This article contains lore based on real-life sources from Norse mythology as introduced from the God of War Norse era.
| “ | And where do you think you’re going? Oh No. Brother! The Little freak’s got a bow! What are we gonna do?” | ” |
―Modi | ||
Modi (Old Norse: Móði, Nordic: ᛗᛟᛞᛁ) also known as Modi Thorson (Translation: Modi, Son of Thor) was the Norse God of Courage and Wrath. Son of Thor and Sif, the nephew of Týr, Heimdall and Baldur, the younger half-brother of Magni, and older brother of Thrúd. He is the secondary antagonist of God of War (2018). Modi and his half-brother both followed their uncle Baldur in their quest to find and kill Kratos and Atreus.
Quick Answers
Who are the parents of Modi in Norse mythology?
What is Modi known for in the God of War Norse era?
Who are Modi's siblings in Norse mythology?
What role does Modi play in God of War (2018)?
How is Modi related to Baldur in Norse mythology?
Codex Description
Modi is the younger son of Thor, and a relentless creep. He also can shoot lightning, and uses a mace and shield. He ran off after father killed his brother, Magni, but I bet we haven't seen the last of him. I'll kill him the next time I see him.
- Atreus
Norse Mythology
In Norse mythology, Móði (anglicized as Modi or Mothi) means “Anger” or “Courage” in Old Norse, reflecting his warlike and battle-fueled nature. He is the son of Thor, though his mother is not named in any surviving sources. Móði is the younger half-brother of Magni, whose mother is the jötunn Járnsaxa.
Móði is only sparsely attested in the myths. According to the Poetic Edda (Vafþrúðnismál) and Skáldskaparmál (Prose Edda), he and Magni are among the few gods who survive Ragnarök. After Thor is killed by Jörmungandr, the two brothers inherit their father’s hammer, Mjölnir, ensuring that Thor’s legacy continues in the renewed world.
Though little else is said about him, Móði is implied to embody Thor’s courage, battle-fury, and martial spirit, complementing Magni’s extraordinary physical strength. He is primarily mentioned in relation to his family, Ragnarök survival, and the inheritance of Mjölnir, with no separate myths detailing his individual deeds.
In the God of War Series
Modi was the son of Thor and Sif. He is the grandson of Odin, Fjörgyn, and the nephew of Týr, Heimdall and Baldur, and the younger half-brother of Thor’s first son, Magni, and older brother of Thrúd. Modi, together with Magni, in their childhood, listened to their parents as they told stories to them by the fire and were given freshly-carved wooden horses. They would then would play and laugh until the sun went down and Modi and Magni would then sleep on their parents' laps.
Together in their youth, the two — no taller than shrubs — managed to rescue their father after he had accidentally got himself trapped underneath the corpse of the Stone Giant Hrungnir, shortly after he had killed him. However, while nobody was looking at the time, Magni and Modi succeeded where everyone else in Odin’s court had failed by effortlessly lifting Hrungnir’s body off of Thor. Unfortunately, the only one to witness the two was Odin’s advisor, Mimir. In the end, Magni was given all of the credit for the deed simply because he was noticed first since he was the blonder of the duo. Having failed to receive little-to-no praise for his accomplishment, Modi was left immensely bitter and resentful due to having been overshadowed by Magni.
Growing up, Magni would be regarded as Thor’s favorite son while Modi would be simply regarded as nothing more than Thor’s second son and Magni’s brother alone. In addition, due to Thor’s favoritism of Magni, Modi was treated little more than a lesser son by his father, causing him to develop an inferiority complex from living in Magni’s shadow. As a result, Modi strived to one day outdo his older brother and impress his father by proving himself worthy of inheriting Thor’s prized hammer Mjolnir.
During the Aesir-Vanir War, Magni along with his brother took part in a battle and together, they fought and killed the Vanir goddess Nerthus.
God of War (2018)
After their uncle is defeated in battle by a man suspected of being the Guardian, Magni and Modi are summoned by Baldur to aid him in his hunt for his target. The three travel to Midgard where they seek advice from the now-imprisoned Mimir. Mimir is shocked and amused that “the sons of Thor“ have graced him with their presence and mockingly asks if the two are still tripping over themselves “trying to impress daddy“. The three try to get answers out of Mimir on the whereabouts of Kratos and his young son Atreus, with Baldur even offering to speak to Odin himself on Mimir’s behalf and attempt to have Mimir released but Mimir, knowing too well Odin will never free him, refuses to help and simply orders Baldur to leave as well as take the “two worthless wankers” with him. Frustrated, Baldur leaves but not before Modi threatens to return later and steal Mimir's other eye. The two siblings‘ conversion subsequently annoys Baldur to the point he orders them to shut up and calls them “idiots“.
Shortly afterwards, Magni and Modi split up from their uncle in order to hunt Kratos and Atreus. Having witnessed the Frost Giant Thamur’s hammer suddenly fall for no apparent reason and destroy the entire frozen plain, the two decide to investigate the area; correctly assuming that their enemies are there too. Continuing to search the area, Modi brings up his distrust for his uncle by mentioning Baldur hasn’t seen straight in years but Magni states that since Thor trusts them, they must trust him as well. Modi sarcastically notes that they cannot disappoint their father, which Magni responds with an annoyed tone of voice.
Just as Kratos and Atreus arrive with the now severed head of Mimir to claim a piece of Thamur’s chisel, they are spotted by Magni and Modi and quickly ambushed. Magni orders the father and son to surrender but Kratos refuses to comply thereby starting a brawl between them and the sons of Thor. Modi introduces himself by jumping down from up above and blocking Atreus’ escape. Sadistically amused by the mere sight of Atreus, Modi takes advantage of the fight by proceeding to mercilessly mock Atreus constantly throughout the battle; taking immoral pleasure in insulting the young boy and trying to get a rise out of him. The fight, however, takes a drastic turn when Kratos manages to kill Magni by embedding his axe into Magni’s face. Visibly distraught by the death of his older half-brother having taken place right in front of him (as well as given by the fact the two believed themselves to be incapable of dying), a horrified Modi backs away from Kratos in fear while struggling to speak in terror and anger. After being shot with several arrows by Atreus, Modi turns tail and runs away; disappearing over the side of the cliff and into the bellows of the canyon.
With Magni now gone, Modi realizes that he will now receive Mjölnir simply by default and will forever be regarded as a joke by the Aesir. Refusing to let this fate come to pass, Modi tries to avenge his brother at Tyr's Temple. Ambushing Kratos and Atreus while they were preoccupied with trying to enter Tyr’s secret chambers, Modi summons a lightning bolt and disables the two. With the two down, Modi enters and begins to continuously electrocute Kratos with his mace while Atreus helplessly looks on. Modi furiously proclaims that Kratos ruined everything and disturbingly taunts Atreus by stating he will be his “new little brother“. Enraged, Atreus attempts to activate his inner rage to try and save his father only to suddenly fall unexpectedly into a coma, providing Kratos with the much-needed opportunity (and motivation) to overpower and disarm Modi, forcing the cowardly demigod to flee once again.
Following this, he flees to Asgard, where his father, Thor, believed that he left Magni to die and severely beats him for his cowardice.
Death
| “ | Thor... blamed me... ME...for what you did to Magni. My own father called me a coward... | ” |
―Modi to Kratos and Atreus after getting beaten by Thor | ||
Beaten within an inch of his life, the broken and battered Modi manged to clamber to the Horned God statue, broken both physically and mentally, Modi returns to Midgard in order to redeem himself. He attempts to confront Kratos and Atreus again while they were inside the mountain, but he is too badly injured to do anything. While Kratos saw no reason to kill him, Atreus begged to differ. Having been told by his father that he was a God, Atreus, in his arrogance wished to kill Modi out of revenge; remarking that as Gods, they could do whatever they wanted. With nothing left to live for, Modi proceeded to make one last particularly vulgar insult towards Faye, which resulted in Atreus stabbing him in the neck before kicking him into a chasm, presumably killing him before Kratos could intervene.
Aftermath
| “ | "This is for Modi!" "You put him last, even in death." "The fuck you say?" "Modi sought us in fear of you. He died of the wounds you gave him." "Oh. We got a MODEL FATHER here." |
” |
―Thor and Kratos battling one another | ||
Atreus’ killing of Modi would go to serve as one of the major, if not, primarily catalyst for Atreus‘ growing hubris. Modi‘s death would particularly come to haunt Atreus after he and his father accidentally ended up in Helheim. While in the City of the Dead, Atreus was tortured with visions of his recent arrogance: him mercilessly killing Modi before callously kicking him into the abyss. Though while Modi may have given Atreus a reason to be so arrogant, Modi’s death also gave Atreus reason to become more humble and eventually reconcile with his father. After completing their journey, Atreus has a dream where at some point in the future, Thor attacks Kratos and Atreus at their home to avenge the deaths of his brother and sons.
Off-screen, Modi's demise would have a huge impact on Thor and Sif, as the beating Thor inflicted on Modi is what led to Modi fleeing Asgard and encountering Atreus in Midgard, too weak to even stand, which allowed Atreus to kill him. This combined with the loss of Magni, sent Thor into a deep depression, as it was an unavoidable sign that he had failed his sons as a father due to his drunken destructive ways. To try and make amends, and for the sake of their remaining daughter Thrúd, Sif promised to stop drinking, and Thor, albeit with great difficulty, promised to do the same. Thor and Sif were also much more protective of Thrúd, as, in Asgard, Sif scolds her wishes to become a Valkyrie, fearing that it would lead to her becoming another pawn of Odin that he could use without remorse.
Three years later during a fight against Thor, Kratos accuses the God of Thunder of not truly caring for Modi, proclaiming that the latter died because his own father had beaten him for his failures, and only sought Kratos and Atreus out of fear of what Thor would do if he did not. This remark angered Thor, who pressed his attack upon being reminded of how he contributed to his son's death. In Muspelheim, he pins Atreus to a rock wall with Mjolnir, acknowledging that despite Modi's shortcomings, he was still his son and could never forgive Atreus for his death, coldly warning Atreus that if not for Odin's orders, he would have killed him already.
Moreover, Modi's death is what caused Sif to harbor a strong hatred for Atreus as whenever she would see him she would always act icy towards him, as she never forgave the young Jötunn for killing Modi. However, during and after Ragnarök, Sif had let go of her hatred upon seeing how Odin has been mistreating his family and practically sent her sons to die. Thrúd, Modi's sister, had stated that she and her family were better off without him, though she would later grip his shield in mourning, suggesting that she was simply hiding her grief.
God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla
While Kratos is in Valhalla, the hall takes advantage of Kratos' past battles and an illusion of Modi appears, who engages the former in combat. Unlike the real Modi, his illusionary version wields additional lightning abilities: this includes summoning lightning from the sky while banging on his shield, shooting lightning from his mace, which can incapacitate Kratos, making electric energy disperse from his shield by slamming it onto the ground, shooting lightning balls that can also incapacitate the Spartan, as well as warp into electric energy in order to move swiftly from one position to the next. After Kratos defeats him, Modi will fade away and then explode in a burst of electric energy.
After defeating both illusions of Magni and Modi, Kratos realizes that the reason Valhalla was summoning them in particular was due to Kratos understanding that if he had raised Atreus as he had been raised in Sparta, Atreus would have likely become no better than the sons of Thor. This causes Kratos to pity the two on how little chance of being decent Gods they truly had: beaten by their father, sent to die by their uncle and belittled in death by their grandfather, causing Kratos to realize that by giving their illusions a fair fight, he was giving them the honor in death that they never received in life.
When Kratos later told of his encounter with Magni and Modi to Sigrún, the Valkyrie assures that it is not really him as Valhalla takes advantage of the Spartan's past fights.
Description
Modi is tall and has a heavily muscular build much like other Aesir, except for Baldur, being only slightly shorter as compared to Kratos.
He looks much more like his father than Magni, having ice-blue eyes, brown hair, and a beard that covers half of his face. He has two braids in his French Fork style beard, by his chin, like Magni. Modi wears brown fur-edged leather shoes, blue-colored pants with knee protectors, and an armored loincloth with belly armor held by two brown belts. On his upper body, he wears stick fur which cowers his back to waist added to nuclease-like holder around his neck while his chest is exposed and covered in an Elder Futhark tattoo. Modi also has armor on his shoulders that span to his forearms, along with several small leather bracelets.
Personality
| “ | Wow kid, your mother must have been some whore to lay with the likes of him. | ” |
―Modi taunting Atreus. | ||
Modi, like his fellow Aesir, was very cruel and sadistic, showcased when he and Magni threatened Mimir of returning "when no one is looking" and removing his remaining eye for not helping them locate Kratos and his son. He is also extremely rude, vulgar and impulsive, perhaps more so than his brother, constantly insulting Faye many times during his battle with Kratos and Atreus, much to the latter's infuriation. Even in his final moments, Modi held his immature personality to the end, as he continued to goad and taunt Atreus right before being stabbed in the neck.
He and his brother tended to bicker but were of course close to a point, specifically shown with Modi's anguish after witnessing Kratos killing his brother. However, it should be noted that he subsequently seemed to be more concerned over his own reputation following his brother's death, rather than Magni's actual demise. Despite their childishness, together in battle, the duo were a formidable force. Both brothers also had a reputation of apparently low intelligence, as they were constantly called idiots/fools by a number of characters, such as Baldur, Mimir, Kratos, and Sindri, the latter whom referred to them as "Thor's idiot sons" and called Modi a "dung heap".
Much like his brother, but far more so, Modi is utterly desperate to please and impress his father, the legendary Thor, and earn the right to wield his hammer, Mjölnir. As such, Modi is extremely insecure about proving himself the one to rightfully earn his father's hammer, specifically due to Thor's favoritism over Magni. As such, his rudeness and vulgarity could be seen as a result of this inferiority complex. When Kratos killed Magni, Modi believed that since his more favored brother was gone, he would only get the famed hammer by default, rather than proving himself worthy. As a result, Modi would think that everyone, particularly the Aesir, would see him as a joke, rather than as the worthy heir to Thor. With this result, Thor brutally beat and blamed Modi for letting Magni die, as well as brand Modi a coward.
Despite being loyal to Baldur, Modi still expressed a level of distrust towards him, citing that "Uncle hasn't seen straight in years".
Only after his beloved, yet rival, brother is killed did he come to fear Kratos, and his cocky personality was soon tinged with cowardliness, immediately fleeing for his life after the shock of his brother's death. This was furthered after he successfully ambushed Kratos and Atreus in Tyr's Temple after his brother's death and then fleeing yet again when Kratos managed to overcome his lightning attack. As such, it is ironic that Modi's own name translates to "courage".
| “ | You call this a challenge? An old man and this stillborn lamb? | ” |
―Modi to Magni fighting against Kratos and Atreus. | ||
Modi is largely a dishonorable sadist, as he takes enjoyment in tormenting Atreus about Faye and asks Magni if he can get "the kid" when they find him and Kratos. It's not entirely certain about Modi's intentions towards Atreus but it is likely that Modi prefers to fight those who are weaker or more vulnerable than himself, only participating in fights that guarantee his survival, unlike Magni who is confident in his abilities and likes a challenge. This is also shown with Mimir, as Modi stays behind to taunt him while he was stuck in the tree.
Powers & Abilities
As a son of Thor, Modi was a powerful Norse God, though only regarded as a minor Aesir by Mimir. As such, he is still surpassed by his grandfather Odin, father Thor, uncles Týr, Heimdall and Baldur, as well as his own brother Magni.
Powers
- Immortality: As an Aesir God, Modi was immortal and impervious to aging. However, he could still be killed by sufficient injury. Atreus was able to kill him with a simple knife only after Modi had been beaten to the brink of death by Thor.
- Superhuman Strength: As the son of Thor, Modi possesses godly strength, though not to the same extent as his half-brother, uncles, father or grandfather. It was said by Mimir that when Thor was trapped beneath Hrungnir's corpse, none could lift the giant off of him, until Magni and Modi, as mere children, easily hurled the stone giant off of Thor.
- Superhuman Durability: Modi is extremely durable, taking harsh punishment from Kratos and Atreus' attacks. He was able to withstand a beating from his own father Thor, although he was left weakened and bruised.
- Electrokinesis: Due to being a son of Thor, Modi has an affinity with lightning and electricity, as he is able to generate electricity from his body, thus allowing him to send strong electrical shocks through his mace and others on contact. Since Modi is not as strong as his brother Magni, Modi is more skillful in using lightning, as he can use it more effectively than his brother such as throwing a ball of lightning that explodes upon physical contact to the ground or the opponent, or shooting a ray of lightning to the opponent that saps their life away. Modi can combine his power with Magni's to perform more powerful moves such as a lightning slam that covers a large radius. The power of his lightning is enough to stun Kratos and drop him to his knees for a few moments, though the effect was short-lived after Kratos gave into his rage.
- Teleportation: Modi using his lightning power, may be able to teleport at great speeds like his father Thor.
Abilities
- Master Combatant: Modi, much like his brother, is a highly skilled and experienced warrior with decades of training and battles and was able to give Kratos and Atreus a challenge yet due to his cowardice, he prefers to refrain from fights that he deems too dangerous or prefers to fight with opponents weaker than him, as he mostly tries to fight with Atreus instead of Kratos but will assist his brother when having a chance.
- Mace Mastery: Modi is incredibly skilled with his mace, being able to strike hard and surprisingly fast, which he can further strengthen with his lightning and can use it for a long-range strike.
Weapons
- Mace and Shield: Modi carries both a one-handed medieval mace and a square metal shield. As such, Modi is skilled in offense and defense when in combat. When used in conjunction with his electrokinesis, Modi is able to charge either the mace or the shield with lightning and wield them with great effect such as charging with the shield or throwing electrical orbs from the mace. He can also shoot lightning from the mace as well, as demonstrated when he continuously electrocuted Kratos inside Týr's Temple. In addition, the mace also allows Modi to summon a "snowblind" together with his brother. His weapons were declared knockoffs of Mjölnir that was crafted by Brok and Sindri for Thor.
- Dagger: Modi carries a small dagger in a blue sheath on his lower back.
Appearances
- God of War (2018)
- God of War Ragnarök (Mentioned only)
- God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla
Gallery
Concept Art
Trivia
- According to Sindri, Magni and Modi have a sister but he is cut off by Kratos so he can get useful and relevant information about Magni and Modi.
- God of War Ragnarök reveals her to be Thrúd.
- In Norse Mythology, Magni and Modi are mentioned among the survivors of Ragnarök.
- Modi is the second God in God of War (2018) to be killed, not by Kratos, but his son Atreus.
- Modi (Móði) means “Courage“. In reality, Modi is a coward who prefers to fight weaker opponents i.e., children, e.g., Atreus and flees when the tables are turned and the odds aren't in his favor anymore such as when Kratos killed his older brother.
- Coincidentally; in Norse Mythology, Magni and Modi were deliberately named as such because they were meant to embody their father's features. Even more ironically, his own father Thor called Modi a coward and consequently severely beat him for running away and failing to save his older brother and Thor’s favored son.
- During the course battle, the pair of them will shout "ÓÐR BRÓÐIR BLINDR!" ÓÐR means mental faculties or voice in Old Norse. BRÓÐIR is obviously brother, and BLINDR means blind. So, it could mean "brother's voice of blinding" or "brother's blinding voice". As Magni and Modi are brothers, this makes sense, as well as the fact it blinds the target.
- "ÓÐR" often translates to "frenzy" or "fury" when used as an adjective. With this in mind, the chant can mean "brother's blind frenzy" or "brother's blind fury". The snowblind acts as a divide and conquer strategy. Where you'd separate your enemies to prevent cooperation and pick them off individually. Or create enough dissent between your enemies to create self-destructive paranoia. In this case, the brothers wanted to separate Kratos and Atreus so they can kill them off individually while they were disorientated by the storm.
- Modi is voiced by Nolan North, the voice of Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series. Magni is instead voiced by Troy Baker, who also voiced Nate's brother, Sam Drake in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. North had appeared in the God of War franchise previously, having voiced Hades in God of War.
- Modi's mother, Sif is voiced by Emily Rose the voice of Elena Fisher in the Uncharted series who is Nathan's wife and Sam’s sister in law.
- Sindri expresses a particular disliking for Modi, saying he would rather lick a rat than shake his hand. The exact reason for why he detests Modi in particular to such a degree is unknown.
- It is implied that Modi is not favored by the Aesir, with feats of strength and bravery being attributed solely to Magni alone.
- While bickering with his brother, he asks Magni that if they find them, he can keep Atreus to himself, to which Magni replies in disgust, "What is the matter with you?". After the first fight, Atreus writes in the Codex that he's a "creep". In the battle, he also tells Atreus, "Jealous? Want me all to yourself?" and "Got big plans for you, kid."
- While trying to kill Kratos, he tells Atreus that he will be his "new brother"
- Oddly, Modi's weapon is a medieval weapon. While simple clubs have been used throughout antiquity, what Modi uses did not get developed until well after the period in which he lives. His shield design (an overall square shape) was not used by any culture at any point in history and is largely fictitious.
- The closest real-life square-shaped shield is the roman's Scutum. And even then, it's shape is rounded square and it's much larger than Modi's.
- Interestingly, Modi's design invokes Berserker imagery due to his armor being made from bear fur. In Viking mythology, Berserkers wore bear hide to grant themselves courage in the battlefield.
- if Kratos fails to activate his Spartan Rage during the Quick Time Event, Modi invokes Thor and yells "Sing with my name!" when Kratos dies. Suggesting he was using Kratos' death to get Thor's attention so he can get recognized for avenging Magni and proving himself as Thor's successor.
- The symbol on Modi's shield resembles the Ægishjálmur (Helm of Awe), a magical stave that surrounds the wearer with a tremendous power to terrify and subdue one's enemies. The power was said to be concentrated between the eyes and is associated with the power of serpents to paralyze their prey. This symbol is included in the Völsunga saga, as Sigurd takes the Ægishjálmur from Fafnir's horde after slaying him. In God of War, Fafnir is still alive and if Modi's shield is the Ægishjálmur from the legend then it's uncertain how Modi acquired it.
- On the third part of the mural depicting Skoll and Hati, Modi is seen alongside Magni.
- A tweet from Santa Monica studios implied that Modi was responsible for the creation of Magni's sword even though they did not elaborate on whether or not Modi made the sword for Magni or was the one who gave the sword its magical properties, as Sindri described it as being "hardened by cyclonic thunder". The way Sindri comments on Modi's equipment indicates that he crafted his own weapons and based his mace on Mjölnir.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||