With the release of Thor: Ragnarok came the question of who the most powerful Avenger is. After Avengers: Endgame, we can’t really say that Thor might be the strongest, but he definitely ranks way up there. His personal villains are generally powerful to the point that these antagonists can go up against all the Avengers solo.
This makes Thor’s efforts them all the more impressive, and it’s only fair we stack these villains up to see who has been the deadliest against Thor. In this list, we’ve considered mainly the villains’ results in battles against Thor, and their feats in their own antagonistic pursuits in the universe.
10 Frost Giants
These beings have a long and bloody history with the Asgardians, and while Thor was able to dispatch a majority of them with ease, you have to believe he was cornered before Odin rescued him. In the comics, the Frost Giants are also much harder to take out and are recurring enemies for the God of Thunder.
The Giants also benefit from having a scheming mentality, something that the power-hitting Thor doesn’t foresee for the most part. When the Frost Giants execute a plan successfully, such as infiltrating Asgard or attacking Odin, Thor is left needing the help of his friends rather than contending with them alone. There’s also the matter of Thor having to avoid their touch, or be subjected to almost instant death.
9 Destroyer
There was plot armor protecting the God of Thunder in Thor, as the Destroyer is meant to be Asgard’s chief weapon. It’s been used against Thor even in the comics, and it was notable for almost killing Thor in their first encounter. The second one resulted in a broken jaw for the superhero.
Thor has always had difficulty fighting the Destroyer, mainly because it is made of an unknown enchanted material that requires extreme damage to destroy. The only thing holding the Destroyer back from wreaking absolute havoc is the fact that it is a tool to be commanded, which limits its potential.
8 Loki
As far as manipulation goes, there never has been a greater villain for Thor than his own brother, Loki. The trickster’s main advantage against the God of Thunder has been his ability to dupe his brother into holding back, which is when Loki strikes.
Loki’s destructive capabilities were all too apparent in The Avengers, where he brought an entire alien invasion to Earth simply to spite Thor, as this world was his favorite. In the MCU, we didn’t see the shapeshifting abilities of Loki, who could turn himself into several kinds of monsters to fight Thor. Another huge advantage Loki has is his ability to blend into any form, which makes Thor unsure at all times whether Loki is around him or not.
7 Ultron
Loki’s invasion only stretched the New York City borders, and that too wasn’t as destructive as finishing the whole city up. Ultron’s attack on Sokovia, on the other hand, destroyed the place and was on track to causing the entire extinction of the human race.
In their personal match-up, Thor wasn’t able to beat Ultron and needed the help of Vision. This was an exceptional feat by the Mad A.I. since he wasn’t even in the Prime body he’d crafted for himself. Thor also got overpowered by the immense number of Ultron sentries, which required him to gain the assistance of his fellow Avengers. The comics Ultron has gone so far as to acquiring the Infinity Gauntlet for himself, so you can imagine how outclassed Thor would’ve been there.
6 Kurse
The names we’ve mentioned so far have been shown to be able to beat Thor, but the God of Thunder ultimately did pull the victory one way or the other. But where Kurse is concerned, Thor was completely outmatched, and he never would’ve walked away alive had Loki not stepped in.
Kurse’s destructive ability was even more striking when we saw him knock back Mjolnir, of all weapons, and he manhandled Thor, who had absolutely no clue how to beat this monstrosity. The reason why Kurse isn’t at the top is because he only served as the general for Malekith and wasn’t independent in his pursuits. We also don’t know how we would fare against the fully-unleashed Thor from Ragnarok.
5 Malekith
Thor: The Dark World did a pretty awful job at setting up this guy as the main villain, but there’s no denying he was supposed to be one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Malekith is better portrayed in the comics, where his brutality is without limits, as he slaughters thousands just for the sake of his own enjoyment. Along with his Dark Elf powers, Malekith is extremely smart and strategizes the wars he lays out.
He’s got an enormously high death count to his name, making him a true warlord—one Thor needs an army to fight. With the Reality Stone in his possession, there’s nothing Malekith can’t do, as he has unreal levels of control over the substance.
4 Hela
In the comics, Hela is the daughter of Loki and the Fenris wolf is her brother. Together, they are able to even usurp Loki in terms of power, and Hela is a feared instrument of war. Her most powerful version yet has been seen in the MCU, though, where Hela was almost completely unstoppable, save for against Surtur.
'Til the end, Thor had nothing that could hold Hela down. The God of Thunder hit her with his most powerful lightning blast of all time and Hela still showed no signs of damage. Her necroswords are so abundant in quantity that no one has the time or space to evade them. In Asgard, Hela was nigh indestructible. Her bloody streak in her prime meant no being other than Odin was capable of stopping her.
3 Thanos
With the Infinity Stones, the Mad Titan was unquestionably the most powerful being in the universe, but his rivalry with Thor became all-too-personal, which leads us to count him without the stones. Even when Thanos didn’t use the Gauntlet, he got the better of Thor every time. Thor was beaten down to a pulp at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War and was once again outmatched in Avengers: Endgame.
In his personal reign as a warlord, Thanos was responsible for decimating countless worlds, where he would slaughter half of the billions in population. Of course, we all know he killed trillions with his snap as well. He doesn’t reach top status, though, as his base level can still be defeated by Thor, who was responsible for killing him at the beginning of Avengers: Endgame.
2 Surtur
Thor may have defeated an extremely weakened Surtur, but 100% of the times he might have fought the true version, he would’ve lost within seconds. There was no beating Surtur’s true form, who towered all over Asgard and destroyed the planet within seconds.
In his own realm of Muspelheim, there’s no telling just how powerful Surtur might have been in his Prime version. He commanded demons and monsters alike in his realm and was only contained because of Odin. From what we’ve seen of Surtur, he would’ve been able to destroy all kinds of planets had he been unleashed.
1 Galactus
Thor has been paired opposite Galactus only on a couple of occasions, and each time he was hilariously outmatched. Galactus is a cosmic being who makes Thanos look like a little insect. He devours worlds for lunch (not even joking here) and is indestructible.
While he’s not a main villain of Thor, he’s most certainly the worst he’s ever faced due to how Thor had nothing to do in offense that could harm Galactus. Even Thanos at his worst could only trip Galactus; this being is just too powerful. It wouldn’t take more than a little flick for Galactus to beat Thor, and their match-up was basically a joke.