TYR
Real Name: Tiermes (His ancient Germanic name; Tyr was the name he was known as by the Vikings)
Occupation: God of war, courage and justice
Legal Status: Citizen of Asgard
Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of the existence of Tyr except as a mythological character.
Other Aliases: Reidi-tyr, Sig-tyr ("Shining One"), Teu, Ty, Tyw, Tiw, Ziu, Tiv, Ziv, Ziw, Tiwaz, Thingsus, Tyr Odinson (mortal alias)
Place of Birth: Hlesey Island (modern Laeso Island near Denmark)
Place of Death: Svartleheim
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Odin (father), Saga (mother), Frigga (foster mother), Aegir (grandfather, alias Hymir), Ve (uncle, alias Hoenir, deceased), Vili (uncle, alias Lodur), Thor, Balder, Bragi, Hoder, Hermod (half-brothers), Loki (foster-brother), Bor (grandfather), Buri (great-grandfather, alias Tiwaz)
Group Affiliations: The Gods of Asgard
Base of Operations: Asgard
First Appearance: Journey into Mystery #85
History: Tyr is the eldest son of Odin, ruler of an extra-dimensional race of beings known as the Asgardian gods, and the giantess, Saga, a goddess of runes. Tyr was considered the bravest of the Asgardian gods, his worship was carried into Finland and Ancient Russia where his worship was often later taken over by other gods of war, such as Otso of the Finnish Gods and Kovas of the Slavic Gods. In Scandinavia, Tyr was soon overshadowed by Thor, Odin’s son by Gaea, who was known as the goddess, Jord, to the Vikings. Tyr grew to be jealous of Thor and soon found a way to prove his worth over Thor when the gods of Asgard captured Fenris Wolf in order to keep the wolf-god from bringing about Ragnarok. Odin had had dwarves create a flimsy restraint called Gleipner to restrain Fenrir, but the wolf-god suspected a trick and refused to have the restraint placed on him unless one of the gods as a gesture of trust would place his hand in his mouth. If it proved unbreakable, Fenrir would bit off the hand of the god. Tyr offered to place his left hand in the jaws of Fenrir to prove his worth and bravery, and as the restraints proved to be unbreakable, Tyr lost his hand.
Regardless of his hand, Tyr remained the greatest champion of the Asgardian gods in their wars against Utgard-Loki and the Giants of Jotunheim. Regaling in victory after one such battle, Odin eventually realized there was a great need for a great cauldron large enough to brew ale for all of the gods of Asgard, and Tyr informed him that it did exist and that it was owned by his grandfather, Aegir, in his role as Hymir, the god of ale.
Odin sent Tyr and Thor to retrieve the cauldron and the two of them were greeted warmly by Saga who then tried to hide them from her father. Aegir, however, discovered them and upon recognizing Tyr as his grandson also responded kindly to them. As Thor and Tyr tried to steal the cauldron, Aegir led the Frost Giants against them. As Tyr retreated with the cauldron, Thor summoned all his powers and slew them than allowing them to enter Asgard. It is believed the basis of this tale might have lead to the creation of the folktale, "Jack and the Beanstalk."
After Christianity replaced the worship of the Asgardian gods in Europe, Odin forbade the Asgardians from seeking any more worshippers on Earth. His decision to do so had been based on on an edict during the Third Host of the Celestials to allow humans to develop without godly interference on Earth. Regardless of this decision, Tyr often returned to Earth and fought as a mortal warrior alongside the Germans and the Vikings invading other lands. In the Twentieth Century, he had his first encounter with Ares, the Olympian god of war fighting on the side of the Nazi army. Coming to blows, their feud was interrupted by Odin creating a storm to break them up, leaving no clear winner in their confrontation. To this day, Tyr harbors a deep grudge against Ares and considers him a bully and a coward.
At some point, Tyr resolved his sibling rivalry with Thor and acknowledged him as the true champion of Asgard after Thor had collected the life energies to restore the Asgardians to life and lost a friendly bet he wagered with Thor involving whether his strength had diminished after excessive partying following their resurrection after dispersion of their life-forces by the Celestials. Tyr had donated his life energies to Odin to animate the Destroyer against the Celestials who then shattered the Destroyer’s armor and cast out those energies to the cosmos. Thor was the only one to not donate his life energies as he recalled the pact Odin had made with the sky-fathers of the other pantheons to donate the necessary life energies to revive the Asgardians.
Loki, meanwhile, has tried several times to turn Tyr back against Thor. After Tyr made romantic gestures to Sif, Thor's beloved, Loki employed Tyr in a plot to overthrow Odin after learning that Odin had a brief affair with Queen Jolena of a rival kingdom in Asgard. In order to force his hand to claim Asgard for himself, Loki gained the allegiance of several of Asgard's enemies and even captured Idunn and fed her golden apples of immortality to Nidhogg, a dragon that lived below Asgard. Loki, however, turned on Tyr, and Tyr joined forces instead with Thor, Balder and the gods of Asgard to defeat Loki and restore Odin to the throne of Asgard.
Tyr also fought on behalf of Asgard against the forces of Surtur, the fire-demon, and the Egyptian god, Seth, who attempted to conquer Asgard. When the Gods of the Celts rallied for Asgard over indignities Seth had inflicted upon them, Tyr was often at odds with the Celtic storm god, Leir. Seth was defeated, but he began tampering with Yggdrasil to convince it that Ragnarok had occurred. Odin cast spells to protect Tyr and the Asgardians by casting them into mortal identities devoid of their powers or memories of their true identities. Although they were victorious in reclaiming Asgard, the battle left them unprepared for attack by the Dark Gods. Tyr was captured and imprisoned in the sewage pits as a result under Asgard, and was eventually rescued by Thor, fighting by his side to drive the Dark Gods from Asgard.
Recently, however, Odin lost his life battling Surtur, and Thor took the throne of Asgard with great apprehension. Loki used the opportunity to lead forces of evil into Asgard, and Tyr was killed fighting to preserve Asgard. Thor allowed Asgard to fall in order to bring to an end to the cycles of Ragnarok on the Asgardians; Thor was restored to life sometime later and he restored the Asgardians to life afterward. Loki once again contrived a complicated plan to dishonor Thor by convincing the Asgardians to live as guests of Dr. Victor von Doom, Thor's enemy, in Latveria than the restored Asgardian in the desert of Oklahoma. However, Loki's plan went out of control when Norman Osborn led an attack on Asgard itself. During the battle, Tyr had a crisis of faith after hearing a prediction that a god of war would die in the battle. During the battle, Ares as a member of Osborn's ersatz "Avengers" switched sides to help the Asgardians and lost his life. Feeling a debt to repay a fallen war god, Tyr battled Osborn's accomplice, the Hood and gave his life to defeat him.
Despite his injuries, Tyr didn't die in the battle, but his spirit instead
encountered the Disir, demonic creatures from Asgard's past. He rallied the
spirits of Niffleheim against them until they could b destroyed. Shortly thereafter,
Tyr joined Balder and Thor to face an alien invasion of Svartleheim, one of the
Nine worlds of the Asgardian cosmology. Despite his heroism, Tyr lost his life
against Thane the World-Eater and was ripped apart by Halax
hordes.
Height: 6' 7"
Weight: 510 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
Unusual Physical Features: Tyr is missing his left hand.
Strength Level: Tyr possesses superhuman strength enabling him to lift (press) 35 tons under optimal conditions although the loss of his left hand limits him from lifting great weights.
Known Superhuman Powers: Tyr possesses the conventional physical attributes of the Asgardian gods. Like all Asgardians, he is extremely long-lived, but he is not immortal like the Gods of Olympus. He has not aged since reaching adulthood and cannot die by any conventional means. He is immune to all Earthly diseases and is resistant to conventional injury. If he were somehow wounded, his godly life force would enable him to recover with superhuman speed. It would take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of his bodily molecules to cause him 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 him. Tyr also possesses superhuman strength and his Asgardian metabolism provides him 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 Asgardian superhuman strength and weight.)
Tyr is physically stronger than any other Asgardian God, with the exceptions of Thor and Odin. He has incredible stamina and can perform strenuous activity such as unarmed combat for long periods of time.
Abilities: Tyr is an extraordinary fighter in combat able to duplicate and match any fighting skill he experiences.
Weapons: Tyr is quite adept with all manner of weapons including swords and arrows.
Comments: This bio describes Tyr as he has appeared in the Marvel Universe and Rifts-World; he has not yet made nearly as many notable appearances in the DC Universe.
In Norse myth, Tyr lost his right hand, not his left.
Clarifications: Tyr is not to be confused with:
Last updated: 12/24/11