Thor (film)/Fridge

Fridge Brilliance:

 * Heimdall's remark to Loki that he isn't dressed warmly enough to visit Jotunheim. Being a, Loki probably isn't all that bothered by the cold. The fact that Heimdall surely knows this while Loki doesn't, makes it funnily ironic (even if Loki doesn't get the joke). After all, wouldn't Heimdall have been there to witness Odin bringing back a baby from Jotunheim?
 * The icons left on the ground wherever Bifrost opens seem kind of strange, and arbitrarily invoke UFO lore. What purpose does the image on the ground have? Then I realized, its not actually a part of Bifrost's functionality. Rather, its a visual marker left to help Heimdall keep track of where people have been dropped off recently.
 * Not to mention a marker for the people he dropped off themselves, so they know where to stand!
 * When Loki puts the Casket into the, well essentially it's an "engine start" device or what have you, for Bifrost to boost the power and ultimately destroy Jotunheim with its own power, it freezes the lightning. What shape does the frozen lightning take? A tree. What does Bifrost give passage through? Yggdrasil. What is Yggdrasil?
 * Also that "destroying Jotunheim with its own power" fact was brilliance for me as I was typing it.
 * Thor is an extreme extrovert, a Boisterous Bruiser too busy taking in the crowd's energy to notice how self-destructive he is being. Loki has the exact opposite problem. As a quiet, pensive prince, he has never chased any desire and has only watched, puzzled, at how life's opportunities just seem to gravitate toward his brother. Thor learning how to stop, listen, be humble, and take abuse is exactly how he became a hero. Loki learning how to act, direct, assert himself and fight is exactly how he became a villain.
 * Some people criticize Thor's development, that he becomes a better person just by knowing a girl for like a week. Keep in mind for the early chunk of his exile, he's still an arrogant brutish man-child. It's only when he realizes all he's lost, by a combo of not being able to lift Mjolnir, and Loki telling him that his father is dead, does he realize what it was his father wanted him to learn. Seriously, there's a reason they say that when you hit rock bottom, you only have to go up.
 * It helps that his fundamental personality didn't change, he just got a harsh lesson in actually opening his eyes and paying attention.
 * Not wrong, but it still is largely unsatisfying character development. Not to mention that once he got served his lesson, he handled it very well.
 * He knew how to fight. He had to lose most of that so that he could learn why to fight.
 * One of the complaints about the movie is Hopkins' underacting. Of course he is; Odin is somewhat detached from his sons. He has come to believe in intellect and peace over strength. The most passionate scene he has is him banishing Thor, and you can just see him ramping up, emotionally, over the course of it. It's not bad acting or bad writing. It's entirely deliberate.
 * Thor referring to Agent Coulson as "Son of Coul". Its more than a simple misunderstanding of human naming customs because Thor himself is referred to often as Odinson!
 * Actually, this is how the Norse would hand out last names and the origin of many of those types of last names. A last name of, say, Erikson really did mean that said person was the son of Erik. So it's not really even a misunderstanding.
 * For an example we're all likely to be familiar with, the famous viking Leif Erikson was the progeny of the other famous viking, Erik the Red.
 * This is still how it is done today in Iceland. It causes headaches for passport control when Jón Sverisson, his wife Jóhanna Guðmundsdóttir, and their children Gunnar Jónsson and Katrín Jónsdóttir arrive on holiday. A family of four, with for distinct last names? Yes - As of 1925, Icelanders who are not already entitled to a family name (i.e. their family had adopted one before that point, or were immigrants to Iceland) may not adopt one.
 * This one about the casting of Heimdall as a black man. Asgardians are magical aliens who were worshiped as gods by the Norse, they can have as much variety as humans. The Norse obviously represented their gods as their own race.
 * Not to mention the fact that the Black Vikings trope was entirely possible in Real Life.
 * It would have felt less out of place had there been other black people among the Asgardian crowds and guards. As it is, he's a kind of unfortunate case of tokenism.
 * Except there are black people in the crowds, as well as asians and middle-eastern people. There's also a black man at the feast at the end of the film, whose not Heidmall (unless he shaved, changed costume and neglected his duties).
 * ...then speed-grew a beard, changed back, and ran back to Bifrost in the time it took Thor to walk over there.
 * It's really ironic that Heimdall is black when you realize that the original Norse god Heimdallr was described as "the whitest of the gods"
 * Which only reinforces the Fridge Brilliance when you look at it this way: primitive, xenophobic Vikings might have insisted on conforming all their gods to their image, and then over-emphasized a lie about Heimdall to cover up the truth...
 * Yeah, but that costume would have looked pretty stupid if it were being worn by a white guy.
 * It also somewhat suggests that the Asgardians were the Trope Makers for many of the warrior stereotypes in the real world, not just in Northern Europe. We see a woman (Amazons), a Japanese-looking Asgardian (Samurai), a Errol Flynn-esque swordsman, and a Viking among Thor's friends.
 * The post-credit sequence features Nick Fury, played by Samuel L. Jackson, opening a briefcase with a glowing object inside. I am now convinced that the films of Quentin Tarantino take place in the Marvel universe.
 * While Selvig is breaking Thor out of S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, he presents a fake ID listing Thor as Donald Blake. The picture on the fake ID is the one Darcy snapped on her cell phone earlier in the film ("This is going on facebook. Smile!") Also, since Darcy is a college student, she'd probably know someone who could get her a fake ID. The name is of Jane's ex, who was 'good with patients, not so good with relationships', mentioned when she gives Thor a t-shirt with Blake's nametag on it.
 * Fridge Brilliance:
 * Why is it that any of the SHIELD agents are able to survive being attacked by the Destroyer? Because it didn't register them as threats and went after their cars instead.
 * The Destroyer was sent by Loki to deal with the Asgardians. It probably wouldn't even bother with humans as long as they weren't a threat or obstacle.
 * Loki's words were "Destroy everything." so it should have gone for the agents, as well.
 * But it would probably still make Thor and the other Asgardians its priority.
 * When Thor reappears in full glory and Jane asks him "Is this what you always look like?" And he replies "More or less," he could be referring to his current lack of winged helmet.
 * There was quite a bit of Foreshadowing that  Notice how he was one of the very few Asgardians without a beard or mustache. He's The Quiet One compared to Thor and Odin, not to mention he's lanky while Thor and Odin are bigger and muscular. He relies more on his trickery and illusions to fight instead of being a Blood Knight.
 * I don't know about Asgardian genetics, but if they work anything like human genetics, the fact that Odin, Frigga and Thor are blond and he is dark haired should have tipped him off...
 * Correct me, if I'm wrong, but wasn't he unaffected by the icy touch of the frost giants when he went to Jötunheim with Thor?
 * He was unharmed. He was affected, in the sense that it brought out the Jotun blue in his skin where he was touched. But then, that's really a bit too blatant to be "fridge" anything.
 * "Only one of you can ascend to the throne, but both of you were born to be kings."
 * Side note: Am I the only one who saw a pair of immortals being told they were "born to be kings", and immediately detected a Shout Out to Highlander?
 * Actually, This Troper immediately thought of Babylon 5 and the prophecy that "One will become Emperor after the other dies."
 * On the other hand, if you know the originating myths and/or comics, it's not really that big of a surprize to begin with. :)
 * Why did SHIELD take Darcy's iPod? Not because it just happened to be with all the other stuff, but because it had a picture of Thor on it!
 * They didn't know about Thor at that moment and that photo is used later to make the fake ID. So it's more likely on her phone.
 * Yet an iPod is still in essence a large harddrive/flashdrive that could be holding any number of things. It would be irresponsible for them to assume it just held music.
 * When Thor is about to fight SHIELD and retrieve Mjolnir, he hands Jane his coat ("You'll need this"). A few moments later, as it begins to rain, he grins in delight. How did he know it would rain, and why did it make him so happy? Thor's a rain god.
 * I took that as implying that he had a bit of godly power left to him, and summoned the storm on purpose, for cover. He was grinning because he wasn't sure at first if his power would work on Midgard.
 * Less Fridge Brilliance and more Fridge Awesome: Thor is totally serious when he asks for a dog big enough to ride. Asgard must have amazingly crazy animal life on it. (Does Lockjaw exist in this continuity?)
 * Norse mythology states that the goddess Freyja has a chariot pulled by winged cats, so, yeah, the animals on Asgard are pretty ridiculous.
 * An Inhumans movie may be in the cards, so Lockjaw could very well exist in this continuity.
 * In a quick scene we see Loki riding Fenrir to the Bifröst.
 * To quote the main page, Thor develops from a "reckless, selfish Boisterous Bruiser" to The Hero... in other words, he develops from someone close to the Thor of Norse mythology to being close to the Thor of the comics!
 * Crazy meta levels of Fridge... Something: Realizing how much Loki seems to be based on Richardof Gloucester. Despite the general Shakespeare flavor of the film, he has more in common with some contemporary historical analyses of the real man- the dutiful but jealous, dark-haired, physically unimposing younger brother of a big golden giant of a man, to start with, who took power after said golden giant was out of the way. And some historians suspect Richard of having been illegitimate to boot, with a few fictional portrayals having a Berserk Button in the form of being called a changeling...
 * Look at the Destroyer - it's the same size as the Frost Giants, armed with a burning beam weapon that provides some Loud of War on the side. It's an anti-Frost Giant WMD.
 * This is more linked to the comics than the film, but still sorta present by the Donald Blake fake identity thing. Donny Blake is a doctor, and Thor, in the myths, was a God of many things besides thunder, including Healing. Stan Lee's choice to make him a doctor was a glaring refference to Norse Mythology that no one else seems to have noticed.
 * Another thing. When at the begining and Thor and Loki are just young teenagers, Mjolnir is visible. Now, if people who know the mythology can tell you, Thor was given the hammer by some Dwarfs after Loki tricked them. Their retaliation for Loki tricking them was to stitch his mouth close. The reason Loki was all quiet all the time was that, as a child, he had his mouth stitched closed by some Dwarfs. That would, understandably, be very unnerving to a young child and leave them very quiet and withdrawn. Loki's entire confidense issue that lead to his slip into evilness was because of this event, and his resentment of Thor was fueled by Thor getting a hammer out of the deal while he was severly traumatized.
 * On the subject of Loki, why would Odin pick Thor as King? He was shown to be rash, was very agressive, and was still mentally a teenager. The only other candidate was Loki, since he was the only other son we saw. Except, two possibly reasons: Odin lost his eye, which was suposed to be when he gained a chunk of knowledge about future events, including Loki starting Ragnorok. He took in Loki just after loosing his eye, which was to bring peace to Asgard as he believed that by raising him as his own, he could avoid Ragnorok. However, he couldn't risk him becoming ruler of Asgard just in case he failed to raise him right. Alternativly, there's the reason why Loki would cause Ragnorok: Loki was to accidentally cause the Death of Baldur, one of Odin's sons, and would later insult them when they talked about him behind his back. They'd retaliate by binding him with a snake dripping venom into his eyes, which drove him insane and lead to him starting Ragnorok. In the film, Loki had recently caused the death of Baldur, and Odin didn't think he was ready to be king because of this. Which would then lead to the events of the film, which lead to Loki getting too out of hand from his growing hatred, resulting in Odin eventually having him binded, leading to Ragnorok. We're just in the stages in between Baldur's death and Loki's binding.
 * Loki was meant to be a king. Of Jotunheim. It would be the only way to guarantee an everlasting peace between the two realms, brother-kings who love one another, reconciling two rival kingdoms.
 * Also, even if Odin didn't have knowledge of the future and did consider Loki part of the family, Loki would not make a good king. Just look at how much trouble he had ruling Asgard during Thor's banishment and Odin's sleep. He had no idea of how to control the Warriors Three (and Sif) without resorting to basic threats, he could not command the loyalty of Heimdall, and most of his rule was spent plotting against Thor and trying to win Odin's love through trickery. Let's face it, Loki may be clever but he was not meant to be a ruler!
 * Not so much Fridge Brilliance as Fridge Douchebag, but in one of the deleted scenes, before Thor's coronation him and Loki have a bit of brotherly banter. They're taking the piss out of each other a bit, Loki teases Thor about his winged helmet and Thor responds by laughing and calling him a cow. At first, it's a little inexplicable, and seems like a joke about Loki's stupid horned helmet (for that matter, Thor, bulls have horns, and aren't prettily winged helmets a Valkyrie thing?). But comparing a man to a female animal capable of giving birth (specifically your younger brother who, y'know, gave birth to Sleipnir and is already in a dodgy place vis-a-vis masculinity due to his use of magic) was a grave insult in Norse culture. Just bantering around and calling your brother a shameful queer, no big deal.
 * Also in that scene - Thor dismissing Loki's sorcery and past assistance in some other adventure of theirs with "some of us do battle, others just do tricks."
 * Worth noting, however, that we're dealing with Asgardian culture, not Norse culture. Despite the obvious cues, Asgardians may consider the "cow" crack no more than the idle banter it was meant as.
 * Even horrible insults can become unusual terms of endearment for friends or brothers (S. Epatha Merkeson famously calls her friends "motherf***ers" and American cops and soldiers are well known to give each other derisive nicknames) - and given that Loki doesn't react like he's hurt or angry about it, I'd say he's okay with Thor calling him that, whatever the reason. (If it is actually as grave an insult in Asgard as it would have been in ancient Scandinavia, I suspect he'd react differently if someone else said the same thing.)
 * In the final fight on the Bifrost, Loki acquits himself well despite being a Squishy Wizard devoted to ranged and stealth attacks. Until he tricks Thor into thinking he's clinging to the edge of the Bifrost with an illusion, and then stabs him with Gungnir. Thor falls to the ground, Loki summons several illusions of himself, all ready to strike...only for Thor to cry "ENOUGH!" and knock him back with one bolt of lightning from Mjolnir. Loki's not that great of a physical fighter at all -- even after he threatened Jane, Thor didn't want to hurt him.
 * A bit of fridge for the fight itself: Loki, while angry with Thor, only used blasts from Gungnir, physical attacks, and illusions of himself. At the very least, he could have whipped some of the magic-blades he used on Jotunnheim towards Thor's head. Loki wasn't fighting to win, he wanted to distract Thor long enough for the Bifrost to destroy Jotunnheim.
 * Loki's lack of inventiveness could have been for a multitude of reasons. His emotional distress, shown all throughout the scene. Perhaps freezing Heimdall, operating the Bifrost twice, killing Laufey, and using Odin's spear (a weapon not his own) drained his magic and limited his options. Or, deep down, despite everything, Loki hated hurting Thor as much as Thor hated hurting him. His attacks look painful for Thor, but they're both Asgardians and Thor's more resilient than Loki: Thor springs up after hitting Loki with Mjolnir, while Loki's badly winded by the lightning strike. The possibility both brothers held back out of love is a Fridge Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
 * Is there any reason to believe the energy blades were anywhere near as damaging as Gungnir?
 * Even with the explosions happening outside of town, it seems like the heroes have a really easy time evacuating everyone. Sure, there are government agents in the area and some weird stuff (most recently, some ren fair types walking through town) has been going on, but would people really be so willing to leave on the say-so of a couple of scientists? Considering what had been happening that week, namely the Hulk rampage at Culver University and the robot attack at the Stark Expo...probably, yeah.
 * Loki is still a rather young man, and Odin is seen riding a fully adult Sleipnir. How old was Loki when he gave birth? Is this an embarrassing teen pregnancy thing?
 * Bear in mind that Loki was taken from the frost giants around 1100 years prior to the main story. We know that Thor and Loki must have visited Earth for the Norse legends to exist, so there's plenty of time for all those things to have happened. They are immortal, remember?
 * Thor's Berserk Button of being called "princess" might have been a clever reference to one of the legends where Thor had to dress as Freya, the goddess of love, to retrieve Mjolnir when it had been stolen by the Frost Giants!

Fridge Horror

 * During their battle, Loki makes a threat that he plans to go and "pay [Jane] a visit" just to tick off Thor. Well, at the end of movie, Loki's the one who's on Earth, and Thor isn't . ..
 * Loki was trying to goad Thor into fighting at that point. It's much more likely that it was just an idle threat to piss Thor off, and he didn't actually mean it. This version of Loki isn't a mustache twirling villain who's going to do something like that For the Evulz.
 * Speaking as someone who is very good at playing the emotions of others, I can tell you that Loki was fishing during that exchange. He started with the most obvious triggers that he had known to be effective before, and then got more exotic as each one failed. He was out of control with anger and despair, but that actually makes this variety of lashing out more effective--not just because his visible pain was also causing Thor pain, but because it made him less inhibited and more (temporarily) comfortable with saying things he wouldn't dream of acting on.
 * As of The Avengers, it appears Loki may not have ended up on Earth after all, instead having landed wherever the Tesseract connects to. It's possible he manipulated Selvig through it, rather than actually being there in person.
 * How could Loki not know he's half-giant? Norse Mythology states this right out, and in this film, Earth got its mythology from Asgard. How could something that was common knowledge on Earth be a secret in Asgard?
 * there are many details that don't line up between Norse Mythology and Marvel's Asgardians. Loki probably had heard it and simply assumed the humans got it wrong, as usual, when really they were on to something in this case.