THE SILENT ONE

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Unrevealed. Although the Silent One's appearance is that of an elderly humanoid male, seemingly indistinguishable from Asgardians or Caucasian humans, his true nature has never been established.

Occupation: Harbinger of doom (apparently);
   former servant of Hela

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Unrevealed
   formerly Hela

Enemies: Desak, Infinity fragment/Odin aspect

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed

First Appearance: Thor I#184 (January, 1971)

Powers/Abilities: The Silent One can generate an unseen force that can be used to hurl any attackers away from him, even beings as strong as Thor or Hercules. He can also become intangible to avoid any objects that are thrown at him.

   The Silent One can also defend himself from attack by somehow preventing the muscles in his attacker's limbs from obeying the signals sent from his brain, thereby paralyzing the menacing limb.

   The Silent One can stand (and, presumably, walk) on air as if it were a solid surface. This may be an indication that he can actually fly (but he has not yet specifically demonstrated the power of flight).

   The Silent One can travel between realities (as from the World Beyond to the Dimension of Death) and can bring others with him. This sometimes requires him to open a portal through which he and his companions must pass but other times he has been able to move between realities without the person he was leading becoming aware of what was happening (until it was too late). On one occasion the Silent One was able to open a portal that may have led to a possible future (see comments).

   The Silent One can conjure visions, audio-visual illusions which recreate events that have occurred in other times and/or places. How he knows enough about these events to recreate them so exactly is not known. Alternatively, it's possible that these visions are the actual events being viewed through some sort of time/space warp created by the Silent One. However he generates these visions, he has demonstrated that he can do so for events that occurred years earlier and many light-years away. Whatever limitations this ability has, if any, are unrevealed.

   When the Silent One was in service to Hela, he acted as her eyes and ears, presumably by relaying what he was seeing and hearing to her. How exactly he was able to do this is unrevealed but it may have been an ability (like a telepathic link) bestowed upon him by Hela.

   The Silent One can restore a dying being to full health by imparting his strength and/or life-force to that other being. However, doing so will weaken him so much that he will either die or seem to die. If he does actually die in the process, then it may be possible for him to somehow return to life. It not revealed whether he can use this ability to heal any dying being or only those who are suffering from certain afflications (such as rapid aging induced by Hela).

   Absolutely nothing is revealed about the source of all of the Silent One's abilities. While it's possible that they were bestowed upon him by Hela, it's unlikely that she would have allowed him to retain them once he left her service.

Limitations: The being known only as the Silent One apparently cannot speak or make any sounds with his voice. It has not been revealed if this is a physical disability or if he is capable of speech but something compels him to remain silent.

   When the Silent One was in the service of Hela, she stated that he "may not" speak and "may not" feel and that he lived only to serve her will. However, when Thor lay dying, the Silent One did exhibit some emotion and was able to act in a way that was counter to Hela's wishes.

Height: 6' (estimated)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: White (sometimes bright yellow)
Hair: Unrevealed (possibly bald under his steel skullcap)

History: Nothing has been revealed about the life of the being known only as the Silent One prior to the time when he first appeared in Asgard. Similarly, the circumstances under which his service to Hela began have also not been revealed.

(Thor I#186 (fb) - BTS) - The Asgardian death goddess Hela chose the Silent One to serve as her eyes and ears. She then sent him to Asgard to stay close to Odin so that she could monitor what actions the All-Father took (to oppose her creation, Infinity).

(Thor I#184 (fb) - BTS) - When a stranger (the Silent One) arrived (or appeared) in Asgard, Odin sensed that he held the key to what was happening with the menace from the World Beyond. Odin attempted to force the stranger to speak but failed. For this reason, Odin allowed him to remain in the Chamber Royal, standing in the shadows, soundless and wordless, for day after day and night after night, while Odin waited for the moment when the Silent One would speak.

(Thor I#184) - Days later, after Thor had been briefed about the World Beyond and the Silent One, the Odinson tried to use his hammer to make him speak, but an unseen force hurled Thor back. Undeterred, Thor threw Mjolnir at the Silent One, but the hammer passed through him as if he were not there, and Odin commanded Thor to stop. Odin then claimed that the power to slay "yon Silent One" was his alone, but that he had chosen to wait and seek the answer in his own imperial way. Odin then announced that Thor was to stay and guard Asgard while Odin went forth to probe the World Beyond. As Odin disappeared, swallowed up by the blazing sphere of cosmic force which he had conjured for transportation, the Silent One followed him into the sphere, with Odin commanding Thor to "let him go where'er he wilt." The sphere of cosmic force then departed from Asgard, bound for the World Beyond.

(Thor I#185) - Later, after having journeyed to the World Beyond himself and having battled its Guardian and witnessed the power of Infinity, Thor encountered the Silent One and tried to force him to reveal Odin's fate. Thor's first attempt to strike the Silent One with Mjolnir failed when his arms refused to move as he wished. Thor then used his hammer to destroy the peak upon which the Silent One was standing, but his foe simply remained standing in thin air. However, despite Thor's inability to force him to speak, the Silent One did react. By turning, raising his eyes and pointing, the Silent One directed Thor's attention to where Infinity's "hand" was destroying another planet, but this time Thor was able to see that the the planets "destroyed" in this manner were actually being swallowed by the darkness within the World Beyond and their inhabitants were becoming will-less servants of Infinity. Once Thor had come to this realization, the Silent One pointed again, in what Thor perceived as a warning of an impending danger, and out of the mists came the Warriors Three who were now possessed by Infinity. As Thor dealt with his comrades, the Silent One traveled to a position near to Odin and resumed watching Odin's battle with the still-hidden Infinity.

(Thor I#186) - Later, when Thor tried to join Odin in his battle with Infinity, the Silent One stood to block his path. In an attempt to get the Silent One to move aside, Thor threatened the "grim and ghastly harbinger of doom," but Odin forbade his son from striking the Silent One. Puzzled by his father's command, Thor wondered aloud about what he should do and, seemingly in response to his words, the Silent One turned and gestured at Thor for the thunder god to follow him. Thor complied, and the Silent One led him through the mists until they reached "a land beyond the land" which Thor recognized as the dread Dimension of Death where the Silent One prostrated himself before his mistress, Hela. The death-goddess revealed to Thor that the Silent One had been sent by her to be her eyes and ears. Hela further revealed that the Silent One "may not" speak or feel and only lived to serve her will. As part of her mystic master plan, Hela had decided that the time had come for Thor to die, and she used her power to make him age rapidly. With the deed done, Hela departed, leaving the withered and still-aging Thor behind. As Thor protested that he would not yield, the Silent One approached, and Thor seemed to see a single tear welling in his eye. The Silent One then reached out his hand and touched Thor's hand, and at that moment Thor experienced a miracle as new life flooded through his body. As Thor arose, restored to his full health and youth, he saw the fallen Silent One and realized that the Silent One had (apparently) given his life that Thor might live. Thankful for what the "most noble Silent One" had done, Thor prayed that he "be worthy" of the sacrifice and then left return to Odin...only to find his father had himself been possessed by Infinity.

(Conjecture) - Later, something which has not yet been revealed must have happened (see comments)

(Thor 2001 (fb) - BTS) - When the Silent One arrived in Mount Olympus, realm of the Olympian gods, Zeus recognized him as a "harbinger of doom" whom Thor had encountered before. Zeus contacted his son Hercules, then exiled on Earth, and informed him of the situation, then commanded that he seek out Thor and escort him to Mount Olympus.

(Thor 2001) - After arriving on Mount Olympus, Hercules escorted Thor and Beta Ray Bill to an audience with Zeus who directed their attention to the visitor who was standing nearby. When Thor identified him as the Silent One who had once visited Asgard to warn of the impending catastrophe known as Infinity, Hercules reacted by charging at whom he perceived as a potential threat to Olympus but the Silent One blew him back off his feet just by raising a hand. When Thor asked him to reveal the reasons why he had come to Olympus, the Silent One opened a portal to elsewhere. When Thor asked if he wanted them to "fight a battle eons away," the Silent One nodded in agreement so Thor led Hercules and Beta Ray Bill into the breach and along the pathway (made up of boulders floating in space) that was visible within.

   Arriving at the end of the pathway, the threesome found themselves in a future Olympus which had been devastated and whose gods had been laid waste. Thor realized that the Silent One meant for them to prevent this catastrophe from coming to pass. When the trio approached the Silent One, who was standing over the body of Zeus, he reacted to their request for an explanation by conjuring a vision of events which had happened in the past of another planet. All four watched the tragic events which had transformed an alien named Desak Sterixian into Desak, Destroyer of Gods. The Silent One then showed the trio numerous images of Desak destroying more powerful beings. Realizing that Desak's quest was to destroy all beings who called themselves gods, Thor used his hammer Mjolnir to create a vortex that transported himself, Hercules and Beta Ray Bill to Desak's location, a planet "hundreds of galaxies away."

   The Silent One did not accompany them on this journey.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee, John Buscema and Joe Sinnott.

Time travel? Or not?

   After passing through the breach opened by the Silent One, Thor, Hercules and Beta Ray Bill arrived in the ruins of a devastated Olympus, causing Hercules to exclaim, "'Tis not elsewhere we've journeyed -- but elsewhen!" The trio of gods seem to assume that they've actually been sent to a possible future so that they can see the catastrophe that they are meant to prevent from coming to pass. According to Avengers, Thor & Captain America: Official Index to the Marvel Universe#113: THOR ANNUAL 2001, this destroyed Olympus is actually the "Olympus of Earth-12387 reality." So, is Olympus-12387 meant to be a possible future of Olympus-616, as the godly trio seem to assume? Or is it actually the then-present-day of Olympus-12387, part of a timeline in which Desak had already attacked Olympus somewhat earlier than he would have done in Reality-616? In other words, did the Silent One actually guide them to a future time or to an alternate present?

Untold tale?

   When last seen by Thor (in Thor I#186), the Silent One had been revealed to be only a living remote surveillance drone for Hela and he had sacrificed his life in order to save Thor. So, when the Odinson first saw him again (in Thor 2001) he should have had a significant reaction...but that's not what happened. Instead, Thor did NOT express how surprised he was at seeing someone who had died to save his life was: a) not dead after all or b) had been dead but was now resurrected. Similarly, Thor accepted without question that the Silent One was in Olympus in order to warn them of an impending catastrophe, something of which Thor should have been fully aware was NOT AT ALL why he had visited Asgard years earlier.

   The person responsible for this extremely odd behavior on Thor's part is writer Dan Jurgens who, I can only assume, didn't properly research the Silent One's background before using him in this story. Unfortunately, this real-world explanation doesn't help account for Thor's reaction in this story.

   In the absence of any "official" explanation, I hereby present the following piece of speculation. Please note that I am NOT claiming that this fanfic of mine is something which actually happened behind-the-scenes between the two stories, I am merely presenting a POSSIBLE reason for Thor's odd reaction.

   The simpliest explanation that comes to mind is that Thor had actually already met the Silent One again sometime after the latter's (apparent) death in Thor I#186 and that at this (hypothetical) meeting Thor had reacted with an understandable amount of surprise at seeing that the "dead" Silent One was still living. For example, an expression like "Odin's blood, you're alive!!" would not seem out of place. Further, this meeting would have given Thor the opportunity to discover that the Silent One was no longer Hela's pawn but instead had (somehow) become an actual "harbinger of doom." Of course, such a change in his occupation would merit its own explanation but, sadly, I have nothing to offer as to whomever (or whatever) might have been responsible for making him a true harbinger. Here endeth my speculation.

Profile by Donald Campbell.

Clarifications:
The Silent One has no known connections to:

• S.I.L.E.N.T. (Number None, General Quiet, Mister Shssh, and Pope Omerta), a former terrorist cell who became the leaders of the Beyond Corporation (but who were actually figureheads for the real leader, a Devil Dinosaur duplicate) -- Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.#9
• Silence, wife of Dust and co-leader of the New Wave -- Dazzler#41
• Silence, a ninja from Madripoor who was hired by Rosalie Carbone to kill the Punisher--Punisher War Zone#8
• Silence-1 and Silence-2, two members of the Foreigner's Death Squad who wore armor which absorbed noises of varying intensities--Web of Spider-Man#92
• Omerta (the Italian word meaning silence), a national hero in Italy who used martial arts skills while maintaining a vow of silence--Alpha Flight I#108
• Omerta (Paulie Provenzano), a mutant with an advanced degree of invulnerability who briefly worked with the X-Men but was later executed in the gas chambers of the secret Neverland concentration camp run by the Weapon X Program--Uncanny X-Men I#392
• The Silence from Earth-93060 (the Ultraverse), an ultra based in San Diego who helped the local police with their investigations until he was killed by Rafferty, a serial killer who targeted ultras--Firearm##17
• Jason Silence, one of Satana's victims whose soul was cast down to Hell as part of Satana's monthly tithe to her father but who was later briefly returned to Earth by Satana before she killed him again--Legion of Monsters: Satana#1
• Jennifer Silence, twin sister of one of Satana's victims who was able to trap Satana and force her to recover Jason Silence from Hell but Satana then killed Jason again and trapped Jennifer in her Body Orchard--Legion of Monsters: Satana#1
• Silencer (Count Barzon), a Bodavian assassin hired to kill Sigjid Roskoff--Marvel Premiere#49
• Silencer (Dean Helm), Crossfire's assassin/Cross-Tech hitman who wore a uniform equipped with a sound-dampening device--Hawkeye I#2
• Silencer, a bio-engineered mob assassin who possessed Darkforce-like powers--Spider-Man/Elektra 1998 Annual
• Silencer, a criminal who could generate "null sound" and who was one of the inmates who tried to escape from the Big House--She-Hulk I#5
• Silencers, a four-man mercenary team who used advanced technology to make themselves (mostly) invisible and inaudible--Web of Spider-Man I#113
• Silencers, agents of Department H who used armor based on the original Guardian armor--X-Man #27
• Silennus, an Olypian centaur who owns Silly's Bar--Incredible Hercules#121
• A MI: 13 device codenamed "Silent Easter" which generates a pentragram tesseract (an intrusion of magical fields into another dimension) which is capable of capturing a Mindless One--Captain Britain and MI: 13#8
• The Silent Followers, the priests of a Hyborian Age cult in Hyperborea who worshipped the god Bardisattva-- Savage Sword of Conan I#178
• Silent Fox, the now-deceased leader of the Keewazi Indians of Oklahoma who was Wyatt Wingfoot's paternal grandfather-- Fantastic Four I#80
• IT, the Silent One, a monster of artifical construction and unrevealed origin which was awakened from its sleep of centuries when Namor the Sub-Mariner unknowingly dumped radioactive waste on its resting place-- Tales to Astonish I#92
• The Silent Ones, Trolls who live on the Isle of Silence in Asgard--Avengers I#1
• The Silent Ones, a group of evil evolved humans who originated on ancient Earth but later relocated to another dimension and eventually tried to use the bodies of the Sons of the Tiger as vessels--Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#10
• The Silent Ones, members of the Cheemuzwa tribe (including Light Horse) of North American Indians who unwisely taught their magic to the Miracle Man--Fantastic Four I#138
• The Silent Ones, beings who are sometimes evoked (as in, "By the sacred thoughts of the Silent Ones") by Sleepwalkers--mentioned in Darkhawk#19
• "Silent Rock", a tiny extradimensional monster who somehow posed a threat to Earth until he was defeated by the Defenders--Defenders II#12
• Krawl (nicknamed "Silent Sam" by the Thing), a (possible) Deviant mutate used as a beast of burden by Queen Kala of the Netherworld--Fantastic Four I#127
• "Silent Scream", one of a team of four armored lackeys once employed by the Red Skull--Captain America Annual I#13
• Silent Shadows, a four-man team of agents who were employed to protect Morelle Pharmaceuticals-- Nightwatch#5
• The Masters of Silence (Inazuma, Kaminari, Kaze), generations of ninja assassins (all but the most recent Kaze being Japanese) who kill only those who deserve death and whose team was originally formed to combat the demon called the Face Thief--Iron Man I#281
• or any other people, groups, places and things which have "Silent" or "Silence" as part of their names.

images:
Thor I#186, page 9, panel 4 (main image)
      page 8, panel 2 (head shot)
      page 19, panel 1 (silently crying)
      page 19, panel 8 (dead?)
Thor [Annual] 2001, page 14, panel 3 (opening a portal)

Appearances:
Thor I#184 (January, 1971) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), John Buscema (penciler), Joe Sinnott (inker)
Thor I#185 (February, 1971) - Stan Lee (story/editor), John Buscema (illustration), Sam Grainger (delineation)
Thor I#186 (March, 1971) - Stan Lee (story/editor), John Buscema (illustration), Joe Sinnott (embellishment)
Thor [Annual Vol. 2] 2001 (March, 2001) - Dan Jurgens (writer), Tom Grummett (pencils), Al Vey, Karl Kesel, Scott Hanna (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)

Last updated: 01/29/06

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to http://www.g-mart.com/ for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters