Modi

“	You ruined everything. I earned that fucking hammer. But now everyone's gonna think I only got it cause Magni's gone. I'll be a joke. But if I kill you - no one's gonna laugh at me.	”
–Modi to Kratos

Template:Infobox gods Modi was a demigod and son of Thor and the younger half-brother of Magni. He serves as the secondary antagonist in God of War (2018).

Norse Mythology

In Norse mythology, Móði (anglicized Módi or Mothi) is a son of Thor. There is no mentioning of Modi's mother.

Modi and his brother Magni were mentioned among the survivors of Ragnarök in the Poetic Edda Vafþrúðnismál. After Thor’s death at the hands of Jörmungandr, they inherit Mjolnir.

In the God of War Series

During the Aesir-Vanir War, Magni along with his brother took part in a battle and fought and killed the Vanir goddess Nerthus.

Modi is the demigod son of Thor and an unknown mother. He is the grandson of Odin, the nephew of Baldur, and the younger half-brother of Thor’s first son, Magni.

Together in their youth, Magni and Modi — no taller than shrubs — managed to rescue their father after the almighty Aesir God of Thunder had accidentally got himself trapped underneath the corpse of the Giant Hrungnir, shortly after he had killed him. However, while nobody was looking at the time, Magni and Modi succeeded where everyone else in Odin’s court had failed by effortlessly lifting Hrungnir’s body off of Thor. Unfortunately, the only one to witness the two was Odin’s advisor, Mimir. In the end, Magni was given all of the credit for the deed simply because he was noticed first since he was the blonder of the duo. Having failed to receive little-to-no praise for his accomplishment, Modi was left immensely bitter due to having been overshadowed by Magni.

Growing up, Magni would be regarded as Thor’s favourite son while Modi would be simply regarded as nothing more than Thor’s second son and Magni’s brother alone. In addition, due to Thor’s favouritism of Magni, Modi was treated little more than a lesser by his father, causing him to develop an inferiority complex from living in Magni’s shadow. As a result, Modi strived to one day outdo his older brother and impress his father by proving himself worthy of inheriting Thor’s prized hammer Mjolnir.

After their uncle is defeated in battle by a man suspected of being the Guardian, Magni and Modi are summoned by Baldur to aid him in his hunt for his target. The three travel to Midgard where they seek advice from the now-imprisoned Mimir. Mimir is shocked and amused that “the sons of Thor“ have graced him with their presence and mockingly asks if the two are still tripping over themselves “trying to impress daddy“. The three try to get answers out of Mimir on the whereabouts of Kratos and his young son Atreus, with Baldur even offering to speak to Odin himself on Mimir’s behalf and attempt to have Mimir released but Mimir, knowing too well Odin will never free him, refuses to help and simply orders Baldur to leave as well as take the “two worthless wankers” with him. Frustrated, Baldur leaves but not before Modi threatens to return later and steal Mimir's other eye. The two siblings‘ conversion subsequently annoys Baldur to the point he orders to shut him and call them “idiots“.

Shortly afterwards, Magni and Modi split up from their uncle in order to hunt Kratos and Atreus. Having witnessed the Frost Giant Thamur’s hammer suddenly fall for no apparent reason and destroy the entire frozen plain, the two decide to investigate the arena; correctly assuming that their enemies are in the area. Continuing to search the area, Modi brings up his distrust for his uncle by mentioning Baldur hasn’t seen straight in years but Magni states that since Thor trusts them, they must trust him as well. Modi notes that they cannot disappoint their father, which Magni agrees with an annoyed tone of voice.

Just as Kratos and Atreus arrive with the now severed head of Mimir to claim a piece of Thamur’s chisel, they are spotted by Magni and Modi and quickly ambushed. Magni orders father and son to surrender but Kratos refuses to comply thereby starting a brawl between them and the sons of Thor. Modi introduces himself by jumping down from up above and blocking Atreus’ escape. Sadistically amused by the mere sight of Atreus, Modi takes advantage of the fight by proceeding to mercilessly mock Atreus constantly throughout the battle; taking immoral pleasure in insulting the young boy and trying to get a rise out of him. The fight, however, takes a drastic turn when Kratos manages to kill Magni by embedding his axe into Magni’s face. Visibly distraught by the death of his older half-brother having taken place right in front of him (as well as given by the fact the two believed themselves to be incapable of dying), a horrified Modi backs away from Kratos in fear while struggling to speak in terror and anger. After being shot with several arrows by Atreus, Modi turns tail and runs away; disappearing over the side of the cliff and into the bellows of the canyon.

With Magni now gone, Modi realizes that he will receive Mjölnir simply by default and will forever be regarded as a joke by the Aesir. Refusing to let this fate come to pass, Modi tries to avenge his brother at Tyr's Temple. Ambushing Kratos and Atreus while they were preoccupied with trying to enter Tyr’s secret chambers, Modi summons a lightning storm and disables the two. With the two down, Modi enters and begins to continuously electrocute Kratos with his mace while Atreus helplessly looks on. Modi furiously proclaims that Kratos ruined everything and disturbingly taunts Atreus by stating he will be his “new little brother“. Enraged, Atreus attempts to activate his inner rage to try and save his father only to suddenly fall unexpectedly into a coma, providing Kratos with the much-needed opportunity (and motivation) to overpower and disarm Modi, forcing the cowardly demigod to flee once again.

Following this, he flees to Asgard, where his father, Thor, proceeds to blame him for leaving Magni to die and severely beats him for his cowardice.

Death

“	Thor... blamed me... ME...for what you did to Magni. My own father called me a coward...	”
–Modi to Kratos and Atreus after getting beaten by Thor

Broken both figuratively and literally, Modi returns to Midgard in order to redeem himself. He attempts to confront Kratos and Atreus again while they were inside the mountain, but he is too badly injured to do anything. While Kratos saw no reason to kill him, Atreus begged to differ. Having been told by his father that he was a God, Atreus, in his arrogance wished to kill Modi out of revenge; remarking that as Gods, they could do whatever they wanted. Modi proceeded to make one last particularly vulgar insult towards Faye, which resulted in Atreus stabbing him in the neck before kicking him into a chasm, presumably killing him before Kratos could intervene.

Aftermath

Atreus’ killing of Modi would go to serve as one of the major, if not, primarily catalyst for Atreus‘ growing arrogance. Modi‘s death would particularly come to haunt Atreus after he and his father accidentally ended up in Helheim. While in the City of the Dead, Atreus was tortured with visions of his recent arrogance: him mercilessly killing Modi before callously kicking over the side of the cliff. Though while Modi may have given Atreus a reason to be so arrogant, Modi’s death also gave Atreus reason to become more humble and eventually reconcile with his father. After completing their journey, Atreus has a dream where at some point in the future, Thor attacks Kratos and Atreus at their home to avenge the deaths of his brother and sons.

Personality

“	Wow kid, your mother must have been some whore to lay with the likes of him.	”
–-Modi taunting Atreus

Modi, like his brother, is very cruel and sadistic. He and Magni had threatened Mimir of returning "when no one is looking" and removing his remaining eye for not helping them locate Kratos and his son.

He is extremely rude and abrasive, as he insults Faye many times, calling her ugly, a whore and loudly asking why an ugly woman would be with Kratos. At his final moment, even in the most desperate of situations, Modi holds his immature personality, as he continues to insult Atreus' mother right before being stabbed in the neck. He also occasionally throws double entendres at Atreus such as "Jealous? Want me all to yourself?"

He and his brother tend to bicker a bit but were of course close to a point. Together in battle, the duo were a formidable force. Both brothers also had a reputation of apparently low intelligence, as they were constantly called idiots/fools by a number of characters, such as Baldur, Mimir who called as "worthless wankers", Kratos, and Sindri, the latter whom referred to them as "Thor's idiot sons" and called Modi a "Dung Heap".

Despite of doing whatever Baldur's up to, Modi doesn't completely trust his uncle as his father and brother does as he reminded Magni that Baldur hasn't been straight in years. But told by Magni that they need to trust Baldur as Thor did.

Much like his brother, but far more so, Modi is utterly desperate to please and impress his father, the legendary Thor, and earn the right to wield his hammer, Mjölnir. As such, Modi is extremely insecure about proving himself the one to rightfully earn his father's hammer. When Kratos killed Magni, Modi believed that since his more favored brother was gone, he would only get the famed hammer by default, rather than proving himself worthy. As a result, Modi would think that everyone, particularly the Aesir, would see him as a joke, rather than as the heir to Thor. With this result, Thor beat up and blamed Modi for letting Magni die, as well as, call Modi a coward.

Only after his beloved, yet rival, brother is killed did he come to fear his father and Kratos, immediately fleeing for his life. He also displays a cowardly side when he successfully ambushed Kratos and Atreus in Tyr's Temple after his brother's death and fled when Kratos managed to overcome his lightning attack. This can be attributed to the Ragnarok prophecy since Magni's death should have been impossible since he's prophesied to survive the apocalypse. When Magni is slain by Kratos, Modi is left fumbling in fear and disbelief since his safety is not guaranteed either.

Unlike his brother, Modi is hinted to be quite lazy and dismissive of Baldur's fight. Claiming that doesn't know why he and Magni are in Midgard and when Magni has to convince him to take Kratos as a legitimate threat, Modi responds with sarcasm about not wanting to disappoint Thor. Hinting, that he believes that Thor will just dismiss him in favour of Magni if they defeat Kratos.

Modi is a dishonourable sadist. As he takes enjoyment in tormenting Atreus about Faye and asks Magni if he can get "the kid" when they find him and Kratos. When Magni smells Sindri's scent, Magni tells Modi to find Sindri as well. It's not entirely certain about Modi's intentions towards Atreus but the simple idea is that Modi prefers to fight those who are weaker than himself and he only participates in fights that guarantee his survival, unlike Magni who is confident in his abilities and likes a challenge.

He doesn't think the fight against Kratos and Atreus to be a challenge by calling them an "Old man and his Stillborn Limb". This makes him a cheater in the competition against Magni since Atreus was supposed to be weakest of the duo, ensuring Modi's victory and improving his chances of inheriting Mjölnir.

Weapons and Powers

• Superhuman Strength - As the son of Thor, Modi possesses godly strength, though not to the same extent as his half-brother or father. It was said by Mimir that when Thor was trapped beneath Hrungnir's corpse, none could lift the giant off of him, until Magni and Modi, as mere children, easily hurled the stone giant off of Thor.
• Immortality - As an Aesir god, Modi was immortal, and could only be killed by other Immortals or special weapons.
• Durability - Modi is extremely durable, taking extreme punishment from Kratos and Atreus's attacks. He even takes damage using his shield. He can survive a brutal beating from his father Thor, Although he was very weakened to the point where when Atreus stabbed him in the neck he felled to the ground and bleed and when Atreus kicks him he felled into a chasm and presumably got killed.
• Electrokinesis - Due to being a son of Thor, Modi has an affinity with lightning and electricity, as he is able to generate electricity from his body, thus allowing him to send strong electrical shocks through his mace and others on contact. Since Modi is not as strong as his brother Magni, Modi is better in using lightning, he can use it more effective than his brother such as : throwing a ball of lighting that explodes upon physical contact to the ground or the opponent or shoot a ray of lighting to the opponent that sap their life away. Modi can combine his power with Magni's to perform more powerful moves such as a lighting slam that covers a large radius. The power of his lightning is enough to drop Kratos to his knees for a few moments, though the effect was short-lived after Kratos gave in to his rage.
• Mace and Shield - Modi carries both a one handed medieval mace and square metal shield. As such, Modi is skilled in offense and defence when in combat. When used in conjunction with his electrokinesis, Modi is able to charge either the mace or the shield with lightning and wield with great effect such as charging with the shield or throwing electrical orbs from the mace. He can also shoot lightning from the mace as well, as demonstrated when he continuously electrocuted Kratos inside Týr's Temple. In addition, the mace also allows Modi to summon a "snowblind" together with his brother. His weapons along with Magni's sword, were declared knockoffs of Mjölnir that was crafted by Brok and Sindri for Thor.

Trivia

• It's uncertain exactly what Modi was planning to do with Atreus after he got him, though it's implied through his battle dialogue and Magni's own disgust that his intentions (suggesting that this may not have been a onetime request) may have been sexual in nature.
• In Norse Mythology, Magni and Modi are mentioned among the survivors of Ragnarok.
• Modi is the second god in God of War (2018) to be killed, but not by Kratos, but his son Atreus.
• Thor beat Modi to a bloody pulp for believing he left his brother behind and fleeing like a coward, which isn't completely false.
• Modi's name literally means "brave," which is quite ironic considering his instances of cowardly behavior.
  • It may be simply that he was scared of someone stronger than him. Kratos killing Magni can be a testament to show how strong Kratos is, and like Thor and Baldur, can more than likely hurt or kill him.
  • Another idea could be due to Ragnarok. Ragnarok was a common belief among the living and both Magni and Modi were fated to survive it. Magni, Modi and possibly Odin believed that they were protected by both fate and destiny, but, Kratos defied this by killing Magni. Causing Modi to lose his composure since he's realized how vulnerable he actually is.
• During the course battle, the pair of them will shout "ÓÐR BRÓÐIR BLINDR!" ÓÐR means mental faculties or voice in Old Norse. BRÓÐIR is obviously brother, and BLINDR means blind. So, it could mean "brother's voice of blinding" or "brother's blinding voice". As Magni and Modi are brothers, this makes sense, as well as the fact it blinds the target.
  • "ÓÐR" often translates to "frenzy" or "fury" when used as an adjective. With this in mind, the chant can mean "brother's blind frenzy" or "brother's blind fury".  The snowblind acts as a divide and conquer strategy. Where you'd separate your enemies to prevent cooperation and pick them off individually. Or create enough dissent between your enemies to create self-destructive paranoia. In this case, the brothers wanted to separate Kratos and Atreus so they can kill them off individually while they were disorientated by the storm.
• Voiced by Nolan North, the voice of Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series. Magni is instead voiced by Troy Baker, who also voiced Nate's brother, Sam Drake in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. North had appeared in the God of War franchise previously, having voiced Hades in God of War.
• Sindri expresses a particular disliking for Modi, saying he would rather lick a rat than shake his hand. The exact reason for why he detests Modi in particular to such a degree is unknown.
• It is implied that Modi is not favored by the Aesir, with feats of strength and bravery being attributed solely to Magni alone.
• While bickering with his brother, he asks Magni that if they find them, he can keep Atreus to himself, to which Magni replies in disgust, "What is the matter with you?". It leaves rather disturbing questions of his interest on Atreus. After the first fight, Atreus writes in the Codex that he's a "creep". In the battle, he also tells Atreus, "Jealous? Want me all to yourself?" and "Got big plans for you, kid."
  • While trying to kill Kratos, he tells Atreus that he will be his "new brother" after he completes in doing so. This seems to suggest that he desires to feel superior as a "big brother", as all his life he is overshadowed by Magni.
• Oddly, Modi's weapon is a medieval weapon. While simple clubs have been used throughout antiquity, what Modi uses did not get developed until well after the period in which he lives. His shield design (an overall square shape) was not used by any culture at any point in history and is largely fictitious.
• Modi being the younger brother of the two is somewhat ironic, as his voice actor, Nolan North, is actually five years older than Troy Baker, Magni's voice actor.
• While Sindri confirms that Modi is a demigod like Magni, it is unclear what race his mother was, given that she is not mention anywhere in Norse mythology.
• Interestingly, Modi's design invokes Berserker imagery. In the Viking era, berserkers were Viking warriors who wore very little to no armour to battle and often worked themselves into a frenzy, or, get violently drunk before the battle. The berserkers were extremely violent and were so erratic in the battle that they attacked their own allies. Bear hide was commonly worn by berserkers to give the wearer abilities in strength and courage. Berserkers were also associated with Odin.

Gallery

Modi with his weapons during his fight with Kratos and Atreus.

Modi stuns Kratos with his lighting power

Kratos rushes at Modi with Spartan's Rage.

Modi after getting a severe beating by Thor for his cowardice.

Atreus stabs Modi for insulting Faye.

Atreus kicks Modi off the cliff, presumably killing him while Kratos tries to stop his son in vain.

Modi (Codex)

Concept art of Modi's near-finalized design.

Concept art of Modi's head.