Many people are familiar with Roman and Greek mythology. Anyone can name a Roman and Greek god or two. However, only a few people are familiar with Norse mythology and Norse gods which include Thor. Thor is a fictional superhero character made by the duo of Stan Lee (writer) and Jack Kirby (artist) with Larry Lieber (scripter) for Marvel Comics.
Thor's abilities, powers, and appearance are based on Stan Lee's perception of the Norse god. For him, Norse gods are like Vikings with bulky physique, horned helmets, long hair, and flowing beards.
The character first appeared on August 1962 in the comics entitled Journey into Mystery #83. He was created right after the Hulk. The Hulk is a very powerful character and Stan Lee felt the need to make a character that is stronger than him. Thus, he came up with Thor who is a god from Asgard.
Thor is a god of thunder and the son of Odin and Earth goddess Gaea. He was sent to Earth by his father to teach him how to be humble. His memories of being a god were erased and he became Donald Blake, a partially disabled man who is also a medical student. Fortuitously, he found his Mjolnir and transformed back into the thunder god he once was. That is when he started to live with two identities- as Donald Blake, a human medical doctor, and as Thor, a thunder god superhero.
Thor's stepbrother Loki found out that he was on Earth. Thus, Loki visited Earth on several occasions attempting to destroy Thor for good. However, Thor always emerges victoriously through all the troubles and opponents that Loki sends his way.
As the story progressed, Thor eventually met Jane Foster and fell in love with her. He is not supposed to fell in love with a mortal because he is a god and his disobedience made him receive more punishments from his father Odin. Despite that, Thor never gave up his love for Jane until Odin finally agreed with their relationship given that Jane passes a certain test. Jane took the test but panics and Thor had to intervene. Although she failed the test, Odin let Jane live and go back to Earth leaving Thor broken hearted.
Just like all Asgardians, Thor is not immortal on his own. Every now and then, he needs to eat the Golden Apples of Idunn to extend his life span. But as a god, Thor has great powers and abilities that other heroes do not have. Being a thunder god, he can control the weather using his Mjolnir. He has strong resistance to physical injury which approaches invulnerability. He can travel through time, possess immense physical strength, fly faster than the speed of light, travel around the universe, and so on. Like other Asgardians, he is invulnerable to the diseases on Earth and has relative resistance to magic attacks. However, extraordinarily powerful magic can transform him from a god to a mortal.
Thor's popularity has risen through the years, especially after the official Thor movie was released. As a result, several Thor games were released as well. Thor games are widely available online for free as flash games. The most popular among all Thor games to date is Thor: God of Thunder which is available for many gaming platforms.