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''Valhalla'' is a Danish comic series by Henning Kure (script) and Peter Madsen (script and artwork) that chronicles the stories of the [[Norse Mythology|Norse gods]] in a mostly lighthearted and humorous way. It started out as a [[Newspaper Comics|newspaper comic]], the first story, ''Cry Wolf,'' being printed as a serial strip in the Danish newspaper ''Politiken'' in 1978 and then the following year being collected and reprinted in album format.
From 1979 to 2009, fifteen albums (and one [[The Movie|animated feature]]) were produced, during which all the major and most of the minor known myths are covered in one way or the other.
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* [[Affably Evil]]: Several of the jotunns have traces of this, but Utgards-Loki, one of the few jotunn characters who's actually portrayed as ''intelligent,'' is the clearest example.
** You'd think that Loki would qualify, but on the whole, he's more of a [[Jerkass Woobie]] with traces of [[Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist]] than an actual villain.
* [[Anachronism Stew]]: Odin and Mimir are often seen playing ''chess.'' Other modern-time references usually fall under [[Rule of Funny]].
* [[Annoying Younger Sibling]]: Roskva to Tjalfe. This is especially clear in the first album, though both children go through a lot of [[Character Development]] over the series, and Roskva proves to be the more levelheaded of the two.
* [[Art Evolution]]: Naturally, given that the last album was published thirty years after the first one. Even so, the style stays remarkably consistent from the fourth album and onward.
* [[Ascended Extra]]: Thor's servants, Tjalfe and Roskva, are very minor characters in the original myths (Tjalfe only appears in a couple of stories, Roskva only in one), but have been given major roles in this series, serving as [[Audience Surrogate|viewpoint characters]] for several stories.
** Also, Utgards-Loki only appears in one original myth (coincidentally the same one that introduces Tjalfe and Roskva), but is a recurring villain in the comic and possibly the closest the series has to a [[Big Bad]]. While not actually a threat to the gods for the most part, he does pull off quite a few [[Batman Gambit|Batman Gambits]] in the hope of humiliating or harming them. He's pretty much the only major villain in the series who is not killed.
* [[Attractive Bent Gender]]: Subverted ''hard'' with Thor, who does ''not'' make for an attractive woman.
** Both played straight and subverted with Loki: When he dressed up as Freya's handmaiden, he ''thinks'' he's incredibly sexy but is the only one who thinks so. However, when he's disguised as a mare in order to distract the jotunn horse Svadilfare, the horse finds him irresistible.
* [[Badass Boast]]: Thor, Heimdall and Loki are all extremely fond of this, but only Thor can regularly back it up.
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** A somewhat amusing development. In the second album the author plays around with Jotunn names along the lines of "H[insert dairy product]". The reason for this is the existence in the myths of the jotunn "Hymir", in modern danish "Hymer". [[wikipedia:Ymer (dairy product)|Ymer]] is a dairy product ... alright stay with me fellows ... so Madsen inserts a series of names based on soured milk and the like. These include a single background gag involving a misbehaved jotunn brat someone calles [[wikipedia:Quark (cheese)|Hquark]] ... Dang, a joke just isn't much fun when you explain it is it? ... Anyway this kid seems to have lodged himself in Madsen's brain, springing to life in the aforementioned albums etc.
* [[Character Development]]: Heimdall undergoes this in Freya's Necklace. Previous volumes cast him as a pompous, cowardly fool, but Freya's charms cause a more sensitive, chivalric, and even thoughtful side of his character to come to the surface. Not to mention the fact that when he realizes the extent of Loki's mischief he goes on a rampage, finally proving that the titles he keeps harping on about(The All-Seeing Aesir, The All-Hearing Aesir) aren't just for show.
** Tjalfe and Roskva also go through noticable [[Character Development]] over the course of the series; Tjalfe gradually becomes less foolish and insensitive, and more inclined to think before he acts, while Roskva goes from a naive little child to a far more insightful and intelligent young lady.
* [[Chaste Hero]]: Balder. A lot of women are interested in him, but he's saving himself for the right one. {{spoiler|This leads to the comic's huge [[Crack Pairing]], namely Balder/Hel.}}
* [[The Chessmaster]]: Odin, [[Anachronism Stew|in addition to have a fondness for the actual game,]] is portrayed as such in several of the stories (though not in the ones where he's the main character).
* [[Closer to Earth]]: Frigg and Sif are definitively more grounded than their husbands. In Frigg's case this was pretty much her role in the original myths as well, ans is carried over.
* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Of a slightly darker variety. Tyr's mother, in 'The Serpent in the Abyss', comments on how "nice" their family life used to be before Tyr ran away from home. Said family life having included regular verbal abuse from Tyr's cranky, many-headed grandmother, as well as physical abuse from his father Hymir.
* [[Companion Cube]]: Thor has a tendency to treat Mjolnir as a pet in addition to a weapon -- most notably in the second album, where it's stolen by Thrym and Thor panics because the hammer "isn't used to being alone." May be slightly [[Justified Trope|justified]] in that Mjolnir is a ''magical'' hammer and on one or two occasions (mostly for brief gags) has shown some semblance of sentience.
* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]: Heimdall is for the most part portrayed as a self-important, blustering fool with a huge cowardly streak... but as Loki finds out, if you actually get him riled enough, he becomes ''dangerous.''
** Hoedir might also count; he's not the parodic figure that Heimdall is, but for the majority of the series he's more or less the harmless blind background character that hardly anyone notices. When he gets his [[Day in The Limelight]], though, he thoroughly demonstrates why underestimating the blind guy is ''not'' a good idea.
* [[Day in The Limelight]]: Many, including Tyr's in 'The Serpent in the Abyss' and Heimdall's in 'Freya's Necklace'.
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Several of the gods have their moments, but Loki (not surprisingly) has the most.
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* [[Fiery Redhead]]: Thor.
* [[Good Is Not Nice]]: Again, many of the gods have definite touches of this, displaying some extremely morally questionable behavior, though in most cases it's used for comic effect. Odin is probably the clearest example of the trope; he usually doesn't bother to get involved in anything unless there's something in it for him personally -- and when there ''is,'' he'll lie, cheat, steal and sleep around to get what he wants -- but he does have his own moral code that he follows very strictly, and when it comes down to it he does ultimately have everyone's best interests at heart.
* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Tyr undergoes one when he's forced to confront his parentage in ''The Serpent in the Abyss.''
* [[Hotter and Sexier]]: The comic never shied away from sexual references and nudity, but the eighth album, "Freya's Necklace" -- hoo boy.
* [[Jerkass]]: Loki, though unlike in the myths not a malicious one (usually).
* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]: Thor is temperamental, thoughtless, insensitive and with a big selfish streak, but he's also genuinely kind and honorable.
** Especially evident in 'The Serpent in the Abyss'. Thor is probably the Aesir who most hates Jotunns, and certainly the one who enjoys beating them up the most; however, when he discovers the truth about Tyr's father, he defends him against Heimdall's accusations and states, in his own way, that he respects Tyr as a warrior and commander, in spite of the intense rivalry between them, and that he considers Tyr's parentage inconsequential.
* [[Kid Sidekick]]: Tjalfe, to Thor.
* [[Never Say "Die"]]: Averted, and hilariously played with in the thirteenth album, when Loki upon finding himself in the underworld tries to ask Hel if he's really dead or not. He uses every every possible euphemism for "death," only to have her completely misunderstand them all, until he breaks down and screams the real word. Translated and paraphrased:
{{quote|'''Loki:''' What brings me here... to the kingdom of the dead... ''ulp!'' Does this mean I have... passed away?
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** The third album also includes a notable [[Shout-Out]] to the [[Marvel Comics]], when Odin meets {{spoiler|Balder, Thor and Loki disguised as}} three mortal warriors named Fander, Hogur and Voldsdag -- [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo|Lawyer Friendly Cameos]] of [[The Mighty Thor|Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg.]]
*** Not sure if it was an intentional [[Shout-Out]] or not, but you can definitely see some traces of [[The Mighty Thor|Marvel's Thor]] in Tjalfe's dream sequence in the ninth album, where Thor passes Mjolnir on to him and tells him that from now on he is to be the "new Thor." In this sequence, Tjalfe is wearing a winged helmet and a red cape (and of course he's already blonde and beardless), making the parallels noticable.
** Also in the third album, a mortal woman named Thora, who is said to be "the fairest of them all" looks almost exactly like Disney's [[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney film)|Snow White]].
** In the second album, the band that plays at Thrym's wedding looks suspiciously like [[The Muppet Show|The Electric Mayhem.]]
* [[Spared by the Adaptation]]: Several characters who die in the original myths live in the comic.
** Loki deserves special mention. In the original myths, after killing Balder and taunting the gods, he is bound and imprisoned in an underground cave with a snake dripping poison in his face, and does not get free until Ragnarok, when he leads the attack on Asgard and is killed by Heimdall. In the comic, where Loki is far less malicious, these things are all alluded to and given [[Shout-Out|Shout Outs]], but do not actually happen.
* [[Suspect Is Hatless]]: Subverted in "Odin's Wager", when Thor tries to describe his encounter with a myserious stranger. Loki asks "How many eyes did he have?", and it occurs to Thor that the stranger was, in fact, ''one-eyed'', which means it was probably Odin (who has been missing for a while).
* [[Tagalong Kid]]: Roskva starts off as a pure example of this. Tjalfe, to a lesser degree. They both come into their own over the course of the stories.
* [[Traumatic Haircut]]: On two separate occasions, both of which bring notable plot developments. The straightest example (and the only one that's actually mentioned in the original myths) is Sif's haircut by Loki, but on a separate occasion Tyr also gets one after an argument with his hairdresser -- it's played more humorously, but when his new short hair reveals that he has the ears of a jotunn and a scar on his forehead {{spoiler|because he was the son of a jotunn who abused him as a child}}, it's suddenly [[Mood Whiplash|not as funny anymore.]]
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