The Untold Truth Of Marvel's Lady Sif

The Asgardian Lady Sif is a lifelong friend, fellow warrior, and sometimes lover of Thor. Both in the comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sif has had to fight hard for respect from her fellow warriors. In a culture where female fighters are an anomaly, she's always been shown as more than able to hold her own against the toughest of opponents. She had a rough-and-tumble childhood playing with Thor and Balder while always being distrustful of Loki. She's spent time on Earth trying to understand Thor's love of the planet and while she never married Thor as she had long planned, her fate has always been intertwined with his.

They both went on quests to find each other when they were missing for long periods of time. They've both played big roles in Ragnarok and trying to prevent it. Both of have spent time ruling Asgard. Both have seen their core identities undergo great changes, as Thor abandoned his very name along with his hammer and Sif has taken up the job of guardian of the Bifrost Bridge after her brother Heimdall died. Both are noble and proud characters, and Sif is the rare Asgardian who has transcended the roles originally meant for her. That's true in the MCU as well, as she managed to survive the slaughter at the hands of Hela and Thanos and will return in Thor: Love And Thunder. Let's explore her many adventures, loves, and friendships over the years. 

Sif grew up training and getting up to mischief with Balder and Thor; this was before Thor had proven himself worthy of holding the enchanted Uru hammer Mjolnir. When she was very young, she had the most beautiful golden hair in Asgard. Loki, Thor's adopted brother, hated him and tried to annoy him as much as possible. Knowing that Thor and Sif were close, he often struck at her to get at him. One night, he cut off her golden hair and left her bald. When Thor learned of this, he knew Loki was responsible and threatened to kill his brother. A terrified Loki turned to the dwarf blacksmiths Brokk and Eitri to replace the hair, but since he had nothing to pay them with, they made the hair out of nothing; in this case, shadows. Loki's plan backfired, because Thor found her more beautiful than ever.

When Thor, Balder, and Sif went on a quest to get magic items to forge a new weapon, the Norn Queen Karnilla attacked Asgard. Though her forces were defeated, she killed Thor with an arrow. Sif's tears, mixed with magical dirt, brought him back to life. Later, Sif was kidnapped by the Storm Giant king to gain immortality from Hela. When Thor went after her and realized he couldn't defeat Hela, he offered up his life for Sif's. Hela couldn't accept such a noble gesture, so she spared them both. Thor and Sif then kissed for the first time.

Thor and Sif eventually drifted apart, and Thor fell in love with both defending the Earth as well as Jane Foster. When Thor told Odin he wanted to marry Jane, his father told him to bring her to Asgard. Odin put Jane through a series of terrifying tests after giving her some powers, but Jane begged to return to Earth. Thor faced reality: Jane simply wasn't ready to become an immortal. Shortly after that, Thor went on a quest for Odin to defeat an entity called the Unknown and was nearly killed. He was saved by a skilled swordhand who revealed herself to be Sif, and they rekindled their relationship.

Later, Jane Foster fell into a coma and was near death. Sif used the Runestaff of the Elder of the Universe Kamo Tharnn (also known as the Possessor) to merge her life force with Jane's. Although Sif seemingly disappeared in saving Jane's life, Jane was not only restored to full health, but had Sif's fighting spirit. When a witch had Thor and Firelord under her mental control, Jane engaged her in battle and wrested away her magical control crystal, freeing the heroes. When Thor learned that Odin had supposedly gone mad, Jane went with him to Asgard. Upon touching Sif's sword, Jane disappeared and Sif became ascendant again. Jane had been absorbed into the Possessor's brain, but she was rescued by Thor and Sif years later. They reunited Jane with her fiancé, Dr. Keith Kincaid. 

Shortly after Jane Foster married Keith Kincaid, Sif told Thor that she was going back to Asgard. It was partly because she missed her home and all its adventures, and partly because Thor was either always fighting crime or saving lives in his alter-ego of Dr. Donald Blake. When the Korbinite cyborg Beta Ray Bill arrived on Earth and proved worthy of wielding Mjolnir, Sif became infatuated with this noble warrior and his quest. They fell in love and she volunteered to accompany him on his ship, the Skuttlebutt, as he battled demons. 

When Thor and Odin realized that the demons were in the service of Surtur and he was planning to destroy the universe, Odin recalled Sif and Bill to Asgard. He sent them to battle Surtur's hordes on Earth while he defended Asgard. When Thor realized that Surtur had tricked him and went to Asgard, he followed and left Bill and Sif in charge. They designed a clever stratagem that wound up defeating the demons, although Sif was badly injured. Hogun healed her and she spent a pleasant few weeks in New York with Bill, fighting the Titanium Man and walking around the city. However, Bill's duty was to his people and Sif needed to go back to Asgard to help rebuild it. Their mutual respect and affection never waned.

Meanwhile, Thor fell under the spell of Lorelei and hit Sif at her command, but he later begged for forgiveness when his mind cleared. 

When Seth, the Egyptian god of death, was laying waste to Asgard, the Enchantress let out a distress call that was heard across the dimensions. To the rescue came the gods of the Celtic pantheon, led by Leir, the arrogant lord of lightning. Leir was immediately smitten by Sif's fighting spirit as their combined forces defeated Seth. He later used all of his power to pierce a hidden barrier around Asgard to ask Sif to be his wife. While Sif had no interest in this blockhead, she knew she had to warn Thor about the barrier. Leir promised to get her to Earth, but she gave him two conditions: first, they had to find Thor. Second, Leir had to defeat a champion of her choice in battle. 

Finding Thor proved to be a little trickier than she expected, as he had traveled to the Black Galaxy. After witnessing the birth of a new Celestial, Thor was found by Sif and they returned to Asgard just in time to prevent Ragnarok from happening (again!). Thinking that surely Thor would be Sif's champion, Leir started fighting him. Before things went too far, Sif stepped in and said that she'd be her own champion, and promptly punched Leir into a fountain. Thor went back to Earth, Sif stayed on Asgard, and they had yet another scene of affirming their love while understanding that their priorities would always be different.

After helping Thor in a particularly difficult battle with Thanos, Odin summoned his son to his chambers before he began his restorative Odinsleep. When Thor offered to rule Asgard while Odin was napping, his father said he had chosen someone else to be the regent of Asgard: Sif! Odin wanted to make sure Thor could defend Earth, so Sif got to wear the Ring Imperial.

Things did not go smoothly for Sif. Unbeknownst to her, the Casket of Ancient Winters was reassembled and Malekith the Dark Elf got his hands on it. He froze Asgard and nearly killed Odin before Sif and Thor were able to hold him off. Malekith managed to enslave his old enemy Kurse and sent him after Thor. Thor escaped and Sif fought Malekith while the thunder god looked for Odin's Gem of Infinite Suns. He used it to free Kurse, reverse the freeze, and close the Casket. He was going to finish off Malekith, but Sif demanded that final blow, because the Dark Elf dared to steal a kiss from her.

Eventually, Odin woke up when Sif went back to Earth to help Thor battle Gladiator. Odin was not happy to see the deadly troll Ulik about to kill him, but he survived. Sif yielded control of Asgard back to Odin after her brief but crucial service. 

Thor's life was later connected to the mortal EMT Jake Olson, but he was later separated by Odin when Thor needed to recover from a battle. What was supposed to be a temporary separation was made permanent when Odin died and Thor took the throne of Asgard. Losing his connection to humanity led Thor to abuse his power, as he decided that in order for humanity to start worshipping the gods again, he'd merge Earth and Asgard. When several countries teamed to destroy Asgard, an angry Thor conquered the world. He ruled the Earth for 100 years, married the Enchantress, and had a son named Magni.

When Asgard was destroyed, Sif begged Thor to take the Asgardians and leave Earth, and she vowed to fight him if he stayed to permanently conquer it. His response was to send her into exile. However, she was fond of Magni and would leave him gifts, and he would visit her in exile. She eventually led him to question his father, and Magni found Mjolnir, which Thor was no longer worthy of lifting. Magni and Sif crashed Thor's throne room and Magni dared Thor to lift the hammer, knowing he was no longer worthy. Eventually, confronted by the god-slayer Desak and the Spirit of the Jewel — and impressed by Magni's courage — Thor realized the error of his ways. He went back in time and reunited himself and Jake Olson, preventing this grim future from ever happening.

After Thor reset the timeline of his misguided reign, a deranged Loki found the forge that made Mjolnir and decided to put Ragnarok into motion, once and for all. He brought forth Fenris and a variety of monsters to attack Asgard. Meanwhile, Thor found himself separated from the Odinpower. After realizing that he had given it its own form as young boy, he used a variety of rituals to gain knowledge. He learned of the old gods, Those Who Sit Above In Shadow, and how they kept putting Ragnarok in motion as part of a cycle that gave them power. 

Meanwhile, Sif became leader of the Valkyries after Brunnhilde died. Sif's old friend and rival even gave her the enchanted sword Dragonfang upon her death. Sif was reunited with Beta Ray Bill, who came to Asgard in its hour of need, although her heart was with Thor. She died defending Asgard.

Thor vowed to end the cycle and seemingly put Ragnarok into motion once again, destroying all of Asgard. He confronted the Fates, destroyed the World Tree, and eliminated Those Who Sit Above In Shadow. It was the only way to stop the cycle and give his people a real chance to live. Asgard was ready to be reborn.

After the final Ragnarok, Thor revived himself and soon set about reviving the rest of the Asgardians on Earth. However, he couldn't find Sif, and was greatly surprised when Loki came back in the body of a woman. As it turns out, the devious Loki had stolen the body meant for Sif, and Sif was trapped in the dying body of a woman named Mrs. Chambers. Loki even taunted Sif by showing her a reflection of her true self, disguised as a nurse. 

Loki sensed his true form was returning to Earth and taunted Thor about taking Sif's body, lying about it (naturally). He told her that he didn't think the body holding Sif's essence would survive the transference. As Mrs. Chambers/Sif was starting to die, Dr. Jane Foster rushed to her side and heard her whisper that she "was not only in my body." Thor knew he could save her, but he had to have Dr. Strange repair Mjolnir (permanently binding it to him) first. Just before Mrs. Chambers died, Thor called Sif back to life. He gave her a new mortal identity as "Sylvan," a model from New York, and a room in the same boarding house he was staying at in Oklahoma. She later fought in the Siege of Asgard. 

During the War of the Realms event, the Dark Elf Malekith and his various allies were attacking the last remaining realm: Earth. Sif joined Captain Marvel in putting together a special "War Avengers" tactical squad that was designed not so much to win battles but to extend them by being hard to kill. Their job was to engage the enemies and allow their allies to make crucial moves. They first attempted to recruit Prince Namor, but he was not interested in bringing the war to Atlantis. However, Deadpool happened to be in Atlantis thanks to being eaten by a lava shark, and while he's obnoxious, there are few people harder to kill than him.

Also on the team were Venom, Weapon H (the Hulk/Wolverine hybrid), the Black Widow, and the Winter Soldier. The latter two were there because of their espionage and assassination abilities. The team managed to defeat a bunch of Frost Giants, but they had to call on Captain Britain to help them escape being overrun by an army of Dark Elves. They took the fight to Malekith himself, but the Dark Elf impaled Venom on the Black Knight's Ebony Blade and escaped. The War Avengers fought on, but it took a quartet of Thors to take down Malekith in the end. 

When Sif's brother Heimdall died, she became the new guardian of the Bifrost Bridge. Thor had become the herald of Galactus and learned of a universe-destroying event called Black Winter, and he hoped that Galactus could stop it. However, Galactus required eating an inhabited world, so Thor reached out to Sif to use the Bifrost to evacuate the world. 

When Beta Ray Bill saw what Galactus was doing, he attacked the world-devourer and told Thor to stay out of it. Thor overpowered him, but Bill wouldn't give up, and an enraged Thor was about to deliver the killing blow when Sif stepped in to stop him. Sif wouldn't back down and Thor threw Mjolnir at her, but she used the Bifrost to teleport it to Jotunheim and took Bill back to Asgard under her protection. Sif's new role was difficult; although she could now see everything, even across the universe, she knew that Thor was going to have a hard time surviving against the cosmic plague of the Black Winter — and there was nothing she could do about it, because Thor wouldn't let her help. At the same time, she couldn't leave her post to be with Bill, who went off to get drunk with Volstagg. 

In the MCU, Sif and Thor are fellow warriors rather than lovers, although there are moments where it's hinted that she has feelings for him. As a warrior, she's as badass as any of Thor's friends, as she took on the invincible Destroyer and ran it through with a sword. When Asgard had to deal with marauders attacking the various realms, it was Sif who led the troops until Thor showed up. She later had to save him on the battlefield.

After the damage that Malekith wreaked on Asgard in Thor: The Dark World, Loki (disguised as Odin) sent Sif to Earth to track down the highly dangerous sorceress Lorelei. She had the power to enslave men to her will and soon formed her own gang. She teamed up with Phil Coulson's S.H.I.E.L.D. group, although she was surprised to see him alive. Despite several male members of the team getting enchanted by Lorelei, Sif was able to take her down and return her to Asgard.

Later, Heimdall detected a Kree on Earth and sent Sif to investigate. She fought the Kree warrior named Vin-Tak, but though she destroyed his cloaking device, he knocked her out. When she woke up, she couldn't remember who she was. Coulson helped her and learned Vin-Tak was there to kill Inhumans — which included Daisy Johnson. Sif distrusted Daisy's power, but she agreed to let her stay on Earth after they defeated Vin-Tak, believing in Coulson's good will.