Brunnhilde (Marvel)
Brunnhilde is a female comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Brunnhilde of Wrlstead Arms was once a mortal human born long ago on Earth where she was the princess of a kingdom. Growing up a warrior, she came to have a lover by the name of Sigmund with the two regularly sparring with one another. In this time, the world was suffering a corruption that caused it to experience endless war that resulted in the god Odin intervening in the war. This saw him destroying those that had fallen to the madness where he came to be known as a Destroyer and a Usurper. Among those places he struck was the kingdom that was Brunnhilde's home where her father was killed and Sigmund was mortally wounded. Not leaving her love behind, she was by his side as Odin came upon their home where he offered her a chance to flee. Brunnhilde came to refuse and at first this drew Odin's anger but he became impressed at her courage. He then offered her a position as the first of the Valkyrior who would usher warriors slain in combat with the honour of taking them to a heavenly paradise called Valhalla. She came to accept this offer as it meant that her love would be awarded an honoured place in the afterlife and thus she became the Valkyrie. (Secret Avengers v1 #14) As one of the Valkyrie, she was one of the Choosers of the Slain that were charged with taking warriors slain in battle to the paradise realm of Valhalla connected to the dimension of Asgard with this duty going across centuries. Their duties faced some difficulty though when All-Father Odin was forced to acquiesce to the commandment of the Celestials in not intervening in the affairs of Midgard. (Fear Itself: The Fearless v1 #9)
A young Brunnhilda enrolled in a swordsman school, the only girl there besides Sif. (Thor: Son of Asgard v1 #7) Brunnhilda admired the enchanted blade of Balder and taunted Thor for not having one, and Sif came to Thor’s defense, striking Brunnhilda. The two of them got into a fist fight until the teacher intervened, blaming Sif for the ruckus. The next day, Thor and Brunnhilda were practicing swords when Amora the Enchantress interrupted, casting a love spell on Thor with an enchanted mirror. (Thor: Son of Asgard v1 #8) Brunnhilda watched Sif argue with Thor and Amora, and realized the spell had been cast. She allied with Sif, apologizing for their earlier fight and convincing Sif to help her free Thor. They attacked Amora and Loki, her ally, and Brunnhilda broke the mirror, releasing Thor from the enchantment. (Thor: Son of Asgard v1 #9)
In a possible origin told by the Eye of Odin, Valkyrie led the Valkyrior to gather the slain souls from Viking battles and to lead them to Valhalla or Hel, as appropriate. Brunnhilda was called by Odin and asked to slay the Viking Hunding, who had come at odds with Odin's son Siegmund Thor's mortal identity at the time for betrayal with Hunding's wife, Sieglinda. However, Frigga, Odin's wife, implored Odin to slay Siegmund instead since he had betrayed a marriage vow. Odin ordered Brunnhilda to slay Siegmund, but made plans of his own at the same time. Brunnhilda appeared before Siegmund on Earth and told him of his pending demise, but she chose to disobey Odin's orders when she realized how deep Siegmund's love for Sieglinda was. When Hunding attacked, Brunnhilda stayed back, earning Odin's wrath and Odin saw Hunding slay Siegmund regardless. Valkyrie took Sieglinda upon her winged horse, hoping to protect her, and fled. (Thor v1 #296) Brunnhilda brought Sieglinda back to the Valkyrior, and her sisters took Sieglinda to a place where she could raise her unborn child in safety from Odin. Brunnhilda gave Sieglinda the shattered pieces of Siegmund's sword, Needful. When Odin approached, he cast the Valkyrior aside and vowed to strip Brunnhilda of her godhood and banish her. He took her to the outskirts of Asgard and told her she would be destined to marry the first man she saw and take care of him, as a mortal, as her hair grew grey. In tears, Brunnhilda begged that only a worthy man be given this power over her, and Odin agreed. He took away her godhood and placed her on a rocky crag, surrounded by fire created by Loki at Odin's command, to remain until a brave man found her. (Thor v1 #297)
Sieglinda's son, Siegfried grew to manhood and reforged his father's sword, then went on a quest to find Brunnhilda. He braved many dangers, including the fire, then awoke Brunnhilda with a kiss, and she retained full memories of her past and Odin's punishment. She initially rejected Siegfried until she realized that their love was true. (Thor v1 #298) Brunnhilda asked Siegfried to leave her behind while he fulfilled his destiny. She cast on him her spell of invulnerability, and he awarded her with a ring he'd won from a dragon. She also gave Siegfried her once-winged steed, Grane, who'd been nearby. Siegfried was tricked by three of the Viking Gibichungs, Gunther, Gutruna, and Hagen, into drinking a potion that made him fall in love with Gutruna and forget his vows to Brunnhilda. He agreed to retrieve the ring and Brunnhilda for Gunther so that Gunther could marry Brunnhilda. Meanwhile, Brunnhilda received a visit from Valtrauta of the Valkyrior, who warned Brunnhilda to cast aside the ring Siegfried had given her, but Brunnhilda refused to do so. Soon Siegfried returned, but in the visage of Gunther and not remembering Brunnhilda. He demanded the ring from her finger, and she fainted rather than give it to him. Siegfried took the ring and brought Brunnhilda back to Gunther, where they commenced with the wedding, Siegfried to Gutruna and Gunther to Brunnhilda. Brunnhilda finally came to her senses again and stated that Siegfried was her love, causing an argument among the Vikings, but Siegfried was protected in the following fight by the spell of invincibility. Siegfried departed with Gutruna, leaving Brunnhilda despairing, and Hagen planning on slipping Brunnhilda a love potion. In weakness, Brunnhilda revealed Siegfried's weakness: that if he turned his back, he could be slain. (Thor v1 #299)
Defenders
From then onward, the Valkyries could only choose slain heroes from among fallen Asgardian warriors. Brunnhilde was bitter over being barred from choosing warriors on Earth and roamed Asgard in pursuit of something meaningful to do. In a tavern on the outskirts of Marmoragard, Brunnhilde encountered Amora the Enchantress, who offered her a life of adventure. For several weeks Brunnhilde accompanied the Enchantress on her conquests. Brunnhilde soon discovered Amora's immoral nature and tried to end their partnership. In response the Enchantress trapped Brunnhilde within a mystic crystal of souls. (Defenders v1 #108)
Brunnhilde was to teach Moondragon humility, and Moondragon served alongside Brunnhilde in the Defenders. Brunnhilde was to take action against Moondragon should she again become a menace. Eventually Moondragon reformed, but later she fell once again under the malevolent influence of the alien entity called the Dragon of the Moon. Moondragon attacked the Defenders, but Brunnhilde, given temporary additional powers by Odin for this occasion, including the power to grow to gigantic stature, opposed her. Brunnhilde summoned other Valkyries to her aid and together with two other Defenders, the Angel and Cloud, they defeated Moondragon but failed to capture her. (Defenders v1 #144)
Months later, Moondragon returned to attack the Defenders. During this encounter, her power was vastly augmented by the alien Beyonder. In order to defeat the Dragon, Brunnhilde and the Eternal called Interloper projected their immortal life forces against it. They were joined by Defenders member Andromeda and the Defenders' former foe Manslaughter, for it was necessary that Brunnhilde's and Interloper's life forces pass through "mortal instruments" in order that Moondragon be defeated as well. Joining hands, the four allies hurled the tremendous power of their combined life forces at the Dragon, Moondragon, and the Gargoyle II, whose body was now under the Dragon's control. Three other Defenders went to rescue endangered innocents, and when they returned, Brunnhilde, Interloper, Andromeda, Manslaughter, Moondragon, and Gargoyle had all seemingly been transformed into statues of ashes and dust, and the Dragon of the Moon was apparently gone. (Defenders v1 #152)
Fearless
After the events of the Serpent War, Brunnhilde was charged by Odin to find and destroy the Serpent's eight remaining Hammers so their power would not be used again. She was unable to prevent Sin from obtaining the hammers and activating the Final Sleeper, a giant war-machine. This machine killed Brunnhilde by snapping her neck, but she forfeited her place in Valhalla and that sacrifice enabled the other eight Valkyrior to return to Midgard and claim the hammers. Afterward, Freyja the All-Mother suggested that Brunnhilde choose and lead a new team of shieldmaidens from Midgard's heroines. (Fear Itself: The Fearless v1 #12)
She later responded to an incident on the White Mountain in National Forest where an archaeological expedition headed by Dr. Annabelle Riggs had uncovered a mass grave. The archaeologist had discovered an Asgardian relic that incidentally awoke the dead in the area who attacked the people on the site. Brunnhilde arrived at the scene where she saved Dr. Riggs life where in an impulsive act she passionately kissed the Valkyrie in gratitude. Valkyrie continued on her mission where she destroyed the Asgardian relic thus returning the dead spirits of brigands, thieves and murderers to the grave. The incident had disturbed Brunnhilde as she experienced a vision of an ancient threat awakening with this being the Doom Maidens. To stop this from coming to pass, Valkyrie decided to travel to Asgardia in order to consult with the All-Mother. (Fearless Defenders v1 #1)
Valhalla
Overview
Personality and attributes
When she was mortal, she had a lover named Sigmund with the two caring deeply for each other until his death long ago. (Secret Avengers v1 #14)
Powers and abilities
Originally, Brunnhilde was a mortal human until she was transformed into one of the first Valkyries by Odin. (Secret Avengers v1 #14)
Notes
- Brunnhilde was created by Steve Englehart and Sal Buscema where she made her first appearance in Defenders v1 #4 (February, 1973).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In The Super Hero Squad Show, Valkyrie appeared in the setting of the animated television series where she was voiced by actress Michelle Trachtenberg.
- In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Valkyrie appeared in the animated television series in the episode "The Fall of Asgard" where she was voiced by actress Colleen O'Shaughnessey.
Films
- In Thor: Tales of Asgard, Valkyrie appeared in the setting of the animated film where she was voiced by actress Cathy Weseluck.
Video games
- In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Valkyrie appeared as an NPC in the setting of the video game where she was voiced by actress Nika Futterman.
- In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, Valkyrie appeared as an unlockable character in the setting of the Facebook video game.
- In Marvel Heroes, Valkyrie appeared in the setting of the MMORPG video game where she was voiced by actress Michelle Arthur.
Appearances
- Defenders v1: (1973)
- Secret Avengers v1:
- Fear Itself: The Fearless v1:
- Fearless Defenders v1:
- Asgardians of the Galaxy v1:
- War of the Realms v1:
- Valkyrie: Jane Foster v1:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
