Hela: Bio, Origin & History

Real Name: Hela

First Appearance: Journey Into Mystery #102 (March 1964) 

Powers: As an Asgardian, Hela possesses superhuman strength, durability, stamina, and endurance. She is able to telepathically communicate with the undead, can wield black magic, practices necromancy, is long-lived, apt in matter generation, and is proficient in mysticism.

Affiliation: Hell-Lords, Death God, and Black Order.

Did You Know? Contrary to popular belief, Hela is the daughter of Loki and not Odin.

A Little History

The origin of Hela is pretty straightforward. 

Hela first debuted in Journey Into Mystery #102 back in March of 1964. She was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. 

Hela is the Asgardian Goddess of Death. While her primary role is to receive the souls of fallen Asgardians into Hel, she is also the ruler of both Hel and Niffleheim. 

Hela is the daughter of Loki and the giantess, Angrboda. Because she was born half-dead, Hela’s face appears decayed. To conceal this, she wears a headpiece that covers half of her face. Similar to Thor drawing his power from Mjolnir, Hela pulls hers from her headpiece. 

Although she is incredibly powerful, Hela has an eternal lust for more power. This has caused her to battle both Thor and Odin, as well as play an integral role in the Asgardian Ragnarok. 

In her first appearance, we find Thor on a quest to wield the full power of Mjolnir. He learns from the Three Fates that to do this, he must confront death itself. With this information in hand, he returns to Asgard only to learn that Sif has been taken captive by the Storm Giants. He immediately leaves to rescue her from King Rugga (ruler of the Storm Giants). King Rugga tells him that he has given her to Hela in exchange for immortality. 

Now in front of Hela, Thor tells her that he will exchange his life for hers. Moved by his willingness to sacrifice himself, Hela allows both to leave and return home. This encounter proved important for two reasons. First, Thor was able to save Sif. Second, by confronting Hela, he confronted death and therefore became able to wield the full power of Mjolnir.

And that’s it. The origin of Hela.