Avengers: Doomsday Spotlights, Part 26 — Loki

Ever since Tom Hiddleston brought the god of mischief to life in 2011, fans across the world have absolutely adored Loki. A baby Frost Giant left to die in battle, the All-Father of Asgard—Odin—took the infant in and raised him alongside his own biological son, Thor. Growing up misunderstood and socially isolated by friends and family alike, Loki first tried to prove himself worthy of the throne before resorting to conquering Earth and then Asgard. By frequently faking his death, Loki would soon rule Asgard (disguised as Odin) until drawn into a family conflict: Thor forcing Loki to find the real Odin, watching him fade to dust, and having to deal with their long-lost and imprisoned sister, the goddess of death herself (Hela). But even after trying to run away, Loki would be drawn back into the conflict and eventually sacrifice himself to save what was left of Asgard’s people. However, not even that was the end of his story; during the Avengers’ time-travel shenanigans, a variant of Loki escaped amid the confusion but was captured by a multi-dimensional/time-police force known as the Time Variance Authority. During this time, Loki experienced true character growth and sacrificed himself once again to sustain the whole multiverse, thankfully not in death this time but as the God of Stories. 

Origins

For the most part, Loki’s story in the comics played out similarly to his MCU counterpart. He was not only born as a Frost Giant, but he was born to the very king of the Frost Giants himself: Laufey. However, Laufey was ashamed of Loki because of how small he was, so he hid him away and essentially abandoned him. But after a battle with Odin and Asgard’s army, which led to Laufey’s death, Odin pitied the infant and took him in, raising him as his own. But unfortunately, life in the Golden Realm—as a prince no less—wouldn’t be as glamorous as one would think. Throughout Loki’s whole childhood, he never felt like he fit in anywhere, leaving him feeling largely alone and bitter. To make matters worse, Loki watched the deep bond Odin shared with his brother, Thor, and resented all the praise and affection Odin showered on him. But while the comics don’t seem to specify when Loki found out about his true heritage as the MCU films did, being a Frost Giant runt didn’t seem to be the driving reason why he felt so isolated, nor why Odin seemingly favored Thor. Regardless, Loki decided to cope with his trauma in the best way he knew how: pulling pranks on Thor, which drove him to embrace his nature and role as the God of Mischief. But as the years went by, Loki’s jealousy and hatred would soon transform his mischief into pure evil. What started as cutting off the hair of Thor’s first love, Sif, turned into sabotaging Mjolnir’s creation by shortening its handle. Eventually, Loki was even thrown into the dungeons for many other crimes. But he escaped and delved into sorcery, forsaking his adopted heritage and swearing to one day conquer Asgard, and especially best Thor once and for all. 

However, his blood oath against Thor and his people would soon evolve into what he would consider the MCU equivalent of a “glorious purpose.” In the case of the comics, Loki discovered the prophecy of Ragnarok, the endless death and rebirth of Asgard and its citizens. In this prophecy, Loki learned he actually had a massive role in kickstarting the Armageddon event by killing Balder the Brave (Thor’s half-brother). Completely accepting his prophesied destiny, Loki’s first attempts involved creating or gathering villains to fight Thor. When that didn’t work, he tricked the Hulk into causing a train wreck, then also tricked Thor into fighting the green behemoth. But there was a kink in what would’ve been a well-executed plan: Iron Man, Wasp, and Ant-Man also found out about the incident and went to help Thor. After everyone learned of the Hulk’s innocence and Loki’s involvement, the heroes united and formed one of the most iconic and formidable superhero teams to ever exist: The Avengers. Despite Loki’s efforts inadvertently creating the very force that would constantly foil him, it didn’t stop him from repeatedly scheming against his brother and sometimes his allies. Eventually, Loki would learn from his mistakes and enact one last desperate plan: finding and wielding a powerful Uru hammer, which he then used to force Ragnarok upon Asgard. This deeply ticked off Thor, so he decapitated Loki (yet somehow his head was still alive), forced him to watch Surtur grant Asgard a true warrior’s death, and then proceeded to stop the true powers behind the cataclysmic event: Those Who Sit Above in Shadow. After the event, Loki’s spirit was reborn in Sif’s body (while Sif herself was trapped in an old woman’s body), and he continued his trickery even after Thor worked to restore Asgard on Earth as best he could. When Sif’s mortal form was dying, Loki finally revealed to Thor the truth about Sif, giving up the body so Sif could return while Loki restored his own body, living to trick another day. 

And later on down the road, that trick would not only reach unparalleled extremes, but also kickstart a change in the trickster god. It all started when Loki joined Norman Osborn’s Cabal during the “Dark Reign” comic book event, convincing Osborn to become Green Goblin again and go to war against the new Asgard. However, what Loki didn’t account for was one of Osborn’s Dark Avengers, the Sentry, losing control. After his extremely powerful but evil side, the Void, took control of Bob’s body, he proceeded to completely decimate all the superheroes who came to stop the war and also began laying siege to Asgard itself. Realizing he had gone too far, Loki attempted to use magical artifacts known as the Norn Stones to stop Void, but Void killed him anyway, with Loki using his last breath to apologize to Thor. But of course, this would not be the end of Loki’s story. Instead, he was reincarnated as a young boy, whom Thor later found and helped restore part of his memory. Unfortunately, though, Old Loki’s spirit also accompanied Kid Loki (which KL turned into a raven named Ikol), revealing that he had planned all along to die honorably after striking his name from the Books of Hel to escape his eternal fate as the god of lies who always loses. Ikol eventually manipulated Kid Loki into allowing him to possess his body, essentially killing him. Later, a team-up with the Young Avengers resulted in him rapidly aging in the hopes of gaining his full power; he came to regret what he did to Kid Loki, deciding to reform himself fully. Making a deal with the All-Mothers, Loki officially became the Agent of Asgard and took on various missions, some of which involved saving Thor or retrieving artifacts. But even this wasn’t enough to help Loki escape his past, or in this case, his future. A future version of Loki, known as King Loki, began frequently fighting the present Loki to ensure his future still happens and to prevent Loki from changing. However, in response, Loki reinvented himself as the god of stories and ultimately defeated him. From there, Loki embraced his role as a hero, although his methods and past kept heroes from trusting him for a while. And of course, he also finally reconciled with Thor. 

Powers, Abilities, and Weaknesses

While Loki can’t summon lightning or possess a connection to the Odinforce like his adoptive brother, he’s still just as dangerous. As is typical of any Asgardian, Loki naturally possesses superhuman strength, durability, and longevity. However, compared to Thor and other Asgardians, Loki isn’t that strong. Yet what Loki lacks in brawn, he more than makes up for in brains. Drawn to the nature of a trickster early in his life, Loki spent literal centuries working on his intellect to the point where he’s become a master manipulator, tactician, and expert in most forms of magic and artifacts. Throughout Loki’s history in comics, he has single-handedly manipulated events to his advantage, such as tricking Thor into killing his grandfather and getting banished, or the previously mentioned time when he tricked Norman Osborn into attacking Asgard. But of course, manipulation and cunning social skills can only do so much, especially when you’re trying to fool everyone from mortals to gods. And this is where Loki’s mind truly shines, because it hones and directs his signature weapon: his magic. According to various Marvel sources, Loki can use his magic to fly, cast illusions, shapeshift, use telepathy, hypnotize, astral project his spirit, rearrange molecules, travel between dimensions, and, of course, fire energy beams. With an insanely stacked resumé, Loki can infiltrate anywhere he wants, manipulate events, stay ten steps ahead of his enemies, and start/end wars. Essentially, he can not only do what spies like Yelena or Bucky spend years training for, but surpass them on a massive scale. 

Speaking of scales, Loki’s powers grow off the charts when he becomes the god of stories. In the comics, Loki is found by a couple of deities known as Then and Now, who make a deal with him that gives him the ability to alter events from his past life by adding pages and writing in the Book of Loki. However, his newfound powers grew far beyond that when he discovered the House of Ideas, which is the ultimate source of all reality and the dwelling place of The One Above All. This is especially important because now that he has access to a place where ideas can become real, Loki can change any story or event he wants. As Rob from the YouTube channel Comics Explained points out, if he wanted to edit his early history by including a time when he turned Thor into a cockroach, Thor would immediately obtain a memory of that actually happening. And that was only a small thing, possibly for the sole purpose of sibling rivalry, so imagine what he could do if he wanted to change Steve Rogers’ story like Red Skull did when he turned him into Hydra Supreme. Essentially, Loki is the living embodiment of what the MCU “What If…?” show should’ve been. While this doesn’t mean he can manipulate all of reality as Wanda Maximoff or Franklin Richards can, it does mean that he can influence the very course of Marvel comics as if he were the one writing the comics. 

Yet, despite sounding insanely overpowered, there is always a catch. Yes, Loki has the power to manipulate events and stories, but only to a certain degree. Most of the time, it mainly depends on the story or circumstances, but he can’t simply change everything the way he wants, all willy-nilly. And besides, even changing or adding to a story can be very detrimental to the Timestream, as the smallest change can have drastic effects on the Marvel continuity as we know it. Finally, there’s also the fact that, just because Loki is now the god of stories, it doesn’t mean he’s omniscient. He can change a story, but he’ll never know what will happen afterward, nor the consequences or results of his changes. 

Even before Loki ascended to his new role, he struggled in many fights because (as mentioned previously) he is physically inferior to his brother. Even though Loki inherited the natural Asgardian (or in his case, Frost Giant) super strength, he is leaner and not built for battle like most Asgardians, which is why he’s always relied on illusions and trickery to best his opponents. But obviously, this advantage is immediately lost whenever someone sees through the deception and backs him into a corner.  Also, just like with any magic or artifact, there is always a cost to using them, so his magic isn’t as limitless as we let ourselves believe. Opponents might not even need to try very hard to discover Loki’s trickery, as Loki could very well sabotage himself. Throughout his years as a villain, Loki single-mindedly pursued nothing more than revenge on Thor and Odin, as well as the conquest or destruction of Asgard. By fixating on that one goal, Loki made many mistakes, such as dismissing or even failing to notice potential flaws in his plans, making irrational decisions, or being easily taken advantage of. Even when he eventually grew out of obsessing over besting his brother, Loki’s massive ego and desire for recognition still hold him back or drive him to make more irrational decisions. Overall, having the biggest brain in the room isn’t always the best thing, especially if you’re not humble enough to handle such a gift. 

Greatest Feats

Even so, Loki is too stubborn to allow even his own pride to prevent him from achieving his glorious purpose. For instance, it was briefly mentioned earlier that Loki tried to force Ragnarok upon Asgard and angered Thor, but what wasn’t mentioned was how Loki actually pushed Thor to his utter limits before the thunder god cut off his head. Before initiating the apocalypse, Loki gathered a bunch of Asgard’s greatest enemies, including Surtur, Ulik the Troll, Fenris Wolf, Hyrm the Giant, among others. Afterwards, he searched for the very same mold that created Mjolnir, stole it, and had Surtur use it to create many similar weapons to arm his allies with. As soon as the weapons were forged, Loki and his allies wasted no time in laying waste to Asgard, maiming Sif, killing the Enchantress, and even combining their weapons to shatter Mjolnir itself. Beaten and left with no other choice, Thor returned to Earth to seek the Avengers’ help. But even with these reinforcements, they still couldn’t match Loki and his forces, so Thor was once again forced to take extreme measures. Driven on a path to seek untold wisdom, Thor hung himself from the World Tree to traverse afterlives such as Hela’s realm, ultimately sacrificing his own eyes to gain said wisdom, and eventually returning as his most powerful version of the character: Rune King Thor. Then—and only then—with power and wisdom surpassing even Odin himself, did Thor finally defeat Loki, cut off Those Who Sit Above in Shadow from Ragnarok, and allow Surtur to destroy Asgard. Think about it for a minute: Loki calculated and executed a master plan so perfectly that it almost killed Thor, ultimately driving him to literally kill himself just to match Loki in power. You can’t even call Loki a trickster at this point; that’s straight up a force you don’t want to mess with. 

But if that wasn’t enough, Loki better illustrates the potential threat he poses by manipulating cosmic-level politics while he was only a child. Or, more specifically, reincarnated into his Kid Loki form. During the events of “Fear Itself,” when Odin’s long-lost brother, Cul—the Serpent—attacks Earth and converts heroes and villains alike into his forces as The Worthy, Kid Loki wanted to help out since he was trying to be better. Unfortunately, though, no one trusted him and turned him away (but honestly, I can’t say I blame them). Therefore, Kid Loki takes extremely drastic measures by venturing into Hela’s realm to get help. However, things are very complicated down there by this point. Since Hela’s previous realm was lost, Mephisto allowed her to rule a section of his own realm as her personal Hel, but tensions were very high between the two. Knowing he wouldn’t outright convince them to join him or anything, Kid Loki does what he does best: lie and manipulate. First, KL finds Tyr (the Asgardian god of war and Odin’s eldest son) in Hela’s realm and convinces him to work with him; then he goes to Mephisto and makes him believe that Hela allied herself with the Serpent (since Mephisto wouldn’t care about this whole thing otherwise); and finally convinces Hela that Mephisto will invade her land. With tensions reaching a boiling point, KL initiates the next part of his plan when an emissary of the Serpent arrives in Hel to recruit Hela. But since Hela is away talking to Mephisto, KL occupies the emissary long enough to learn about Cul’s plans before having Tyr kill the emissary. With this information in hand, KL uses it to convince the two entities to form an uneasy alliance, prompting Mephisto to reinforce Hela’s domain. Meanwhile, Hela agrees to stay out of the war but lends KL the assistance of Tyr and her own handmaiden. In the end, KL’s efforts provide Thor with the opening he needs to destroy the Serpent once and for all. This is an insanely brilliant display of tactical intelligence, because Loki almost started an undead civil war of sorts, just to get these two powerful entities right where he wants them. He knows he can’t beat either of them into submission, especially in a younger and weaker version of himself, so he beats them purely with the brains he became infamous for.

However, Loki doesn’t always use cunning to win the day. Other times, he uses logic. The time in question comes in the aftermath of the 2015 Secret Wars, when the multiverse is in shambles due to the Incursions. Loki and his associate, Veirty Willis, survived the disaster but are also stranded in a blank void. However, even in a place where nothing exists, they can’t catch a break. Those Who Sit Above in Shadow, the evil deities who feed off the endless and repetitive cycle of Ragnarok, have returned for one reason: to feed. But with Ragnarok gone, thanks to Thor destroying the Loom of Fate, and with the multiverse in an unimaginable mess, they need an alternative food source, which lies within Asgard’s stories that Loki has kept safe all this time. But of course, Loki refuses to give them up, but he doesn’t settle this problem with an all-out fight like his brother would’ve. Instead, he settles it with one question: Who created Those Who Sit Above in Shadow? Loki explains his point by pointing out how humans, out of fear of things they didn’t understand, created their own gods to explain everything so they could be satisfied. But the myths and stories gained so much power that they essentially created the gods themselves, and while (in Marvel’s case) humans didn’t create gods, the stories obtained lives of their own. This pattern even reached the gods as well, out of their own fear of the unknown. In the end, Loki hints that maybe Those Who Sit Above in Shadow were created in this same process. Imagine how reality-shattering this must be for them, because these are beings who have fed off the suffering of Asgard, thinking they were high above that realm and its people. But now they’re faced with the possibility that those beneath them were responsible for their existence? Whether or not Loki was telling the truth (the comics never confirm this), TWSAIS would not risk learning either way and would simply leave. Manipulating Mephisto and Hela is already an incredible feat for anyone to pull off, but defeating beings who surpass Loki’s abilities by giving them an existential crisis is absolutely insane! Strength and brute force do well enough in a fight, but once again, Loki is living proof that brains will often beat brawn. 

Conclusion

Loki is possibly one of the most complex (if not the truly most complex) characters in all of Marvel. In both the comics and the MCU, we watch him grow from a selfish trickster to a true hero. But Tom Hiddleston’s charisma, emotional displays, and seemlessly blends into Loki’s character are what drive that story deep within the hearts of fans. In the end, Loki discovers his true glorious purpose: not conquering worlds or timelines, but sacrificing his own life to save them. I can only imagine Odin and Thor smiling with tear-filled eyes if they could see him sitting on his throne, sustaining the whole multiverse within himself. But that begs the question: what does Doom want with Loki? Eliminating the most powerful threat? Stealing his power? Until more trailers are released, we can only keep guessing, but it’s undeniably clear that Loki has a big role to play in events to come. Bigger than anything he’s ever participated in before.