Origin
Lorelei is the younger sister of the sorceress, Amora the Enchantress, although their relationship is strained to say the least. Both sisters are proficient in using their beauty and charm in order to seduce and dominate the will of others. However, unlike Amora, Lorelei has no interest in mastering sorcery other than to learn a few spells and potions to aid her seductive techniques. Lorelei first appeared with other gods while on a troll hunt. This attracted Loki’s attention and he promised her that she would win heart of Thor. Lorelei then prepared a love potion which, when drunk, would cause Thor to fall in love with the first woman he saw. Loki hoped that when the potion worked, Thor would be too distracted by Lorelei to interfere with this plans to conquer Asgard.
Creation
Lorelei was created by Walt Simonson and first appeared in Thor #337 in 1983.
Character Evolution
Debuting in Walt Simonson’s acclaimed run on Thor, Lorelei was a major recurring character throughout his run and the main love interest for Thor. The character has been sparingly used since Simonson’s run on Thor ended with Thor #382 in 1986. Briefly returning to Thor in 1989 for the War of the Gods storyline, she was killed a few issues later. She has returned several times as a spirit and has since been laid to rest again. Her most recent appearance was in 2001’s Defenders series by Kurt Busiek and Erik Larsen where she had returned to life without explanation. In 2014 she reappeared again as a recurring character in Loki: Agent of Asgard.
Major Story Arcs
Thor and the Twilight Sword Saga
Lorelei journeyed to Midgard and went to Manhattan claiming to be a mortal woman named Melodi. Here, she confronted Thor’s old enemy Fafnir who used his hypnotic powers to over-power her. Fafnir took Melodi as bait in order to lure Thor out. Thor soon rescued Melodi and defeated Fafnir. Afterwards, Lorelei and Thor began a relationship in their false human guises (at the time Thor was assuming a human identity known as Sigurd Jarlson), and it became clear that “Melodi” wanted a romantic relationship.
However, many circumstances prevented Jarlson from drinking the potion she had concocted for him and Melodi was soon kidnapped yet again by Thor’s foe, Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves. Malekith enchanted a pile of wood to look like Melodi in order to trick Thor into drinking the love potion. This caused Thor to immediately fall in love with Melodi, and soon Thor rescued the real Melodi from the Dark Elves. One of Thor’s friends discovered that Thor had drunk the potion and managed to clear Thor’s mind so that they could return to Asgard and defend it from the demon known as Surtur. However, Lorelei did not return to defend Asgard, which only infuriated her sister.
Lorelei instead returned to Loki where they developed another scheme to take over Asgard. Loki gave her the Elixir of Lofn which was a magical fragrance capable of making Thor fall so deeply in love with her that he would do anything she asked. Lorelei went to the disguised Thor again and managed to surprise him. He soon fell in love with her and she made him give up the throne to Loki.
In order to take revenge on Lorelei for her negligence, Amora cast a spell on Odin’s Scepter of Power, causing her to fall madly in love with Loki, and thus creating a love triangle between Loki, Lorelei, and Thor. Heimdall eventually discovered what was going on so he and Amora devised a plan to save Thor. At their behest, Thor went to visit Loki while he was in the arms of Lorelei. Seeing Loki with Lorelei caused Thor to enter into a rage and forget his love for Lorelei. He attacked Loki and soon took back his throne.
War of the Gods
When Seth invaded Asgard, Lorelei had returned to Asgard and was caught in the middle of the battle. After watching her sister nobly launch an attack against Seth and seeing her appear to die, Lorelei decided to flee from Asgard to ensure her survival.
Before she could escape, in a rare moment of benevolence, she interrupted a battle between Seth and Balder and inadvertantly wound up getting caught in the cross-hairs of an attack intended for Balder. Mortally wounded, she died shortly afterwards due to the injures she suffered from Seth’s Demons of Death.
When Seth’s invasion had failed, Amora was distraught to learn of her sister’s death and was again faced with her constant fear of her own mortality. She was approached by the spirit of her one-time lover Skurge, on behalf of Hela, who offered to spare Lorelei from Hel if Amora gave her soul in place of her sister’s. Deeming the cost too high, Amora allowed Hela to claim Lorelei.
Ruler of Hel
Her spirit trapped in Hel, she soon took control over the Destroyer armor (which Thor had discarded and left there earlier) and used it to take over the realm. However her reign was short-lived due in part to Sif and Balder reluctantly helping Hela regain dominance.
Fantastic Thor
Sometime later, Lorelei’s spirit spoke to the Fantastic Four’s Thing and convinced him to drink her golden mead making him fall in love with her. Lorelei used her new slave to attack Thor and Sif (whom she blamed for her death), however he was no match for them and the mead soon wore off.
The Lost Gods
Later on, Lorelei returned to life by the power of Seth in order to face the Asgardians that had lost their godly status and their powers. Angry with her sister for not agreeing to take her place in Hel, she sought revenger. However, Amora killed Lorelei again so that she could free her from Seth’s control.
Ride of the Valkyries
In undisclosed circumstances, Lorelei returned to life a second time and began using the alias Ice Queen. As the Ice Queen, she allied herself with Pluto who promised the two would conquer Earth. Lorelei bound Samantha Parrington to a Valkyrie spirit making her a slave to her and Pluto. Pluto soon turned on Lorelei and did the same to her; binding her to a Valkyrie spirit.
Now amnesiac and mute, she was discovered by Nighthawk, of the Defenders, who mistook her for his former teammate Valkyrie. Briefly allying herself with the Defenders to battle against Pluto, Parrington and their armies of the undead, her memories were returned to her and she began battling against Pluto for control of Earth.
After Parrington broke free from the spell which made her Pluto’s slave, she allied with the Defenders and fought Pluto, Lorelei and their undead army. When Zeus arrived to end the battle and punish Pluto and Lorelei, the two once again joined forces to flee from the Greek God. Lorelei was absent from Asgard during the Ragnarok which destroyed the Asgardian world. Her current location, however, is unknown.
Powers
Lorelei has the typical powers of a regular Asgardian Goddess which include: strength, vitality, stamina, resistance to injury, and a near ageless life span. Lorelei is also a powerful spell caster, capable of teleporting among other things, although she chooses not to develop her magic the way her sister has. She is, however, capable of battling a major god like Pluto on equal footing when push comes to shove, however. Lorelei has generally used her spells to increase her beauty and create potions. Lorelei’s main strength is that of seduction over men, both god and mortal alike.
As the Destroyer, she is much stronger and can endure a lot more damage.
Characteristics
Hair: Reddish Blonde
Eyes: Blue-Green
Height: 5’5″
Weight: 320 lbs.
Status
Known Relatives: Amora the Enchantress (sister)
Citizenship: Asgardian
Place of Birth: Asgard
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Sorceress, Seductress
Education: Sorcery
In Other Media
Television
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Lorelei appears in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., portrayed by Elena Satine. She first appears in the closing moments of the episode “T.A.H.I.T.I.”, where she arrives in Death Valley, California via the Bifrost Bridge. She uses her powers to mesmerize a young man named Jimmy, and forces him to drive her away from the location, abandoning his wife in the process.
Game
Lego Marvel´s Avengers
Lorelei is a playable character in the game.