Who is Frog Thor? Marvel’s Amphibian Asgardian Explained

In Thor: Ragnarök, Loki, masquerading as Odin, watches a stage play showcasing his “heroic” death scene in Thor: The Dark World. During the performance, the Asgardian actor playing Loki (a nearly unrecognizable Matt Damon) delivers a lengthy, over-the-top speech where he apologizes to Thor for “that time I turned you into a frog.”

While the line appears to be a throwaway gag, the tale of Thor the Frog is actually a popular storyline in Marvel Comics that helped spawn an all-new “Frog Thor” character who fights alongside Thor Odinson today.

As Loki/Odin assured the audience that Thor’s transformation into a frog, “was indeed hilarious,” let’s take a look back at the surprisingly epic story that inspired this line.

That Time Loki Turned Thor Into a Frog

Thor first turned into a frog at the end of Thor #363 thanks to Loki’s magic (who delivered the spell ironically by having a hypnotized woman kiss the God of Thunder). This kicked off Thor’s weirdest journey where he discovered even Loki’s spell could not take away his godly might as he still possessed the strength of many frogs. This came in handy when Thor needed to beat up a rat attempting to eat him – and later made him the hero of the frogs of Central Park who were waging a secret war with the rats (yes, really).

Befriending a friendly frog named “Puddlegulp,” Thor decided to help the frogs in their war when he discovered the rats were planning on dumping rat poison into the frogs’ reservoir. Realizing he needed reinforcements, Thor traveled into New York’s sewer system where he found a colony of alligators living beneath New York’s streets. After outwitting a mutant pied piper who was controlling the alligators (again, yes really), Thor led the alligators to Central Park where they devoured most of the rat army.

In the aftermath, the frogs attempted to make Thor their new king. Thor kindly turned down the offer, however, and managed to find his way back to his enchanted hammer Mjolnir. Reasoning the hammer might be able to break the spell, Thor mustered his froggy might and managed to lift the hammer – only to be transformed into a seven-foot-tall frog in Asgardian armor.

Returning home, the Frog of Thunder captured Loki, demanding that he break the spell. Loki, however, found his new form hilarious and attempted to regress his mind to an amphibian’s. In a weird turn of events, this only made Frog Thor fight more ferociously and nearly kill Loki – until an unexpected burst of magic reverted Thor back to his normal Asgardian form. Having won the day, Thor chided Loki, pointing out to the trickster that, “I bested you as a frog.”

The Return of Frog Thor

This, however, was not the end of Frog Thor. Years later, in Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers, the teleporting Inhuman dog Lockjaw encountered a small frog wearing Thor’s Asgardian garb and wielding a miniature Mjolnir in Central Park. Revealing himself to be Thor’s old friend Puddlegulp, the frog explained he actually began life as a human named Simon Walterson. Although he was a generous man who devoted his life to helping the homeless, Simon fell into despair when his wife died. Trying to contact his dead wife through seers and fortune tellers, Simon ran afoul of a genuine magic user who transformed him into a frog when he couldn’t pay her fee.

Now calling himself Puddlegulp, the frog joined the community of frogs in Central Park and fought alongside Thor in the war against the rats. When rat survivors chased down Puddlegulp, the frog sought out Thor’s help and witnessed his transformation into the giant “Frog of Thunder.” Unfortunately, Thor left before he could spot Puddlegulp, forcing the frog to grab a sliver chipped from Thor’s indestructible hammer. Upon striking the sliver to the ground, the tiny frog was transformed into a miniature version of the Frog of Thunder.

Rechristened “Throg,” Puddlegulp/Simon continued protecting the frogs of Central Park until Lockjaw approached him with a new mission to collect the Infinity Stones and keep them away from Thanos. Joining the Inhuman dog, the new Frog Thor helped recruit other animal teammates, including Kitty Pryde’s dragon Lockheed, the Falcon’s bird Redwing, Speedball’s cat Hairball, and Aunt May’s gender-confused dog Ms. Lion. Together, the “Pet Avengers” went on multiple adventures, with “Throg” frequently functioning as team leader and interpreter (since he could speak to both humans and animals).

Could The Frog of Thunder Appear in the MCU?

Thanks to Loki’s line in Thor: Ragnarök, Thor’s adventure as a frog is already official canon in the MCU. So, could a transformed Frog Thor or Simon Walterson’s Throg actually appear in an upcoming movie? While some may consider the idea too silly for the MCU, it should be noted that the Thor films are finally embracing the zanier sides of Thor’s adventures with the God of Thunder traveling to gladiator arenas in Sakaar and fighting against a warrior Hulk.

Moreover, with the announcement that Christian Bale may be joining the cast of Thor: Love & Thunder, many fans are hoping the former Batman actor may play an iconic Thor ally – the alien Beta Ray Bill. Considering Bill is basically a horse-headed warrior who proved worthy of lifting Mjolnir and becoming a horse version of Thor (dubbed “Thorse” by some in the comics), adding a Frog Thor “Throg” to the mix almost feels like a natural choice.

So, while fans will have to wait and see if any animal versions of Thor finally make it to the big screen, it’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility.         

About The Author

Michael Jung
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Michael Jung is a mild-mannered freelance writer-for-hire, actor, and professional storyteller with a keen interest in pop culture, education, nonprofit organizations, and unusual side hustles. His work has been featured in Screen Rant, ASU Now, Sell Books Fast, Study.com, and Free Arts among others. A graduate of Arizona State University with a PhD in 20^th Century American Literature, Michael has written novels, short stories, stage plays, screenplays, and how-to manuals.

Michael’s background in storytelling draws him to find the most fascinating aspects of any topic and transform them into a narrative that informs and entertains the reader. Thanks to a life spent immersed in comic books and movies, Michael is always ready to infuse his articles with offbeat bits of trivia for an extra layer of fun. In his spare time, you can find him entertaining kids as Spider-Man or Darth Vader at birthday parties or scaring the heck out of them at haunted houses.

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