The Mighty Thor is easily one of the strongest and most powerful heroes in the Marvel Universe, and he’s not alone as there are multiple variants of the character, including a frog version who fittingly goes by the name Throg. Throg was recently spotted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Loki television show, intriguing a whole new group of fans who may not recognize the character. While Loki was his latest appearance, Throg has been floating around the Marvel multiverse for years and whose origins are surprisingly not linked to Asgard at all, but to witchcraft.
Before becoming a variant of Thor, Throg was once a human named Simon Walterson, named for legendary Thor writer and artist Walter Simonson. Simon lost his wife and unborn child, leaving him spiraling into a deep depression. Desperate to speak with his wife just one more time, Simon sought out a witch with connections to the afterlife. The witch successfully allowed Simon to speak to his wife, but afterwards he was unable to pay her for her services. As punishment for not being able to pay, the witch cursed him to live out the rest of his life as a frog.
Now living life as a frog, Simon took on a new name given to him by his fellow frogs: Puddlegulp. Puddlegulp joined his new brethren in an ongoing war with the rats, really melding into the whole frog lifestyle pretty well. In that rat battle, Puddlegulp encounters Thor who at that point had also been turned into a frog, but being warrior born, that doesn’t stop the God of Thunder from pitching in where he is needed in a battle. Upon Thor’s leave, a piece of Mjolnir is chipped off, a piece Puddlegulp is able to lift. In doing so Puddlegulp is granted the power of Thor, and fulfilling his transformation into Throg.
Since Simon became Throg he has made a name for himself as a worthy variant of Thor. Throg has joined an all-animal cast of the Avengers aptly named the Pet Avengers with members including the Inhumans’ Lockjaw, the X-Men’s Lockheed, and Falcon’s Redwing to name a few. While most of their adventures were inconsequential to the larger Marvel Universe, the team did once fight the original Avengers while attempting to save the dragon Fin Fang Foom’s egg when the Avengers were blindly attacking the Kaiju foe. While the battle ended with everyone on good terms, the Pet Avengers proved they could hold their own against the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
From tragic origin, to a comical punishment, and godly redemption, Throg has had quite the career in Marvel lore. Not only is he a member of an off-shoot Avengers team, but he fought alongside Thor when he was powerless, gaining the god’s respect based on the man he is at heart and not simply the power he wields. Throg is a worthy Thor variant as proven by his many comic adventures, and with his live action debut, Marvel fans on every medium can expect to see much more of the animal hero!