Why does thor have circles

Furthermore, when Thor made his eventual return to comics, this costume was immediately replaced, with no mention of the change. So why was this costume used in the first place? Given that the Thor comic had seen better days prior to this redesign, and that Marvel was undergoing massive changes with their publishing line-up, it seemed like no design was too radical for publication. Since the Thor comic was about to lose the titular character with issue , Deodato and Marvel probably decided it wouldn't hurt to use this costume for one issue, possibly to gauge how fans would react to the change.

While the redesigned costume seemed to go largely ignored at the time of its debut, it did make an appearance in other comics at the time, most notably the Marvel vs DC crossover that was going on at the time. Despite its limited use, the redesigned costume would be replaced with a more classic costume when the Thor title was relaunched in It's a shame that this costume never really had a chance to shine, outside of a few comic books.

It was a good idea but nothing in my historical rummaging in Journey into Mystery or early issues of Thor, showed this. In it young Thor is seen wearing his costume as we knew it from the classic Kirby era. Since he is wearing it into battle, it is safe to assume it must double as armor for the young godling. Everyone else is festooned in armor that looks like armor, though they resemble classic Earth Vikings wearing platemail instead of chainmail. If his costume is indeed supposed to be armor, then perhaps what we should look for is an example of an armor with similar properties.

Having a bit of history under my belt I remembered an armor accessory I thought might be a match. It was called the Lauersfort Phaelara. One of the first and earliest potential armor designs which bears more than a passing resemblance would be the AD, Legionary Roman armor. The phalerae medallions , the large shiny metal disks share a similar placement though not exact on the Roman armor.

The disk were usually covered with the faces of prominent leaders or mythical beasts denoting bravery or skill in battle. Legion armies also carried them on their banners as group awards for the regiment.

From the Augustan period , both infantrymen and cavalry men received the same award when an opponent was killed and his equipment seized: a series of nine phalerae which gravestone reliefs show were worn on leather straps on the upper torso. Once again, these decorations were intended for soldiers up to the rank of centurions. Turkish, Antique char-aina, chainmail with mirror plates , Russian Zertsalo Ottoman inspired. The phalerae medallions were not unique to the Romans.

The Celts wore similar devices for religious reasons and similarities could be found in ancient Mongolian, Chinese, Russian, Ottoman and Japanese armors, often designated mirror armors for their shiny appearance. Thor has had many different costume designs, many actually resembling armor rather than the cloth or leather of his early designs.

In The Dark World, Thor's costume stays pretty much the same While Hemsworth's Thor was dominating theaters, Marvel Comics decided to give their Thor a makeover, too.

In , the publisher announced that the God of Thunder was being replaced by a Goddess of Thunder, as Jane Foster who was played by Natalie Portman in the original Thor film picked up Mjolnir and was transformed into Thor.

This Thor's costume goes back to the bare arms, but the biggest change is in the helmet, which now extends downward to cover the eyes.

With the bare shoulders, the prominent chest circles, and the the regal red cape, Thor's Age of Ultron look is the MCU outfit that perhaps most closely resembles Kirby's original design.

Still no winged helmet, though. Thor goes gladiator! The upcoming Thor threequel finds Hemsworth's hero in his most radical costume yet. But even though he's shorn of his signature locks, his new costume has at least one signature Thor element: If you look closely, the helmet in his hand has wings.

The Style Evolution of Marvel's Thor. Save FB Tweet More. Pinterest Email Send Text Message. Credit: Marvel. Continued on next slide. The shiny circles on his shirt serve no clear purpose, even they are not a clear symbol like the Superman's "S" because there already a "T" symbol on Thor's belt.

The circles provide a nice disruption of the monotony and their shiny nature contrasts well with the black of Thor's tunic and the six circles are arranged in perfect symmetry and its served as the perfect look for an Asgardian God of Thunder. With that said, we can look perhaps into history and see if we can determine what the artist Jack Kirby was hoping to show in this costume design. If we can assume this design was inspired by Thor being an ancient god of war, then perhaps it would be considered a stylized armor design.

Thor being a superhuman being might have little use for armor in his day to day life, but might want to remind his enemies of his valor with a costume that could resemble an armor he may have worn at one time. One of the first and earliest potential armor designs which bears more than a passing resemblance would be the AD, Legionary Roman armor. The phalerae medallions , the large disks share a similar placement though not exact on the Roman armor.

The disk were usually covered with the faces of prominent leaders or mythical beasts denoting bravery or skill in battle. From the Augustan period , both infantrymen and cavalry men received the same award when an opponent was killed and his equipment seized: a series of nine phalerae which gravestone reliefs show were worn on leather straps on the upper torso.

Once again, these decorations were intended for soldiers up to the rank of centurions. Turkish, Antique char-aina, chainmail with mirror plates , Russian Zertsalo Ottoman inspired. The phalerae medallions were not unique to the Romans. The Celts wore similar devices for religious reasons and similarities could be found in ancient Mongolian, Chinese, Russian, Ottoman and Japanese armors, often designated mirror armors for their shiny appearance.

Thor has had many different costume designs, many actually resembling armor rather than the cloth or leather of his early designs. These later designs were more inclined to use actual armor plates to depict the circles in his early costume designs, strengthening the appearance to phalerae medallions, even including ornate designs in some of them. While we have no definitive proof the circles on Thor's early costume were indeed a representation of phalerae medallions, it is at least historically possible the original design may have been inspired by early armors from the Roman, Ottoman and Persian armor designs which incorporated similar elements.

Note: While Vikings did wear armor into battle, it has not been shown to be an integral part of the armor designs to wear phaelara into battle. Most vikings wore leather furs, cuirboilli boiled hardened leather or chainmail tunics with shields into battle. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group.

Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. What are the shiny circles on Thor's costume? Ask Question. Asked 7 years, 3 months ago. Active 7 years, 3 months ago. Viewed 11k times. Anyone have any idea what they are or what they're for? I'll take a Marvel Universe explanation or even a Norse mythology answer. Thank you! Improve this question. Yeah, I like it, thanks : — idgimarvel. I always considered those to be stylized read: oversized studs, since he might be wearing studded armor.

Asgardians have 3 pairs of boobies I mean, male boobies which are small