MCU: Why Does Thor Call Rocket “Rabbit”?

We know that Thor had very good chemistry with the Guardians of the Galaxy when he first met them during the events of Avengers: Infinity War. Of course, the one he was closest to was Rocket Raccoon, who was quite respectful when it came to Thor, even though Rocket hardly respected anyone. But throughout the entire time that they were friends, Thor called Rocket “rabbit.” But why?

Thor calls Rocket “rabbit” because he isn’t familiar with raccoons, as these are probably animals that neither he nor the other Asgardians have ever seen. As such, he started calling Rocket by the name of the species that closely resembles a raccoon, and we are talking about the rabbit.

For many people, the fact that Thor calls Rocket “rabbit” instead of raccoon is kind of an ongoing gag because Thor was never the smartest character in the MCU. Then again, as we will explain later, there’s a very good reason why he calls Rocket “rabbit.” So, with that said, let’s expand on this topic so that you would understand it better.

Thor’s “Rabbit” Nickname for Rocket Explained

Avengers: Infinity War was the most ambitious superhero crossover of its time because it allowed the Avengers to meet some other superheroes in the MCU. Of course, we are talking about the Guardians of the Galaxy, which are entirely separate from the Avengers but have a common enemy in Thanos. And the first member of the Avengers to meet the Guardians was Thor, who ended up floating in space after the Mad Titan destroyed the ship that he and the other Asgardians were on.

But while Thor had good chemistry with the Guardians of the Galaxy members, he was quick to befriend Rocket Raccoon, who usually has the most rotten personality out of the Guardians but was quite respectful regarding his approach to Thor. It could be because Thor is the God of Thunder, but Rocket warmed up to him rather quickly, even though Thor called him by a different name.

Throughout their friendship, Thor and Rocket were quite close, but the God of Thunder called Rocket “rabbit” instead of using his actual name or referring to him as a raccoon. We all know that Rocket is a raccoon but, for some reason, Thor would rather call him a rabbit. So, why is it that Thor calls Rocket “rabbit?”

The first and probably the only reason Thor calls Rocket “rabbit” is that he doesn’t know what a raccoon is and has never seen a raccoon in his entire life. And once we explain this, it would make sense why he has never seen a raccoon.

We know that Thor and the other Asgardians have always been close with the Northern European settlers centuries before the events of the MCU, and that’s why they are revered and worshipped as gods by the Norse people. But the thing is that raccoons didn’t exist in Europe at that time.

Raccoons are animals that are native to North America, and that means that they were never found in Europe hundreds of years ago. However, during the 1930s, raccoons were brought to Europe due to their fur. Due to this, raccoons were eventually released into the wilds of Europe and became invasive animals that never belonged to that part of the world.

Of course, Thor and the other Asgardians mostly visited Midgard before the 1930s, as they rarely went to Earth during a time that modern technology had already improved. As such, he never saw a raccoon before in his entire life because raccoons were never native to the wilds of Northern Europe when he mostly visited Midgard.

Thor eventually stayed in Midgard for extended periods after becoming an Avenger. However, he mostly stayed in city areas that didn’t have any raccoons at all. And because he wasn’t familiar with the raccoon animal, he thought that Rocket was a rabbit as that was the closest animal that resembled him.

In that regard, Thor honestly thought that Rocket was a rabbit because he didn’t even know what a raccoon was but was already familiar with rabbits. As such, his “rabbit” nickname for Rocket wasn’t an insult because he thought Rocket was a rabbit instead of a raccoon.

Thor Isn’t the Only Asgardian Unfamiliar with Raccoons

While some think Thor’s unfamiliarity with raccoons results from how dumb he is compared to other Asgardians, that isn’t the case. Thor wasn’t the only Asgardian who didn’t know what a raccoon was. And this was made clear during the events of Avengers: Endgame when Thor and Rocket returned to the past.

The duo returned to the time of Thor: The Dark World so that they could get the Aether, which was the Reality Stone. After Rocket was able to extract the Reality Stone from Jane Foster’s body, the Asgardian guards saw him and chased after him. The guards even said, “Get that rabbit,” while chasing him.

This implies that almost all of the Asgardians, except for the smartest ones, were unfamiliar with raccoons because these animals were never native to the regions of Northern Europe. As such, all of the Asgardians thought that Rocket was a rabbit because this was the animal that closely resembled a raccoon as far as they were concerned.

The fact that Thor and the other Asgardians were unfamiliar with raccoons is excusable, given that their knowledge of the animals on Earth tends to be limited to those they encountered in the northern regions of Europe, where the Norse people lived. Of course, it’s not as if the Asgardians could acquire an encyclopedia of all the animals that live on Earth.