WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 1 of Record of Ragnarok, now streaming on Netflix.
During Netflix's Record of Ragnarok, which pits gods from around the world against humanity's strongest, Zeus decides to put Thor front and center in the first bout to send a message to Brunhilde, leader of the Valkyries: that her 13 warriors from Earth's history won't be any match for his pantheon. He's got gods from every culture, and once they get to seven wins first, they'll bring about Ragnarok and wipe humanity off the face of the Earth.
But Brunhilde has secrets of her own that will empower her warriors. And as we learn more about Thor's intimidating figure, we discover his power move actually came from an Attack on Titan-esque experience.
Record of Ragnarok's big reveal is a pure homage to Hajime Isayama's series, which focuses on rangers who defend mankind in zones that are surrounded by giant walls. These walls are to protect the people from flesh-eating Titans, with the likes of protagonists Eren and Mikasa using grappling devices and other weapons to swing around the giants and kill them.
That same thing happens in Record of Ragnarok. During a siege of Asgard -- centuries before this contest -- we learn that the Giants of Jötunheimr grew hungry and after biding their time, they stormed the city's gates and walls. 66 of them invaded, surprising the angel knights who were charged with flying outside the city to stop any threats. But like the Titans, Record of Ragnarok's Giants slogged around, crushing things and eating the angel knights as well as any citizens they could get their fingers on. Attack on Titan draws heavily from Norse mythology, so the similarity here brings this influence full circle.
This incursion led to the Odinson, who was bored and hungry for a challenge, dragging out his mammoth hammer, Mjolnir. He'd been itching for a fight and swiftly started using it to bash and slit the throats of the enemy. This is what led the Thunder God to come up with a brutal move called Thor's Hammer, which basically involves him being arched back and smashing the weapon down into the ground after harnessing all of heaven's energy.
Anyone in front would be crushed but that's not all it could do. The kicker is, the move called down a thunder and lightning storm, creating a nuclear bomb that disintegrated all the tyrants around. As Thor conjured this, he knew he'd become the stuff of legend. More so, it was an efficient way of not tiring himself out.
In Record of Ragnarok's tournament, Thor uses this move when the Chinese lord, Lü Bu, tries to use his halberd to pierce Thor's armor and cut him up. Fed up of fighting, the thunder god realizes his opponent has a mystical means to kill him thanks to Brunhilde -- so, Thor breaks out this big gun to finish the battle once and for all. The bomb goes off, leaving the arena in awe as Thor basks in the aftermath, standing tall with glory and living up to the myths of Record of Ragnarok.
