Merge:Loki

Loki (Loki Laufeyson) is a Marvel Comics supervillain, based upon the Loki of Norse mythology. Loki made his first Marvel Comics appearance in Venus #6 (August, 1949), where Loki was inaccurately featured as a member of the Olympian gods exiled to the Underworld. He made his first official Marvel appearance in Journey into Mystery Volume 1 #85 (October, 1962), where Loki was reintroduced by brothers and co-writers Stan Lee and Larry Lieber and he was redesigned by Jack Kirby. Perhaps Loki's most important contribution to the Marvel Universe is that the Avengers were formed to fight him.

Publication history
Loki has appeared in various issues of Journey Into Mystery, Thor, and several other Marvel Universe titles. Marvel eventually found the character popular enough to let Robert Rodi proceed with writing a mini-series that features a different look at the character. The mini-series have beautifully painted covers and painted interior pages by artist Esad Ribic. The miniseries establishes a situation where Loki is successful in taking over Asgard. The only thing that could defeat him, is himself.

Origin
Loki himself is not a member of the Asgardians, but is actually the son of Laufey, the deceased monarch of the Frost Giants, the ancient enemies of the Asgardians. Odin himself led the Asgardians into battle against the Frost Giants and killed Laufey in personal combat.

After slaying Laufey, Odin found a small Asgardian-sized child hidden within the primary stronghold of the Frost Giants. The child was Loki, and Laufey kept him hidden from his people due to his shame over his son's small size. Odin took the boy, out of a combination of pity and because he was the son of a worthy adversary slain in honorable combat, and raised him as his son alongside his biological son Thor.

Resentment
Throughout their childhood and into adolescence, Loki was resentful of the differences in which he and Thor were treated by the citizens of Asgard. The Asgardians valued great strength, tenacity, and bravery in battle above all things and Loki was clearly inferior to his foster brother Thor in these areas. However, Loki's gifts lay in other areas, most notably sorcery. Loki possessed a natural affinity to command great magical forces and hoped to somehow use these powers to become the most powerful god in all of Asgard and to destroy Thor.

As Loki grew to adulthood, his natural talent for causing mischief would manifest itself and earned himself a nickname as the God of Mischief. However, instead of playing harmless pranks, his deeds grew steadily more malicious and his lust for both power and revenge was apparent to all those around him. In time, his nickname grew from being a playful and mischievous trickster god to the "God of Evil".

Over the centuries, Loki would try to seize rulership of Asgard and to destroy Thor on many occasions. Odin, who had long tolerated Loki's attempts, magically imprisoned Loki within a tree. Loki would eventually free himself from his prison and his thirst for power and vengeance became even more consuming than it had ever been, if that were even possible.

Loki and Thor would clash more and more times, sometimes with Loki confronting Thor directly and sometimes using various pawns in order to achieve his ends. Among Loki's more well known henchmen was the human criminal Carl "The Crusher" Creel, whom Loki would use his sorcery to transform into the superhuman criminal known as The Absorbing Man, who himself would prove to be a formidable adversary to Thor over the years. Loki would even go so far as to attempt to turn Odin against Thor and to steal Thor's enchanted hammer, Mjolnir, all of which failed.

Loki's schemes would eventually come to include Earth itself and these schemes would often draw some of Earth's superhuman heroes to defend Earth and, often, Asgard itself. Loki was able to manipulate the Hulk into wreaking havoc and, accidentally, would lead to the formation of the Avengers. To make matters worse, Thor would be one of the founding members of the superhuman team and often found himself undone by them, many times, even when it seemed that his goals were within his grasp.

However, despite Loki's loathing for Thor and Odin, Loki would help to defend Asgard from destruction from Surtur and his fire demons. However, this was only because Surtur's goal was to destroy Asgard and Loki sought only to rule it.



Recently
It has been prophesied that Loki will lead Asgard's enemies into the "Eternal Realm" and aid them in destroying it in a final conflict known as Ragnarok, or sometimes referred to as "The Twilight of the Gods".

Loki fulfilled the prophecy of leading the enemies of Asgard against the Asgardians. This battle consumed all who participated in it and it was revealed that the cycle of the birth, lives, and death of the Asgardians was a continuing cycle presided over by beings known only as "Those Who Sit Above". Thor, Loki's foster brother and monarch of the Asgardians after Odin perished in battle against Surtur months earlier, was able to put an end to this continuing cycle. All Asgardians perished in this last Ragnarok except for Thor who would disappear into a deep sleep. But this time "Those Who Sit Above" followed them in death and were unable to revive them. Whether the Asgardians will receive a reincarnation after this final battle is uncertain.

In recent comics, as a bit of a sidebar to the Civil War arc, Mjolnir has returned. Whoever is able to lift the hammer will become the next Thor. The US Government had recovered it initially (actually they set up a base around it since they couldn't move it) but it is now a bit of an attraction for those seeking its power, beginning with Doctor Doom. It was finally lifted by a mysterious man, identified only as D. B., and both dissapered in a flash of light. Thor finally returned at the end of Civil War #3. There has been no indication of how this affects Loki, but it is likely he will also return in a new form.

Guardians of the Galaxy
In the reality of Earth-691, Loki is alive and well in the 31st Century.

Heroes Reborn
In the controversial Heroes Reborn storyline of the late 1990s, the Fantastic Four and Avengers were transported into a pocket universe populated by duplicates of many individuals from their home universe, who were different and similar to varying degrees. This pocket universe was subconciously sculpted by Franklin Richards, and did not include an Asgard, but rather than accept this as the natural order of things, the Loki native to this universe sought to discern why this should be. Eventually coming to realise that he and the rest of the pocket universe were the creations of Franklin, he began using this to his advantage, deconstructing other villains created as part of the universe and absorbing them into himself so that he might grow in power and transcend his existence as a facsimile. Seeking more power, Loki then utilised a rip in the fabric of reality to generate new versions of various Avengers villains' from the heroes' home universe, who he then pitted against them, and absorbed when they were defeated. With the truth of his actions revealed, however, Loki was forced to absorb energy from the rift directly, growing to a gigantic size, but was eventually defeated by the assembled forces of his former allies, the Avengers, and S.H.I.E.L.D.. Later, during the Heroes Return storyline, Loki appeared alive, only to be crushed by Ashema.

MC2
In the reality of Earth-982, Loki decided to bring an end to the "Age of Heroes", still regretting the fact that his actions led to the creation of the Avengers. In the series Last Hero Standing, Loki kidnaps several major superheroes, brainwashes them so that they are more violent, and returns them to Earth so that they will destroy their reputations. Eventually, this plot was foiled by the superheroes of earth, most especially that reality's Captain America. In battle, Loki slew Captain America. Because of his actions, Loki was banished to the limbo realm and was joined by the Hulk who intended to punish him.

Marvel 2099
In the Marvel 2099 line of series, the original Asgardians were no more. However, belief in them had grown into a full-fledged religion with many followers. Seeking to take advantage of this, a corporation called Alchemax decided to create their own pantheon. One of the company's scientists, Jordan Boone, decided that he wanted to have powers and snuck himself into the program while avoiding receiving a computer chip implant which would give him falsified memories of his godhood. Jordan became the Loki of the program, but fled before the program and their floating fortress were destroyed. He later reappeared and remade himself as the villainous Halloween Jack who went about trying to warp the entire world with a Virtual Unreality Projector. His plan would have succeeded if not for President Doom stepping in with the help of the X-Men Meanstreak and Krystalin. Halloween Jack was supposedly killed in 2099 World of Tomorrow #2, but made an unexpected cameo in X-Force #92. He was somehow pulled from the timestream before his death and redeposited in the present where he pestered Domino. His whereabouts after M-Day remain to be seen.

Earth X
In the reality of Earth-9997, Loki duped Odin into transforming Thor into a woman and he casted a spell across Bifrost that would prevent Thor from returning to Earth if he ever returned to Asgard. Among several heroes, in this reality, he opposed the Celestials due to finding out the falsehood of the Asgardians' origins. Realising that his form was actually solely dependent on his convictions (as that of all Asgardians), he became an angelic being with a very ambiguous appearance. With his new state, he was instrumental in defeating the Absorbing Man and he later formed the new Avengers and became the new Thor.

Ultimate Universe
Loki appears in the second volume of The Ultimates as the evil half brother of Thor. Loki comes to Earth after escaping from the Room Without Doors and begins to cause havoc, especially for Thor and the United States of America after assisting the Liberators. In this version, Loki claims to have the ability to "shuffle time and space," essentially retconning history in the Ultimate Universe. Through this power he creates the persona of "Gunnar Golmen," the head scientist of the Norwegian extension of the "European Defense Initiative," the European counterpart to The Ultimates. Through his powers he re-writes history, turning Thor into "Thorlief," Gunnar's brother, a former mental patient who stole the technology that Gunnar created for the Initiative. He later confronted the captive Thor and gloated, claiming it was just one of their games and informing Thor there was a traitor in the Ultimates. When Thor requested guards, Loki was nowhere to be seen, though when they stopped looking he appeared as a snake around Thor's neck. Most recently (at the end of Ultimates 2 #9) Loki stated that the reason he joined the Liberators was since "They had a norse god on their side. It's only fair you should get one too". However, he is hesitant to use his abilities overtly, as he claims Odin will then be able to find him. He also, as many fans have noted, bears a (probably deliberate) resemblance to comic book writer Neil Gaiman.

Powers and abilities
Despite being a member of the Frost Giants, Loki possessed similar attributes to those possessed by the Asgardians.

Loki possessed a degree of superhuman strength that seemed to be roughly equal to that of the average male Asgardian and could lift roughly 30 tons. Loki aged at a rate vastly slower than human beings and was extremely long lived, though he didn't possess the same aging process like other god pantheons, such as the Olympians. Loki's body was immune to all known Earthly diseases and infections and was possessed some degree of invulnerability to physical injury. Loki, at times, imbued himself with magical abilities that enable him to withstand injuries that would prove fatal to another Asgardian, such as being beheaded. Loki's Frost Giant metabolism granted him superhuman levels of physical stamina in practically all activities.

Loki possessed the ability to generate and control a great quantity of mystical abilities for a variety of purposes. He could project powerful beams of concussive force, the creation of highly durable magical force fields, the temporary increase of his own physical strength and stamina, granting superhuman abilities to living beings or inanimate objects, to fly at great speeds, interdimensional teleportation, etc.

Apparently, Loki possessed some extrasensory abilities that resembled psionic powers. For instance, Loki could project his thoughts across great distances, even across dimensional barriers. However, Loki could not read the minds of other beings, nor could he control their actions.

Aside from all of these mystical abilities, Loki was always depicted with a brilliant intellect. However, his passionate hatred of Thor, lust for power, and his tendency to alienate himself through his ignoble actions greatly impeded his ability to bring his well laid plans to fruition.

Loki revealed during an encounter with Deadpool that he is fully aware he is a fictional character in a comic book.

In other media
Loki will appear as a boss in the upcoming video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.

List of titles

 * A-Next#1
 * Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 #329
 * Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 #62-63
 * ''Alpha Flight Vol. 1 #50
 * Avengers Vol. 1 #1, 7, 19, 23, 115-119, 300, 310-313, 400
 * Avengers Spotlight #26, 28
 * Avengers West Coast #53-55
 * ''Captain America Vol. 1 #365-366
 * Deadpool Vol. 2 #34-38, 45
 * Defenders Vol. 1 #8-9, 11
 * Guardians of the Galaxy #34, 37-43
 * Journey into Mystery #-1, 85, 88, 91-92, 94, 96-97, 100-104, 108, 110-123, 503-505, 508-513
 * Last Hero Standing #1-5
 * Loki #1-4 (July 2004 - October 2004, Marvel Comics)
 * Loki HC ISBN #0-7851-1652-4
 * New Mutants Special Edition #1
 * Punisher Vol. 2 #28-29
 * Punisher War Journal Volume 1 #12-13
 * Quasar #5
 * Silver Surfer Vol. 1 #4
 * Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 1 #158, 160
 * Spider-Girl ##85 and 86
 * Thor Vol. 1 #410-413, 426-427, 429-432, 434-435, 440-441, 447-455, 479, 483-484, 498
 * Thor Annual #14, 18-19
 * Thor Vol. 2 #1, 16-20, 36-38, 41, 43-45, 50, 55, 63-66, 80-82, 84-85
 * Thor Annual 2000
 * Thor: Godstorm #1-3
 * Thunderstrike #19-21
 * Uncanny X-Men Annual #9
 * Web of Spider-Man #61
 * X-Factor Vol. 1 #49-50
 * X-Men/Alpha Flight #1-2
 * X-Statix #21, 25

Significant stories

 * Loki #1-4 (July 2004 - October 2004) - Story told from his Loki's point of view, where he finally succeeds in conquering Asgard. But can he keep his grip on the throne?