VALRAVN
Classification: Mystically mutated extradimensional (Asgardian) corvus corax
Location/Base of Operations: Exist in various realms including Nidavellir and Niffleheim
Known Members: None identified
Affiliations: Dwarves of Nidavellir, Hela, Thanos (though the first two basically had them chained and the latter was just someone that caused enough chaos they could take advantage of)
Enemies: Alligator Loki (see comments), Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom), God of Hammers (God Tempest), Hela, Karnilla, Laussa, Mangog, Nidhogg, Thor (Odinson), Toothgnasher, Toothgrinder, Valkyrie (Jane Foster)
Aliases: Valraven
First Appearance: Thor VI#19 (January, 2022)
Powers/Abilities: The Valravn feed on the flesh and souls of the dead to grow in size and strength, granting them superhuman strength and durability. They could live for millennia and were presumably immune to disease. They could fly while carrying the weight of an average Asgardian and probably swallow most human-sized beings or even a large goat in a single gulp.
Traits: They were a cowardly kind of scavengers that lacked fighting skills and mostly threw around their massive weight against those opposing them.
Type: Bipedal avians
Eyes: Four (red)
Fingers: Four
Toes: Four
Skin color: Black
Average height: Variable (up to 80')
History:
(Thor VI#31 (fb) - BTS) - The Valravn were originally ravens that fed on
the flesh and souls of the fallen in the first battles. They grew big
and unruly.
(Thor VI#33 (fb)) - Valravn were present back in the day in Niffleheim and took advantage of the situation when the time-traveling Thanos fought the dead looking for the Black Stone.
(Thor VI#34 (fb)) - Back in the day inside a cave in Niffleheim the time traveling Laussa fled with Hela from an attacking Valravn, troll, giant and other creatures.
(Thor VI#31 (fb) - BTS) - Hela kept a few of them on the outskirts of Nastrond, but they were not allowed in Hel due to their habit of eating the dead.
(Thor VI#19 (fb) - BTS) - For millennia two shackled Valravn guarded the forge in Nidavellir while sitting on a perch.
One day they were slain by the God of Hammers wielding Mjolnir while controlling the Mangog. They had no chance to defend themselves.
(Thor VI#19) - In their search for the stolen Mjolnir, Odin took Thor to Nidavellir where they discovered the slain Valravn and dwarves.
(Alligator Loki#38) - Alligator Loki was hunted down in Hel by two Valravn, but Hela and Karnilla saved him and told off the Valravn.
(Thor VI#31/1) - Thor and Valkyrie traveled to Hel in Thor's chariot pulled by Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder and they found the realm devastated and empty with two Valravn feasting on the dead. After Thor learned from Hugin and Munin that the queens Hela and Karnilla where nowhere to be found, Mjolnir, imbued with the spirit of Odin, attacked a Valravn. Thor reclaimed Mjolnir and he and Valkyrie got stepped on by the other Valravn. Valkyrie pushed the Valravn off and asked him where the queens were, only to learn that the queens were dead and that the Valravn now ruled over Hel. Thor didn't accept their answers and made them grovel before him. They asked for his help when the Doom's controlled Nidhogg returned. Fearing for their existence they tried to convince Nidhogg to eat Thor instead of them.
(Thor VI#32) - The two Valravn sang about how dangerous and powerful was while it was driven away by Thor. One of them grabbed Thor's chariot and one of his goats, but Valkyrie forced the Valravn to drop the goat before using the chariot to go after Nidhogg as well.
(Thor VI#33) - The two Valravn followed Thor and Valkyrie to Earth through a portal and mocked Doom. They revealed to Thor that Doom was playing for time and warned him when Doom sent his own people to jump off a cliff to distract him. Thor took control over the soul reservoir that granted Doom full control over his people and made them stop from jumping to their death as the Valravn watched.
Comments: Adapted by Donny Cates & Nic Klein.
The Valravn appearance in Alligator Loki#38 is fun, but IMHO its continuity status is questionable. It could be squeezed in before the whole "Blood of the Fathers" storyline that began in Thor VI#31. Why? Because Hela and Karnilla were not just dethroned, but revealed to have been slain behind the scenes before the storyline began.
A Valravn first appeared in written text in a 16th century Danish ballad in Jens Bille's Handwritten Notes, but probably existed earlier in folklore. Varying versions of the ballad exist and in one the Valravn was actually the maiden's brother, who got turned into a valravn by their evil troll stepmother and became a knight after ripping apart his sister and drinking her blood, though she was revived later. In another version the Valravn slays the maiden's first-born son and became a knight, but the boy got better as well.
In a later anecdote by Peder Johansen it was said that ravens that feasted on the corpse of an unburied chief or king on the battlefield became Valravn and the one that ate his heart gained human thought and became terrible creatures with superhuman powers.
In the video game Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (2019) the Valravn was one of the deity's the main character had to deal with in a level that is very heavy on illusions.
They are already mentioned in clarifications below, but the Valravn Priests are part of a race of raven-like extraterrestrials that prayed to a raven god. We never learned the identity of their god and likely never will because they were annihilated by Knull and his symbiote dragons.
This profile was completed on 12/20/2025, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary event.
Profile by Markus Raymond.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Valraven have no known connections to:
images:
Thor VI#31, p9-10 (main)
Thor VI#31, p16, pan1 (head shot)
Thor VI#19, p21, pan1 (slain in Nidavellir)
Thor VI#31, p15, pan2 ("ruling" Hel)
Appearances:
Thor VI#19 (January, 2022) - Donny Cates (writer), Nic Klein (artist),
Wil Moss (editor)
Thor VI#31/1 (April, 2023) - Torunn Grønbekk & Donny Cates
(writers), Nic Klein (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Thor VI#32-33 (May-June, 2023) - Torunn Grønbekk (writer), Juan Gedeon
(artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Thor VI#34 (July, 2023) - Torunn Grønbekk (writer), Juan Gedeon &
Sergio Dávila (artists), Wil Moss (editor)
Alligator Loki#38 (September 13th, 2024) - Alyssa Wong (writer), Bob
Quinn (artist), Michelle Marchese (editor)
First Posted: 09/08/2026
Last updated: 12/20/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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