Jane Foster

"Jane, I fought to protect you from the dangers of my world, but I was wrong. I was a fool, but I believe fate brought us together."

- Thor to Jane Foster

Jane Foster is an astrophysicist. She found Thor after he was banished from Asgard and fell to Earth while she and her team were studying astronomical anomalies. She became host to the Aether and helped Thor defeat Malekith during the Battle of Greenwich.

Early Life
Jane Foster was a student at Culver University, where her father and Erik Selvig worked together. She later graduated and became an astronomer.

A stranger in the desert
Sometime after her graduation from Culver, Jane began studying a mysterious weather event that she believed was linked to an Einstein-Rosen Bridge. Accompanied by her colleague Erik Selvig and intern Darcy Lewis, Jane traveled to the source of the anomalies, which was out in the desert surrounding Puente Antiguo, New Mexico.

At the end of their first week of research, Jane and her colleagues were out in the desert in a van, when the mysterious event that Jane had been analyzing produced in a powerful vortex before them. As they struggled with the zero-visibility conditions, the van collided with a man who had stumbled out of the dust into their path. The man, who only announced himself as Thor, began speaking of Asgard and its people, only to be tasered by Darcy. This prompted the group to take him to hospital.

The following day, Darcy made a surprise discovery when she noticed the figure of a man in one of the photographic images captured from the atmospheric event. While Jane realized that the newcomer might be able to shed some light on the event, Erik was more skeptical, so began a lengthy disagreement between the two. While Jane theorized the possibility of Thor being part of an advanced race and transporting in between worlds via wormhole, Erik insisted that everything Thor had been saying about gods and other worlds was nothing more than delusional talk based on old myths.

Search for Mjølnir
"Once I retrieve Mjølnir, I will return to you the items they stole from you. Deal?" "No. You think you're gonna just walk in and walk out?" "No. I'm gonna fly out."

- Thor and Jane Foster

Despite Selvig's concerns, Jane's interest in Thor pushed her to find out out more and the trio set off for the hospital to find the stranger. Once they were reunited, the trio and Thor went to a local diner where Jane pressed for more information, trying to make sense of what he was telling them. It was there that Thor overheard news of his missing Mjølnir, which had actually been transported via separate wormhole in another region of the desert, and set off on his own to retrieve it. Returning home, Jane and her colleagues found S.H.I.E.L.D. agents confiscating their equipment, having been alerted by the wormhole as well.

After commiserating with her colleagues over the loss of their property, Jane chanced upon Thor again and volunteered to assist him with reacquiring Mjølnir. This goal proved unsuccessful when Thor, stealing into the temporary S.H.I.E.L.D. compound that had sprung up around the artifact, found himself unable to lift it and allowed himself to be caught.

The Destroyer attacks
"Jane, you have to get everybody out of here!" "What about you?" "Thor's going to fight with us!"

- Thor, Jane Foster, and Volstagg

Jane enlisted Erik in helping her get Thor released, which led to a series of events that bonded the expanded group more closely; Erik and Darcy befriending the man and Jane starting to view him as a romantic interest. Her newfound relationship with Thor introduced Jane to the Nine Realms and the true origin of Norse mythology. Their time together was cut short when first several of Thor's friend's from Asgard arrived to take him home, and then the Destroyer arrived to kill him. These events proved Jane's theories true.

Thor ultimately beat the Destroyer, regaining Mjølnir and his full power in the process. Jane saw what he really was for the first time, but with the return of Thor's power came the return of his responsibility to his realm and his people. She was forced to say goodbye as the God of Thunder returned to his home.

Trying to bring back Thor
After Thor's departure, Jane entered a partnership with S.H.I.E.L.D., the information Thor shared with her regarding the Nine Realms making her something of an expert adviser regarding Asgardian cosmology. With S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources, Jane worked extensively to make an artificial portal with hopes of reuniting with Thor in Asgard. She nearly succeeded after months of work, but failed. Darcy tried to convince her to wait, because Thor promised he would return, but Jane was worried he would not.

War for Earth
"As soon as Loki took the doctor, we moved Jane Foster. We've got an excellent observatory in Tromsø. She was asked to consult there very suddenly yesterday. Handsome fee, private plane, very remote. She'll be safe." "Thank you. It's no accident Loki taking Erik Selvig. I dread what he plans for him once he's done."

- Phil Coulson and Thor

In 2012, approximately one year after the fateful incident in New Mexico, Thor's brother Loki made an alliance with the Chitauri and declared war on humanity. When Erik was abducted by Loki, Jane and Darcy were instantly moved to an observatory in Tromsø by S.H.I.E.L.D. for their own protection. Also during this time, Thor was transported back to Earth to contest his brother; Jane had no immediate knowledge of his return.

While in Tromsø, Jane was left in the dark regarding her transfer, and became frustrated due to no-one giving her an explanation. She attempted to confront one of the scientists, when Darcy showed her live footage of Thor in Manhattan fighting in the Battle of New York.

Jane and Darcy flew to New York and reunited with Erik, who was visibly shaken after being brainwashed by Loki. Jane asked her colleague what became of Thor, and was downtrodden to learn that he had already returned to Asgard. Despite comfort from Darcy, Jane decided to move on and forget about Thor.

Reuniting with Thor
Another year passed, with Jane struggling to forget Thor and move on with her life. At some point, Jane received a call from Erik, who, after spending several months enduring psychiatric care, had traveled to London without Jane's knowledge. Erik explained to Jane that he had discovered a series of bizarre anomalies in London, and needed her to come to London and meet with him. Accompanied by Darcy, Jane traveled to London, where they took up residence in a flat that Erik had rented. However, Erik was nowhere to be found.

While waiting for Erik, Jane went on a date with a man named Richard, but was interrupted by Darcy. Following scientific equipment left by Erik, Jane and Darcy, accompanied by Darcy's own intern Ian Boothby, traveled to an abandoned warehouse where a number of portals had appeared, disrupting the laws of physics. While Darcy and Ian were observing the event, Jane herself was swallowed up by one of the portals and transported to an alien world. While exploring her new surroundings, Jane discovered a shrine; when she touched it, it opened, and a mysterious force slithered out of it and infested her body. The shock of this event caused Jane to pass out.

Waking up, Jane found herself back in the warehouse, where she was found by Darcy. After Darcy explained that Jane had been absent for at least five hours, police showed up and attempted to incarcerate the scientists for trespassing. Suddenly, Thor appeared, having been alerted by Jane's absence. Jane was initially furious at Thor for leaving abruptly back in New Mexico, but forgave him when he told her that he only did what he did to keep her safe. When one of the police officers attempted to arrest Jane, the mysterious force, by now completely bonded with her nervous system, reacted violently and forced the police away from her. Realizing that Jane's infection was beyond human containment, Thor instantly teleported Jane and himself to Asgard.

Battle with the Dark Elves
"It's all my fault. If I hadn't found the Aether, your mother and brother would still be alive..." "But if you hadn't come across it, Malekith would have found it quicker."

- Jane Foster and Thor

In Asgard, Jane was treated by the Asgardian physician Eir, but she was unable to figure out how to cure Jane's ailment. Odin, Thor's father, recognized the strange force as the Aether, an extraterrestrial substance capable of planetary destruction. Jane remained in Asgard while Odin worked to find a way to pull the Aether from her body without killing her, and became acquainted with Thor's mother Frigga. Thor also explained to Jane the nature of the Convergence, a cosmic event caused by the alignment of the Nine Realms, which caused the appearance of the portals in London.

However, disaster would soon strike. The Dark Elves, an ancient enemy of the Asgardians, besieged the realm in an attempt to take the Aether, seeking to use it for sinister purposes. While Thor left to help defend his people, Jane was taken into protection by Frigga, who was killed defending her from Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves. Devastated by his wife's death, Odin ordered Jane incarcerated, intending to use her as bate to lure Malekith and kill in him revenge. Fortunately, Thor freed Jane and developed a plan of his own. With help from Sif, Fandral, Volstagg, and a reluctant Loki, Thor and Jane fled Asgard through a secret portal discovered and used by Loki to leave the city undetected, teleporting to the Dark Elf homeworld, Svartalfheim. There, they were attacked by Malekith and his forces. In the ensuing altercation, Loki was seemingly killed by Malekith's lieutenant, Algrim, and Malekith sapped the Aether from Jane's body. While the Aether was being drawn from her, Jane momentarily shared Malekith's thoughts, and learned that he intended to use the Aether to cause the simultaneous destruction of the Nine Realms. After Malekith left Svartalfheim, Thor and Jane took refuge in a cave, where they discovered another portal, and used it to return to Earth.

Reuniting with Erik, Darcy, and Ian, Jane explained Malekith's plan, and, following Erik's research, they confronted him in Greenwich, where a number of large portals, each one leading to one of the Nine Realms, had opened. Using teleportation devices created by Erik, Jane and her colleagues dealt with Malekith's minions while the Dark Elf leader battled Thor. However, one of the portals separated the two combatants, and Malekith nearly succeeded in unleashing the Aether upon the other realms. Fortunately, Thor arrived just in time to hurl Erik's devices at Malekith, allowing Jane to teleport him to Svartalfheim. Malekith's ship, which was damaged in the battle, collapsed and nearly crushed Jane and Thor, but Erik used the last of his equipment to transport it to Svartalfheim, where it instead crushed and killed Malekith. The portals above then closed, the Convergence finally over.

Thor then returned to Asgard briefly to inform his father of his actions, and then returned to Jane on Earth, where he planned to live out his life with her. The two happily embraced upon his return.

Relationships

 * Thor - Love interest
 * Darcy Lewis - Friend and colleague
 * Erik Selvig - Friend and colleague
 * Loki - Reluctant ally
 * Malekith - Enemy
 * Frigga - Friend

Trivia

 * In the comics Jane was a registered nurse, but in the films she is an astrophysicist. This is one reason Natalie Portman wanted the role.
 * In the final after-credits scene for Thor: The Dark World, Chris Hemsworth's wife, Elsa Pataky, stood in as Jane for the last kiss of the film.