Heimdall

Guardian and Gatekeeper

Heimdall is an Asgardian warrior who protects Asgard and its inhabitants by safeguarding the realm's borders from his observatory on the Bifrost Bridge. Armed with his incredible broadsword and the ability to see anywhere in the universe at any given moment, Heimdall ensures that no one who would threaten the kingdom enters.

When Hela, Odin’s firstborn, returns and invades Asgard, Heimdall leaves his gatekeeper post and becomes a heroic force for the kingdom that is without Odin, Thor, and the Warriors Three. He helps Asgardians out of the city and into a stronghold built by the most Ancient Asgardians.

All-Seeing Eyes

Heimdall sees and hears all thanks to his extrasensory capabilities. His sight can extend across all Nine Realms and from the Bifrost Observatory, he can see 10 trillion souls. He can hear Asgardians calling him from other worlds such as Earth, Jotunheim, and Sakaar.

As an Asgardian, he has super human strength, speed, durability, and longevity. Heimdall is a master combatant and swordsman—using knives and his broadsword Hofund—and capable of taking out multiple threats whether on foot or by air. He wears incredible gilded armor and dons a horned helmet.

He monitors the comings and goings in Asgard via the Bifrost Observatory, which is connected to a Rainbow Bridge. The Bifrost is an inter-dimensional gateway to all other realms. Using his sword, Heimdall can direct the Bifrost energy to a desired location, typically one of the other Nine Realms including Earth. The energy is drawn from the center of Asgard to the observatory where it is directed towards a destination and acts as a means of precise transportation. Like a tractor beam, it draws people and objects in its light back to the observatory. However, this beam of energy that the Bifrost projects can destroy a realm or planet if it’s allowed to remain open. The Bridge can only be activated by the Hofund.

Threats to Asgard

All enemies of Asgard are enemies of Heimdall.

Loki, adopted son of Odin and the God of Mischief, controls Heimdall and access to the Bifrost when he temporarily becomes ruler of Asgard while his father is in Odinsleep. He later accuses Heimdall of treason for letting the Jotun into Asgard via secret pathways and strips him of his Asgardian citizenship.

Hela, the Goddess of Death, threatens all of Asgard with her unforgiving rule. Heimdall opposes her and protects refugee Asgardians by leading them to a secret cave under a mountain and protects them as long as they all can hold out. He later fights against her directly to protect them.

The Mad Titan Thanos possesses incredible strength and cruelty and stops at nothing to possess all six Infinity Stones. In his quest, Thanos and his followers Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight and Cull Obsidian board the Asgardian refugee ship in search of the Space Stone housed in the Tesseract, which was last housed in Odin’s vault. Heimdall tries to aid his people in opposing Thanos.

Others who seek harm on the Asgardian realm and cement themselves as an enemy of Heimdall include the Frost Giants, the Dark Elves, Marauders, Hela’s D-Guards, and Surtur.

Bridge of Allies

Thor Odinson, Sif, and The Warriors Three come and go from the Bifrost with Heimdall’s permission. When they are away from Asgard, they can call to him to open the bridge. Heimdall only does so if their return does not threaten the eternal realm. He has a particularly good relationship with Thor, who he values not only as heir to Asgard’s throne, but as a good man.

Heimdall swore an oath to King Odin Borson as the Bifrost’s guardian to protect their realm from outside threats. When Odin is temporarily out of commission or missing, Heimdall is sworn to the throne of Asgard and whomever sits upon it.

In a stand against Hela and her army, Heimdall joins forces with Thor and the Revengers—Loki, Valkyrie, and Hulk—to ensure the survival and safe passage of the remaining Asgardians off the compromised realm.

For Asgard

Despite his phenomenal ability to see all, Heimdall was unable to see the Frost Giants break into Odin’s vault to steal back their Casket of Ancient Winters. An enraged Thor wanted to confront the Jotun—an act Odin forbade. Thor, Loki, Sif and the Warriors Three approached Heimdall for access to Jotunheim, which Heimdall allowed out of curiosity. Despite his acceptance and desire to learn how the Jotun got past him, his loyalty to Odin was stronger; he told his King of their departure.

After Odin banished Thor to Earth for his insolence, he fell into Odinsleep, resulting in Loki’s temporary reign of Asgard. During this time, he ordered Heimdall to restrict passage, especially to those who might want to retrieve Thor as it would go against Odin’s last edict. Begrudgingly promising loyalty to the new King, Heimdall reminded Sif and the Warriors Three of his loyalty to the throne and that he could not open the Bridge; however, he turned his back to them, granting them access to head to Earth to retrieve Thor. Heimdall learned there were secret paths that even he is blind to, and it was Loki who allowed the Frost Giants’ entry into Asgard. Accused of treason, Loki relieved Heimdall of his duties as gatekeeper and removed his Asgardian citizenship.

Thor’s battle with the Frost Giants lead to the destruction of the Bifrost Bridge and Asgard’s isolation from the other Nine Realms. However, the Tesseract cube, which housed the Space Stone, harnessed enough energy to rebuild the Bifrost Bridge and reestablish contact with the other realms, returning Heimdall to his gatekeeper post.

When Thor asked Heimdall of Jane Foster’s wellbeing, the all-seeing warrior was unable to locate her, prompting Thor to leave Asgard in search for her. Upon discovery of Foster’s infection with the Aether, which had the power to tear the fabric of reality apart, Odin restricted access to the Bifrost Bridge.

Foster’s presence with the Aether drew Malekith and the Dark Elves to Asgard. Heimdall saw their arrival from the Bifrost Observatory and jumped onto their aircraft, destroying it with his knives. However, it wasn’t enough to stop the oncoming horde just behind it. To safeguard the kingdom, Heimdall inserted the Hofund into the Bifrost raising a protective shield around Asgard. However, a Dark Elf on the inside, destroyed the shield, leaving the palace wide open for an attack, resulting in the murder of Queen Frigga.

Aiding Thor on his secret mission to trick Malekith and save Jane Foster, Heimdall confessed his treason to Odin and offered up his Hofund, who looked disappointingly at him before ordering the Einherjar to take Heimdall into custody. During this plan, Loki seemingly perished but returned to Asgard later and usurped Odin’s throne, posing as his father the King.

While Loki ruled Asgard as the false King, Heimdall was banished from Asgard. Skurge was employed to stand in as the Guardian of the Bifrost. With the passing of Odin, his firstborn, Hela the Goddess of Death, was released from her imprisonment went after her two brothers, Thor and Loki. Witnessing the desecration of Mjolnir at the hands of Hela, Loki called upon Skurge to open the Bifrost. Hela followed them back to Asgard, but expelled them from the bridge.

Upon her arrival in Asgard, Hela slew Volstagg and Fandral who were guarding the Bifrost Observatory with Skurge, who she offered the role of her Executioner. Hela, with Skurge at her side, established that she was the rightful heir and ruler, and anyone who opposed her were killed. As she made her way through Asgard's palace, Heimdall infiltrated the Observatory and stole Hofund to prevent Hela from impacting the other nine realms. While Hela was distracted, he evacuated the remaining Asgardians to a secret underground fortress to protect them from her.

Trapped on Sakaar as a Champion contender for the Grandmaster’s gladiator games, Thor sought out Heimdall’s help by calling his name. Heimdall allowed Thor to see through his eyes on Asgard as they discussed the threat of Hela. With limited time and resources to protect Asgard from Hela and her army, Heimdall told Thor how to escape off of Sakaar and find his path home to Asgard.

As Hela and Skurge approached Heimdall’s hideout, Thor’s arrival served as a distraction for Heimdall to help their people escape Asgard. With the Observatory blocked by Fenris and Hela’s D-guards, the Revengers attacked. This allowed Heimdall to help load everyone to safety on Loki and the escaped Sakaar gladiators’ ship, the Statesman. With Asgard and the Bifrost Bridge destroyed by Hela and the resurrected fire demon Surtur, the remaining Asgardians, Heimdall, Thor, Hulk, Valkyrie, Loki and Sakaar gladiators left their annihilated kingdom in search for a new home only to be stopped by an unknown spacecraft.

The spacecraft was that of Thanos and his followers Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian, Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive, who promptly killed everyone on the Asgardian refugee ship, save for those who were spared and allowed to escape by the Mad Titan along with Thor, Loki, Hulk and Heimdall. As they all looked to be defeated, a wounded Heimdall gathered his remaining dark energy that Odin has bestowed upon him to send Hulk back to Earth, to warn them of Thanos’ search for the Infinity Stones and imminent arrival. For his courageous and defiant act, Thanos stabbed Heimdall through the chest as the Asgardian warrior gave his King one final look.