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Quote1 You... You have never faced anything like him, Thor... He is the dragon now. And yet... he is so much more... He will take... everything... Everything... you have ever... loved... will burn. Quote2
Midgard Serpent[src]

History

Host to Thor[]

Dr. Donald Blake was a human host created by Odin to be the host for his son Thor during his exile on Earth.[7]

Odin decided that it was time Thor learned humility after growing tired of Thor's insolent behavior on Asgard. Odin had Thor surrender his hammer to him, and then sent him to Earth in the mortal guise of a crippled young Harvard University medical student named Donald Blake, stripped of his memory of his true identity. As Blake, Thor learned the value of humble perseverance in dealing with his injured leg, and he came to care for the sick and dying, first as a medical student, and later as a successful physician. After leaving medical school, Blake opened a private practice in New York, and quickly gained renown as a great surgeon.[7]

After Thor had spent ten years in the role of Blake, Odin planted within Blake's mind the suggestion to take a vacation in Norway. There, Blake encountered a party of alien Kronans, also known as the Stone Men from Saturn. Blake fled from the Kronans into a cavern, the very same one that had served as Thor's birthplace millennia ago, where Odin had left Thor's hammer in the enchanted form of a wooden cane. Trapped in the cavern by a great boulder, Blake struck the boulder with the cane in frustrated anger, and was transformed back into his true godly form of Thor. As Thor, he escaped the cavern and drove off the Kronans.[6]

At first Thor still had no memory of his past life as an Asgardian god, although as months passed, more of his memories returned. Finally, a few years later, Odin revealed to him the false nature of the Blake identity and the reason for it.[7]

Thor maintained his Blake identity on Earth and continued his medical practice. Part of his affinity for Earth was his subconscious realization that his maternal heritage was on this world. The other part was simply his love for humanity and his need to experience those things that only mortals could know. Thor came to divide his time between Earth and Asgard.

For years, Thor was in love with Jane Foster, who worked as a nurse for Blake. Odin disapproved of Thor's love for this mortal, but eventually the romance between Thor and Foster came to an end, and Thor renewed his past relationship with Lady Sif. Thor was a founding member of the team of superhuman champions known as the Avengers, and continued to serve with the team from time to time.

Thor eventually gave up his identity as Donald Blake. With the aid of Nick Fury, Public Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Thor adopted a new "secret identity", that of construction worker, Sigurd Jarlson.[8]

After Ragnarok[]

Some time after the apparent end of the Ragnarok cycle, Donald Blake resurfaced as the sole remains and, through him, Thor was reborn,[9] the two once again sharing a body, though now they would converse when the other was in control.

Shattered Heroes[]

After Thor's death at the hands of the Serpent, Donald Blake somehow became a separate entity from Thor. When the Odinson returned to life, Blake was distressed to discover that his life had never happened.

Later, he asked Enchantress to help him gain his divine power back. She managed to give him a Golden Apple of Idunn, to which he reacted violently. Enchantress used this opportunity to decapitate Blake and, through her magic, give life to a construct god she named "the Keep".[10]

Donald Blake (Earth-616) and Mares from Mighty Thor Vol 2 17 001

Blake's happily ever after

When they arrived in Asgardia, Thor was already waiting for them. Blake's head confronted him and after Thor understood and dispatched the Keep, Blake was given a new life within a dream crafted by the Mares.[11]

Shadow of Thunder[]

While conversing with his brother, Thor revealed to him that Blake was currently residing in a dreamscape hidden underneath the World Tree, one that appears as an idyllic neighbourhood. As Thor hasn't swapped places in some time, Blake had been blissfully unaware as years went by, but the isolation had a negative effect on his psyche.

While Blake was wandering through his neighborhood, oblivious to everything that happened during his absence, the Midgard Serpent arrived and revealed the truth about his fake life, in an attempt to make Blake his pawn against Thor. Gifting him some of his power, the Midgard Serpent proposed they work together, but instead however, Blake attacked the serpent and took his power for himself, which combined with what Odinforce he possessed for himself.[12]

After realizing that his life was nothing but a simulacrum, Blake begged for Thor to help him. However, when Thor never responded, Blake was disillusioned by the god of thunder and went mad, killing the simulations of people within his dreamscape, including the Midgard Serpent. When Thor swapped places with Blake in an attempt to fix Mjolnir, Blake was finally free of his false life. Blake then faced off against Loki, easily defeating him, while stating that he would never be Thor ever again, breaking the cane he used to switch into Thor.[13] Blake then went on to defeat Sif, Beta Ray Bill, the Warriors Three, and many Asgardian soldiers and banished them to the Dimension Blood with Hofund. Afterwards, he pledged to kill all who had carried the mantle of Thor,[12] starting with Roger "Red" Norvell by mutilating him, before proceeding to attack Throg.[14]

Donald Blake (Earth-616) from Thor Vol 6 9 001

Throg was aided in his fight against Blake by the Inhuman dog Lockjaw and were able to defeat Blake. Throg and Lockjaw then took Blake to the Sanctum Sanctorum to be interrogated by Doctor Strange. However, Blake regained consciousness and easily overpowered Strange, stealing the Asgardian power Strange used to fight Loki when he took the title of Sorcerer Supreme from him. Blake also discovered where Strange got that power: Yggdrasil. After defeating Strange, Throg, and Lockjaw, Blake went to Yggdrasil and began cutting it down with Jarnbjorn to absorb its lifeblood.[15]

Donald Blake (Earth-616) and Serpent (Symbiote) (Earth-616) from Thor Vol 6 28 001

Bonding to the Serpent Symbiote

Blake was eventually confronted by those from Asgard he had banished after they were freed by Doctor Strange as well as Odin after he was told by Valkyrie of his action. Things got worse for Blake when Thor arrived with his spirit piloting the Destroyer Armor.[4] After Donald was defeated, Thor decided to spare his life. Asking Loki what to do, Loki decided to make Donald the new God of Lies, chaining him beneath Asgard with a giant serpent dripping venom into his eyes.[3] Undergoing the punishment of the God of Lies over the course of several months, Blake was bonded to a symbiote infused with Promethium and reborn as the Serpent, swearing revenge against Thor, Loki, and all of Asgard.[5]

Attributes

Powers

Odin-Force: As a construct of Odin, Donald contains the Odinforce, and when it interacted with Jormungand's own power, it became amplified and corrupted, resulting in a range of new abilities:[12]

  • Superhuman Strength: Don has gained enough strength to take on Asgard's forces, seriously wound the World Serpent, defeat Loki, the Warriors Three and Sif effortlessly.[12]
  • Asgardian Magic: Able to operate the Bifrost to send the Asgardians realms away using Hofund, as well as remove Beta Ray Bill's worthiness and power.
    • Asgardian Magic Absorption: He is capable of absorbing "Odin-magic" from a variety of sources to enhance his own powers, including the Midgard Serpent,[13] Beta Ray Bill's enchantments,[12] the powers of various Thors,[14] and Asgardian magic used by Doctor Strange before trying to take it directly from the lifeblood of Yggdrasill itself.[15]
  • Superhuman Durability: Blake was able to withstand Throg's lightning attacks with little issue and became resistant to blows from an enraged Thor.[14]

Abilities

  • Advanced Medical Knowledge: He is considered to be one of the best doctors and surgeons in the United States, able to perform advanced surgeries and dismantle bodies with limited effort.[7]
  • Master Combatant: Blake also has all the martial knowledge and combat skills that Thor has due to having shared memories with him for years, claiming whatever Thor can do, he can do better by combing Thor's skills with his own advanced medical knowledge. This was shown when he defeated Sif, the Warriors Three, and many Asgardian soldiers with ease.[12]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Donald Blake's Armor: A handmade armor Blake made out of Jormungand's hide, rendering him virtually invulnerable to injury.[12]

Weapons

Scalpels

Notes

  • The transformation from the Mighty Thor to Don Blake is capricious. The transformation from Blake to Thor creates a bright light and appears to be impactful. The transformation has caused a Storm Giant to lose his grip on the Thunder god[16] and has freed Blake/Thor from rubble that the Thunder god himself was unable to move.[17] However, the transformation has also taken place in Don Blake's office with individuals outside the room not cognizant of this mystical event.[18]
  • The emanations from the transformation from Don Blake to Thor (and vice versa) has also been portrayed as substantial. After months/years of the mystical transformation, the residual energy was enough to power Mercurio's Dimensional Oscillator and open a channel to his 4th Dimension.[19]
  • Don Blake's origins changed frequently over the years:
    • Beginning with Journey Into Mystery #83, Don Blake was implicitly presented as a normal doctor who found the hammer of Thor and began channeling the Thunder God (for lack of a better word) as they shared a single life and experiences.
    • In Thor #159, Odin revealed that Don Blake was merely a magical construct, specifically engineered to present Thor with the opportunity to learn the lesson of humility Odin sought to teach him. Blake had no past before Odin willed him into being to be inhabited by Thor.
    • In Thor Annual #11, while reviewing the saga of Thor, the Norns witnessed Odin's statement, made when he had exiled Thor, that the mortal shell he had created possessed the form and memories of a young medical student whom Odin had selected to be Thor's mortal template.
    • In Mighty Thor #415, Eric Masterson accessed the memories that he now shared with Thor and recalled that Odin had used Keith Kincaid, then a young medical student, as a template for a physical, mental and emotional duplicate who became Donald Blake.
    • Many years later, this was called into question when Thor discovered Don Blake in stasis, a being separate from him and preserved at the exact moment he first struck his magical cane to unleash Thor. Blake awoke from stasis with no memory of any events after that fateful trip to Norway. Over time, Thor learned that Odin indeed used a REAL man named Don Blake as his human host. When Blake discovered Mjolnir, he was placed in suspended animation while Thor retained an aspect of Blake within himself that he could transform into. Odin then admitted that he had lied about using Keith Kincaid as a template because he wished for Thor to believe that Blake had not been a real mortal. However, a further and complicated series of events revealed that the Blake found by Thor was not the original, but a magical construct left in place of the original by Sigyn after she accidentally killed the real Blake while in stasis.[20]
    • In recent years, the magical construct or aspect of Don Blake resurfaced after Ragnarok. It was this incarnation of Blake that reconnected with Mjolnir and resurrected Thor, becoming a part of him once more.[21][9]

Trivia

  • He usually vacationed in Florida.[22]

See Also

Links and References

References

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