# Why is Thor more worthy to wield Mjolnir than Cap? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920 "2014-10-29T17:04:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/81 "2014-11-04T15:49:30Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > _Marvel 1602_ is the only Cap storyline I can recall offhand where he wouldn’t be, and that’s an alternative setting. Actually… In that story, he DID turn out to be the present-day Steve Rogers, presumably Christian, sent back in time, and not the Native American he appeared to be for most of the series ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/82 "2014-11-04T16:47:21Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > In fairness, I also talk like that, because I’m a Jew. Yeah, it seems like Cap is one of those ambiguous-sect Marvel characters who’s vaguely Christian if the writer or artist say so, but could be Unitarian, Jewish, or agnostic in most stories. Spider-Man and Superman (at DC) are the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/83 "2014-11-04T17:02:38Z")
I always figured Steve Rogers for an Episcopalian. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/84 "2014-11-04T17:15:36Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Wouldn’t you say “There’s only one _G-d_, Ma’am…” though? Hey, if I said it in Hebrew, it’d maybe sound like I was clearing my throat. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/85 "2014-11-05T06:12:58Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Actually… > > In that story, he DID turn out to be the present-day Steve Rogers, presumably Christian, sent back in time, and not the Native American he appeared to be for most of the series And a selfish dick who was willing to Risk letting the entire Marvel Multiverse be destroyed on the off-chance he could start America over, better. Unworthy. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/86 "2014-11-06T00:06:40Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > When is the hammer just lying around for someone to pick up? I thought it would come flying back to Thor after being thrown. But he has to summon it, otherwise he’d never be able to put it down. He’d go to pee, put the hammer down on the sink, then get whacked in the junk when the hammer tried to fly back to his hand, right? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/87 "2014-11-06T00:38:41Z")
It’s probably evil of me, but my image of that happening - Thor’s hammer returning while he’s got his junk in his hand while taking a piss - made me giggle. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/88 "2014-11-06T01:23:40Z")
Which raises the questions Is Cap strong enough to wield Thor’s junk? Does Thor ever set it on the coffee table? And does it also just hover when Thor isn’t holding it? ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/89 "2014-11-06T14:56:57Z")
I love discussions like this. Mjolnir has weight, it is affected by gravity. If Thor lets it go in mid air, it drops to the ground. However, it’s not THAT heavy, as evidenced by it hanging from the wooden peg in Thor 2. So if you tried to pull the coffee table out from under it, what would happen? Well, Thor pinning Loki in the first Thor movie gives us our answer - you probably couldn’t move the coffee table, because that would move the hammer in turn. Actually, the Blob probably gives us our best metaphor for how Mjolnir’s immobility works. The Blob’s power allows him to bond with the ground beneath his feet to become immobile - but his power can be overcome by tearing up the ground beyond the area that the bond effects. Obviously this applies to Mjolnir at some level, or the Earth’s movement around the sun would stop every time Thor drops it. The clincher would be the movies showing us what happens if the hammer is handed to someone by Thor when it is not in contact with the ground - what happens? Does it float in mid-air, locking that person’s hand in place? Or does it pull the hand to the ground? I’m guessing the latter. So I would posit that the power works like this : When no one’s wielding it, or a worthy person is wielding it, it’s got normal hammer mobility. When an unworthy person attempts to wield or move it, it locks down, dropping to the nearest solid surface and sticking there. ---
**Author:** ![Henryunderborn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58f4c7/32.png) [@Henryunderborn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henryunderborn)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/90 "2014-11-06T23:11:00Z")
Cap proclaims there is only one god. He doesn’t have the favor if Norse gods ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/91 "2014-11-06T23:46:44Z")
> [@Henryunderborn](#): > > Cap proclaims there is only one god. He doesn’t have the favor if Norse gods Since this is the SDMB, let me nitpick Tony’s remark from later in the movie: when talking to Loki, he describes Thor as a “demigod”. Loki – who, you’ll note, spends the rest of the conversation taking issue with Tony’s remarks – doesn’t correct him. Maybe he’s right. So it’s technically possible that Cap is proclaiming _there’s only one god, ma’am, and I’m pretty sure those two are – at best – mere demigods. Because, well, the one true god? He looks like Anthony Hopkins with an eyepatch._ ---
**Author:** ![Henryunderborn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58f4c7/32.png) [@Henryunderborn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henryunderborn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/92 "2014-11-07T00:07:17Z")
I’m not to sure bout the specifics on the dialogue. But Loki is imposed more as an imp n comparison to his brother Thor the true virtue of a god. Which with keen eyes the trickster intended to use the power of iron man with his manipulation stick. So it’s kind of more tit for to tat tony would be his mjollonir against his own allies, even though he may not be as god like as his brother, he has the effective powers of assertion as the brightest and most capable human on earth. Which got stalled out in a humorous of ways. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/93 "2014-11-07T00:27:24Z")
> [@Henryunderborn](#): > > I’m not to sure bout the specifics on the dialogue. But Loki is imposed more as an imp n comparison to his brother Thor the true virtue of a god. Tony’s dialogue is _let’s do a headcount here: your brother, the demigod; a supersoldier, the living legend who kinda lives up to the legend; a man with breathtaking anger issues,_ and et cetera, and et cetera. Loki, who spends the rest of that scene bickering with Tony, doesn’t say anything about Thor having The True Virtue Of A God; he instead reacts exactly as he would if Tony is right, and Thor is a demigod, and Odin is a god. ---
**Author:** ![Henryunderborn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58f4c7/32.png) [@Henryunderborn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henryunderborn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/94 "2014-11-07T00:34:54Z")
I mean his through his body language. as he talked to Thor earlier about, YOUR father. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/95 "2014-11-07T00:41:12Z")
> [@Henryunderborn](#): > > I mean his through his body language. as he talked to Thor earlier about, YOUR father. Sure, but isn’t that how folks could talk to, say, Hercules? _“You’re just a demigod – but your FATHER, he’s a god.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Henryunderborn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58f4c7/32.png) [@Henryunderborn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henryunderborn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/96 "2014-11-07T00:51:07Z")
Its character anaylsis. Loki is the trickster God. Thor is the power source God. Loki planned on using the might of starks intelligence against the avengers squad. He was subsequently stalled out, by the same source of power, he had attained his, capable powers by. Starks heart modifier, cancelling out the effects of Lokis Staff. its like one big spiraling stair case of recognition, once Stark hones in on his power tower. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/97 "2014-11-07T00:54:17Z")
> [@Henryunderborn](#): > > Its character anaylsis. > > Loki is the trickster God. > Thor is the power source God. > > Loki planned on using the might of starks intelligence against the avengers squad. > He was subsequently stalled out, by the same source of power, he had attained his, capable powers by. Starks heart modifier, cancelling out the effects of Lokis Staff. How does any of that change if Loki and Thor are just demigods, like Stark said? ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/98 "2014-11-07T01:01:47Z")
> [@Henryunderborn](#): > > Loki planned on using the might of starks intelligence against the avengers squad. > He was subsequently stalled out, by the same source of power, he had attained his, capable powers by. Starks heart modifier, cancelling out the effects of Lokis Staff. It’s always read to me that Loki’s staff failed to work on Stark because he just stabbed a metal plate (the reactor) and not Stark’s flesh. Loki just didn’t know Stark had the reactor there. Loki’s confusion is based on “what’s under your shirt human?” not "Huh, this should have worked–magicks!"and then there’s an explosion or whatever happens that ends that interaction. It never seemed like the reactor and the energies therein had any actual effect that any other object wouldn’t have had in that location. ---
**Author:** ![Henryunderborn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58f4c7/32.png) [@Henryunderborn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henryunderborn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/99 "2014-11-07T01:04:24Z")
It is just a clarification to his lesser value. That he can not match up to his own kind, and even to his method, of utilizing the best of his lesser kind; he is bested to the same course process. He is nullified, to both qualities of God and Man. He can try to be what he wants to be all day, as far as it goes, for what he tries to do, he is rejected. He knows he is not fit to the value of his status. So Tony, who he intended to have as his puppet, gawking in his face about the true grace of what a God is; triggered Loki’s essential assertion of just how well over them all he was. Where he was stopped, by his own service of power. It’s what was shown. I only specified, that Cap doesn’t recognize their Gods. So he can’t be granted the privilege, of their God’s grants. ---
**Author:** ![Henryunderborn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58f4c7/32.png) [@Henryunderborn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henryunderborn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920/100 "2014-11-07T01:08:01Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > It’s always read to me that Loki’s staff failed to work on Stark because he just stabbed a metal plate (the reactor) and not Stark’s flesh. Loki just didn’t know Stark had the reactor there. Loki’s confusion is based on “what’s under your shirt human?” not "Huh, this should have worked–magicks!"and then there’s an explosion or whatever happens that ends that interaction. > > It never seemed like the reactor and the energies therein had any actual effect that any other object wouldn’t have had in that location. Its not about oh nos the magics. Its about… oh… you mean for all that it was, I was going to use you as, to over power, the higher powered god. -fart- nothing. its in the assignment of the basis. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-thor-more-worthy-to-wield-mjolnir-than-cap/702920.md?page=6)