Odin in popular culture

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Odin in the animated cartoon Valhalla

Odin (or Woden, and in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian: Oden) appears frequently as a character in works of popular culture. Sometimes, the reference is oblique, and odinic characters may exhibit attributes of Odin (such as lack of an eye), without the connection being made explicit.

Contents

1 Depictions in modern popular culture

1.1 Comics
1.2 Literature
1.3 Film
1.4 Games
1.5 Television

2 See also

Depictions in modern popular culture

Comics

Along with many other gods from the Norse pantheon, Odin makes an appearance in Marvel Comics' Thor comic book series, and makes occasional appearances in other comics set in the Marvel Universe.
Odin is often in the forefront, or sometimes the hero along with Thor and Loki, in the Valhalla comic book or graphic novel series published in Denmark by Interpresse. Originally published in Danish, translations were made into Dutch, German, French, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish. Several animated movies were also produced from the series.
Neil Gaiman depicts Odin infrequently in The Sandman, where his actions indirectly influence the course of the story.
Odin appears in the Japanese manga series (and subsequently anime version) "Matantei Loki Ragnarok" (which centers on Loki) as the antagonist of sorts. In the animated series, he's unabashedly malevolent and seeks to kill an apparently innocent Loki, after banishing him to human world in the form of a child (the reasons for his behavior are quite vague); in the original comic series, Odin was possessed by the spirit of Balder, who wanted to kill Loki. He was depicted either as a giant, red eye, or as a handsome man with long, white hair.
In the webcomic series Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki, Odin appears in his classic guise as an old man when visiting Earth, accompanied by his ravens and wolves (which Yuuki has consequently fought).

Literature

Aspects of the J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings characters Gandalf and Saruman are drawn from Odin.
Carl Jung wrote an essay entitled Wotan.
Odin appears in K.A. Applegate's Everworld series.
Odin appears as Mr. Wednesday in Neil Gaiman's novel, American Gods.
Douglas Adams' The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul features cameos by Odin and Thor.
Odin (as Woden) appears as a villain in the Wyrd Museum trilogy, which also features his ravens Thought and Memory and the Norns (Urd, Verdandi and Skuld) and many other Norse Myth references (e.g., The character Edie refers to Edda).
Odin appears in the book series. In book 12, he appeared briefly, scaring two children on the Excalibur (Ship on which the series takes place).
The character Matrim Cauthon is also based directly off of Odin, even to the hanging on the Tree of Life in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time.
The narrator in Gene Wolfe's Short Sun cycle has aspects of Odin: white hair, one eye, a raven, an eight-legged horse, kingship, a reputation for wisdom and even magical powers, and secret knowledge gained at great cost.
Odin appears as Mr. Wedding in Diana Wynne Jones' fantasy Eight Days of Luke
Odin appears towards the end of Robert Heinlein's book .

Film

The character Ron Burgundy in the movie exclaims, "Great Odin's raven!"

Games

Odin appears in Epic Megagames' God of Thunder trilogy of computer games, in which he plays the role of mentor to Thor ("My son, I know it is fun to kill people, but...")
Odin is a summoned creature in several of Squaresoft's Final Fantasy games.
Odin appears in Final Fantasy Legends 2 as one of the "New Gods" inhabiting the worlds. Coincidentally, he happens to be the only "heroic" figure of them, offering to let the heroes pass through Valhalla if they could defeat him in battle. His ravens and Sleipnir also appear in the ensuing battle and you could earn Gungnir.
Odin appears in the Valkyrie Profile saga of the playstation.
Odin appears alongside both Thor and Loki in Microsoft's "Age of Mythology."
Odin appears as the mysterious exposition character Alfred Woden in Max Payne.
Big Boss from the Metal Gear Solid series resembles Odin in the loss of his eye, which is lost in a sacrificial manner (his mentor takes it from him, so that she may prove his loyalty, and ultimatley, have him kill her and topple the villains of the story.) Big Boss also ends up looking much like Odin in his old age, though he is no longer as heroic.
Odin is the most powerful deity in the HackMaster role-playing game.

Television

Odin appeared once in the Gargoyles animated series. In the episode in which he appeared, he tried to get his missing eye back from the Gargoyles in several ways. The eye of Odin transformed whoever used it into a powerful tyrant, and Odin did battle with Goliath for the eye. The Gargoyle Goliath won the battle with the help of the eye, but the other Gargoyles convinced him to remove the eye, whence Odin took it back.

Odin also appeared in the television series , as lord of the Valkyries in the Season Six story arc The Rheingold, The Ring, and Return of the Valkyrie.

A godly being (specifically stated to be Odin in DVD commentary) appears in the Samurai Jack episode The Birth of Evil. He rides an eight-legged horse, carries a spear, and appears to be missing an eye. This version of Odin fights alongside other gods to destroy an evil force, and later participates in the creation of Samurai Jack's enchanted katana.