Harald Jaekelsson (Earth-616)

Harald Jaekelsson
Name	Harald Jaekelsson
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	His viking crew
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	7′7″ (2.31 m)
Weight	365 lbs (165.56 kg)
Eyes	Irises: Brown
Hair	Black
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Human empowered by rune curse
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Personal Information
Identity	No Dual
Citizenship	Viking
Occupation	Viking leader; warrior
Base of Operations	Mobile
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Garth Ennis, Glenn Fabry
First	Thor: Vikings #1 (July, 2003)
First	Thor: Vikings #1 (July, 2003)

 There is more to my reign than a band of corpses. There is more to my kingdom than a flying longboat. This city is mine, Thunder God; it offers me its backside like a well-schooled wench, its people cower and tremble at my footfall. 

—Harald Jaekelsson

History

11th Century

Little has been recorded of Harald Jaekelsson's early life. By the year 1003, Jaekelsson had become the leader of a ship of Viking warriors, routinely leading his crew on voyages to raid the lands of the English and the Welsh, with many of these voyages launching from the coastal town of Lakstad. The tendency of Jaekelsson's crew to steal barrels of mead and slaughter the village's livestock caused the Lakstad residents to complain to the King of Norway, which brought repercussions down on the Vikings.

In an act of retaliation, Jaekelsson lead his crew in a raid on Lakstad, with his crew destroying the town. Jaekelsson and his crew murdered all the men and children of the town, and had their way with the women before killing them as well. While the crew celebrated their raid with food and drink, Jaekelsson informed his men that they would sail to the New World, where they would be free to raid and pillage unopposed. As Jaekelsson's crew set sail, the town wise man, the sole survivor of the raid, called out a curse upon the Viking crew. Calling on the power of a rune stone, the wise man damned the Vikings to sail for a thousand years without reaching their destination, only to be killed with an arrow fired by Jaekelsson.

Harald Jaekelsson would be opposed by other clans, such as the one led by Erika the Red.

Modern Age Landfall

The wise man's curse on Jaekelsson's crew would come to pass; the crew sailed the seas day after day, year after year, never spotting land in any direction, for a thousand years, until, in 2003, Jaekelsson's ship spotted land in the form of Manhattan's South Street Seaport. Making landfall, Jaekelsson and crew immediately begin slaughtering every citizen in sight, with many of their victims believing the scene unfolding before them to be a film shoot, or a prank set up for a hidden camera television program. As the citizens realize the situation is real, they flee, drawing the attention of N.Y.P.D. officers, a number of whom Jaekelsson personally dispatches.

Battle With Thor & Taking Manhattan

As his crew spread into the surrounding city causing mayhem and destruction, Jaekelsson was brought a young woman by his crew as a sexual offering. Before Jaekelsson could rape the woman, Thor appeared in the sky, and rescued the woman from the Vikings. Thor then challenged Jaekelsson to combat, but was taken off-guard when Jaekelsson appeared unaffected by a strike to the chest from Mjolnir, the knock back of which broke both of Thor's wrists. Finding Thor no threat, Jeakelsson dismissed his crew to begin pillaging the city, and proceeded to pummel the God of Thunder. Despite Thor's best effort, all attempts to attack Jaekelsson resulted in further injury to himself. With Thor too exhausted to put up a defense, Jaekelsson took chains and used them to anchor Mjolnir around Thor's neck, before kicking the God of Thunder into the East River.

Jaekelsson then regrouped with his crew, who had retreated from battle after an influx of N.Y.P.D. officers and U.S. Soldiers made their way into the heart of the city. Taking to the skies in their longship, the Vikings, lead by Jaekelsson, quickly disposed of the soldiers and officers in a matter of minutes.

As more and more of Manhattan fell to Jaekelsson and his forces, Jaekelsson observed his crew's progress from the high ground, and eventually killed the Mayor of New York City with a spear. While Jaekelsson scouted out a base of operations for himself, his crew dispatched both the Avengers and an entire regiment of Marines. Eventually settling on the Woolworth Building, Jaekelsson used the bones of tall victims to build himself a throne on the roof.

Final Confrontation

Sensing danger, Jaekelsson prepared to set out on his longboat with a number of crewmen, but was attacked by fighter pilot Erik Lonnroth, one of three warriors from the past brought to the modern day by Thor and Dr. Strange to combat Jaekelsson. While Lonnroth continued his attacks on the ship, Jaekelsson quietly slipped to the ground below, where Thor and his new comrades Sigrid and Sir Magnus were steadily dispatching Jaekelsson's Vikings.

Using the element of surprise, Jaekelsson was able to sneak behind and run Thor through with his sword before quickly incapacitating Sigrid and Magnus. Unfazed by his injuries, Thor engaged Jaekelsson in combat, striking him with enough force to remove a section of Jaekelsson's skull. Trading words and blows, the two warriors continued inflicting injuries on one another, with Jaekelsson losing his left arm to a blow by Mjolnir, and Jaekelsson tearing flesh from Thor's hand with his teeth.

Gaining the upper hand, Jaekelsson began choking Thor, bringing the God of Thunder to his knees. As Thor began to pass out, Jaekelsson questioned Thor's companions as to why they were not intervening. To Jaekelsson's surprise, Thor's companions were confident that Thor would prevail, as he was a true God, and Jaekelsson a magical corpse. Distracted by their words, Jaekelsson did not notice Thor regain his wits, at which point Thor delivered a hit so powerful Jaekelsson's body was flung into space.

Jaekelsson's current whereabouts are unknown, but his body was last seen still in orbit around planet.

Attributes

Power Grid

Powers

Jaekelsson was born a normal human, and as an adult became a warrior with above average strength. Jaekelsson's was then given a haphazard curse that greatly augmented his physical attributes.

Enhanced Longevity/Superhuman Durability: Empowered by the curse, Jaekelsson has lived on for more than a thousand years, seemingly without the need for nourishment. While not completely invulnerable, Jaekelsson's body is durable enough to withstand gunshot wounds from pistols and a plane-mounted machine gun, and even blows from Mjolnir without incident. However, while he is not hindered by injury, his body still shows signs of physical trauma with each injury. Jaekelsson's skin has decayed after centuries exposed to the elements, much like a corpse. Additionally, Jaekelsson's right eye has been removed from its socket at some point before making landfall in New York.

Superhuman Stregth: Jaekelsson has shown great feats of strength, including lifting a N.Y.P.D. police cruiser over his head and hurling it hundreds of yards away with just one hand. Jaekelsson has also shown the ability to overpower other superhuman beings, such as Thor.

Superhuman Speed

Enhanced Vision: Jaekelsson appears to have enhanced vision, as he is shown with the ability throw a spear across the East River with enough accuracy to still hit his target in the head.

Abilities

Highly skilled with numerous forms of close quarters weaponry such as swords, as well as ranged combat weapons such as a bow and arrow. Jaekelsson also displays adequate mastery of hand-to-hand combat.

Weaknesses

Despite being given increased longevity, Jaekelsson's body continued to decay with time, leaving his flesh rotten, similar to a corpse.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Antiquated armor

Weapons

Long swords, bow and arrow, spears

Transportation

Longboat, seemingly empowered with the same rune-based magic as Jaekelsson himself. The ship has the power to fly, as well as the ability to shoot fire from the decorative serpents head on the bow of the ship.

See Also

• 5 appearance(s) of Harald Jaekelsson (Earth-616)
• 2 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Harald Jaekelsson (Earth-616)
• 1 mention(s) of Harald Jaekelsson (Earth-616)
• 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Harald Jaekelsson (Earth-616)
• 5 image(s) of Harald Jaekelsson (Earth-616)
• 2 quotation(s) by or about Harald Jaekelsson (Earth-616)