Magneto vs. Thor: Who Is Stronger & Would Win in a Fight?

Marvel Comics are home to some of the most powerful characters in all of fiction. Some are classified as mutants, and some as gods, but however you phrase it, their abilities are often reality-breaking. One of the most powerful characters in Marvel is Thor, the Asgardian God of Thunder. On the opposite side, we have omega-level mutants, Magneto. It’s often said that Magneto has the perfect powers to counter the God of Thunder, and due to that, we decided to stage this hypothetical battle to determine, in a battle between Thor and Magneto, who is more powerful and who would win in a fight? 

Thor would win in a fight against Magneto. Even though Magneto can mess with Thor’s lightning attacks and Mjolnir, Thor has a much more versatile power set, including energy draining and other elemental attacks. Thor is also far more durable, physically stronger, and has more stamina at his disposal. Magneto’s weak point in this fight is the mere fact that he is a human at the end of the day, and Thor would simply outlast him, meaning that no matter how many Thor’s abilities Magneto can block, Thor just keeps on going. 

Now that we’ve covered who would be victorious in this scenario, it’s time to analyze why. We’re going to explore the powers, abilities, strength, speed, durability, and other characteristics of both characters so you can see how we came to our conclusion. If you’re interested in more, stay with us and keep reading!

Powers and abilities

Magneto, aka Max Eisenhardt, is a character that needs no introduction. He is known to be among the most powerful mutants in the Marvel Universe, and for a good reason. Magneto mutant gene allows him godlike control over magnetism, all forms of it, and he can manipulate almost any metal imaginable. 

Due to this, Magneto can affect the magnetic fields of entire planets. He can divert the course of rivers. He can devastate the planet with floods and other phenomena indirectly or directly caused by magnetism. 

His magnetism can also be utilized in different ways by creating incredibly potent and almost impenetrable force fields that protect him like a steel wall. Magneto’s powers allow him to alter or manipulate beings on a molecular level by messing with iron in the blood.

He can also project powerful magnetic rays and has some control over gravity. It’s easier to list what Magneto can’t do with his powers rather than trying to encompass what he can do, but you get the primary picture. Magneto is incredibly powerful, and there isn’t a mutant out there currently that can face him with a straight face. 

Thor is at the other end of mind-breaking abilities. As the God of Thunder, he is most notable for projecting planet-decimating lightning strikes and is quite possibly the most superpowered character that uses electricity-based attacks in the comics.

But this is not all. Thor can also create force fields if needed. He can manipulate all the other elements, including fire, water, Earth, and air. He is a source of the most potent storms but also has the ability to create life with his ancient Asgardian magic. He can manipulate souls and even reality to some extent. He can summon various creatures and ancient combatants to aid him in a battle.

Thor also, in a couple of instances, had access to Thor-Force, a source of Odin’s (and later Thor’s) godly power. While empowered with Thor-Force, Thor is among the strongest beings in the Universe and has a range of powers and abilities that affect reality, space, time, and other abstract phenomena. He also has access to existence erasure. 

Now it’s often mentioned that Magneto has the ability to block Thor’s lightning-based attacks, and he can also manipulate Mjolnir (although the latter is more relative in nature. What fans seem to always forget that Thor is so much more than his lightning and Mjolnir, and yes, it’s true that Thor channels most of his lightning-based attacks to Mjolnir, it’s still doesn’t mean that once separated from Mjolnir, he can simply use his other powers and abilities to gain the upper hand.

There’s no way through which Magneto can control Thor’s god blast or Thor-Force, both of which are vastly more powerful than Thor’s lightning. Still, we decided to grant this point to both characters since both of them have potent and unusual powers.

Points: Thor (1:1) Magneto

Strength and stamina 

Even though Magneto is not superhumanly strong, he proved over time that he can lift incredible weights due to his control of magnetism. While not relying on his powers, Magneto can lift around 190 pounds, which isn’t that impressive. Good thing that Magneto rarely has to rely on his physical strength. 

But one drawback to having incredible mutant powers in the human body is his stamina. If Magneto uses too much of his powers, he can get drained quickly, which leads to the loss of his powers or loss of control over his powers. All in all, Magneto could really benefit from godlike physiology. 

Thor can lift well over 100 tons due to his godlike physiology. Empowered with his other abilities, this number might as well go up to infinite. Thor is among the physically strongest Asgardians and has the stamina to match it. Asgardians, in general, are built to be able to fight for a long time without rest, and Thor just puts this to another level completely. 

Magneto might have the powers to match gods, but his physiology never quite caught up. This point goes to Thor. 

Points: Thor (2:1) Magneto

Speed

Magneto can fly due to his powers; while flying, he is much faster than on foot. He can reach orbital velocity speeds by manipulating Earth’s magnetic and gravity fields. Magneto interfaces with magnetic field lines in his immediate surroundings rather than along it.

But what would happen if Magneto faced someone on foot, in hand-to-hand combat? Well, not much at all, as Magneto’s human physiology severely limits him in this aspect. And yes, you can argue that Magneto would most likely spend the majority of the fight in the air, levitating, manipulating his elements from afar, but sooner or later, he would have to descend to the ground when his powers drain his stamina, and he is forced to land. 

Like Magneto, Thor can fly, and he can reach speeds massively faster than light. But this is mostly while he is utilizing Mjolnir. Thor’s extreme speed is not limited to flying only, as he proved time and time again that he is almost unreachable during combat due to his godlike reflexes and reaction times, despite often fighting with heavy and bulky weapons. 

When everything is taken into account, Thor is much faster than Magneto, both with and without Mjolnir. 

Points: Thor (3:1) Magneto

Durability

Magneto often relies on his magnetic armor or force fields to protect himself in a fight, and it mostly works. But this is pretty much everything that he has going for him. Magneto’s offensive abilities are insane, but he doesn’t have much in terms of enhanced, durable physiology and healing factor. 

Thor has godlike durability, meaning he is completely immune to most forms of damage and weapons. Thor proves to be able to survive and walk away from planet-destroying damage. He also doesn’t age as fast as average humans, and while it’s possible to kill him and to use too much of Thor-Force drains him and forces him to enter Thor-Sleep, still, the amount of power drain that needs to happen for that to occur usually involved multiversal entities. 

Thor is much more durable than Magneto. It’s not even up for discussion.

Points: Thor (4:1) Magneto

Intelligence

Magneto is extremely intelligent, and this is what, in part, makes him so dangerous. He is classified as a genius and has achieved impressive scientific feats over the course of the character’s existence. He created artificial living beings, mutated humans with superhuman abilities, and genetically mind-controlled individuals. He has also developed advanced technology, such as magnetically-powered aircraft and spacecraft, robots, and machines that can neutralize mutant powers. 

Thor has a lot of experience under his belt. He is ancient and really knows his way around warfare, but this is pretty much it. He was never exactly known to be the brightest mind in Marvel Comics. And even though Thor’s knowledge of tactics and strategies would prove to be far more useful than Magneto’s scientific knowledge, we decided to give this point to Magneto because the fact that he is more intelligent than Thor still stands. 

Points: Thor (4:2) Magneto

Combat Skills 

Magneto doesn’t always have to rely on his physical powers and combat skills, but when he does, he isn’t half bad as you would assume he was. Despite being limited to human physiology, Magneto is still a trained combatant with decades of experience fighting threats. 

Thor was created for warfare, and he led many wars alongside his father, conquering many different places. Due to his age, he learned a thing or two over the years and mastered nearly all weapons in existence. He is a master of warfare, and few understand it better than he does.

Over the centuries, Thor has honed his abilities to the point where he is just as deadly with traditional Asgardian weapons as he is with his energy-manipulating powers. When it comes to combat expertise, Thor is unmatched, and this makes him an incredibly dangerous opponent in battle.

Magneto’s experience and combat skills are overshadowed by the fact that Thor was created for war. The point goes to the God of Thunder. 

Points: Thor (5:2) Magneto

Magneto vs. Thor: who would win in fight? 

As you can see, Thor has the upper hand in almost every aspect of the character. Thor is stronger, faster, durable and has better combat skills and abilities than Magneto. Most of the time, the argument that Magneto can block Thor’s lightning and Mjolnir stands, but how is Magneto going to neutralize god blast or Thor-Force? He won’t.

Besides, even blocking Thor’s mainline abilities won’t last for long. Magneto would be left drained of powers pretty quickly and would be forced to surrender, unable to conjure up his powers. The two fought one on one in the comics before, and Thor destroyed Magneto, draining his powers.

Who do you think would win in this fight? Let us know in the comments!

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