"What if an Old God had seen the birth of a different team? What if it was not the Avengers, but the Justice League that Thor helped form?"
—Summary of Justice League: Thunderer
Justice League: Thunderer
is a fanfic written by HighValour that explores what would happen if The Mighty Thor ended up in the world of Justice League rather than the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In this story, Thor helps form the Justice League as a founding member, rather than be one of the founders of the Avengers.
Justice League: Thunderer provides examples of:
- Action Dad: Thor is an Asgardian Warrior Prince and a founder of the Justice League who has sired a child with Sif.
- Adaptational Badass: Invoked. The author states that he saw the MCU version of Thor as far weaker than his comic counterpart, so he amped Thor up to said version's level. Also, unlike canon, he can naturally fly without the need for Mjölnir (though this aspect is heavily subject to Depending on the Writer anyway), as according to Word of God, felt that his explained method of flight (throwing himself along with his hammer) didn't make any sense. As revealed in the "Trouble in Paradise" arc, Thor originally couldn't fly on his own, but he trained himself to be able to do so after the war against the Amazons.
- Ambiguous Situation: Whatever the Amazons did when they went North, it pissed the Asgardians off enough to chase them all the way back to their home, which they then destroyed. It's later implied by Thor that they attacked and tried to enslave Baldur when the sons of Odin went to Earth on a hunting trip, though the specifics of the event are still left vague.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Superman, at first, dismisses Tartarus as a myth. Flash quickly reminds him that they have a literal mythological deity on their team.
- The Berserker:
- When Thor enters Warrior's Madness, he becomes completely irrational, and his strength is multiplied by ten. He first enters this state when he battles against the Titans in the Underworld.
- According to Thor, a mortal making contact with the Source will cause them to be driven to madness and become this trope.
- Asgardian Berserkers also make an appearance during the war against the Amazons.
- Blessed with Suck: Thor's lineage as a hybrid between Aesir (House of Odin) and Elder god (Son of Gaea) allows the Source to more readily flow through him. However, he can't control this without Mjölnir channeling the excess power into itself to prevent him from losing his way to the Warrior's Madness. When cut off from other realms that he can draw power from outside the Source (such as in Tartarus), this is a problem. Thor discusses his abnormal lineage with disgust and bitterness, indicating that he's not fond of the drawbacks it gives him.
- Blood Knight: Thor loves a good fight and hates it when he doesn't have a challenge. During Asgard's war with the Amazons, he started out enjoying the battle, but the fights became easier as more Asgardians joined, leaving him unfulfilled due to the lack of challenge.
- Brought Down to Badass: A good chunk of Thor's power is sealed away in Mjölnir. Doesn't stop him from being near equal to Superman, fighting Frost Giants, and defeating the Titans (although he had to enter his Warrior's Madness state to do that last one).
- Cardboard Prison: Superman and Thor have a small talk about Arkham Asylum's inability to keep its criminals locked up when Batman has to deal with the Joker again.
- Cassandra Truth: Thor tells Diana his side of the story regarding the Asgard/Amazon war and what the Amazons did when they went North. She doesn't believe him and storms off in anger.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Loki inflicts this on Otrera, during Asgard's war with the Amazons. Even Thor, who's wrath at them was equal to Loki's, felt this was too far and tried to get him to stop.
- Composite Character:
- Thor, Loki, and Asgard in general has the look of their Marvel Cinematic Universe counterparts, but their backstories are rooted in the comics, such as Thor being the child of Odin and Gaea rather than Frigga.
- For Greek mythology, the Amazons are the ones native to the DCAU, but the Greek gods are those of the Marvel Universe.
- Ares is a mixture of various versions of himself. His battle form is derived from his DC comics version, but he still appears as he did in the DCAU. His connection to Otrera and Hippolyta is from the original mythology and the Marvel comics version.
- In-Universe, Clark notes that Thor is something of a mix between him and Batman. He lived the upbringing of a noble, but is a powerful being from another world who uses that power to help others.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: A few:
- Thor vs. Livewire. After she absorbs his lightning, Thor just backhands her into an office and gives her a "light" tap with Mjölnir, knocking her out cold.
- Asgard vs. the Amazons. The entire fight can be summed up as the Amazons trying (and failing) not to get killed.
- Thor ends up on the receiving end of this from Kronos, as he was the only Titan that overwhelmed him despite tapping into his Warrior's Madness.
- Divine Parentage: Both Thor and Diana. Thor is the son of the All-Father, Odin, and the Earth Mother, Gaea, while Diana is the daughter of Hades, Greek Lord of the Underworld, and the grandchild of Ares, the Greek God of War.
- The Dreaded:
- The Amazons both fear and despise the Asgardians. Hades even calls Thor one of the "Scourges of Civilization".
- Surtur is this for Asgard. Fitting since he burns galaxies out of boredom.
- Thor is apparently very afraid of Hela. When Loki was going over the possible list of sorcerers responsible for the Jotun assault on Earth, Thor really hopes that he doesn't have to fight his niece.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Ares genuinely seems to care about his consort Otrera, as he was pissed as hell when Loki brutalized and tortured her.
- Everyone Has Standards: Even during his bloodthirsty and violent days prior to his exile, Thor was highly opposed to Cold-Blooded Torture, as seen when he tries to get Loki to stop torturing Otrera for information.
- Fantastic Racism:
- Thor has a small problem with Amazons and Greeks due to Asgard's old history with them. Hippolyta pretty much hates Thor and the Norse Gods because of their decimation of Themyscira and because Thor is responsible for killing her mother.
- The Olympians don't think highly of Asgard, referring to the Norse pantheon as "Barbarians."
- Fusion Fic: Despite originally seeming as a crossover between the MCU and DCAU, it's really this in practice. Thor's mythos from the comics are added into the background of the story, and the Asgardians are more connected with the greater world than it initially seems, such as the God-Force and the Source being the exact same thing.
- Glass Cannon: Kronos is powerful enough to overwhelm Thor, even when he enters the Warrior's Madness state, but his body is heavily stitched together and it doesn't take much to undo the strings that keep him from falling apart. Even a heavily weakened Thor can hit him hard enough to seriously hurt him, and this is without Mjölnir.
- Hidden Depths: Despite Thor coming from a royal family and being a Glory Seeker before he was humbled, he surprisingly enjoys the simple life. Back on Asgard, he lives on a farm and spent a thousand years cultivating it with Sif in-between wars. Him being a farmer actually makes sense when you remember that he's also a fertility god in Norse Mythology.
- Hopeless with Tech: Thor is frequently shown to have no idea how to operate any Earth technology. He can't pilot a Javelin, work any of the systems on the Watchtower, and doesn't know how to use any of the farm equipment at the Kent farm outside basic tools.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: Downplayed. After learning what Thor and the Asgardians did (or at least her mother's side of the story) when they invaded Themyscira, Diana stops calling Thor by name and just refers to him as "Asgardian".
- Large Ham: Ares is one loud war god. Every word he says is capitalized to emphasize his ego and the volume he speaks at.
- Mommy Issues: Thor notably has a lot of issues regarding his Elder God heritage. He refers to his lineage with a mixture of anger, bitterness, and shame, and when he fought Ares in the past, he looked at a garden and spat out "I am of the Heavens, not the earth." All this signifies that he's not fond of his biological mother or his relation to her.
- Mythology Gag:
- Thor tapping into the Source to access his Warrior's Madness is a nod to how the New Gods were originally intended by Jack Kirby to be a sequel to Thor following the events of Ragnarok. Word of God even states that this is why Thor is referred to as an "Old God" in the story's summary.
- While battling Ares, Thor makes reference to "Get Help" and how much Loki hates it.
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Thor states that this is the reason he and Loki took Baldur on a hunting trip to Earth. Since creatures and animals on Earth are far weaker than the rest of the Nine Realms, it would be easier for Baldur to hunt them, as he was rather frail by Asgardian standards in their youth.
- Physical God: The Norse and Greek pantheons are filled with them since they're all mythological deities with physical forms. This also applies to the Titans as well since they are the predecessors of their pantheon.
- Related in the Adaptation:
- Hela's exact biological relation to Loki tends to be heavily associated with Depending on the Writer. Here, the author states that Hela is Loki's daughter.
- Diana is revealed to be the granddaughter of Ares, who was the father of Hippolyta. While this is true of the original Greek mythology, such a relation was never specified in the DCAU.
- Sadly Mythtaken: Batman lampshades in-universe that the myths people learned about gods and pantheons rarely match what they actually are. He's spending time deciphering fact from fiction.
- Story-Breaker Power:
- Both Thor and Wonder Woman end up remaining on Earth while the rest of the League go rescue John Stewart from the Manhunters due to Earth needing heroes to protect it while they are away. Having too much backup on that level would have lowered the stakes.
- Thor ends up having to spend most of the "Trouble in Paradise" story debating with the Greeks so he can be allowed on Themyscira, as well as fighting the Titans in The Underworld once he's there. Considering he's as tough as Superman but lacks the weaknesses to magic, combined with the abilities provided by Mjölnir, there probably wouldn't have been much of a fight had he been there.
- This Is Gonna Suck: After the League learns that Felix Faust is targeting the gates of Tartarus on Themyscira, Thor makes a face that is summed up as this trope.
- This Is Reality: Thor points out to Flash when the Jotun invade the Scandinavian countryside that real life doesn't follow standard invasion plots where densely populated cities are the targets.
- This Is Unforgivable!: A self-inflicted case with Thor after they leave Themyscira. For Asgardians, entering the Warrior's Madness state is considered this. Thor even calls it the "Sin Unforgivable."
- Unskilled, but Strong: Ares, as seen in flashbacks, is strong enough to trade blows with Thor, but he has terrible combat skills. Thor notes in their battle that his stances are awful, and he holds his weapons in ways that Thor and Loki would have been chastised for.
- War Is Hell: Hippolyta carries a lot of lingering issues thanks to the Amazon's failed war with Asgard and the death of her mother. She keeps them to herself because she's scared of others, especially her daughter, seeing her as weak.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Ares' reason for gathering the Amazons and having them pillage the world was to show what he could accomplish with mere mortals to his father and gain Zeus' approval.
- What If?: What if the Thor banished to Earth was part of the DCAU rather than the MCU. The prologue even begins much like how a standard Marvel "What If?" comic would.
- You Killed My Father: Hippolyta despises Thor above all other Asgardians for killing her mother, Otrera, in the war. It turns out that the attack was actually intended to kill Ares, but Otrera jumped in to save her lover.
