Hela Odinsdottir

Hela Odinsdottir was the Asgardian Goddess of Death and former Executioner of Asgard. Imprisoned in Hel for millennia by her father Odin, Hela was only released from her prison in the wake of his death and went to restore her power over Asgard while simultaneously engaging in a series of encounters with her younger brothers Thor and Loki. Gaining her power from Asgard, Hela planned to rule Asgard and create an Asgardian Empire. When all the people of Asgard refused to bow to her, Hela set about massacring Odin's armies and enslaving their people, while recruiting Skurge to be her own Executioner in the process. Eventually, however, Thor then returned with the newly formed Revengers and then reengaged Hela, which had then resulted with Loki unleashing Surtur, who then destroyed Asgard by finally causing Ragnarök and killed Hela as a result. Hela has a raging, impatient, volatile, and supremely ambitious personality, which makes her prone to killing or maiming anyone who stood in her way. However, much of this is masked by a casual confidence and appearance of friendliness, such as when she returned to Asgard, she casually murdered Volstagg and Fandral, but then offered Skurge a job as if nothing had happened. During Asgard's violent conquest of the Nine Realms, she was an effective and brutal wartime leader due to these traits, and therefore essential to Odin's conquest being a success. However, when Odin transitioned into a peace-time King, he realized that Hela could not, for her ambitions had grown out of his control, and her formidable powers made her a threat to his new society. Indeed, Hela rebelled against Odin and hence, he banished her from Asgard, and later imprisoned her personally when she revolted against him. After her freedom, she immediately conquered Asgard with little effort, and Heimdall himself described her as being so power-hungry that, if she could access the Bifrost Bridge, she would conquer all of the Nine Realms and even the entire Cosmos. Though Thor acknowledged Odin's paternal deficiencies, during a heart-to-heart confrontation between him and his sister, he still confessed he believed that their father's decision to imprison her instead of letting her rule was an accurate one - Hela made it clear that she would exterminate her entire nation if they stood in the way of her resuming her conquests. She even went as far as to state that she was neither a Queen nor a monster, but the Goddess of Death, which in turn revealed that she was quite content to rule over a dead nation of dead soldiers completely loyal to her. Hela was also extremely resentful of her imprisonment at the hands of her own father, Odin, whom she was initially loyal enough to willingly execute his will, and even help him conquer the Nine Realms, although she would eventually rebel after Odin grew to become a benevolent king. She gleefully mocked at his death, and openly expressed her wish to have been able to see it herself. However, it was evident that she still felt a high level of betrayal from Odin due to her imprisonment, for she was quickly angered by the concealing murals that displayed only Odin, Thor, and Loki, as well as his peaceful conquering of the Nine Realms. In fact, she was so provoked by them that she immediately threw her swords at those false images, shattering them to reveal the truth of Odin's violent deeds. Apart from her ambitiousness, Hela's most prominent feature would be her overwhelming confidence; during her first encounter with her brothers, before crossing swords with them, she already made it clear that she viewed them as inferiors who were no match for her, and she later also demonstrated no fear at all when confronting Asgard's army. Though she subsequently proved her point by crushing Mjølnir with only one hand and slaughtered the entire Asgardian army with ease, Hela's hubris also turned out to be her downfall - she underestimated Thor's wisdom, which ultimately led to her being destroyed by Surtur. Hela is not completely without mercy. The only time she shows mercy is when people agree to serve her or do not stand in her way. When she displayed her overwhelming power, she asked Hogun, who survived her initial onslaught if he was willing to change his mind. Even though Skurge displayed cowardice upon their first meeting, Hela decided to mentor him. However, Hela lacks attachment and will kill anyone who betrays her, even Skurge without hesitation. Hela's only true display of affection was to her companion, Fenris, being saddened upon discovering her death and becoming joyful upon the Asgardian wolf's resurrection.