11 Powers You Didn't Know Thor's Hammer Has

Some heroes are immortal because of a scientific lab accident, some are immortal because they’re mutants, and some, like Thor, are immortal because they carry a hammer around. Okay, so actually it’s just Thor that’s immortal because of the hammer. But take away Mjolnir and Thor is nothing but a really buff guy with gorgeous, flowing, blonde hair. Literally.

Originally, back when Thor had a human alter-ego named Donald Blake, if he wasn’t holding his hammer he would almost instantly turn mortal. This helped with the stakes of the comics and answered the age old Superman conundrum; where’s the danger if no one can kill this guy? As it turns out, the answer was simple; Thor can be killed if Mjolnir isn’t with him because it’s the hammer that bestows its user with immortality. That’s where it becomes super useful that the hammer can always return to Thor if he summons it, even if it’s somewhere across the universe.

So take note aspiring supervillains; in Thor's case, the hammer makes the man, and the man is an ass-kicking superhero... But only when Mjolnir's around.