History
Named for the Storm Giant who held the legendary Ring of the Nibelung (from which was forged the Odinsword/Oversword), King Fafnir was the most evil of the people of Nastrond, who were infamous for their malevolent, immoral ways. Untold centuries ago, Fafnir led his people to defy the Asgardians ruler, Odin, whose wrath was so great he laid waste to Nastrond, apparently destroying its people and rendering the land incapable of supporting life; even rivers were turned to cracked crystal. Fafnir himself was left to perish in the barren wasteland, but he instead took refuge in the Cave of the Ancients, where a mysterious, radiant pool's "deadly rays of shimmering energy fed upon themselves eternally." These energies not only kept him alive but gradually mutated him into an immense dragon while allowing him to project an illusion of himself as an aged humanoid. For untold centuries, Fafnir grew in power, awaiting vengeance and hoping for a visit from Asgard's gods.
Eventually Odin, suspecting Fafnir's survival and needing Fafnir's defeat to restore life to Nastrond, sent his son Thor and the Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg) to inspect the land, keeping secret his intent for Thor to encounter and defeat Fafnir. Projecting his feeble old man illusion, Fafnir duped Volstagg (who had taken watch duty) into following him into the Cave of the Ancients via offering "knowledge fit only for the greatest of warriors." Fafnir then revealed his true nature and origins, easily capturing and imprisoning Volstagg. When Thor, Fandral, and Hogun sought the missing Volstagg the next morning, the waiting Fafnir burst through a rocky overpass as they crossed. Proving immune to Fandral's blade and only stunned by Thor's blows, Fafnir unleashed his fiery breath, but Thor protected himself and his allies with his mighty hammer, Mjolnir, drove Fafnir back, and then unleashed a mighty lightning storm that shattered the ground beneath Fafnir, trapping him in a deep chasm. As the gods freed Volstagg, rain fell in Nastrond, and new life would soon grow there, though the region around the Cave of the Ancients remained desolate.
Released by tectonic shifting, Fafnir relocated to a cavern in an unidentified world, wherein he again encountered the Warriors Three on another mission for Odin. Though Fandral wounded Fafnir's left eye, the dragon's spasms stunned the Warriors, but the arriving Young Gods (superhumans selected by various pantheons' goddesses to represent the best of humanity) Bright Sword (Carter Dyam), Genii (Jason Kimball) and Harvest (Chi Lo) shielded the Warriors from Fafnir's flames and then subdued the dragon with an energy bolt. Somehow returning to Nastrond, Fafnir later accepted Loki's offers of vengeance on Thor as well as a new kingdom. Transported to an island in the Pacific Ocean to which Loki lured Thor via a tidal wave caused by the mystic Norn Stones, Fafnir caught Thor off guard, stunning him with a powerful slap. After Fafnir cursed Odin's name, however, the enraged Thor rallied and flattened Fafnir with Mjolnir; and when Loki tried to aid Fafnir, Thor used the Norn Stones to focus a lightning bolt that stunned both foes. Odin then halted the battle and banished Fafnir back to Nastrond, telling the dragon he would have granted mercy had Fafnir petitioned him for a second chance rather than choosing the base path of vengeance.
Somehow returned to Earth and trapped beneath its surface, Fafnir grew further in size and power until he was released during a quake, surfacing off Cape Cod's coast and destroying The Astraglia tanker. He relocated to a hidden passageway in an abandoned New York subway station where he was confronted by the Asgardian goddess Lorelei, sent there by Loki and hoping to use her magical allure to enslave Fafnir in a plot to make Thor her lover. Also possessing mystic persuasive powers, however, Fafnir instead mesmerized Lorelei and suspended her from a Manhattan construction site (where Thor had just been hired in his civilian Sigurd Jarlson identity) to draw Thor's attention. Upon Thor's arrival, Fafnir shattered a building frame atop Thor and Lorelei, but Thor protected them both via a Mjolnir-generated vortex. Narrowly dodging Fafnir's subsequent strikes and fiery blasts, Thor summoned a powerful storm to put out the flaming rubble. Despite having withstood Thor's direct assaults, Fafnir feared the lightning assault that had defeated him long ago; Fafnir fled, burrowing into the ground, breaking into the river and preventing Thor from following when he had to stop to block a flood of the subways.
Subsequently realizing he was now powerful enough to have been beyond such harm, an enraged Fafnir battered his way back to the surface in the South Bronx, assaulting and threatening to level the city until Thor was brought before him. With Thor out of the country at the time, Fafnir defeated National Guard troops sent to stop him. Upon learning Fafnir's actions, Thor returned, riding in his flying chariot driven by Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder alongside his newly acquired squire, Eilif (last survivor of a Viking tribe that had endured into recent years i na lost Antarctic valley), who rode atop the Valkyrior steed Cloudstriker and wielded a spear secretly enchanted by Odin in mortal guise. Fafnir weathered Thor's fiercest assaults unharmed, and Eilif's mystic shield protected Thor from the dragon's powerful attacks. Fafnir ultimately unseated Eilif from Cloudstriker, mortal wounding him from the resultant fall, and then knocked Thor, who was distracted by Eilif's injury, out of his chariot and pummeled him savagely. With his strength fading, Eilif climbed the highest point in the rubble and leapt atop Fafnir, driving his enchanted spear deep into the dragon's flesh. While the agonized Fafnir turned on Eilif, Thor drove the spear deep with Mjolnir, slaying Fafnir. Granting Eilif a Viking's funeral, Thor hurled Fafnir's form at Eilif's feet, then summoned lightning to incinerate it. The Valkyrior (who carried the honored dead to their glorious afterlife in the realm Valhalla) arrived, under Odin's watchful eye, and guided Eilif (now known as Eilif Dragonslayer) into Valhalla as the last Viking.
The Dark Elf Malekith later manipulated the monstrous elf Kurse (Algrim the Strong) into invading Hel (the Asgardian realm of the dead not having died in battle) in hopes of destroying his enemy Malekith. Malekith had additionally sent away Hel's ruler, Hela, on a false mission to the fiery realm Muspelheim, but made Kurse believe he had slain Hela and thus taken over leadership of Hel. Having taken the form of Lorelei, Malekith then advised Kurse to gather and transport a number of monsters - including both Fafnir of Nastrond and Fafnir the Storm Giant, plus Forsung the Enchanter, the dragon Nidhogg, Jormungand the Midgard Serpent, an Ice Giant and a pair of Ice Dwarves - from Hel to Earth, and help capture his enemy, who had allegedly fled there. Malekith additionally ensorcelled Kurse into seeing Thor as Malekith. In return for their service, Kurse promised these "Ravagers from the realms of Ice and Death" an honored place in Hel if they destroyed his enemy. More than willing to fight their foe Thor, the Ravagers played along with Malekith's deception and confronted Thor. Aided by the Asgardian gods Balder, Sif and the Warriors Three, plus the High Evolutionary (Herbert Wyndham) and his Godpack (Anak, Bellam, Blitziana, Loga, Riger, Zephra; humans granted godlike powers by the Evolutionary) and the Thor-powered Korbinite known as Beta Ray Bill, Thor battled both Kurse and these Ravagers. Fafnir directly battled Sif, Blitziana, Thor and Beta Ray Bill in succession, with the latter inadvertently knocking him into a building that collapsed atop Sif and Jane Foster-Kincaid (who had seen "Lorelei" transform back into Malekith upon fleeing), but Sif protected Jane from serous harm. Sif then summoned Hela, who halted the combat and allowed Kurse to see Thor as he really was. Hela considered using the Ravagers to seek out Malekith, but Thor dissuaded her from unleashing them on Earth by agreeing to become her slave, and Hela transported the Ravagers back to Hel. Thor made his present allies vow not to seek his freedom, but the Hulk (Bruce Banner) subsequently traveled to Hel to break him out; meanwhile, Kurse captured Malekith, returning him to Hel. Thor's resisting the Hulk caused great destruction in Hel, and Hela released Thor upon Malekith's delivery, allegedly to save her realm.
Fafnir may have been resurrected when Thor restored many Asgardians following their perishing in the Ragnarok that ended the cycle dominated by Those Who Sit Above in Shadow, and Asgard's nine worlds were all disrupted by Thor subsequently bringing Asgard city to Earth. Following the Siege and devastation of Asgard city by corrupt Initiative leader Norman Osborn's forces, the death goddess Hela obtained the powerful Twilight Sword and restructured Asgard's various worlds to her whims. A subsequent warp pulled Thor, Steve Rogers (formerly Captain America) and Iron Man (Tony Stark) to the Asgard dimension. Iron Man was captured by ogres and brought before Fafnir, who tortured Stark in hopes of hurting Thor. Upon discovering Thor's presence nearby, however, the ogres turned against Fafnir in fear of Thor's retaliation, and Rogers subdued Fafnir. When Fafnir recovered and attacked Thor anew, Thor revealed they were all actually in Hel and asked Fafnir's aid in restoring the nine worlds. Despite his reluctance to aid Thor, Fafnir recognized the danger to himself and to all of Asgard and joined the battle. Guided by Iron Man, Fafnir weakened and distracted Hela with a fiery burst, enabling Thor to claim the Twilight Sword, defeat Hela and restore the realms' status quo.
Attributes
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Powers
He could exhale mystic flames capable of incinerating gods and other mystic beings of Asgard, though their exact temperature extreme is unrevealed. Fafnir can project an illusory image of himself as an aged man, affecting both visual and auditory senses. He can mentally ensorcel others with wills weaker than his, even affecting others with persuasive/hypnotic powers.
Abilities
Fafnir is an immensely strong and durable dragon, able to use his massive tail as a devastating weapon. Fafnir can exist indefinitely without food, water, or oxygen, and he has superhuman longevity, much like the Asgardian gods.
See Also
- 20 appearance(s) of Fafnir (Nastrond) (Earth-616)
- 3 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Fafnir (Nastrond) (Earth-616)
- 2 minor appearance(s) of Fafnir (Nastrond) (Earth-616)
- 4 image(s) of Fafnir (Nastrond) (Earth-616)
- 2 quotation(s) by or about Fafnir (Nastrond) (Earth-616)