If imitation is the highest form of flattery, the Marvel God of Thunder must feel flattered. While not the first of his kind, Marvel's Thor became the gold standard for Mjolnir-wielding superheroes, and the comic worlds are full of them. The first appearance of an Odinson in Marvel was in Venus #11 in 1950. He first appeared in his more recognizable Silver Age form in Journey into Mystery #83 in 1962. Since then, droves of Thor copies, homages, and parodies appeared in comics as heroes, villains, and brainwashed pawns.
These "knock-off Thors" come in literally all shapes and sizes. Some are gods and some are men (and women). Some are animals and some are humans cursed to live as animals. And let's not forget all of the amalgamations, clones, and heroes created from other character's imaginations. More often than not, these homages to Thor fight with some version of Mjolnir, although some opt for an ax, mace, or another energy-wielding weapon. Many of these Thor copies pale in comparison to the most famous son of Odin, while others surpass even Marvel Thor's might. From this host of warriors, we found 7 Thor knock-offs more powerful than the Odinson and 8 weaker versions.
15 WEAKER: THOR (DARK HORSE COMICS)
After one successful superhero Thor, there are bound to be more. Dark Horse Comics has their own version of Thor in its series, The End League. Following the catastrophic Green Event, Astonishman and earth's heroes set out in search of Thor's Hammer. Thor is thought to be long-dead, although he appeared reanimated and brainwashed just in time to fight the heroes for his hammer.
Dark Horse Thor comes very close to Marvel Thor in terms of power. He was one of the most powerful beings in his universe and managed to kill Astonishman, the Dark Horse equivalent of Superman. However, by the end of The End League, Thor has already died twice: once by his father's sword and once in the explosion that killed Astonishman.
14 STRONGER: THOR GIRL
Tarene was originally a being with cosmic powers known as the Designate, who took Asgardian form. In this role, she helped others evolve to a higher level of existence. Following an incident involving Thanos, however, she longed to experience the thrills and uniqueness of earth. Eventually, she donned a cape, picked up a hammer, and took the name Thor Girl.
Thor Girl had powers similar to those of Thor himself and had a fluctuating amount of cosmic power at her disposal as well. At times, she was completely cut off from it, in which case she would have been no match for the Thunder God. However in Thor vol. 2 #34, when her powers appear to be at their peak, Thor declares that her power "rivals that e'en of omnipotent Odin!"
13 WEAKER: THUNDERSTRIKE
Eric Masterson had a long history with the God of Thunder. In Thor vol 1 #408, Masterson took a fatal blow meant for Thor. At Thor's request, Odin merged Eric with Thor to save his life, and two remained merged for some time. Later during part of Thor's banishment, Eric took over as Thor and essentially had all of his powers. Odin later gave Eric the mace Thunderstrike, which granted the hero powers similar to Thor's.
While posing as Thor, Eric presumably had power equal to that of Thor, although his skills made him less effective. Masterson never quite felt comfortable as Thor, especially when had to pretend to be the real Thor. After he revealed his identity, he referred to himself as "the stand-in for Thor," and considered himself as the next best thing as opposed to an equal substitute and eventually adopted the overly '90s moniker of Thunderstrike.
12 STRONGER: THOR EL
What do you get when you cross Electric-Blue Superman and Thor? The answer is one of the Marvel/DC "Amalgams." In the last issue of Unlimited Access, Access used his powers to combine several heroes into Amalgams. This produced heroes like Green Goliath, a combination of Green Lantern and Giant Man, Captain America Jr., a cross between Captain America and Captain Marvel Jr., and Thor-El, a Superman/Thor mashup. The blue-skinned, hammer-wielding hero joined the rest of the newly formed "X-League" to stop Magneto and Darkseid.
Thor-El only appeared in one issue, as Access separated the heroes back into their normal selves after the battle ended. Still, he had the combined powers of Electric-Blue Superman and Thor, so he was a pretty heavy-hitter as far as comic heroes go.
11 WEAKER: THOR (IMAGE COMICS)
Because Thor is based on Norse mythology, it's perfectly acceptable for any comic company to have some version of the Asgardian thunder god in their comics. And while there are several Thors in comics, not all of them are actually heroes. The Thor adaptation in Image Comics was a villain who first appeared in Savage Dragon #45. This Thor had a history of taking advantage of the mortal women he came across.
Like we'd expect of a Thor (even an evil one), the Image Comic version fights with Mjolnir, flies, and possesses incredible strength. By the end of Thor's few appearances though, Emperor Kurr managed to destroy Thor's eye and ears. With that kind of disadvantage, it's a safe bet that Marvel Thor is the mightier of the two Thunderers.
10 STRONGER: BETA-RAY BILL
In Thor vol 1 #337, Thor transformed into Donald Blake during a fight with Beta Ray Bill. Bill used the opportunity to pick up Mjolnir, and for the first time in Marvel history, someone other than Thor gained Thor's powers. After Bill helped defend Asgard and passed a test, Odin gave him a hammer of his own.
Beta Ray Bill's power was incredible before he picked up Mjolnir or received his own hammer Stormbreaker. He fought Thor on several occasions with mixed results. Essentially, the two are considered equal in power, although his Korbonite physiology gives Beta Ray Bill an advantage in extremely hot climates. This gave Bill an advantage during his fight with Thor in Thor vol 1 #338. Bill also won his initial fight with Thor when he picked up Mjolnir.
9 WEAKER: RAGNAROK
Ragnarok answers the question of what Thor would be like if he was a tad weaker and completely bloodthirsty. Tony Stark created the clone with the help of Mister Fantastic and Henry Pym. They used one of Thor's hairs that Tony Stark collected years before at the first Avengers meeting. Ragnarok first appeared in Civil War #3 to subdue Captain America's rebel forces.
Any clone of Thor is bound to be crazy strong, although it's hard to beat the original. Ragnarok was certainly not Thor's equal. The clone killed Goliath (Bill Foster) without too much trouble, but he was no match for Hercules, whom Thor usually held his own against. Even after he gained the Mjolnir from an alternate dimension, Ragnarok was still Thor's inferior.
8 STRONGER: THORION
During the DC vs. Marvel miniseries, the Spectre and the Living Tribunal merged the DC and Marvel universes together to save them from destruction. This created the Amalgam universe (Earth-9602 according to Marvel). Marvel and DC published 24 comics under the Amagalm Comics imprint, which featured comic characters combined from both DC and Marvel. Among these amalgams was Thorion, a cross between Marvel's Thor and DC's Orion.
Thorion first appeared in Thorion of the New Asgods #1, had a mix of Thor and Orion's powers, and wielded a Mjolnir similar to DC Thor's hammer. He was incredibly powerful and became even more so after a battle with L'ok D'saad. After he released immense energy from The Source, Thorion became the cosmic being called the Celestial.
7 WEAKER: THROG, FROG OF THUNDER
Simon Walterson was just your average human cursed to be a frog until he met Thor (also a frog at that point). After Thor won a battle against some evil rats, he returned to Asgard but left a fragment of Mjolnir behind. As explained in Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #1, when Walterson used the sliver to defend himself, the fragment turned into a small hammer (Frogjolnir) that gave him a portion of Thor's powers. He called himself Throg, the Frog of Thunder.
Throg joined the Pet Avengers and helped fight against foes as trivial as rats and as important as Thanos. The scope of his powers is not in comprehensively known. As they come from a piece of Mjolnir, they are assumed to be similar to Thor's in proportion to Throg's/Frogjolnir's size. Not bad for a frog, right?
6 STRONGER: BIG BARDA
Big Barda was one of the New Gods of Apokolips, and she made her first appearance in Mister Miracle #4. She was training to lead Granny Goodness' elite group of women warriors the Female Furries when she fell in love with Scott Free and changed sides. Big Barda was an impressive red-caped, pointy-helmeted hero. She trained women in self-defense, and also served as a member of the Justice League for a time.
On top of her staggering New God powers, Big Barda wielded the Mega-Rod. The weapon allowed her to teleport as well discharge powerful energy bolts and concussive blasts. She was an expert fighter and her power was so great that she fought Wonder Woman to a draw and nearly killed Superman on one occasion.
5 WEAKER: THUNDERER
Thunderer was one of the DC homages to Thor. He was the Mowanjum weather god and the sole survivor of Earth-7. He first appeared in The Multiversity #1. Thunderer traveled the multiverse to recruit heroes for the Justice Incarnate group, which sought to protect the multiverse and same the Monitor Nix Uotan.
Thunderer was a formidable warrior and had not one but two electricity-channeling weapons. He was also one of the strongest of his kind across the multiverse, as he encountered his Earth-8 counterpart during his travels and easily overpowered him. He also managed to survive the destruction of his earth. As a homage to Thor, his strength was immense, although he only made a few appearances and had little time to show the extent of his power.
4 STRONGER: RED NORVELL
Roger "Red" Norvell was part of a film crew filming a documentary on Asgard during one of Loki and Hela's plots to bring about Ragnarok. He developed one-sided feelings for Sif and believed he would win her love if he could gain Thor's power. On Loki's instructions, Red passed through the Fires of Geirrodur wearing Thor's Iron Gloves and Belt of Strength, and he gained the Power of Thor.
Infused with a copy of Thor's essence, Red Norvell's powers were said to be equal to those of Thor's. However, in Thor vol 1 #276, An unarmed Red fought Thor and took Mjolnir away from him during the battle. Had one of the film crew not sacrificed his life to save Thor, Red would have killed the Thunder God in the fight.
3 WEAKER: THRR DOG OF THUNDER
Thrr, Dog of Thunder was a lesser-known Thor knock-off who first appeared in Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham #5. He came from Arfgard and wielded a hammer similar to the original Thor's Mjolnir. Thrr was a member of the Scavengers, and he fought alongside other Avenger-like animals such as Iron Mouse, Captain Americat, and Ant-Ant.
Thrr only made a few comic appearances and didn't get a lot of solo time. As a team, the Scavengers were able to defeat a robot that could withstand a nuclear blast. Thrr was the strongest Scavenger, so it's safe to assume he was pretty powerful in his universe. It's not likely that he'd be any match for the real Thor, but his powers were pretty impressive for a dog.
2 STRONGER: VIKING
To achieve an elaborate plot, the Joker and Mr. Mxyzptlk created the superhero team the Maximums. The Maximums were a government sanctioned superhero team and a parody of the Avengers. This new group first appeared in Superman/Batman #20 and heralded from a world full of other Marvel knock-off heroes and villains. Viking was the Maximum's Thor equivalent as well as their strongest member.
As a berserker warrior and the son of Frost Giants, Viking was incredibly powerful. The ax he carried was forged by Ymir, and while it might not have been Mjolnir, it was powerful enough to wound Superman. Viking's only apparent weakness was that as a creation of Mr. Mxyzptlk and the hero ceased to exist when the villain was done using the Maximums.
1 WEAKER: WANDJINA THE THUNDERER
Wandjina the Thunderer is one of DC's tributes to Marvel's Thor. Wandjina first appeared in Justice League of America #87, where he and the other Champions of Agnor fought the Justice League over a misunderstanding about a robot. While the Champions of Agnor fought the Justice League on another occasion, Wandija ended up sacrificing his life to prevent a Bialyan reactor meltdown. Queen Bee later revived him to attack the Justice League, and as a result, Captain Atom killed him a second time.
As a tribute to Thor, Wandija has all the basics of a god of thunder -- super strength, flight, weather manipulation, a weapon that shoots lightning, and even a cape. He's not quite as powerful as Thor, but he was a pretty impressive weather god.