Was Thor Ever a Herald of Galactus? Here’s What Happened
Galactus is fairly known for granting a portion of his Power Cosmic to various characters over the years, turning them into his Heralds. His Heralds have a unique role of searching for adequate planets to consume since Galactus has a universal hunger for energy. But what happens when one already incredibly powerful character gets access to Power Cosmic? We know that Thor had numerous versions over the years, each empowered version stronger than the last one, but there was a time when Thor also served Galactus as his Herald, and it happened fairly recently. And this is what we’re going to discuss today. Let’s see when & why Thor became Herald of Galactus.
Thor became Herald of Galactus in ‘Thor’ Vol. 6 #1 when Galactus crashed in Asgard chased by Black Winter. At first, Thor was supposed to help Galactus and his heralds defeat Black Winter, but Galactus turned him into his Herald. As Herald of Galactus, Thor was powerful enough to ultimately kill him and deal with Black Winter. His tenure was short-lived, and Galactus would ultimately be reborn, this time instead of for planets, hungering for knowledge.
Now that we’ve briefly covered what happened, I realize it doesn’t make much sense when summarized. Due to that, if you want to know more details, stay with us and keep reading!
Thor’s life got a lot more boring when he ascended the throne of Asgard
Following the War of the Realms, which Thor won, he replaced his father Odin, as the All-Father Thor and assumed the throne of Asgard. However, this stopped him from participating in his usual heroics, and quite frankly, Thor was getting nervous and bored.
His adventuring days were behind him, and he was constantly being bothered by questions of little significance. The nervous part came from Thor’s inexperience when it came to being the All-Father.
The first signs of trouble started when the first snow fell upon Asgard, the snow that Thor didn’t create. Several moments later, Galactus’ gargantuan form crashed and landed on Asgard. He was in a bad state, almost dead, starved, and obviously asking for help.
How did Thor become the Herald of Galactus?
At first, Thor attacked Galactus and wanted to end him once and for all, but Galactus stopped him and told him that he would soon have to face something far larger and far more menacing than him – the Black Winter. Thor wasn’t aware of what Black Winter was, so he summoned Galactus’ former Heralds to counsel him.
Silver Surfer, one of the former heralds that were present, explained that the Black Winter is basically a disease, an inescapable entity that destroys entire universes. Galactus once survived the Black Winter when he was a simple humanoid alien from Taa. After Black Winter devoured his Universe, Galactus became what he is today.
Silver Surfer explained that if Galactus is to survive and prevail over Black Winter, he has to feed on five planets rich in energy, Silver Surfer has tried to hide those planets from Galactus for a long time, but now he has no choice but to allow him to feed in them in order to amass more power.
Silver Surfer agreed to assume the duties of the Herald to accompany Galactus on this journey, and Thor agreed to accompany them to make sure that the current inhabitants of these five planets would be evacuated on time, not to be consumed by Galactus.
But instead of accepting Silver Surfer’s offer, Galactus told them how he gazed upon his true death and saw that Thor would be the end of him, so he needed to keep him close. Only Galactus and Thor are powerful enough to deal with Black Winter, and in that moment, Galactus imbued Thor with Power Cosmic and transformed him into Herald of Thunder.
Thor killed Galactus while he served as his Herald
It would be an understatement to say that Thor was annoyed by Galactus, and the two constantly bickered. While Thor was following Galactus’ journey, Beta Ray Bill confronted them and asked Thor to lead Galactus away from his planet, Thor explained the danger that Black Winter presents, but Beta Ray was still persistent. The two got locked into a battle during which Stormbreaker was destroyed.
Eventually, while they were getting close to the final planet, Black Winter caught up with them, and Galactus was forced to devour the planet Kryo before it was evacuated. This was the final straw for Thor, and he promised Galactus that he would kill him for this as soon as Black Winter was dealt with.
It was time to deal with the Black Winter, and Thor the Herald of Thunder was forced to fight the shades of his former enemies.
After the battle, Black Winter revealed the truth of Galactus’ origin to Thor. The only reason why Galactus survived the destruction of his universe was because he was chosen by the Black Winter to serve as its Herald.
The only reason why Galactus now wants to get rid of Black Winter is so he isn’t forced to serve the entity. Thor finally realized that Galactus had lied to him this whole time.
Learning this, Thor drained all the power from Galactus that he acquired, devouring the planets and effectively killing him. He then proceeded to use Galactus’ body as a bomb in order to destroy the Black Winter.
Galactus will later be resurrected, but will instead of planets eat knowledge.
How powerful was Thor as Herald of Galactus?
As Herald of Galactus, Thor was one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe, he had access to All-Father powers and Power Cosmic. It is likely that Thor, in this form, could only be stopped by a higher cosmic entity. He had enough combined powers to Kill Galactus and deal with Black Winter once and for all.
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