Didja Know... Ratatoskr, the Giant Horned Asgardian Squirrel God

Didja Know digs into the fun facts, strange stories, and divine details that helped build the hallowed halls of the House of Ideas!

Y’know something, True Believers? If we were an Asgardian squirrel god and along came a big Marvel event called, oh, WAR OF THE REALMS, we’d take advantage of it, dig? And lo, that’s just what a certain Asgardian squirrel god’s doing right now. Imagine that.

It’s all going down in the new UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #45, which yea, verily, stands as a WAR OF THE REALMS tie-in!

Coincidence? We don’t think so. Just like it’s not a coincidence that this is the second time in Didja Know history we’re reporting on something squirrelly—Squirrel Girl to be precise—but between you and us, it’s really a way to do our own tie-in, namely with our Awesome Animals thing we started last time.

So, here’s a few fabulous, furry, fang-filled fables about the one, the only—thank goodness—Ratatoskr, the squirrel god you never knew you were a fan of until right now!

Didja Know… Ratatoskr wants to destroy all of humanity?

Yep, we did it. We went nuclear right out of the gate. And with good reason—if we didn’t warn you, you’d want to know why we didn’t warn you after you’d been destroyed...right?

Seems Ratatoskr’s had this mighty mad-on for Midgardians—that’s us, bunky—for centuries now, and in fact has tried to wipe us out on more than one occasion. The last time was in UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL (2015) #6 when the nutty god arrived on Earth in the guise of a Super Hero called Girl Squirrel—kinda derivative, we think—and acted like she was saving lions at the Bronx zoo or somesuch. Then, the squirrel droppings hit the fan.

Ol’ Ratatoskr started sneaking around the Big Apple whispering in people’s ears while they slept—creepy, right?—just to stir up discord and chaos. That’s one of her powers. Squirrel Girl caught wind of it and confronted the big phony in Central Park and, hoo-boy, did they have a brouhaha in UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #7-8. Even Thor and Loki got involved! And luckily for the human race, Ratatoskr lost thanks to Loki…which just sounds weird.

Didja Know… Ratatoskr’s both hindered and helped Thor for centuries?

Speaking of the Thunder God, we should probably illuminate his part in this. He and Loki and Ratatoskr go way back, as the kids several decades ago used to say. In fact, all the way back to Asgard.

Ratatoskr used to be the messenger of the Asgardians back when Odin had both eyes and you could tell when he was looking at you. She ran up and down Yggdrasil, the world tree, carrying notes and such between the eagle that sits atop the tree and some goofball named Nidhogg who sat at the bottom. You can check all this out in THOR (1998) #83, if you don’t believe us—and frankly, we wouldn’t believe us, either.

Anyway, though this route was considered a pertinent punishment for the squirrel god and she wanted to escape it, she also served as a kind of storyteller to the young Asgardians, including Thor and Loki. And you want to hear something even more crazy? Thor so valued his little tête-à-têtes with Ratatoskr, he even took her advice on how to vanquish a villain in THOR BLOOD OATH (2005) #2. And later, they fought. It happens.

Didja Know… Ratatoskr’s responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs?

Well, okay; that little bit of terror trivia comes from Loki, who just happens to be the God of Mischief and Lies, so you gotta take that one with a grain of salt when you look it up in UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #8. Don’t take our word for it.

But for the sake of angst and argument, how could that be? Well, now, Charlie, this Ratatoskr’s a pretty mean character. She can change her size at will and jump around like nobody’s business, control people’s minds with whispering words of disdainful discord, and knows a heaping hill of mean words.

Face it, friend: If you were a dinosaur you’d drop over dead at the sight of that, too.

Peruse these eye-poppin' publications with Marvel Unlimited right now! Then visit your local comic shop to read UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #45 this Wednesday, June 12!