SIF
Real Name:
Occupation:
Warrior, Shield maiden, former goddess of grain and the harvest
Legal Status:
Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of Sif's existence except as a mythological character.
Other Aliases: Erica Velez
Place of Birth:
Marital Status: Single (formerly Married)
Known Relatives:
Odin (father),
Alti (mother), Heimdall
(brother), Thor
(former husband), Uller (son by Iwaldi, deceased), Lora, Thrud (daughters by
Thor, deceased), Gialp, Greip, Egiea, Augeia, Ulfrun, Aurgiafa, Sindor, Jarnsaxa
(aunts/foster-mothers), Hoenir, Lodur (uncles), Buri, Aegir (grandfathers),
Bestla, Ran (grandmothers), Balder,
Hermod, Hoder, Bragi, Tyr, Vali (half-brothers), Loki
(foster-brother), Brynhilda
and the Valkyrior (half-sisters), Sigyn, Idunn (sisters-in-law), Nanna
(sister-in-law, deceased)
Group Affiliations: The Gods of Asgard
Base of Operations:
First Appearance: Journey into Mystery I #102
History: Sif is
a warrior goddess of Asgard and the sister of Heimdall, guardian of the Rainbow
Bridge. Although her modern parentage is unrevealed, it is known that she was
once the daughter of Odin, ruler of the Asgardian Gods, and the sea-goddess,
Alti, daughter of the sea-giant, Aegir. She
was also once the wife of Thor and mother to his daughter, Lora and Thrud.
However, these are almost certainly aspects of the Sif who existed in a earlier
incarnation of Asgard. Except for her memory of Heimdall being her brother, the
modern Sif has none of these memories and her children were most likely killed
in the demise of this earlier Asgard. Nevertheless, the modern Sif does recall
being in love with Thor and much of her modern life is starting to resemble her
previous existence. As a child, she had golden hair and was an occasional
playmate of Thor, son of Odin, and Thor’s adopted brother, Loki.
While Thor and Sif
were still adolescents, they fell in love with each other. Determined to ruin
his hated brother’s happiness by ending the relationship between Thor and Sif,
Loki cut off all of Sif’s golden hair while she slept. Realizing that Loki
must have been responsible, Thor angrily confronted Loki and demanded that he
restore Sif’s hair. Loki sought out the dwarves Brokk and Eitri and asked that
they create new hair through their arts. However, Loki was either unable or
unwilling to pay the dwarves gold for this work. The decided that for the
“price of naught” they would create “strands of naught.” They magically
created long strands of hair from the blackness of night. Once set upon Sif’s
head, the hair magically took root and began to grow. Thor thought Sif was even
more beautiful with the black hair than she had been before, and thus, Loki’s
plan to ruin their romance failed.
Eventually, Thor and
Sif parted when Sif began her training to be a warrior in earnest. Odin, Lord of
Asgard, had long deemed Sif to be a fitting mate for his son Thor. Just after
Thor’s relatively brief relationship with the mortal woman Jane Foster came to
an end, Odin, hoping to turn Thor’s affections into another different
direction, arranged for him to meet Sif once more. Sif was now very well
accepted in the ways of a warrior. Soon after meeting Sif again, Thor and Sif
became lovers and companions, as well as allies in several battles. Eventually,
they decided to marry.
However, Thor’s
attachment to Earth frequently came between them. Sif much preferred Asgard to
the mundane modern world of mortals, and, after attempting to adjust to life on
more than one occasion, returned to live in Asgard without Thor. Once, when
Thor’s mortal paramour Jane Foster was dying, Sif lent her life force to
revive the woman, merging psychically with her in the process. She did this
apparently to understand Thor’s affection for this mortal. Jane Foster was
separated from Sif shortly thereafter and sent to the limbo-realm of the
Runestaff of the Possessor. Sif and Thor have since rescued Foster. Sif and Thor
both aided the alien champion Beta Ray Bill in defending his people against the
onslaught of the demonic armies of Surtur. Sif and Beta Ray Bill found
themselves increasingly drawn to each other emotionally. Sif’s relationship
with Thor was greatly worsened when Thor, who was forced by an enchantment to
fall in love with the goddess Lorelei, struck Sif in anger. Sif even attempted
to leave Asgard and accompany Beta Ray Bill back to his people.
However, Sif came to
realize how deeply sorry Thor, who had been freed by Lorelei’s enchantment,
was for having striking her. Moreover, Sif was greatly impressed by Thor’s
heroism into descending down into the realm of the goddess of the dead, Hela, to
rescue the souls of several mortals taken from earth. As a result, Sif finally
accepted Thor’s role as both guardian of both Asgard and Earth, and decided to
stay behind in Asgard while Beta Ray Bill returned to his people. Sif and Thor
once more became linked by strong bonds of love and affection.
Following the
invasion of Asgard by Seth, the Egyptian god of misfortune, Sif was romantically
pursued by Leir, the Celtic God of storm who had lead the Tuatha Danaan to rally
with the Asgardians against Sif. In order to spur jealousy from Thor and
encourage him to a more devoted relationship, she sent Leir on a search for Thor
on earth, but as Thor failed to react as she expected, Sif instead challenged
Leir to see if he was worthy of her and defeated him. As Sif attacked the
Asgardians through Yggdrasil, the tree of destiny among the Asgardians, Sif and
all the Asgardians were hidden on earth as mortals by Odin to conceal them from
Seth. Sif became a policewoman in New York City named Erica Velez, but even as a
mortal, the Asgardians were able to defeat Seth.
Odin eventually died
battling Surtur and Thor replaced him as Lord of Asgard. Loki created a revised
version of Ragnarok to attack Asgard leading the forces of the Underworld and
Sif fell in battle fighting Loki’s armies. Thor meanwhile discovered that the
repeating cycles of Ragnarok were being controlled by shadowy beings called
Those Who Sit Above In Shadow and permitted Ragnarok to occur in order to stop
these recurring cycles of Ragnarok from occurring. Sometime later, the
Odin-Force in the form of a small child began the process of restoring Asgard to
its former grandeur with Sif and the other Asgardians restored to life.
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 425 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black (formerly Golden Blonde)
Strength Level: Sif possesses superhuman strength enabling her to lift
(press) 40 tons under optimal conditions.
Known Superhuman Powers: Sif possesses the conventional physical
attributes of the Asgardian gods. Like all Asgardians, she is exceptionally long
lived, but she is not immortal like the Olympian gods. She has not aged since
reaching adulthood and cannot die by any conventional means. She is immune to
all Earthly diseases and is resistant to conventional injury. If she were
somehow wounded, her godly life force would enable her to recover with
superhuman speed. It would take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a
major portion of her bodily molecules to cause her a physical death. Even then,
it might be possible for a god of significant power, such as Odin or for a
number of Asgardian gods of equal power working together to revive her. Sif also
possesses superhuman strength and her Asgardian metabolism provides her with far
greater than human endurance in all physical activities. (Asgardian flesh and
bone is about three times as dense as similar human tissue, contributing to the
Asgardians' superhuman strength and weight.) Sif's
Asgardian metabolism gives her far greater than human endurance during all
physical activities. She has greater
strength and stamina than any other Asgardian with the possible exception of
Brynhilda.
Abilities:
Sif has extensive training in unarmed combat as well as swordsmanship. Her
fighting ability is only surpassed among known Asgardian women by Brynhilda.
Weapons: Sif
wields a special sword enchanted by Odin to enable her to "cleave"
passageways between dimensions (primarily Asgard and Earth) by a special pattern
of swinging motions. It is unknown if she can travel to any other worlds.