighting for a pagan God such as Thor. [[spoiler: Ironically, he ends up in Valhala when he dies.]]

What happens when the ComicBook/TheMightyThor gets the [[DarkerAndEdgier the Garth Ennis' treatment?]] You get ''Thor: Vikings'', a 2003 limited miniseries written by Creator/GarthEnnis, illustrated by Glenn Fabry and published under Creator/MarvelMAX, the R-rated imprint of Creator/MarvelComics.

* AchievementsInIgnorance: That "wise man" was just trying to share ''some'' degree of his suffering with the monsters who'd inflicted it upon him - by casting a BloodMagic spell to curse them with a thousand years of suffering upon the sea. Jaekelsson puts an arrow right through him at fifty yards, and instead the veinful intended, the spell gets every drop in the old man's body. Add in that the patrons of Blood Magic ''love'' screwing with people, "Everlasting pain" becomes "cannot die", while "sail for a thousand years without reaching your destination" becomes "dump zombie Vikings in Manhattan in 2003". As an ironic bonus, his spell inadvertently ended up creating beings formidable enough to overcome a PhysicalGod in a straight up fight.

In the year 1003, Harald Jaekelsson and his crew of Norse raiders are cursed by a wise man for destroying his village and murdering its townsfolk. They set sail west towards the New World for a thousand years until they reach New York and do [[RapePillageAndBurn what Norse raiders were pretty infamous for doing]]. The God of Thunder attempts to stop them, but shockingly, he gets trounced by Jaekelsson who proceeds to slaughter everything on his path. In order to stop these immortal zombies, Thor enlists the help of ComicBook/DoctorStrange, who summons a trio of warriors from different time periods descended to the wise man who have the power to kill these monsters.

* TheWorfEffect: To ''astonishing levels''. How do we know that Jaekelsson and his zombies are dangerous? When Thor strikes him with Mjolnir not only he withstands the blow, but Thor ''snaps his own wrists while doing so''. It gets worse in a issue later where he defeats a Avengers team comprised of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, ComicBook/IronMan, ComicBook/ScarletWitch and ComicBook/{{Vision}}, all of them formidable fighters and powerhouses, taken out ''offscreen''.

* NighInvulnerable: Harald Jaekelsson.

* ContinuitySnarl: It is debatable if this is supposed to be part of the main Marvel Universe thanks to conflicting WordOfGod along with a number of inaccurate such as Dr. Strange acting out of character, Jaekelsson being unstoppable compare to everything else Thor has fought, a crisis of this magnitude not being mentioned in any other comic (namely New York being sacked by Viking zombies, and graphically turned into a slaughterhouse), etc. Instead of the story featuring Thor in the Marvel Universe. It is Garth Ennis checking off all of his pet peeves on Marvel characters regardless of anything else.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Harald Jaekelsson utterly hands Thor's ass in their first match. Keep in mind that Harald is neither Asgardian nor Frost Giant, he is just a human Viking turned undead by a common wizard's [[JackassGenie deliberately mis-interpreted rune magic]].

* ContinuitySnarl: It is debatable if this is supposed to be part of the main Marvel Universe thanks to conflicting WordOfGod along with a number of inaccurate such as Dr. Strange acting out of character, Jaekelsson being unstoppable compare to everything else Thor has fought, a crisis of this magnitude not being mentioned in any other comic, etc. Instead of the story featuring Thor in the Marvel Universe. It is Garth Ennis checking off all of his pet peeves on Marvel characters regardless of anything else.

* ContinunitySnarl: It is debatable if this is supposed to be part of the main Marvel Universe thanks to conflicting WordOfGod along with a number of inaccurate such as Dr. Strange acting out of character, Jaekelsson being unstoppable compare to everything else Thor has fought, a crisis of this magnitude not being mentioned in any other comic, etc. Instead of the story featuring Thor in the Marvel Universe. It is Garth Ennis checking off all of his pet peeves on Marvel characters regardless of anything else.