The consensus seems to be that Thor's greatest feat of pure physical strength occurred when he used a mystical fishing pole to break the Midgard Serpent's grip on Earth and lift its full weight off of the planet and into space. The serpent itself has the exact same weight as Earth which, being measured at 6.6 sextillion tons, is almost incalculably high. There seem to be, however, two important factors that are being overlooked that will make this feat, once discovered, even more impressive and hopefully end the longest running debate of is Thor or Hulk physically stronger?

Now it may seem to irrational to compare the constricting strength of a mystical creature like the Midgard Serpent to that of an Anaconda, but bear with me here. An Anaconda weighing 550 pounds was measured as exerting over 90 pounds per square inch of force during an act of constriction, this equals a total force of over 8,818 pounds, or roughly, 16 times its bodyweight.

Now when we factor in that the Midgard Serpent was in fact exerting an additional sixteen times its weight in resistance due to being coiled around the earth at the time Thor hoisted it off, that would mean that the God of Thunder exerted enough strength to break over 105.4 sextillion tons of force!

The second factor that is often overlooked is the positioning of Thor's body and the method he is using to lift. As an avid fisherman, I have experienced a vast difference in difficulty when using two different methods in removing fish from water. The first, being the easiest, is crouching down right at the water's surface and hoisting the fish out by it's mouth from a good mechanical position of leverage using the elbow joint and the powerful bicep muscle. The second, and far noticeably harder method is to merely hoist the fish out of the water with the pole itself; suddenly a five pound fish feels like it gains a hundred pounds! The further the weight is away from the center mass of your body; the harder it will be to lift; the fact that Thor had to lift this much weight by the end of a pole is virtually unfathomable. Imagine how much more force Thor could exert if he were acting in a natural plane of movement; say a pressing motion either horizontal or vertical?

The point here is that Thor's strength, at least in the moment he lifted the Serpent, should be placed on level with Superman and nowhere should the assertion ever try to be made that the Hulk has ever duplicated such an extraordinary feat of physical power from an awkward and disadvantaged position. A 150 billion ton mountain may be impressive, for a mortal, but there's a reason why the Hulk isn't and should never be on the level of an immortal being who is lifting in the sextillion range. Case closed.

I think Thor 2 will provide a more accurate depiction of where Marvel is going with the character; toward the more classical representation of him being the most powerful hero in the Marvel universe like Stan Lee's stated intention would be nice...

will never happen.... thor without his hammer is depicted weak.. no fighting skill puny.....

there is no longer even a valid rivalry between hulk and thor...

marvel has ruined a great rivalry....

This really is not the contest so many have depicted it as being; I mean the clear advantage here goes to Thor even if it was just a slug fest of strength and fists. Thor's maximum lift (from one of the weakest imaginable lifting positions in terms of body mechanics) exerted more force than the combined weight of sixteen earth-sized planets! The largest object Hulk smashed was an asteroid twice the size of earth, but many forget that this is not a feat of strength but rather one of power or striking power. Seeing as how he had a full force jump behind the blow, which I'll also remind was strongly assisted by special springs on his feet; this feat of Hulk's should not be considered in the category of strength. His maximum lift, and it wasn't even a lift so much as he was merely supporting the weight of the mountain, was 150 billion tons. The strength of the two characters are nowhere near comparable.

If only everyone in the world knew this and agreed without a problem...If only.

@MrShway88: What do you mean?

@cmartin: go read a comic made in the last 5 years then come back and post a comment.

@Z3RO180 said:

@cmartin: go read a comic made in the last 5 years then come back and post a comment.

I have... but real good comic writing died long ago so... forgive my lack of enthusiasm... or you could prove me wrong post a strength feet from thor in the last 10 yrs.... non hammer...

I await...

@cmartin: him and beta ray bill lifted asguard during a skrull attack.

I read that comic..... didnt find it that impressive.... comparing to what he has done..

plus he had his hammer channeling energy between him and beta ray bill bill had his hammer too....

im talking about a feat of strength NO hammer used...

Seriously though, I cannot fathom the Hulk lifting anything remotely close to something weighing sixteen planet earths; Thor has that mortal monster beat handily in every single category if you're going by feats alone.

@cmartin said:

tell this to marvel...

thor hasnt done anything strong in the last 15 years....

hasnt even punched anyone... everyting all mjlonir....

marvel has made it clear he is not strong

1 beaten like a baby in hulk vs thor dvd 40 + punches to he head no reply

beaten with his own hammer by hulk

beaten by hercules...

hammer picked up in

beaten up by hulk in avengers movie....

hulk picked up his hammer and knocked him out with it

the list goes on

the rivalry is over

thor is no longer a strong guy

fuck marvel

Guy, if you don't like Mjolnir, just stop reading Thor and go to read Superman or any other character. Thor always fought with Mjolnir, it is his weapon, his symbol, it is the hammer of gods. Thor is not weaker without it, but why wouldn't he use Mjolnir? Just tell me a reason why he wouldn't use it...

Saying Thor is weaker without Mjolnir is the same as saying that Captain America is weaker without his shield. Thor wasn't beaten by the Hulk in the movie, Thor was holding back and even thus, the fight was really close. Almost all Hulk victory's over Thor across the years are PIS, CIS or bad writing.

@Asagod said:

@cmartin said:

tell this to marvel...

thor hasnt done anything strong in the last 15 years....

hasnt even punched anyone... everyting all mjlonir....

marvel has made it clear he is not strong

1 beaten like a baby in hulk vs thor dvd 40 + punches to he head no reply

beaten with his own hammer by hulk

beaten by hercules...

hammer picked up in

beaten up by hulk in avengers movie....

hulk picked up his hammer and knocked him out with it

the list goes on

the rivalry is over

thor is no longer a strong guy

fuck marvel

Guy, if you don't like Mjolnir, just stop reading Thor and go to read Superman or any other character. Thor always fought with Mjolnir, it is his weapon, his symbol, it is the hammer of gods. Thor is not weaker without it, but why wouldn't he use Mjolnir? Just tell me a reason why he wouldn't use it...

Saying Thor is weaker without Mjolnir is the same as saying that Captain America is weaker without his shield. Thor wasn't beaten by the Hulk in the movie, Thor was holding back and even thus, the fight was really close. Almost all Hulk victory's over Thor across the years are PIS, CIS or bad writing.

you inadvertantly agreed with me.... guy

Bad writing....

its writing that makes the character.... and thor is VERY badly written , i love mjolnir but it would be nice to have thr not look like wimp without it

take the rulk v thor he took thors hammer after which thor was helpless its like he was too weak to defend himsef without it... the strongest of the norse gods indeed

Comics are about story and character. Not stats and feats. No matter what you toss @ Thor and Hulk they are awesome and will kick your ass. Everyone likes to label shit and either promote or downplay stuff ( kaka). Get off the bandwagon. Get of the high horse. Get off my (dick van dike actor). If Thor and Hulk merged like Goku and Vegita did in Dragon Ball Z..... No one would be standing. I'm not talking about Cyclops is right or wrong. I'm not talking about weak sauce Galacticus, Thanos, or Dark Pheonix. I'm talking about the power and passion that is comics.

Remember. Stan Lee sends your reguards.

~Nuff said BUB!

Lets be real Hulk vs Thor has boiled down to who's the most popular and Hulk is winning at that hands down. Many people assume Thor loses his powers without his hammer(thanks to bad writing). In Thor Disassembled his hammer gets broken in the first few pages and from there he goes on to become more powerful after wards. But he did admit in the book he relied to much on Mjolnir but sadly the writers never made anything of it. I am the first to admit I'm equal parts Thor, Hulk, and Superman fanboy but if they all went all out on each other then Thor should win on paper but more then likely it won't happen that way. Thor has faced Gods, Celestial beings, and the undead but heaven forbid writers actually remember that. Thor needs a good story arc to bring him back up to par but sadly we won't get one unless his movie brings in major money(sad but true).

I agree with you. It's all about the money.

Still with the incoming Indestructible Hulk #1 and Thor: God of Thunder #1 ........ Marvel please take my money.

Interesting take.

@antinatalistaggie: dude...is this for real? Thor;s physical feat?...can u back it up...it would really help me understand more about thor..i love him and supes... @sinfulplayerx: I agree to what you said..its about the passion ,the story and the character...but feats amps it up...hey check out my thread about Ares...please do comment...

http://www.comicvine.com/forums/gen-discussion-1/ares-god-of-war-1454050/

@antinatalistaggie: dude...You said 16 earths sized planets?when thor lifted the midgard serpent?howw dude..please explain to me the body mechanics,just this is enough for me..why 16 earth size planets?that means 16 times 6.6sextillion tons he lifted?

That was a metaphysical feat. It wasn't the same equivalency to 16 actual planets and nowhere in the narration does it state it does.

Even if it was, Hulk has outmuscled Thor on many occasions so...

Where does it say that the Serpent weighed as much as the earth?

@antinatalistaggie: That would only apply if Hulk were in a 6.6 sextillion situation but he hasn't so you can't say their strength is in comparable when hulk only gets stronger than the situation he's in. why compare his strength to hulk when he has no limit it's almost cheating him.Compare him to someone else like Hercules Sentry or Superman

@antinatalistaggie:

is it okay if I quote that in a debate some time?

I'm not here to start an argument, or a flame war or anything, but it's wrong to downplay Hulk that badly.

" which I'll also remind was strongly assisted by special springs on his feet" That was also a much weaker version of Hulk, the Grey Hulk. And he didn't even think he needed it, after he smashes it he also says it was a little help.

"A 150 billion ton mountain may be impressive, for a mortal, but there's a reason why the Hulk isn't and should never be on the level of an immortal being who is lifting in the sextillion range." I refer to the scans where Hulk resisted Vector's beams on 2 or 3 separate occasions. Each time he resisted, one of them had reality being thrown at him. Admittedly, Hulk had help on that one, and the another he got fried. When Thor did the same thing it took all of his strength just to hold his ground, but he was also fighting someone else. There was another time when Hulk resisted the forces that could move planets. Hulk's also stalemated Thor twice(one of those times was Warrior Madness). Hulk's also cracked Onslaught's armor. His footsteps nearly sunk the Eastern Seaboard, twice. He's also was causing continental damage from merely standing, and he almost triggered the San Andreas Fault. Another scan he inhaled a being that was worth 133.34 Hercs(hercs being a unit of measurement meant to equal what Herc can do at max in one blow). Someone who has constantly stalemated Thor in strength, and Hulk inhaled a being worth 133.45 of him. There are other times where he ripped the cosmos asunder, destroyed a universe in a fight, or having his blows be felt across an infinite amount of dimensions.

Again, not trying to start anything, just saying Hulk isn't as weak as what you've been saying. They both have very impressive feats of strength, there's a reason why they've had their rivalry, while I believe Thor would win, it's mostly due to the wide range of powers Thor has that Hulk has no counter too. If it weren't for that I would be very hard pressed to say who wins, most likely still Thor though.

If you wanted to show Thor is capable of moving 16 Earth's(since it's not really safe to say that the Midgar Serpeant ways as much as Earth since it's never said)you could've done so by showing his fight with Umar where he resists being crushed by the weight of 20 planets, which she later has to increase to subdue Thor, which also fails.

Lastly, do you know if Thor reversing the World Engine and World Tree are calculable, if so, would you mind calcing them?

this is the most unbiased statement ever made me smile that u r not being a fanboy .but are simply stating facts

the only correction i would like to make is ..it has been argued Thor was not in warriors madness.. but this is a very well written statement

Why thank you. I was hoping I didn't sound like some Hulk fanatic, glad I succeeded.

I didn't know about that, what exactly is the argument against it?

marvel has allowed THOR to be a laughing stock. a great character who has great strength has been shown to be weak.

Maybe im out of line saying this since ive never read too much up on thor,

but i honestly would love for Thors fighting prouness to always be highlighted. Absurd strenght feats arente always important.

Is there a number given to the weight of the Odinsword?

I consider this, The World Tree and The Midgard Serpent as Thors greatest feats of strength.

Oh dear, how dare a character show any sings of weakness and vulnerability. A good character needs to be perfect 100% of the times at everything he does. If he is not a Marry Sue than he is flawed.

Can you please re-scan this over on the Superman forum as evidence that Thor and Hulk are in Superman's class, strength wise! Superman fans just won't have it (and I'm part Superman fan).

Thor fans and Hulk fans will always argue over who is the strongest. I think Thor is the most powerful all round but I don't think Marvel will write a story where Thor beats Hulk because they want Hulk to be their flagship "strongest their is" character, even though the evidence points to Thor being the more all round mighty character. Not sure why, because the box office receipts for Thor the movie, show what a popular character he is becoming.

@bezza said:

Meh, I don't come on here too often, but I might if you post me the link. It's ok, Goku fanboys are the worst.

Strength wise, I'd say Hulk has an advantage over Thor, due to unlimited strength and the feats I've mentioned. Durability is up in the air, but I'd say Thor has moar consistent feats than Hulk does, while Hulk might have moar higher end. Speed, Thor hands down. Stamina, not too sure, but I'd say they might be about equal. I agree with that, Thor is overall a moar powerful character. Like I said, Thor has a plethora of powers I highly doubt Hulk has a counter for, or Supes for that matter, but it's not like he uses those powers very often, mostly because it'd be boring if did. Well, at least I think it would be.

Personally Thor doesn't have to show-off strength on a daily basis he has shown how powerful he really is in the past. I don't want him to be as stupidly written like Superman(No offense). Marvel is doing a better job at him than DC is doing with Supe's and the rest. They managed him well IMO.

@antinatalistaggie: he used a spring to smash the asteroid because he cannot fly. if he was given the power of flight, hulk will be virtually unbeatable in my opinion. he will be able to smash planets with ease.

HA thor is the god of thunder version of William Wallace but as to the debate as to who is stronger between thor and the hulk that's probably not gonna happen since hulks power is infinite and thors peak has technically yet to be seen heres a scan of a young maestro fighting warrior madness thor to a standstill

To answer the topic question, I'm not sure if that is his greatest feat but it looks like it is. On another note, Marvel hates Thor. I'm just hoping Jason Aaron continue to do excellent and make a modern legendary run on Thor like Simonson. He can bring back the glory.

Please don't try explaining comics with cheap physics, it usually brings to non-sense (like the horrible infinity mass punch of DC comics ) . For example, you assume that a snake of the size of the earth should have the same strenght of an anaconda proportionally with his weight, but his strength should increase with his size squared, while his weight increases with the cube of his size ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square-cube_law ), that's why a flea can jump a few feet high, it's because it is so small that proportionally it has huge strength.

@antinatalistaggie: in which issue did he lift the six sextillions tons

he consensus seems to be that Thor's greatest feat of pure physical strength occurred when he used a mystical fishing pole to break the Midgard Serpent's grip on Earth and lift its full weight off of the planet and into space. The serpent itself has the exact same weight as Earth which, being measured at 6.6 sextillion tons, is almost incalculably high. There seem to be, however, two important factors that are being overlooked that will make this feat, once discovered, even more impressive and hopefully end the longest running debate of is Thor or Hulk physically stronger?

Now it may seem to irrational to compare the constricting strength of a mystical creature like the Midgard Serpent to that of an Anaconda, but bear with me here. An Anaconda weighing 550 pounds was measured as exerting over 90 pounds per square inch of force during an act of constriction, this equals a total force of over 8,818 pounds, or roughly, 16 times its bodyweight.

Now when we factor in that the Midgard Serpent was in fact exerting an additional sixteen times its weight in resistance due to being coiled around the earth at the time Thor hoisted it off, that would mean that the God of Thunder exerted enough strength to break over 105.4 sextillion tons of force!

The second factor that is often overlooked is the positioning of Thor's body and the method he is using to lift. As an avid fisherman, I have experienced a vast difference in difficulty when using two different methods in removing fish from water. The first, being the easiest, is crouching down right at the water's surface and hoisting the fish out by it's mouth from a good mechanical position of leverage using the elbow joint and the powerful bicep muscle. The second, and far noticeably harder method is to merely hoist the fish out of the water with the pole itself; suddenly a five pound fish feels like it gains a hundred pounds! The further the weight is away from the center mass of your body; the harder it will be to lift; the fact that Thor had to lift this much weight by the end of a pole is virtually unfathomable. Imagine how much more force Thor could exert if he were acting in a natural plane of movement; say a pressing motion either horizontal or vertical?

The point here is that Thor's strength, at least in the moment he lifted the Serpent, should be placed on level with Superman and nowhere should the assertion ever try to be made that the Hulk has ever duplicated such an extraordinary feat of physical power from an awkward and disadvantaged position. A 150 billion ton mountain may be impressive, for a mortal, but there's a reason why the Hulk isn't and should never be on the level of an immortal being who is lifting in the sextillion range. Case closed.

Where does it say that the snake weighed the same? More importantly, he was in space, not in water, so the snake's weight would not have increased. Also, the problem with the Hulk is that he cannot fly so he cannot exactly move planets. Something to do with momentum and all that... but I will agree that Thor is worthy opponent of Superman and could beat him in a fight 50% of the time.

There's a feat in the last issue, Thor #7, young Thor challenges Bodolf (viking hulk) to a battle and they punch each other around continents and shake the earth, at the end Thor punches him straight through the earth to the other side.

That was dope asf, I didn't like the Artwork though.

yeah , the art was messy but it fit the tone. but the fight was awesome, they punched themselves from ancient Norse lands to the east coast of america, Thor's lightning could be felt in kun lun (another dimension), and their fight was causing trouble in wakanda and underwater in Atlantis, haven't seen stuff like in comics in a while.

it seems Jason Aaron is going to create an ancient avengers team for young Thor , with black panther, queen of Atlantis , ghost rider and bodolf as hulk.

plus if real Thor comes back soon, we'll probably see him take on Dario Agger's Hulk army. it would show how he's stronger than his younger self (who can punch through the planet!)

Thor's feats of strength in both the MCU (Marvel Comic Universe) and the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe)... Hmm, they really didn't think that one through.

Anyway... His feats of strength are nothing compared to my version of the Norse god of Thunder. He is a character in a book that I am currently writing and is far beyond either version of Marvel's character. My version is able to stop the movement of a being's hand that is the size of billions of galaxies, then push that being back, who weighs the same as an entire universe.

There currently exists no version of Thor in any Marvel publication that possesses strength on that level.

Good thing I don't have to ask Disney for permission to use Thor as a character since he's from Norse myth from over 3000 years ago.

Lool that is massive lowball: lifting world engine containing 9 universes is most impressive feat.

@deactivated-5d4092c43d62c that is his greatest feat of strength

You mean infinite as the world tree has been confirmed to have infinite realms.

@victorazzouz: and that is a fact