Tarene
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Thor Girl (Tarene) is a
superheroine A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses Superpower (ability), ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, t ...
appearing in
American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...
s published by
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
. Created by writer
Dan Jurgens Dan Jurgens (; born June 27, 1959) is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for his work on the DC Comics, DC comic book storyline "The Death of Superman" and for creating characters such as Doomsday (DC Comics), Doomsday, Hank H ...
and artist John Romita Jr., the character first appeared in ''
Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...
'' vol. 2 #22 (April 2000). Tarene is the object of a
prophecy In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain di ...
stating that she will help life reach a new level of existence throughout the universe.


Publication history

Tarene debuted in ''
Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...
'' vol. 2 #22 (April 2000), created by writer
Dan Jurgens Dan Jurgens (; born June 27, 1959) is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for his work on the DC Comics, DC comic book storyline "The Death of Superman" and for creating characters such as Doomsday (DC Comics), Doomsday, Hank H ...
and artist John Romita Jr. She appeared in the 2011 '' Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt'' series.


Fictional character biography

In the beginning of time, an alien sorcerer named X'Hoss foretold the creation of the Designate, who will help evolve sentient beings to the next level of existence. Billions of years later, Tarene is born. She is told about the fate of the evil
Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
and together with others seeks a way to stop him. In the meantime,
Thanos Thanos () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-artist Jim Starlin, the character first appeared in '' The Invincible Iron Man'' #55 (cover date February 1973). An Eternal– Devia ...
(later retconned as a clone) obtains X'Hoss' knowledge and destroys Tarene's home-world. With Thor's help, she defeats him. Tarene later transforms herself into an Asgardian goddess and becomes Thor's loyal ally, taking the name "Thor Girl" and the human identity of Jake Olson's "cousin" Tara. She tries to assist Thor in his adventures, aiding him in his confrontations with
Gladiator A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...
, and Nullitor. She is transferred into the shell of the Destroyer by Loki, causing her to fight Thor. With the help of Amora, they find Tarene's body and
Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...
casts her back into her body, where she takes her vengeance on Loki. In a later battle against a revived Surtur she sacrifices nearly all of her cosmic powers to contribute the additional power needed to defeat him. Upon Odin's apparent death, Thor Girl loses most of her cosmic powers. She retains the powers she had as Thor Girl. She returns to Earth in an attempt to live a normal life as Tara Olson, but is also seen adventuring occasionally. She knows that she is destined to, and one day will, regain her full power and then some, to become the Designate.


Civil War/The Initiative

Thor Girl is one of the heroes who registers with the Superhuman Registration Act that was forged during the 2006–2007 "
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
" storyline. After the Superhuman Registration Act is passed, Thor Girl interferes in a jewel theft undertaken by the
Grey Gargoyle Grey Gargoyle (Paul Pierre Duval) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The Grey Gargoyle first appeared in ''Journey into Mystery'' #107 (Aug. 1964) and was created by Stan Lee and ...
, a previous foe of hers, and dispatches him, preventing the jewel heist in the process. In return, the Grey Gargoyle undertakes a lawsuit with the assistance of Mallory Book at the Superhuman Law Offices of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway. Thor Girl is one of the first recruits for the Camp Hammond training facility. Other trainees included:
Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
,
Cloud 9 In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, ice crystals, frozen crystals, or other particulates, particles, suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or var ...
,
Slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...
,
Trauma Trauma most often refers to: *Psychological trauma, in psychology and psychiatric medicine, refers to severe mental and emotional injury caused by distressing events *Traumatic injury, sudden physical injury caused by an external force, which doe ...
, Armory,
Rage Rage may refer to: * Rage (emotion), an intense form of anger Games * Rage (collectible card game), a collectible card game * Rage (trick-taking card game), a commercial variant of the card game Oh Hell * ''Rage'' (video game), a 2011 first- ...
, and Komodo. The Initiative recruits are sent as crowd control in Manhattan with Thor Girl aiding mass evacuation when the city is attacked by the
Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk ...
, who is seeking revenge upon the
Illuminati The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on 1 ...
. However, Rage breaks ranks to try to help the
Avengers Avenger(s) or The Avenger(s) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of "The Infinity Sag ...
in battle against the Hulk and his
Warbound The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several fictional teams and organizations and this page lists them. 0–9 198 A A-Force A-Next A.I. Army The A.I. Army is a fictional organization appearing i ...
, and Thor Girl is among the trainees who sides with Rage. Easily defeated, Thor Girl and the others are imprisoned at Manhattan Square Gardens and controlled by obedience disks. The Initiative's black ops team, including the empathic metamorph Trauma, are sent in to free Thor Girl and her compatriots, with Trauma assuming the form and powers of Thor as he battles the Warbound, leaving Thor Girl awestruck by the encounter. Subsequent to Trauma's assumption of Thor's form, Thor Girl has expressed a kind of hero worship of and becomes enamored with Trauma. However, both Tarene and Trauma are brutally attacked by the
MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...
clone, calling himself KIA (Killed In Action). Tarene is badly burned while protecting Trauma, who is then stabbed in the chest by KIA. Thor Girl recovers fairly quickly. At first, she assists in a mass super-human effort dedicated to rebuilding New York. Later, she is assigned together with
Ultra Girl Uatu Ulik Ultimate Nullifier Ultimate Nullifier is the name of several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They have no connection with the Ultimate Nullifier device. Mayne Mayne is a teenager w ...
to the Cavalry,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
's local superhero team, once her Initiative training is complete.


Secret Invasion

During the ''
Secret Invasion "Secret Invasion" is a comic book fictional crossover, crossover storyline written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu, that ran through a self-titled eight-issue Limited series (comics), limited series and several ti ...
'' storyline, the
Skrull The Skrulls () are a race of List of fictional extraterrestrials, extraterrestrial shapeshifters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They first appeared in ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' #2 and were crea ...
Dum Dum Dugan Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader "Dum Dum" Dugan is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is an officer of S.H.I.E.L.D. and is one of the most experienced members of Nick Fury's team, known for his marksmanship w ...
calls all the sleeper agents in the Initiative, causing Ultra Girl and Thor Girl to fight each other out of fear. When the
Skrull Kill Krew The Skrull Kill Krew are a fictional group appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They first appeared in their own miniseries published in 1995. They were created by Grant Morrison, Mark Millar and Steve Yeowell. The group ...
arrives to the scene,
3-D Man 3-D Man is the name of two fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first incarnation, a composite of two brothers, Charles Chandler and Hal Chandler, first appeared in ''Marvel Premiere'' #35 (Apri ...
confirms that Thor Girl is a Skrull, killing her with her own hammer with the help of
Gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...
. It is unclear at this point how long the Skrull agent had been impersonating Thor Girl. After the invasion is over, the real Thor Girl is shown in a support group meeting with the others that had been replaced by Skrulls. She attends a therapy session with Trauma, when Camp Hammond is attacked by the Thor clone Ragnarok. The clone beats Thor Girl badly, until Gauntlet intervenes.


Fear Itself

During the '' Fear Itself'' storyline, Thor Girl joins Steve Rogers' New Initiative, under
Prodigy Prodigy, Prodigies or The Prodigy may refer to: * Child prodigy, a child who produces meaningful output to the level of an adult expert performer ** Chess prodigy, a child who can beat experienced adult players at chess Arts, entertainment, and m ...
's leadership. She is quite confused about why Odin took all of the Asgardians back to the Asgard Realm, and is still deciding as to whether she should join them. While saving some people in the city, she is attacked because she has a hammer similar to those which had been appearing all around the earth, and accidentally kills a police officer who shot at her by deflecting the bullets back into him. At Prodigy's request she turns herself in and is kept in a holding cell. But when she is accosted by men outside the cell, who attempted to interrogate her as to the nature of the Worthy, Cloud 9 arrives to rescue her and subdues the men. After defeating
Quicksand Quicksand (also known as sinking sand) is a colloid consisting of fine granular material (such as sand, silt or clay) and water. It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it crea ...
, who was on a murder spree, they joined in the battle against
Juggernaut A juggernaut (), in current English usage, is a literal or metaphorical force regarded as merciless, destructive, and unstoppable. This English usage originates in the mid-nineteenth century. ''Juggernaut'' is the early rendering in English ...
, who was transformed into Kuurth: Breaker of Stone, in Las Vegas and rescued civilians. Due to a misunderstanding she was attacked by the other heroes, despite her attempts to explain herself or she was only acting in defense. During the battle, her designate powers returned. She declared Earth's heroes to be little better than those who tortured her and as a whole proof that humanity is still too flawed to be worthy of ascending. She left Earth for the stars.


Powers and abilities

Tarene has the conventional physical attributes of Asgardian gods after turning into an Asgardian goddess. She possesses
superhuman The term superhuman refers to humans, humanoids or other beings with abilities and other qualities that exceed those naturally found in humans. These qualities may be acquired through natural ability, self-actualization or technological aids. ...
strength, stamina, durability, speed, agility, and reflexes. Her godly life-force enables faster recovery time. Tarene has a wide range of cosmic powers. She is effectively immortal and immune to all Earth-based diseases. Additionally, Tarene wields a golden
hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nail (fastener), nails into wood, to sh ...
which returns to her when thrown. She can use it to fly, fire energy beams, control the weather, and traverse dimensional barriers, such as from Earth to Asgard.


Reception


Critical response

''
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'' included Tarene in their "Marvel Comics: 15 Most Powerful Enchanted Hammer Users (Who Aren’t Thor)" list. ''
Comic Book Resources ''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...
'' ranked Tarene 1st in their "Avengers: The 10 Most Powerful Recruits From The Fifty State Initiative" list, 9th in their "15 Craziest Versions Of Thor" list, and 19th in their "20 Strongest Versions Of Thor" list.


Other versions

An alternate version of Tarene appears in one alternate future world. She tried to reach back in time to empower the alien
Desak Desak Sterixian, more commonly known as Desak the God Slayer, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Dan Jurgens and Tom Grummett and first appears in ''Thor Annual'' 20 ...
trying to locate a missing Thor.


In other media


Video games

* Tarene / Thor Girl appears as a playable character in ''
Lego Marvel's Avengers ''Lego Marvel's Avengers'' is a Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, for the Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Windows, ...
'', voiced by
Kate Higgins Catherine Davis Higgins is an American voice actress, singer and jazz pianist. She is best known for her voice-acting roles of Sakura Haruno in ''Naruto'', Miles "Tails" Prower in the video game series ''Sonic the Hedgehog'', Frankie Stein i ...
.


References


External links

*
Thor Girl
at Marvel.com {{John Romita Jr. Comics characters introduced in 2000 Characters created by John Romita Jr. Marvel Comics Asgardians Marvel Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds Marvel Comics characters who use magic Marvel Comics characters with accelerated healing Marvel Comics immortals Marvel Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics extraterrestrial superheroes Marvel Comics female superheroes Characters created by Dan Jurgens Fictional characters with electric or magnetic abilities Fictional characters with energy-manipulation abilities Fictional characters with weather abilities Fictional hammer fighters