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 Beta Ray Thor
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History: Beta Ray Bill is a member of an extraterrestrial race of semi-humanoid beings which lived in a peaceful interplanetary empire in a distant galaxy now known as the "Burning Galaxy." Recently, the ancient demon known as Surtur caused the core of that galaxy to explode in order to release a the tremendous amount of energy he needed to reforge his "Sword of Doom." This galactic cataclysm destroyedmost of the empire, and the survivors made ready a flee in a fleet of ten thousand starships in order to find new home in another galaxy. The imperial leaders decided to choose a guardian for the space fleet who would be granted great power. Athletic games which proved to be grueling tests of strength and endurance were held to select physically acceptable candidates. These candidates were then subjected to psychological tests which left most of them dead or insane. Beta Ray Bill was among the small group of survivors. The empire's scientists took specimens of the most ferocious carnivorous beast in the empire, and, using bioengineering techniques, restructed their bodies as to greatly increase their strength, speed, and agility. Then, in an excruciatingly painful process, the life forces and consciousnessof the candidates for guardian were transferred into these bioengineers cyborg bodies. Beta Ray Bill was the only one of the candidates to survive this process, and so it was that he became the guardian. Beta Ray Bill was given a sentient warship, named Skuttlebutt. Because there was not enough food for everyone who was to ride in the space fleet for what might prove to be a very long journey, even with travel through hyperspace, all of them were put into a state of suspended animation called coldsleep. Only Beta Ray Bill, whose life span had been artificially lengthened through bioengineering, remained awake to serve as guardian. Almost immediately after the fleet had left the devastated empire, Beta Ray Bill discovered that it was being followed by a horde of demons coming from the exploded galactic core. These demons were in the employ of Surtur. Beta Ray Bill and Skuttlebutt fought the demons and held them off until the fleet had gotten a safe distance away. Beta Ray Bill then traveled ahead of the fleet, searching in vain for a world where his people could take refuge. Meanwhile, the demons continued to follow, even over intergalactic distance, drawing ever closer to the Fleet. After the space fleet had entered the Milky Way Galaxy, it was detected by a SHIELD hyperspatial probe, and then-SHIELD Director Nicholas Fury asked Thor to investigate. At this time Beta Ray Bill was in suspended animation aboard the Skuttlebutt, whose computers would awake him if they detected danger. They awakened him when Thor breached the hull of the ship and the alien guardian and the thunder god began battling one another, not realizing each other's noble motives. As they fought, Thor was separated from his enchanted hammer Mjolnir, and the starship entered Earth's solar system. When it did so, Odin's spell, which caused Thor to revert to his mortal form of Dr. Donald Blake if he was out of contact with the hammer for sixty seconds or more, was activated. Thor turned into Blake and the hammer, again according to Odin's spell, turned into a wooden cane. Beta Ray Bill seized the cane and, without realizing what would happen, struck it against a wall. He then found himself in possession of the power of Thor, holding Mjolnir, and even garbed in a variation of Thor's costume. This was because the enchantment on the hammer were designed so as to bestow the power and form of Thor upon any bearer worthy of them. Odin had believed that only Thor himself was so worthy, but Beta Ray Bill, a great hero in his own right, was equally worthy. Beta Ray Bill's ship landed on Earth, whereupon Odin cast a spell to transport Thor to Asgard. The spell took Beta Ray Bill there instead, leaving Blake on Earth. On learning his mistake, Odin transported Blake to asgard as well, and endowed him with the form of Thor again. Beta Ray Bill had assumed that Thor and the other Asgardians were in league with his demonic adversaries, but was convinced of his error. Nevertheless, he insisted on keeping Mjolnir, saying that he had won it fairly in combat, and that he needed it as a weapon to defend his race from the demons. Odin decreed that the matter be settled by a combat to the death between Thor and Beta Ray Bill, neither having the use of Mjolnir, and transported them to the land of Skartheim for the battle. Beta Ray Billproved to be the victor in the ensuing battle, but refused to kill Thor, whom he regarded as a noble adversary. Odin's motives in decreeing this combat are unclear, but he was apparently satisfied with the result, in that Beta Ray Bill proved his own nobility by sparing Thor's life, and Thor learned a lesson in humility in recognizing that he could be defeated in combat with an equal. Beta Ray Bill had won the right to Thor's hammer, but he was torn between his need for such a powerful weapon to defend his people and his guilt over depriving Thor of the weapon he was meant to bear. Odin solved the problem by commissioning the creation of a new uru hammer from Eitri, the dwarf who had created Thor's hammer, and the other dwarves who worked at the forges of Nidavellir. Odin placed enchantments similar to those on Thor's hammer upon this new one, which he named Storm Breaker, and bestowed upon Beta Ray Bill. Odin then returned the original hammer, Mjolnir, to Thor. Thor, Beta Ray Bill, and the goddess Sif then left for outerspace where together they battled and defeated the horde of demons pursuing Beta Ray Bill's people. Thor and Beta Ray Bill used their hammers to seal the portal from which the demons had emerged. After Beta Ray Bill, Thor, and Sif returned to Asgard, Odin learned of Beta Ray Bill's regrets that he was trapped in a monstrous form, and transferred the enchantment that had allowed Thor to transform into mortal form and back from Mjolnir into Storm Breaker. Now Beta Ray Bill could use the hammer to assume his original form. Accompanied by Sif, Beta Ray Bill left Asgard to return to his task of protecting his people. Odin summoned both Beta Ray and Sif back to Asgard to join in the battle against Surtur's demons when the latter invaded Earth. Beta Ray was made one of the commanders of the Asgardian legions during this campaign.
Height:
(in "Thor" form) 6 ft. 7 in. (in original form) 6 ft. 4 in. Strength Level: In his original form, Beta Ray Bill was probably no stronger than the average male human of the same physical age, height, and build. In his bioengineered form, Beta Ray Bill was strong enough to present a threat to Thor in hand-to-hand combat, but the exact limits of Beta Ray Bill's strength were not established. In his "Thor" form, Beta Ray Bill Possesses "Class 100" strength, and can lift (press) somewhere over 100 tons. His strength in this form is the equal of Thor's. Known Superhuman Powers: In his "Thor" form, Beta Ray Bill possesses the same superhuman powers that Thor himselfdoes. In addition to his superhuman strength, Beta Ray Bill is immune to all diseases, and resistant to conventional injury. Like Asgardians, Beta Ray Bill in his "Thor" form has flesh and bone that are about three times as dense as similar human tissue, contributing to his superhuman strength and weight. In his "Thor" form he also has Asgardian metabolism, which gives him far greater than human endurance at all physical activities. The scientists who bioengineered Beta Ray Bill implanted sensors within his cyborg body that allow him to discover the location of his people's space fleet even across vast interstellar distances. Weapons: Beta Ray Bill carries an enchanted uru hammer called Storm Breaker, which apparently possesses the same powers as Thor's uru hammer Mjolnir. The principal exception is that Odin removed the enchantment that allows Thor to transform into mortal form from Mjolnir and transferred it into Storm Bringer. Hence, Beta Ray Bill can transform into his original non-cyborg form by stamping the hammer's head to the ground twice. The hammer then becomes a wooden cane. By stamping the cane on the ground twice, Beta Ray Bill can regain his superhumanly powerful "Thor" form, and the cane will change back into an uru hammer. It is not known whether Beta Ray Bill will revert to his original form if the hammer leaves his grasp for more than sixty Earth seconds.
Storm Breaker allows Beta Ray Bill to fly and traverse dimensional barriers. It enables him to control the weather, and he can project energy bolts from the hammer. No unworthy living being can lift the hammer, and the hammer always returns to Beta Ray Bill's grasp after he hurls it. The hammer is two feet and its handle is wrapped in leather, which terminates in a thong: made of the mystical metal uru, the hammer is virtually indestructible. Transportation: Beta Ray Bill, when choosing not to use his hammer to travel through space, uses an armed and armored spacecraft called Skuttlebutt. Skuttlebutt's computers give it high intelligence and a humanoid-like, apparently female personality, and Beta Ray Bill considers Skuttlebutt a partner and close friend. Skuttlebutt is heavily armored with highly destructive weaponry, can achieve faster than light speeds after shifting into hyperspace, and can repair itself after being damaged. Skuttlebutt's computers enable it to act independently when Beta Ray Bill is absent or otherwise engaged.
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Real
Name: Beta Ray Bill (English equivalent of his name in his own
language)
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