The Norse mythology, preserved ancient Icelandic texts such as the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda, and other lays and sagas, was little known outside Scandinaviauntil the 19th century. With the widespread publication of Norse myths and legends at this time, references to the Norse gods and heroes spread into European literary culture, especially in Scandinavia, Germany, and Britain. In the later 20th century, references to Norse mythology became common in science fiction and fantasy literature, role-playing games, and eventually other cultural products such as Japanese animation. Storytelling was an important aspect of Norse mythology and centuries later, with the rediscovery of the myth, Norse mythology once again relies on the impacts of storytelling to spread its agenda.[1]
Antiquaries of the 19th century such as George Webbe Dasent brought the mythology of Scandinavia back to the popular notice of many people in Germany and England; in both cases, Norse mythology was recognized as the latest surviving form of Germanic paganism. Germany and England were Christianized far earlier than the Scandinavian countries and much of their own traditions were lost.[2]
In Britain, William Morris composed poetry such as Sigurd the Volsung on Norse legendary subjects as well as translating Icelandic sagas into English. In Germany, Richard Wagner borrowed characters and themes from Norse mythology to compose the four operas that make up Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), though he also utilized medieval German sources and Germanized the names of the Norse gods. In Germany, the rediscovery of Norse mythology became popularized by transforming its art-religion context to an alternative spiritual practice.[2]The Lord of the Rings written by J. R. R. Tolkien was said to have been heavily influenced by Norse mythology which brought on many debates about structural and theoretical approaches to mythology.[3]
Odin, Thor, Loki, and several other beings and places in Norse mythology have recurring roles in Neil Gaiman's Sandman graphic novel series, most notably in the Season of Mists and The Kindly Ones stories.
The American graphic novel Gods of Asgard by Erik Evensen is an adaptation of several of the Norse myths. Gods of Asgard was awarded a Xeric grant in 2007.
The comic miniseries Hammer of the Gods by Michael Avon Oeming and Mark Wheatley, from Insight Studios Group, 2001, uses the world of the Norse myths as a setting.
The graphic novel series Norse Myths: A Viking Graphic Novel Series by Louise Simonson, Michael Dahl, Carl Bowen, Eduardo Garcia, and Tod Smith adapts several of the Norse myths for early readers.
The Norse Pantheon heroes are the main characters of the Japanese manga and anime Matantei Loki Ragnarok (loosely translated, The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok).
The manhwa series Ragnarok, by Myung-Jin Lee, is based on Norse mythology and the events of Ragnarok, the prophesied fall of the gods.
Vinland Saga takes place in Iceland and 11th-century Europe, which makes many references to Norse mythology
In History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi, the protagonists fight against a gang organization known as Ragnarok. Each of the Eight Fists were nicknamed after a figure in Norse mythology, including Berserker, Freya, Loki, Thor, Siegfried, Hermit, Valkyrie, and their leader Odin.
Oh! My Goddess! has aspects of Norse mythology. Heaven's main computer is called Yggdrasil, the goddesses and demons' names are based on Norse gods and goddesses, and the Underworld's computer is called Nidhogg.
Attack on Titan, also has prominent themes of Norse mythology, including (but not limited to): Ymir, Castle Utgard, the walls, the Titans, parallels between Norse gods/goddesses and characters, as well as plot lines that seem to mimic events in Norse mythology. The conflict between the Titan shifters and normal humans may be compared to the wars between the Aesir and Vanir. There are other references that are minor as well, such as the can of herring found by Ymir (which contains Norse runes on the label) and the giant boar killed in the second OVA of the anime.
Sword Art Online has characters and story based on Norse mythology.
In High School DxD Norse mythology is one of the supernatural factions that exist in the light novel and anime.
Odin, the Chief of the Norse Gods is a major supporting character who aided the Occult Research Club in fending off Khaos Bridge terrorism in Volume 6.
Loki the Norse God of Evil is the antagonist of Volume 7 who tried to start Ragnarok by killing Odin with his son Fenrir but was defeated instead.
Loki's first son the Norse Divine Wolf Fenrir is one of the most powerful monsters in the supernatural world being capable of killing gods with his fangs. After his father was defeated, Fenrir was captured by the Vali Team and became Le Fay Pendragon's familiar
Loki's second son the World Serpent Jormundgandr is one of the Five Great Dragon Kings alongside its fellow Norse Dragon Fafnir.
Fafnir another famous Norse Dragon who was killed by Sigurd and revived by the Norse God's, became the familiar of Asia Argento.
Rossweisse, a genius Valkyrie who once served Odin as his bodyguard, was later reincarnated into a devil by Rias. She also became the lover of the protagonist Issei Hyodou.
Gondul, a legendary Valkyrie and Rossweisse's grandmother debut in Volume 17 to teach magic to Devil children in Auros Academy.
Nidhoggr the Norse Dragon who resides in Niflheimr feeding on dead corpses and gnaws on Yggdrasil's roots is one of the legendary Evil Dragons revived by Qlippoth who was sent to kidnapped Issei's parents.
Vidar, Odin's third son became his father successor as Chief God of the Norse Mythological faction due to Odin sealed himself in an alternative dimension prison to fight the Beast of Revelation 666.
In Record of Ragnarok, the Norse gods Odin, Loki, and Thor are among the 13 gods fighting against 13 historical humans in a tournament. In addition, the Valkyries are major characters, the manga using the ones listed in the poems Völuspá and Grímnismál.
Webcomics
Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki is a webcomic featuring Yuuki, a boy turned into a Valkyrie by Hermod to stand against Surt and the Giants. It features many representations of Norse mythological figures in a modern-day setting.
Brat-halla is a mythology webcomic about the Norse gods during their elementary school days. All-Father Odin and his wife Frigg constantly have their hands full with youngsters Thor (the super strong runt of the litter), Loki (the god of mischief who likes to play with dolls), Balder (the invulnerable pretty boy), Hod (the blind god of darkness and winter), Hermod (the hyper super speedster) and the rest of the Norse pantheon.
The Order of the Stick features the Norse pantheon deities, including Thor, Sif, Loki, and Odin, as the gods of the Northern lands and participants in the creation of the universe. Durkon Thundershield, one of the main characters, is a cleric of Thor.
Off-White is a fantasy webcomic by Polish artists Anna Podedworna and Katarzyna Redesiuk that borrows many elements from Norse mythology, particularly the characters of the wolves Sköll and Hati, chasers of Sól and Máni.[8]
In the novel, The Incomplete Enchanter (1941) by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, the protagonist finds himself in Asgard, where he allies himself with the Æsir as Ragnarök approaches.
The Broken Sword (1954) by Poul Anderson is inspired by Norse sagas, and feature numerous Norse gods, elves and trolls as characters. Later, in The Sorrow of Odin the Goth, part of his Time Patrol series, Anderson suggested that Odin was originally a 20th-century American time traveler who visited several generations of early the wandering Goths ‒ who started to regard him as a god, later influencing other Germanic peoples.
The Day of the Giants (1959) by Lester del Rey tells the tale of Ragnarok happening in a near future science fiction setting, with an erstwhile engineer arming the Norse Gods with modern weaponry.
The Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges have mentioned various Norse gods along his life work, as he did in the short story Ulrica and the poem titled A wolf (Un Lobo). Also, he was buried in Geneva and his gravestone has inscriptions written in old English and Old Norse. The figures drawn on it were inspired from the Völsunga Saga and the Anglo-Saxon Battle of Maldon.
J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy worksThe Hobbit (1937), The Lord of the Rings (1955), and The Silmarillion (1977) were admitted by its author to be heavily influenced by the myths of the Northern Europeans.[3] As that work became popular, elements of its fantasy world moved steadily into popular perceptions of the fantasy genre. In nearly any modern fantasy novel today can be found such Germanic creatures as elves, dwarfs and trolls. Within literature, J. R. R. Tolkien's interpretation and use of Norse mythology brought on many debates of how to analyze myths through structural and theoretical approaches.[3]
Norse mythology plays heavily into the Everworld series of fantasy by K.A. Applegate, Loki and Hel being perhaps the two most notable Norse characters.
Michael Jan Friedman's Vidar trilogy (The Hammer and the Horn, 1985, The Seekers and the Sword, 1985, and The Fortress and the Fire, 1988) presents Norse gods both in Asgard and the contemporary world.
The Thrall's Tale (2006) by Judith Lindbergh is heavily influenced by Norse mythology and is partially told by Thorbjorg the Seeress, an Old Norse priestess of the Vinland Sagas.
Runemarks by Joanne Harris (2007) is based on the Norse legends, and creates a post Ragnarok world in which the gods have been scattered and their powers diminished.
Greg van Eekhout's debut novel Norse Code, released May 2009, retells the story of Ragnarok set in a quickly-deteriorating Los Angeles.
The Halo series novel Contact Harvest takes place on the planet Harvest, which contains many references to Norse mythology. These references include locations named after the BiFrost, Utgard with two of the central A.I. characters being named after Loki and Sif. Many other characters and locations contain references to Norse mythology due to the majority of the colony having Scandinavian ancestry.
The Tales from the Wyrd Museum trilogy by Robin Jarvis heavily utilizes Norse mythology as the basis for the stories, with the third, The Fatal Strand, referencing this source, Odin and Yggdrasil (or in-world versions of) featuring significantly in the plot.
Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz is about immortal witches that are actually Norse gods, including the goddess Freyja, Loki and Balder
Norse mythology influenced Richard Wagner's use of literary themes from it to compose the four operas that make up Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung).
Mats Wendt based his neo-romantic 16-hour symphonic suite Eddan on the chronological reconstruction of the Norse myths by Viktor Rydberg.
Burzum is a Norwegian Black metal band whose lyrics and imagery are often inspired by Norse mythology. Its founder Varg Vikernes has also written many books about Norse mythology and is an outspoken Pagan.
Mischief Storm (American Rap duo) debut album set for a 2013 release. The Music references, expands, and is based on Norse mythology. Stories are told through a modern interpretation and can be very violent, due to the underground nature of the group and an aim to paint brutal, vivid pictures of Viking life and Norse mythology.
The Norwegian-language Netflix drama Ragnarok features a boy who discovers he is Thor battling a family of frost giants in human form in the modern-day town of Edda.
Several of the Norse gods feature prominently in the Danish miniseries, Jul i Valhal, and many of the Norse myths are referenced as well. Loki, in particular, is a major character.
The TV series Stargate SG-1 regularly features the Asgard race, which is a powerful, yet friendly alien species broadly depicted as somewhat resembling grey aliens who, according to the series, are the original source of the Norse gods having portrayed them to help humanity. Thor, a member of the Asgard High Council, is a regularly returning character on the show. Their spaceships, as seen from below, are shaped like Mjolnir, Thor's hammer. In Stargate Atlantis, it is revealed that there is a sub-group of Asgard called the Vanir, opposed to the agenda of the other Asgard, and analogous to the Vanir of Norse mythology.
In the 5th Season of TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, the episodes Norse by Norsevest and Somewhere over the Rainbow Bridge depict Hercules traveling to Asgard and being thrust into a major conflict among the Viking Norse Gods.
Odin and the Valkyries appear a few times in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess in the 6th season which is a spin off of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
In the Robin of Sherwood story "The Time of the Wolf" (1986), the villain Gulnar leads a murderous cult which worships the Norse monster Fenris, called "The Sons of Fenris".[9]
The television series Supernatural has referenced the Norse Vanir in a Season One episode, as gods that locals of Scandinavian descent brought with them. Supernatural also has four episodes that involves a being believed to be Loki the Trickster. In season 5 episode Hammer of the Gods, members of several godly pantheons (including those of Hindu, Voodoo, etc.) meet in order to deal with the matter of the Christian apocalypse. Lucifer kills all the gods (except for Kali), including Norse gods Odin, Baldur and Loki (revealed earlier to actually be archangel Gabriel). Thor's hammer Mjolnir later appears in a Season 8 episode as an object at a supernatural auction house, bought by Norse god Vili. In the season 13 episode "Unfinished Business", Gabriel is revealed to have made a deal with the real Loki (played by Richard Speight Jr. like Gabriel) to take on his identity and persona millennia earlier to hide from Heaven and to have sought the aid of Loki and his sons Fenrir, Narfi and Sleipnir in hiding after faking his death once more. Instead, the gods had sold him to the Prince of Hell Asmodeus and Gabriel seeks revenge with the help of Sam and Dean Winchester. Gabriel kills Fenris, Narfi and Sleipnir before learning that Loki blames Gabriel for the death of Odin who he still loved despite their differences. Loki's betrayal was his way of getting revenge. After a fight, Gabriel kills Loki with a specially-crafted wooden sword and gets his own revenge upon him.
Kamen Rider Gaim, a Japanese Tokusatsu television series, makes many references to Norse mythology, especially with the organization Yggdrasill Corporation, the forest-based other-world Helheim, and armor designs for a number of the Riders who turn up in the series.
The American Gods TV series features Norse mythological figures, being an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods. In the first season, Odin is the most prominent.
Victor Magtanggol is a Filipino television series set in the modern world after the events of Ragnarok where most of the Norse gods are already dead including Thor. The main antagonist in the series is Loki who was revived to take over the world. The story revolves around the main character Victor Magtanggol (played by Alden Richards) who was chosen by lady Sif to be the new wielder of Thor's hammer Mjolnir.[10]
Alternative versions of Loki also appear in the 2021 Disney+ series Loki, which is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and shares continuity with the other films and television shows of the franchise.
Anime
Rintaro Okabe, protagonist in the Japanese anime series, Steins;Gate, uses Norse mythology to name several operations within the series. Each operation has to do with preventing the dystopia in 2036, but the names of the operations have no real connection to the actual myths.
Japanese anime series High School DxD light novels and the third season in the anime feature Odin, Loki, Rossweisse (a Valkyrie), Thor's Hammer, and Fenrir.
The Japanese series Bladedance of Elementalers, Rinslet Laurenfrost's Contracted Spirit is an ice spirit Dire Wolf named Fenrir.
In the anime series Sword Art Online, the game ALfheim Online is based on Norse mythology.[11]
In the Japanese anime series Blue Dragon, a character named Logi comes with many references to the mythology; including his name sounding of Loki's, his shadows called "Valkyrie" and "Odin" (who wields the Gungnir), and his fleet of robots named Sleipnir.
Attack on Titan has elements of Norse mythology such as the first Titan being called Ymir.
Vinland Saga mentions Norse gods such as Thor and Odin.
Animation
The 1990s Disney animated series Gargoyles featured "Eye of the Storm," set in modern Norway as the thirteenth episode of the so-called "Avalon World Tour" story arc, where Goliath is involved in what culminates in the return of Odin's missing right eye to him, with Odin (voiced by W. Morgan Sheppard) depicted as one of the series' magical "Oberon's children," a race of powerful beings led by Oberon and Titania.
The original DuckTales series features an episode titled "Maid of the Myth" in which Ms. Beakley is mistaken for Brunnhilde. The episode also features a cameo from Thor.
The 2017 reboot of Disney's DuckTales featured "The Rumble for Ragnarok", where a wrestling tournament is held in Valhalla every decade to determine the destruction of the Earth, with the Asgardians not really caring what happens as a glorious death for Earth means everybody will be joining them in Valhalla. Valhalla's champion, Jormungandr takes the form of a humanoid snake wrestler to give his opponents, in this case Scrooge McDuck and his family, a fair fight. Fenrir and Hel, under the name "Hecka", are also members of Jormungandr's wrestling team.
The title characters in the 1958 film, The Vikings, are active Odin-worshippers. Some characters share parallels with Norse gods, like Kirk Douglas' Einar losing an eye or Tony Curtis' Eric losing a hand.
Jim Carrey played a man whose life is changed after he stumbles upon a mask possessing the powers of the Norse god Loki in The Mask.
The film Son of the Mask features a mischievous Loki (portrayed by Alan Cumming) as the antagonist, who is repeatedly scolded by an omnipotent Odin (portrayed by Bob Hoskins).
Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring (1960) provides a meditation on the persistence of the old religion in medieval Christian Sweden when the dark energy of Odin is unleashed by a character's secret worship of the god.
The DreamWorks animated films How to Train Your Dragon (2010) and How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) feature Vikings who make a few references to the Norse gods Odin and Thor and show passages written in runes.
Video games
The Ragnarok Online universe contains many references to Norse mythology– in fact, almost everything in the game is based on Norse mythology.
The plot of Ash of Gods: Redemption is significantly based on Norse mythology, including names of the Runes and Gods used as the names of states and cities.
In Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War, the player is part of a two-man mercenary squadron called Galm Team: a reference to Garmr, a Norse hellhound.
Tomb Raider: Underworld uses the Norse mythology keystones, names and artifacts as its main plot basis. Protagonist Lara Croft, in the course of her search for her mother, visits the Neiflheim and other mythical places. Thor's hammer Mjollnir is used as her weapon.
In StarCraft, four of the fifteen Zerg Broods are named Fenris, Garm, Jormungand, and Surtur, and there is also an overlord hero unit called Yggdrasil. In addition, there is a Terran unit called a Valkyrie; similarly, in Starcraft 2, there are several Terran units that are named based on Norse references.
The tri-Acerole-playing video gameValkyrie Profile is based on Norse mythology, though it does deviate at some points. The main character is a valkyrie named Lenneth, whom many have thought represents Brynhild. Lenneth has been commanded by Odin to gather souls of dead warriors for the upcoming battles of Ragnarok. Depending on the path the player chooses, Lenneth will face either Surt, lord of the fire giants, or Loki in combat.
Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne both have several references to Norse mythology, including characters named Balder and Woden, Aesir Corporation, the drug Valkyr, and the Ragnarock nightclub.
In the Final Fantasy series, various characters and items are named after elements of Norse mythology. Final Fantasy VII's world features cities named Nibelheim and Midgar. Several of the games include weapons (Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy Tactics) or airships (Final Fantasy VIII) named Ragnarok. Party member Freya from (Final Fantasy IX). Final Fantasy XIII and its sequels feature multiple references, including the otherworld realm of Valhalla, the world-ending beast Ragnarok, various names used in altered forms and outfits inspired by figures from the Norse mythos. Odin is also often a summon in the games.
The Norse are a playable faction in Ensemble Studio's Age of Mythology.
In Eve Online, many advanced ships and items associated with the Minmatar race have names based on Norse mythology. These include the Ragnarok-class Titan, the Sleipnir-class Command Ship, the Einherji fighter drone, the Fenrir-class Freighter, Vargur-class Marauder, Huginn-class Recon Ship, Muninn-class Heavy Assault Ship, Loki-class Strategic Cruiser, Naglfar-class Dreadnaught, the Nidhoggur-class Carrier, and Hel-class Supercarrier.
In Castle of the Winds, the freeware/shareware RPG for windows, many of the characters/place names/weapons are named after Norse mythology.
Another Marvel Comics-related game, Thor: God of Thunder, was released as a tie-in to the 2011 film Thor and features mythological realms that are not explored in the feature film.
A Neverwinter Nights and Neverwinter Nights 2 persistent world called Markshire NWN1 version | NWN2 version is influenced heavily by Norse mythology. They incorporate the pantheon directly into their world and take the culture into a renaissance period. The world is highly roleplaying oriented. Markshire is listed as a Hall of Fame world and has been reviewed with the highest rating of any world for NWN on the NWVault.
In Odin Sphere one of five warlords is the Demon Lord Odin, who commands an army of Valkyrie warriors. The game depicts many aspects of Norse mythology, such as the Armageddon ‒ standing for the Ragnarök, the Haljas (guardians of the Netherworld), the Aesir and the Vanir (Valkyries and Fairies) fighting over control of the land.
Rune is a 3rd person hack-and-slash game featuring a young Viking warrior on a fantasy quest, based around Norse mythology.
In the video game series Fire Emblem several weapons are named after figures and objects in Norse mythology, including the weapons Garm, Gleipnir, and Fenrir.
In the PC based MMORPG game World of Warcraft, various storylines, characters, locations and monsters are named after and or based on popular parts of Norse mythology.
In the video game Tales of Symphonia, Heimdall, Ymir, Fenrir, and Yggdrasil were taken from Norse mythology, with Heimdall being the name of the village of the elves and Ymir the forest in which it is concealed, Fenrir as the Summon Spirit of Ice Celsius' companion, and Yggdrasill being the world tree of infinite mana.
In the video game Ben Hur: Blood of Braves, players can race with chariots through Asgard. They can also play with fictitious Norse characters and worship characters from Norse mythology such as Thor, Odin, Freya and the Valkyries.
In the video game series Boktai, many aspects of the plot are based on Norse mythology, such as the final bosses Hel, Jormungandr, and Vanargand, and the ultimate weapons Gram, Gungnir, and Mjollnir, to name a few.
In the video game La Tale, Norse mythology is reoccurrent in many of the games themes (i.e. fighting Valkyries, as well as Hel and Odin appearing as bosses). There are many maps in game that have ideas taken from Norse mythology, including Bitfrost, Valhalla, Asgard, The Long Tree (being Yggdrasil), Midgard, and a few more.
In the video game Heroes of Newerth, playing as a Valkyrie is possible.
The Shin Megami Tensei: Persona video game series contains several Norse gods and beings as summonable Personas. Additionally, some skills such as Odin's Thunder Reign, Loki's Niflheim, and Surt's Ragnarok are derived from Norse mythology.
The MMORPG RuneScape has a few notable Norse mythology links, mostly in the 'Fremennik Tribe' and their quests.
In the MMO Dark Age of Camelot there are three playable realms, one of which is called Midgard. The people encountered there have many references to Norse mythology, and they have such playable classes as Berserker, Runemaster, Skald, Thane and Valkyrie.
The video game Magicka is loosely based on Norse mythology, and contains several elements and references.
In the PC game Heroes of Might and Magic III, the faction Stronghold has a few Norse mythology elements, one being the building Valhalla.
In the Heroes of the Storm, playable hero Tychus can call down the Odin, a heavy combat walker, as one of his two heroic abilities. Cassia can use her heroic ability to summon a Valkyrie that rushes towards her, pulling the first enemy Hero hit, and knocking back all other enemy Heroes in the way.
The puzzle platform game Munin is about Odin's raven Munin, whom Loki has stripped of wings and transformed into a human girl, and who has to travel through the nine worlds of Yggdrasil to relocate her missing feathers.
In the 2011 video game Dark Souls, there is a large, sword-wielding wolf named Sif that serves as a boss battle in the game. Sif's name references the Nordic goddess of the Earth, Sif, and he is a direct reference to the great lupine son of Loki, Fenrir.
In the role-playing game series Etrian Odyssey, the Yggdrasil Tree is a recurring plot element of great relevance and significance.
In the 2017 video game Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Norse mythology plays a key role in design of the world and enemies, with the developers going to great lengths to research the topic.
The 2018 video game God of War, is loosely based on Norse mythology, a change of direction for a series previously centered around Greek mythology. Baldr appears as the main antagonist, Freya, Mímir, and Jörmungandr appear as allies, Odin and Thor are background antagonists, with the former being indirectly responsible for the events of the game and the events of the Norse era as a whole and are mentioned frequently with the latter's sons Móði and Magni appearing as antagonists. Kratos' second wife is Laufey, a Frost Giant, and his son Atreus' original name is Loki. The 2022 sequel, God of War Ragnarök, depicts events inspired by Ragnarök and features Týr, Norns, Jörmungandr, Fenrir, Freyr, Thrud, Heimdall as well as Thor and Odin as the major antagonists of the game
In the PC space simulator Freespace, names for starships are derived from the Norse mythology, including Fenris and Loki.
In Pokémon X and Y, the legendary trio, Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde, are based upon creatures from Norse Mythology, with Xerneas representing Eikþyrnir, Yveltal representing Hræsvelgr, and Zygarde's three forms representing Fenrir (10%), Jörmungandr (50%), and Hel (Complete Forme).
The game Jotun uses the mythology as a setting, with the protagonist making its way through various realms in order to fight the gigantic jötunn.
The Bayonetta franchise makes multiple references to Norse mythology. The primary antagonist of the first title is named Balder, and the creator god of myth is referred to as Aesir. A character named Loki also appears as a supporting character in the sequel.
Warriors Orochi 4 adds Norse and Greek deities to its selection of characters. The game depicts Odin, having survived Ragnarok, seeking to absorb energy from other realms via Yggdrasil in order to avoid his impending demise. In an effort to support this, he orders Loki to infiltrate the Greek pantheon, disguised as the hero Perseus.
One of the bosses in Mega Man Zero 4 is based on Fenrir, being a robot known as Fenri Lunaedge. The story also makes reference to Ragnarok, where it is an orbital cannon that Dr. Weil, the main villain, intends to use to destroy the last vestiges of vegetation on Earth so all humans are subjected to his dictatorial rule. When it fails, he tries to directly crash Ragnarok directly into the planet.
In Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road, the Keyblade Master instructor of Xehanort and Eraqus is named Master Odin, with a design based on Georg von Rosen's 1893 depiction of Odin the wanderer.
In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, The World Tree of Norse mythology is central to the plot. The name of the musical track that plays on The World Tree is titled "Yggdrasil".
Ark: Survival Evolved includes the FjordurDLC, which introduced the Mjolnir weapon skin as a final reward if a player defeated the final boss and had reached Player Level 190, something only achievable if they completed all the objectives of all the game expansions in all the DLCs.
In Elder Scrolls, the Nords who are 1 of the races of Men are obviously modelled after the barbarian tribes of Northern Europe most particular the Norse.
The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross includes an original story arc based on the norse myths entitled "Ragnarok: Fate of Gods". It includes several iterations of important figures of the norse myths such as Sigurd, Brunhild, Fenrir, Thor, Jormungand and others.
Norse mythology in other media
The role-playing gameDungeons & Dragons has included Norse gods as optional elements since the publication of its Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes sourcebook (1976). Other elements of Norse mythology appear in creatures, place names and cosmological concepts in many places of the game. As the authors adjusted mythological elements into "the internal organization of play structures alongside references to other traditions [...], it produces social representations and an imagination of the specific medieval North."[12] Scholar of Scandivian myths Filippo Di Laurent pointed out that Dungeons & Dragons treats the various historical texts of mythology "as a coherent whole" and thus "erases the context socio-historical production of each of it". This "decontextualized presentation" presents the reader a "universalist version" of the myths, "simplified in popular culture".[13]
Rooster Teeth Productions's web series RWBY features the character Nora Valkyrie. Not only does her last name reference the female warriors who would lead Viking champions to Valhalla, but she also alludes to Thor. Her weapon is a hammer/grenade launcher known as Magnhild which she uses with uncanny strength. Her semblance (a superpower unique to the individual) is the production and channeling of electricity, similar to how Thor is the god of thunder. Nora's female gender alludes to the story where Thor disguised himself as Freyja in order to retrieve his hammer from a giant who wanted the goddess as his wife.
The Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game has a series of cards (the Nordic, Aesir, and Generaider archetypes) based on Norse gods and other mythological creatures.
The Space Wolves chapter of Space Marines in Warhammer 40,000 are heavily influenced by Norse mythology, with their homeworld of Fenris being named for Fenrir the wolf, who also serves as inspiration for massive Fenrisian wolves that prowl the planet's wintery landscape.
↑ Eisenbeis, Richard (June 17, 2015). "Sword Art Online Is A Lot Of Fun, Even Without Its Main Character". Kotaku. Archived from the original on June 17, 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2015. The first volume of Girls' Ops follows the sub-heroines of Sword Art Online: Leafa, Silica, and Lisbeth as they explore the fairy-filled world of the Norse-themed ALfheim Online.
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