Valkyrie/Thor
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Thor x Valkyrie |
| Alternative name(s): | Thorkyrie, thorval (less common) |
| Gender category: | Het (F/M) |
| Fandom: | MCU, Thor: Ragnarok |
| Canonical?: | Debatable |
| Prevalence: | Rare (by megafandom standards) |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Valkyrie/Thor, often smooshed as Thorkyrie, is the het pairing of Valkyrie and Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While both characters exist in Marvel Comics, there doesn't appear to be any solely comics-based shipping of them on either FanFiction.net or AO3.
Canon
Marvel Cinematic Universe
Thor and Valkyrie meet in Thor: Ragnarok when Valkyrie captures Thor and sells him to The Grandmaster. When she reveals her status as a Valkyrie, Thor enthusiastically recounts his childhood interest in the elite team of all-female warriors. Eventually, she helps him escape Sakaar and attempt to save Asgard.
In Avengers: Infinity War, she's the one to lead Bruce Banner to a depressed Thor on New Asgard (a refugee settlement on Earth). In Avengers: Endgame, Thor bestows the title of "King of Asgard" to Valkyrie.
Valkyrie was originally billed as Thor's love interest in Ragnarok but ended up in a more ambiguous role with a potential canon slow burn. As screenwriter Eric Pearson explains:
"We didn’t want to start from that place [...] It was like, Let’s give Valkyrie her own story that connects with Thor … and if it makes sense for them to get together, then great. You’ve got two really good-looking people who can fight and who’d probably be [good together] if the story went there, but it just didn’t. It became more about the mutual respect, and also dealing with her PTSD. She’s someone who’s drowning her sorrows in the bottle, and I just thought that was such a cool thing that you don’t often see in these movies: somebody dealing with extreme guilt and shame in a colorful, Taika Waititi[-directed] hilarious background.”[1]
Fandom
Conflict With Other Ships
Some fans have discussed both the popularity of Carol Danvers/Valkyrie and the small surge of Carol/Thor content compared to the still rare pair status of Thor/Valkyrie. Both ships were discussed in the pattern of media fandom backlashes against ships featuring a woman of color (particularly black women) and a white man. (See "Richonne" for more context on these fannish discussions.) Thor/Carol in particular has been accused of being racist on the basis of fans choosing to see romantic undertones in a single scene in Avengers: Endgame compared to the many potentially shippy Thor and Valkyrie scenes in Thor: Ragnarok.[2][3]
Example Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fanfiction
- First Position by ariesconcepts, a PWP with pegging (2017)
- you raise me up by caramelle, a Mundane AU. "Or, the one where Valkyrie climbs onto some random guy's shoulders to get a better shot of a celebrity. She definitely doesn't expect said random guy to turn out to be an obscenely famous rockstar." (2018)
Fanart & Graphics
- absolutely smitten by clairepngart (2018)
- hello??, Archived version by butchvulcanart (2018)
- nose kisses are like. adorable, Archived version by prisonhannibal (2019)
Fan Events
- Thorkyrie Week on Tumblr
Resources
- [Thor, Valkyrie/Brunnhilde] pairing filter in Thor (Movies) on fanfiction.net
- Works tagged Brunnhilde | Valkyrie/Thor on Archive of Our Own
- Posts tagged #thorkyrie or #Thorval on Tumblr
- Wattpad search for #thorkyrie
References
- ^ Eric Pearson as quoted on syfy.com. WHY THOR: RAGNAROK AXED A ROMANCE BETWEEN VALKYRIE AND THE GOD OF THUNDER, March 26, 2021. Archived from the original on May 31, 2021.
- ^ metoo-3, rosejutsu. Tumblr thread. Archived from the original on May 29, 2021.
- ^ meanpear. "All Thor did was shake Carol’s hand and people are already shipping them.", March 14, 2019. Archived from the original on May 31, 2021.