Why Isn't Thor Immortal?

He's a god and he's not even immortal. Why is that?

" @Kallarkz: Actually in the original Norse myths they weren't truly immortal, the golden apple thing is one of the few things from the myth that marvel were accurate about  "

No characters are immortal. They are all relatively so. Thor might be as immortal as many of the others thought to be immortal as well, so why is he considered not? 

Because being a god doesn't mean that he is like the Christian God, seriously, people always talk about this:

Thor is not a god! he is not almighty

Or they say something like:

Thor is a God, he should be omniscient, Why he is not omniscient?

People that is just silly... there are other religions that had their own concept of their mighty beings, that are not like the other ones, not all tghe gods are almighty.

He is immortal in the since that he age very slowy, Thor's over 2000 years old.

Didn't Fraction make it so the Asgardians are like, aliens, or something?

" Didn't Fraction make it so the Asgardians are like, aliens, or something? "

" @Gambit1024 said:

" Didn't Fraction make it so the Asgardians are like, aliens, or something? "

The opposite if anything. 

"

" Didn't Fraction make it so the Asgardians are like, aliens, or something? "

I really don't see the point of him not being immortal,especially when they created the whole golden apple thing so that Asgardians can continue to have longevity.It's such a meaningless attribute they should just go ahead and make him immortal permanently and get it over with.

 the asgardians lived in a never ending cycle of death and rebirth until thor broke it

the REAL question is, if he's a god (in ANY sense of the word) why can't he dent a man made shield (captain America's) or beat a guy with anger management issues

Thor is a God, but not an immortal, because Marvel wanted to make the Asgardians in general (and Thor in particular) seem just short of invincible and hence be susceptible to Ragnarok (or in Thor's case; potentially beatable).

For Stan Lee the idea was that the Norse Gods were more compelling as heroes than the Greco-Roman ones because they lived everyday with the knowledge of their impending demise and thereby their mortality.   To Stan's way of thinking, this was unlike the Greco-Roman Gods who were true immortals with no actual risk of losing or death. 

Hence, many years later (in 1983, I believe) when the initial edition of "The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe" was published it was stated/specified that the Asgardians weren't actual immortals, just extremely long-lived beings who do age (albeit slowly) and will eventually die.  In various entries (Hercules, Zeus and Pluto) the Olympians were described as "true immortals" who cease aging upon reaching adulthood and can only die by having a significant portion of their bodies destroyed or dispersed at a molecular level.  Even then, it also stated, it might still be possible for Zeus or another equally powerful god or combination of gods to resurrect a fallen Olympian.  

" I really don't see the point of him not being immortal,especially when they created the whole golden apple thing so that Asgardians can continue to have longevity.It's such a meaningless attribute they should just go ahead and make him immortal permanently and get it over with. "

The Olympians are gods, because they are divine and cannot die. Gods do not bleed, and if they do they do not bleed normal mortal blood. In the movie Avengers, Thor was called a demigod by Tony Stark and was bleeding mortal blood after Loki stabbed him with a knife. So I don't really think of Thor as a god.

In the comics they are not viewed as aliens. They are specifically singled out as divine based on certain mystic/magical qualities they can detect (ex. Thor realizing the dead Native American was a god in issue #1 of GoT). They can be killed by other beings as powerful or more powerful than they, but these instances are rare. Besides, Thor has "died" twice in the last decade and returned from "the Void" and the "God-Eater."

Yeah that was a bit weird. Gave the feeling that Thor can walk back into the land of the living at any time.

Immortal rarely means 100% unkillable. It usually means the thing in question will not die of old age, disease, or other common causes of injury or if they can die from those it is a lot harder to kill them than a regular human. In that regard Thor is immortal. It is unlikely he can die from old age (no Asgardian as of yet including Buri, the first one) and is pretty much unkillably by anything except severe injury. Olympians are sometimes considered "true" immortals because they do not age and sometimes have a better healing factor.

Also, the immortality of gods appears to be beyond straight physical immortality. Even if killed another god may be able to resurrect them. If that does not work it seems if they are remembered and/or enough people pray for them they can return from the dead. After the Celestials destroyed all of the Asgardians Gaea stated sufficent mortal belief would have been enough to restore Asgard in the past. Other stories by JMS, Fraction, and Pak have implied something similar. It is probable why gods often lock up their most dangerous foes to keep them from returning.

I really hope not. Thor having to face his morality is what makes him a better character, as PowerHerc said. Allowing him to do this would just break him.

Agreed.

The Olympians don't even need to be resurrected, Ares explained to his son in his mini-solo. He said something along the lines of "we can be killed but we do not die, eventually we reawake" or something like that. I could check but I can't be bothered.

They do need to be resurrected. Ares said he has gone through it before of dying, awakening in the underworld, but eventually returning to the land of the living. Zeus and Hera were confirmed dead and only returned to life through an outside party. Kyknos tried to ressurect Ares. The best explanation seems to be what I stated. If a god is thought of or has enough believers it can resurrect them as long as their spirit is not being held prisoner. In the past, Pluto has shown an unwillingness to let Ares go so unless someone makes a deal with Pluto I don't see Ares coming back.

based on norse mythology he never was.

he's just hard to kill. and can always return from death.

ANd THOR is a god. always will be

@war_killer: they are gods

@seekquaze:

The way I understood it from what I've read. They spend their time in the underworld whatever they may be and they come back. Whether its destiny they be resurrected I'm not sure but I'm sure ares said he wakes up in a field.

@maninthemountain: Ok everything about your post was off. Hercules has bled on numerous occasions, Ares is currently dead (and he certainly bled a lot and it was always pretty red), Zeus and Hera have been dead and returned (like a number of Asgardians) so your definitions lack substance.

Second, using anything said in the Marvel cinematic universe to justify any argument in the Marvel Comic universe pretty well negates your argument. The two are mutually exclusive. Just because one occurs in one does not make it so in the other. And Tony Stark is hardly an authority on the nature of divinity in the Marvel universe (don't recall him being handed a handbook to the gods that he could read overnight). And how do you know what is and is not mortal blood? Its Thor's blood.

Because that's the editorial decision Marvel made due to the Norse Gods being fated to one day die at the time of Ragnarok. I remember the logic being that true immortals cannot die so the Asgardians cannot be true immortals.

To address a point raised many times, Asgardians and Norse mythological figures as far as I understand it, actually simulate immortality that similar pantheons do, because of the Ragnarok cycle. This is the reason for the apples, this is the reason Marvel applies Ragnarok. Its about renewal. Greek gods and myths are similar as far as thematically with children usurping fathers and fathers fear of children. Cycles of renewal and change but as a constant. This is aside from no fictional character possessing actual immortality in any exclusive way that every fictional character can possess it. Last time Thor 'died' he literally came back the same issue and the time before that he willed himself back.

Exactly.

Asgardians are said to not be truly immortal they age at an incredibly slow pace & have to keep this going via the mystical apples of Idunn. In the comics though Thor isn't full Asgardian, he is half Elder God via his mother Gaia, Elder Gods are truly immortal with Gaia being billions of years old.

He used to be when Stan Lee was writing him

because he wasn't based on the mythology.

Thor doesn't need to eat the apples of Idunn to maintain his longevity and young adult looks, thanks to his maternal heritage (being the son of Gaea). In essence he is immortal. I mean, theoretically, how old is Odin? I may be wrong but do Asgardians simply die of old age?

Because then we wouldn't have Old King Thor

@haveatthee: Its been said that they do age just very slowly, thus Odin having all gray/white hair. Odin's age is prob up for debate since I don't think its ever been specifically stated anywhere but I would think he's somewhere around 10-15,000 years old at least though given the fact that he's been given on panel credit for helping to create the world and humankind his age could be much older. I don't recall ever seeing an Asgardian die of old age and in fact we've also seen Odin's grandfather in Thor comics before.

Would it be fair to say that Asgardians cannot die of natural causes (aging), but they can be killed by powerful beings (aliens/monsters/magical beings/other gods)?

@haveatthee: When Thor became rune king he became immortal at greek god standards; he could not die from ANY cause

Oh, for sure, but unless someone as powerful or more powerful than him kills him in battle I don't see Thor (or Odin or any other Asgardian) ever dying from natural causes.

@haveatthee: Well when you think about it dying in battle is about as "natural" for Asgardians as a heart attack or stroke is for us mortals lol!