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Quote1 It fell from the sky many years ago, on a world without a name. I picked it up... and butchered my first gods. And then as I stood there, baptized in their blood. A question formed in my simple little brain... I wonder if there are more? Quote2
Gorr the God Butcher[src]

Born on a nameless planet ravaged by starvation and loss, Gorr the God Butcher endured the tragic deaths of his parents, wife and his children, leading him to resent the gods he believed had forsaken him. After the death of his son Agar due to starvation, Gorr encountered conflicting gods engaged in battle, acquiring the All-Black the Necrosword and vowing vengeance upon all deities for their perceived neglect.[9][10] Throughout millennia, Gorr embarked on a relentless crusade, slaughtering gods across the cosmos and accumulating power. Following an encounter with the Asgardian Thunder God; Thor, Gorr devised a plot to exterminate all gods throughout the timestream by creating the Godbomb. Travelling to the far future, he enslaved thousands of gods and tormented All-Father Thor for centuries while constructing the cataclysmic weapon.[11]

In a climactic battle involving multiple versions of Thor, Gorr faced defeat as Thor, empowered by prayers from across space and time, utilized the Necrosword to weaken Gorr, ultimately leading to his demise at the hands of his past self.[7] Gorr's legacy persisted even after his death, influencing Thor's struggles with unworthiness and Mjolnir. His consciousness remained within All-Black, finding solace in an empty void bereft of gods.[12][5] Eons later, Gorr was resurrected by King Loki, engaging in a catastrophic confrontation with Thor and Loki while wielding immense control over All-Black. Defeated once more, Gorr was resurrected in a mortal state and was left in amnesiac madness under the care of the Sky Lords of Indigarr.[8] However, the Necrosword had completely replaced his heart which allowed him to be restored to his former self and returned to the present to resume his deicidal activities.[13]

History

Early Years[]

Gorr the God Butcher was born on a planet with no name, almost every day on the brink of starvation. He was taught to trust in the gods, but they never answered his prayers. At an early age, his mother and father died, leaving Gorr to fend for himself in the harsh environment. Years later he married and fathered some children. However, most of them died. Gorr's pregnant mate Arra was killed during an earthquake, and one by one his children perished until he was left with one son, Agar. When Agar was on the brink of death due to starvation, Gorr sought to ease his suffering and told his son they would soon reach a forest where they would never go hungry again.[9]

The God Butcher[]

Gorr (Earth-616) and All-Black (Symbiote) (Earth-616) from Thor God of Thunder Vol 1 6 001

Stricken with grief after Agar's death, Gorr gave up hope and outwardly expressed his belief that there were no gods, for which he was exiled by his superstitious people. While wandering the desert praying to die, Gorr witnessed a pair of battling gods—a dark elder god called Knull and a gold-armored purple-skinned god empowered by the Enigma Force[14]—plunge out of the sky and crash-land nearby. Shocked by the realization that gods did exist, Gorr was enraged when the gold-armored god begged for help; the dark god's sword transforming into an amorphous mass of living darkness and bonding to him. Gorr used his new weapon, All-Black the Necrosword, to kill the gold-armored god; then vowed to seek vengeance against all gods for never answering his prayers, and set out to kill them all.[9][10] Gorr despised any god and travelled the cosmos for thousands of years to exact his revenge, embarking on a deicidal crusade in which he allegedly killed many gods of fear, war, chaos, genocide, revenge, plagues, earthquakes, blood, wrath, jealousy, death, degradation, and a few gods of poetry and flowers.[15]

Encounters with Thor[]

At some point in the 9th century, Gorr arrived on Earth and killed a god from the Americas; the body washing up on the shores of Iceland, where it was found by Thor.[16] At a later date, while accompanying a Viking raiding party to Russia, Thor found some of the Slavic gods dead. Thor was attacked by Gorr, who nearly managed to kill Thor, but just before the killing blow Thor conjured a lightning strike which knocked both of them out. Gorr recovered and escaped to a cave, where he once again fought Thor. Despite Gorr attempting to torture Thor for information about the location of Asgard for seventeen days, Thor held out long enough for his Viking worshipers to find him, distracting Gorr long enough for Thor to recover and cut off Gorr's right arm, believing that he had succeeded in slaying him.[17]

Thor God of Thunder Vol 1 5 Textless

Gorr the God Butcher vs. Thor Odinson

Gorr survived their encounter however and would spend the next thousand years butchering more and more gods, growing ever stronger and amassing an army of dark minions to assist him in his crusade. Thor once again took notice of Gorr's activities centuries later and began hunting him when a prayer summoned him to a world without gods, recognizing Gorr's handiwork when he found the world's deities slaughtered. While Thor went to the cave where they once fought to look for him, Gorr attacked Chronux to lay claim to the Pool of Forevers and used the blood of the Time Gods to traverse the timestream. He went back to the beginning of the universe and slew one of the very first elder gods, taking the infant deity's heart as a trophy. He then headed forward in time millennia into the future and arrived on Earth-14412, claiming a desolate world to serve as his base of operations and enslaving all the gods he could capture except for All-Father Thor, who he routinely tormented over his failures. Over the next nine-hundred years, Gorr forced the enslaved gods to mine broken planets and the cores of stars for material to build the Godbomb, which he intended to use to exterminate all gods across the entirety of the timestream.[11] Gorr also created constructs of his deceased wife and son from the All-Black symbiote, though unbeknownst to him his "son" embodied his subconscious self-loathing.

After the arrival of Thor the Avenger from Earth-616, Gorr sent Black Berserkers into the past to get the young Thor from around 800 A.D. - the Thor he first met - and brought him back to the future, where was enslaved along with the other remaining gods. Young Thor, using a piece of a star, attempted to destroy the Godbomb, but was instead catapulted off the planet, where he met with Thor the Avenger and King Thor. The three decided to assault Gorr and his planet for the last time and nearly succeeded in killing him, but due to absorbing power from the gods he had killed, Gorr was too powerful and defeated the three Thors, leaving them for dead, and set off to activate the Godbomb. When the construct of his wife called him a god, Gorr angrily killed her.[18]

However, "Agar" decided to assist Thor the Avenger in bringing down the God Butcher, having come to recognize that his father had essentially become the very thing he always despised. Charged by the prayers of the son, as well as every single surviving god across space and time, Thor absorbed the Godbomb's blast as well as the Necrosword. Using its power, Thor was able to weaken Gorr, with "Agar" denouncing Gorr as the God of Hypocrisy before Thor's past self finally killed him.[7]

Legacy and Resurrection[]

Even after death, Gorr had managed to leave his mark on the Thor of Earth-616, as Gorr's philosophy was responsible for Thor becoming unworthy and being unable to lift Mjolnir.[12][19] During the War of the Realms, the Dark Elf warlord Malekith would obtain the Venom symbiote to become the Butcher of Thors, forcing the three Thors to fight him.[20][21]

Gorr's consciousness was contained inside All-Black, finally at peace in an empty void without gods.[5] Eons after his death, Gorr was resurrected by King Loki - All-Black's then-host - in order to kill him after he killed All-Father Thor, manifesting a copy of his body from the symbiote. Instead, Gorr interrupted their duel by reclaiming All-Black and impaling King Loki through the back with it.[4] Crucifying Thor and Loki, Gorr mocked them both but was blasted into orbit by the Power of the All-Father. Recalling the scattered pieces and offshoots of All-Black, Gorr engaged All-Father Thor in a battle that devastated solar systems, vowing to make Thor watch as he slaughtered the inhabitants of Midgard and all other remaining life in the cosmos before creating his own and ensuring they were devoid of the need for worship. Attacked by Loki, Gorr mutilated him before engulfing both brothers in All-Black, declaring he had transcended mortality and become not a mere god but a force of nature.[5]

The gods who Thor had saved and sent to Indigarr billions of years in the past were awakened by the Goddesses of Thunder, who returned in time to save their grandfather and uncle. Overwhelmed, Gorr was decapitated by Atli Wodendottir, but revealed that his body had been a construct manifested from the All-Black symbiote, which he had used to infect the very universe itself over the course of the fight.[1] Gorr tried to devour Thor by manifesting a black hole, but was distracted by King Loki telling him the story of every heroic deed Thor had ever performed - buying time for Thor to unleash the full might of the God Tempest from within Mjolnir, destroying the All-Black symbiote. Restored to life as a mortal but left amnesiac and insane, Gorr was taken in by the Sky Lords of Indigarr to live out the remainder of his days in peace.[8]

Phoenix[]

Although Gorr no longer possessed All-Black the Necrosword itself, All-Black's essence had bonded with Gorr and replaced his heart. Returning to his original time and his quest of vengeance against gods, Gorr targeted Jean Grey, who had recently embraced the Phoenix Force, luring her to Dogar to slay her.[13]

Attributes

Powers

All-Black the Necrosword: Gorr was originally a mortal alien completely lacking any form of superhuman abilities.[9][7] After bonding to All-Black the Necrosword, a symbiotic weapon Gorr found on the wounded body of Knull, Gorr attained the following powers:

  • Constituent-Matter Manipulation: Gorr can use the living abyss comprising All-Black to create a variety of constructs, such as wings, weapons, armor, and a cloak, though All-Black's preferred form is a sword. Gorr was also capable of creating semi-sentient offshoots of All-Black, dubbed Black Berserkers, to do his bidding.[2][15] Even after losing All-Black, because he had bonded with its essence and it replaced his heart, he can create constructs from his heart.[13]
  • Superhuman Strength: Gorr has strength that is at least comparable to that of Thor, if not greater. He was able to best young Thor, present-day Thor, and All-Father Thor all at the same time,[22] and has single-handedly defeated many millions of gods in open combat, including one that reportedly "wrestled with black holes for fun".[3] He is also capable of effortlessly cleaving through planets and even stars using All-Black.[5]
  • Superhuman Durability: Gorr is extremely durable against all forms of trauma and can survive a massive lightning bolt summoned by Thor, or the Godblast of All-Father Thor's Thor-Force - which propelled him "several light-years" away in a matter of seconds.[22]
  • Superhuman Speed: Gorr can fly at blinding speeds, as when he quickly overtook the thunder god on their first encounter.[2]
  • Superhuman Reflexes: Gorr was able to catch Thor rather easily off guard, as well as many other gods.[3]
  • Longevity: Gorr has lived for several billion years and still looks in his prime, as a result of All-Black rendering him immune to aging.[9][10]
  • Regeneration: Gorr is able to recover from a lightning strike within four days with no signs of that injury, as well growing back or reattaching an arm that Thor had cut off.[23]
  • Telepathy: Gorr telepathically communicated with Phoenix across space.[13]

Abilities

  • Combat Skills: Gorr has at least three thousand years of combat experience, and is skilled enough with weapons to duel with gods with ease.[24]
  • Master Torturer: He is a very skilled torturer and has claimed that he tortured a god of torture once.[2]

Weaknesses

Paraphernalia

Weapons

Notes

Trivia

  • Gorr's history, and those of wielders of All-Black, are recorded in a self-writing divine tome called the Saga of the God Butcher.[4]

See Also

Links and References

References

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