Mjölnir, Hammer of ThorMjölnir, Hammer of Thor | Art by Wayne Reynolds

The legendary sledge known as Mjölnir is a mighty hammer. It allows its wielder to harness thunder and lightning, fly by holding its strap, and absorb energy attacks. It's also a highly selective weapon, only wielded by those deemed most worthy.

Of course, even though Marvel has the lion's share of "worthy" characters capable of lifting Mjölnir, so too does Magic: The Gathering. This article will detail the five creatures most worthy of arming themselves with the legendary hammer of Thor himself.

What Does "Worthy" Really Mean?

The term that pervades all talk of Thor's hammer is "worthy". The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines this word as such:

Worthy (adjective) wor-thy

1a: having worth or value : estimable

a worthy cause

1b: honorable, meritorious

worthy candidates

2: having sufficient worth or importance

worthy to be remembered

This is a very broad term, but in the context of Marvel's canon, "Worthy" takes on a very specific meaning. In essence, an individual is deemed worthy of wielding Mjölnir if they exhibit the following traits truly and wholly:

• The wielder must display courage in the face of adversity.
• The wielder must be resolute in their convictions and display no self-doubt.
• Despite being a warrior, they must display compassion and empathy.
• Finally, they must prioritize the greater good of society over the individual.

We see a few examples of this in Marvel's canon, such as Thor OdinsonThor Odinson, naturally, and Steve Rogers, also known as CaptainCaptain.

Mjölnir Beyond Magic

In this article, I would like to set a ground rule that we will not be looking at "worthy" figures from Universes Beyond. The Universes Beyond suite of legendary creatures sets the subset of mechanically eligible legends too broad for anyone to sanely examine in its entirety.

That said, here is a short list of eligible (non-Marvel) Universes Beyond legendary creatures one might deem "worthy" (noting that I can't profess to know all of these canons perfectly):

At this stage, there are still an absolute metric ton of eligible legends. What's more, a ton of them are really valid to wield Mjölnir from a mechanical standpoint. Even removing Universes Beyond and the less-relevant legends won't narrow things down to the five most worthy legendary creatures. What's a poor author to do?

The Morals of Mjölnir

At this stage, we're going to have to narrow things down the same way the Marvel writers did when originally penning the character of Thor: by determining characters' subjective morality. I will stress that this is a weird line, and some of Magic's most morally corrupt characters exist in red, white, and multicolor in all manner of measures. For instance, Nicol Bolas, the RavagerNicol Bolas, the Ravager is one-hundred percent not worthy of wielding Thor's hammer.

For the sake of reasonable completion, however, the following legendary creatures within the red and white color identity are also unworthy of Mjölnir:

I know this was a super-lengthy explanation to specifically exclude a ton of legends from this listicle. I also excluded non-red, non-white creatures from the final list. To look over all of them would lead me to madness, to be certain. However, this was all necessary before we get into the nitty-gritty of examining those who are worthy. So, without any further ado, let's do exactly that! Our first worthy legend is...

Aurelia, the WarleaderAurelia, the Warleader

The Ravnican guildmaster Aurelia is an exemplar of the conviction and confidence needed to be a Boros Legion guildmember. She is resolute in her values, and those values are exactly what Mjölnir values in a wielder. In essence, her zeal and devotion towards the guild are exactly what would make her worthy of arming herself with the fabled Asgardian hammer.

Mechanically, Aurelia's ability to create additional combat steps makes her a prime candidate to equip with Mjölnir. Doubling damage all over the place is a great effect to put on something that can continue to double things all around. (See Heartless HidetsuguHeartless Hidetsugu, who, despite not being morally worthy, is very mechanically worthy.) This list will only include Aurelia in terms of double phases, but doubling damage in other ways is still applicable. Take, for instance...

Kellan, the Fae-BloodedKellan, the Fae-Blooded

Kellan is a character who is relatively mutable in his convictions over the course of his character development. He's done a helluva lot of different things and taken many different roles in his life. As an illegitimate child of Oko, one might assume that he is unworthy of wielding Mjölnir. However, I want to stress that Kellan is just as noble and resolute as the hammer mandates in its wielders throughout his plotline.

Mechanically speaking, Kellan's card comes with an Adventure that can search up Mjölnir from the deck for use later on. Furthermore, Kellan boosts the board's power simply by attaching the hammer to him. That seems like a pretty good way to convey selflessness, if you ask me!

Now, when we talk about character arcs shifting and shaping characters in a way that deems them worthy of Thor's mighty hammer, there are a lot. In fact, there's one truly mighty character who, while not immediately worthy, becomes worthy later in his life.

Kamahl, Pit FighterKamahl, Pit Fighter

If there's one storyline that I know well, it's the twin blocks of Odyssey and Onslaught. The Mirari Cycle is a huge favorite of mine, mostly due to the character of ChainerChainer (who is definitely not worthy). But also of note is his best friend and the protagonist of five of these six stories, the Pardic barbarian Kamahl. Kamahl succumbs to the wiles of the MirariMirari, and that's decidedly not a worthy thing to do. However, he grows past this and abandons his violent ways for a time as a druid of the Krosan Forest. Eventually his destiny leads him to destroying a (practical) goddess, the being called Karona, to restore Dominaria's magic. If that isn't remarkably selfless and with the greater good in mind, I don't know what is.

Mechanically, however, we have to look at his older iteration. This card existed while he was, in essence, a soldier of fortune, looking for glory and riches through gladiatorial combat in the Otarian pits. But let's shelve that discussion and look at his card from Odyssey. Kamahl is a 6/1 with haste who can tap to deal 3 damage to any target. With Mjölnir in hand, Kamahl can make that 3 damage into 6. Add to that the fact that he's a 6-power creature, and you're able to deal a lot of damage at virtually any time.

Moving on, we have the most worthy humanoid on this list:

Jor Kadeen, the PrevailerJor Kadeen, the Prevailer

The Mirran Goldwarden Jor Kadeen was one of the characters from the Mirrodin-New Phyrexian war who survived through the full corruption of the metallic plane. This character never gave up on Mirrodin even while his kinsmen succumbed to the Glistening OilGlistening Oil. Truly, Jor Kadeen is a true force in the context of that iconic conflict.

When we talk about mechanical prowess, Jor Kadeen is great because he's already a fantastically strong creature in his own right. He doesn't need Mjölnir to make things hard for his opponents. While he does need three artifacts out, Mjölnir just helps - it isn't necessary. Nevertheless, dealing 16 damage per attack is a great justification for Jor Kadeen to wield the hammer.

Finally, we have probably the most worthy creature I can think of.

Phelia, Exuberant ShepherdPhelia, Exuberant Shepherd

Mjölnir doesn't particularly care what creature wields it, as long as it is worthy of doing so. That's likely why Throg (of the Pet AvengersPet Avengers) is at all allowed to exist in the Marvel canon. So, what's to say that Phelia, Exuberant ShepherdPhelia, Exuberant Shepherd is an unworthy creature? In terms of Magic's canon, this information is largely irrelevant. Dogs are clearly inherently kind souls, and often fiercely loyal to others. I will thereby stand by my statement that Phelia is the single most worthy creature to wield Mjölnir, from a moral standpoint.

Mechanically, Phelia is very able to blink the Equipment on a pretty consistent basis, dealing a hefty 4 damage to something in the process. Fetch! Good girl. That's something that really works in thematic ways, but also proves highly effective in the context of the game itself. And morality aside, that really works as another reason that Phelia is worthy.

Honorable Mention

I don't know Ragost, Deft GastronautRagost, Deft Gastronaut's moral leanings, so I have to give the Lobster Chef an Honorable Mention here, sadly. I know a lot of you may be shocked that he's not on the list proper, but them's the breaks! Mechanically, however, much has been said in a bunch of places about how good Ragost is with holding Mjölnir, especially when sacrificing Food for fun and profit. I defer to the experts here, but he's not necessarily worthy by the canonical definitions of the terminology. Regardless, Ragost has the gameplay aspect of things going for him!

Conclusion

Regardless of what your values lead you to believe, I think I can speak for all of us when I say these creatures are all worthy in some way or another of lifting Mjölnir. It's definitely a fun thought exercise to consider what's available, at least.

So now, I'd like to open the floor to you, dear readers! What red, white, or red-white creatures in Magic's canon did I neglect to mention? I know I neglected plenty of creatures, including those that include blue, black, and/or green in their color identities. Like I said before, that way lies madness. But within the context of red or white, are there any characters I may have glossed over? Sound off in the comments below!