When I started analyzing how frequent Marvel villains are in a specific era, I was sure that Magneto would be firmly in the top spot for the X-Men villains… but I also wondered.
Does Loki show up on Thor just as frequently? And who will be the SECOND most recurrent Thor villain?
The first indication that SOMEONE will hog the spotlight is the fact that, out of the 97 issues included in this range… I don’t even have enough material for a Top Ten.
Also consider that a few of these could be off by an issue or maybe two, depending on whether you count the villains from when they show up or from when they fight Thor.
This was just a quick glance for fun and I didn’t go super-deep into it.
#9: nobody
I even have to cheat to make this a Top Nine!!!
Thor #158 includes a reprint of Thor’s first story… but it also has a framing device that doesn’t feature any action. Since I can’t count the first story twice, Thor #158 doesn’t have anyone on this list.
#8: the Rare Eleven
This includes nobodies like Sandu, Crypto-Man, and the Lurking Unknown, but also two characters who ALSO unexpectedly showed un in the other lists: Hulk and Magneto.
There are an impressive ELEVEN characters who are the adversary once.
There are also villains you’d expect Thor met more than once in his own book, since he already fought them with the Avengers: Ares, the Lava Men, Radioactive Man and Kang.
There’s also the Super-Skrull, in one of the most famous Kirby covers.
#7: the legend of the two issues
Fitting considering their future relationship, but Adam Warlock (just “him” at the time) and Man-Beast fight Thor twice. As does Hercules.
At two WILDLY different levels of danger, both Grey Gargoyle and Surtur are also the villains twice.
There are also two issues where the villains are generic Asgardian giants, and two issues where the villain is The Demon.
Not A demon, mind you, THE Demon.
#6: one of these villains is not like the others
You’re probably not surprised that Zarrko, the Enchantress and the Executioner fight Thor three times…
…not to be confused with The Enchanters, a totally different set of villains who also show up three times.
But I bet you did not expect to find the Circus of Crime THIS high on the list!!!
#5: the Big Four
In increasing order of size: the Wrecker, Mangog and Ego The Living Planet show up four times.
#4: so that’s why I did that retrospective
If you’re following the Character Chronology, you’re not surprised that both the Cobra and Galactus show up five times: that’s as many the Destroyer and Ulik.
But also, more surprisingly, I have a special category.
That’s only slightly cheating: the Rigellians are the adversary for 3 issues, and other two (including Thor’s first appearance) are other races.
#3: Pluto and Mr. Hyde
Definitely a scarier combination than the Cobra and Mr. Hyde, and they both show up 6 times.
#2: this is all too much to absorb
I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting Absorbing Man to be Thor’s second most frequent opponent, with a total of 7 issues. Sure I expected him to be high, but not this much.
It’s interesting considering it’s been a long time since Absorbing Man fought Thor… or that many superheroes honestly. While he’s far from reaching anti-hero status, he’s been a far more complex character than just a regular supervillain for decades at this point.
I could also place here another collective category, because there are 7 issues where the villains are just humans… with a few asterisks.
Specifically, there are 3 issues where the villain is just a common criminal, 1 where it’s a scientist with a duplication ray… and 3 issues where it’s just communists.
It was the 60s.
To be fair, one of these could be classified under “giant robot” instead of “communists”.
If you hate fun.
#1: the god of overstaying your welcome
Surprising absolutely nobody, Loki is the most recurrent Thor villain in the Lee & Kirby era.
But just how much? Take your guess considering the other appearances.
#8: 1 appearance
#7: 2 appearances
#6: 3 appearances
#5: 4 appearances
#4: 5 appearances
#3: 6 appearances
#2: 7 appearances
Notice how each spot in the list has 1 additional appearance.
Given that trend, you might expect to see Loki 8 times.
But I’ve already told you he shows up significantly more, so… what do you think?
Ten times maybe?
How about 14 times, doubling the appearances of Absorbing Man?
Nope, that’s not enough! How about tripling it, with 21 times?
STILL. NOT. ENOUGH. LOKI.
The answer? Loki shows up an absurd TWENTY-FIVE TIMES across 97 issues!!!
That’s a little over a quarter of the issues!!!
Take the numbers with a grain of salt… it’s not always easy to define if Loki is being an active villain, but he does fight Thor just as often as he’s the one sending the villain to fight him… and since they tend to either follow Loki’s orders or be the distraction while Loki carries out another scheme, it’s not surprising the number is THAT hight.
No wonder he eventually developed into an anti-hero of sorts, he was almost a co-protagonist already!!!