Thor Sightings?

[Spankea]

How common are Thor sightings in the game today?  More or less or about the same?  This came up in a conversation I was having recently.  Why I ask is because should we make more Asgardian themed toons or is there enough already in Paragon?

[lemming]

Since the game wants you to avoid copyright infringement,  I think encouraging it would be counterproductive.   Homages good, easily recognizable IP, not so good.

[Spankea]

19 minutes ago, lemming said:

Since the game wants you to avoid copyright infringement,  I think encouraging it would be counterproductive.   Homages good, easily recognizable IP, not so good.

There's only one Thor.

[ZemX]

21 minutes ago, lemming said:

Since the game wants you to avoid copyright infringement, 

 

As long as you don't call him "The Mighty Thor" and/or copy Marvel's costume, you won't be infringing their copyright.  They don't own Norse mythology.

 

If you want to walk the line, call your toon "The Might Be Thor" and make the costume just NOT similar enough to avoid being generic'd. 🤪

[Player2]

2 minutes ago, ZemX said:

 

As long as you don't call him "The Mighty Thor" and/or copy Marvel's costume, you won't be infringing their copyright.  They don't own Norse mythology.

 

If you want to walk the line, call your toon "The Might Be Thor" and make the costume just NOT similar enough to avoid being generic'd. 🤪

Exactly this.  Thor and all of Norse (and other) mythology is public domain.  No comics company can exclusively claim trademark violation unless you copy their specific interpretation.

[Techwright]

5 minutes ago, ZemX said:

 

As long as you don't call him "The Mighty Thor"

 

Is that the only name (or perhaps "term" might be more accurate) which is trademarked by Marvel in regards to Thor?

[Spankea]

16 minutes ago, Player2 said:

Exactly this.  Thor and all of Norse (and other) mythology is public domain.  No comics company can exclusively claim trademark violation unless you copy their specific interpretation.

The force is strong with this one!

Edited May 25, 2023 by Spankea

[ZemX]

14 minutes ago, Techwright said:

Is that the only name (or perhaps "term" might be more accurate) which is trademarked by Marvel in regards to Thor?

 

Maybe?  I don't know where you'd find a comprehensive list.  If you google about Marvel or Disney trademarking Thor you'll get a dozen articles saying, alternately, the Disney is trying to copyright Loki and another dozen articles debunking the first dozen.  Which is to say, good luck finding such a list unless you're more legally adept than I am.

 

The real key would be avoiding Marvel's costume design.  If you create a generic looking Viking warrior type dude, avoid the red cape, and call him "(something) Thor" you are probably good.

[lemming]

My point was more the outfits.   Try to avoid the styles that make it look like the copyright versions.

[Snarky]

There is NO issue with making an homage to any deity.

 

Having said that there are a ton of issues.  Making a God/god/demigod character brings a ton of baggage.  You could anger people.  
 

But to your specific deity question; you are fine unless you recreate the Marvel version. Hey I get it, some depictions are cool.  I just happened to choose one in the public domain.  Marvel characters are not.

 

Making the HC team take time to parse out if you crossed the line is not cool or funny.  Grow up.  

[biostem]

12 hours ago, Spankea said:

How common are Thor sightings in the game today?

I can't recall seeing any "Thors" in recent memory.

 

12 hours ago, Spankea said:

Why I ask is because should we make more Asgardian themed toons or is there enough already in Paragon?

I'm confused by the "should" part here - don't let what other people do be the determining factor as to what kinds of characters you make.  That being said, come up with a unique look, don't make specific references to events or characters from existing IPs, and you should be fine.  I mean, heck, Malta has Hercules, Zeus, and Kronos units, so it's not unheard of to tap into the names of gods/demigods...

[InvaderStych]

7 hours ago, Snarky said:

Making the HC team take time to parse out if you crossed the line is not cool or funny.

 

This.

 

I don't understand the compulsion of some players to see how close they can get to the line of being generic'd without crossing it.  Give the HC team a break guys, this isn't The Price Is Right; no prizes are being handed out for being the closest without going over.

[0th Power]

8 hours ago, Snarky said:

Having said that there are a ton of issues.  Making a God/god/demigod character brings a ton of baggage.  You could anger people.

 

As long as you aren't making a character specifically to anger people and you stay within the TOS, I don't think this should even factor into the equation.

[ZemX]

28 minutes ago, 0th Power said:

As long as you aren't making a character specifically to anger people and you stay within the TOS, I don't think this should even factor into the equation.

 

I am no longer EVER surprised when someone claims to be angry about something I didn't think was a big deal.  Seems to be how the world works now (or perhaps always has).

[Yomo Kimyata]

Sometimes, I'll make a character and progress their costume as they progress in levels, usually every 10.  I did that with Thor Loser, and I have no regrets.

 

[Xiddo]

Truth be told, I’ve more struggled with which sets to give a Thor character. War Mace or Battle Axe? I wish elec armour’s taunt aura instead gave a chance to chain lightning on melee damage, like sent’s Molten Embrace, cos otherwise it feels a bit flavourless. If you go elec melee then elec/elec feels dull… so it’s invul/elec?

[Snarky]

14 minutes ago, Xiddo said:

Truth be told, I’ve more struggled with which sets to give a Thor character. War Mace or Battle Axe? I wish elec armour’s taunt aura instead gave a chance to chain lightning on melee damage, like sent’s Molten Embrace, cos otherwise it feels a bit flavourless. If you go elec melee then elec/elec feels dull… so it’s invul/elec?

Thor as we see him depicted, and as a Norse god, is a Tank Mage.  He wields Elec Assault at incarnate level and a modest size hammer that works as a Titan weapon, has super strength, and Invul armor.

 

Try building that in CoH.  You want a challenge?  Forget the costume.  

[Xiddo]

Elec/TW/Mu?

[Spankea]

27 minutes ago, Xiddo said:

Truth be told, I’ve more struggled with which sets to give a Thor character. War Mace or Battle Axe? I wish elec armour’s taunt aura instead gave a chance to chain lightning on melee damage, like sent’s Molten Embrace, cos otherwise it feels a bit flavourless. If you go elec melee then elec/elec feels dull… so it’s invul/elec?

Try symphony for a nice change.

[Mjolnerd]

At the end of the day, which armchair copyright lawyer is correct about what constitutes infringement and what doesn't, isn't really all that relevant. Whether HC wants to take on the risk of running afoul of Disney's (or WB's, or any other massive corporate entity's) large, highly-trained and expensive legal team very much is. A court case is a massive headache even if you win -- and let's face it, they wouldn't.

 

Create ripoffs at your own risk. The graveyards are full of people who had the right of way.

[Techwright]

8 hours ago, Xiddo said:

Truth be told, I’ve more struggled with which sets to give a Thor character. War Mace or Battle Axe?

 

8 hours ago, Spankea said:

Try symphony for a nice change.

 

Well...

 

[biostem]

8 minutes ago, Techwright said:

Well...

Indeed...

 

[Spankea]

Gravity, symphony, mind, are all powersets that aren't melee for better options than the typical Thor Sighting.

[BjorJlen]

   Interesting topic, though I would say direct copies are not the way to go, despite CoH having won a lawsuit against Marvel long, long ago, over how the game can make semi (or exact) duplicates of established copy written characters (like Wolverine for example). And that includes, Thor the Thunder-Frog (as pictured below. 🙂 Instead, do what others above have suggested, and make a spin-off of one's own. Like maybe make a "Wolf" thunder character, or a Headless one. I don't know... be creative; the certainly has enough in it to make some very unique and interesting looks without having to "copy" anyone else's look, established characters or not. 🙂 

[Spankea]

Every rose has its Thor.