History
Adopted by Odin and Frigga at the end of the Asgardians' war with the Jotuns, Loki was treated as a prince of Asgard and never informed of his true heritage throughout his youth, although he was always jealous of his adoptive brother Thor.
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Loki along Thor, Sif, the Warriors Three and Heimdall
Dealing with the Jotuns
All grown up, Loki allowed several Jotuns to enter Asgard to steal the Casket of Ancient Winters during Thor's coronation. In the wake of this intrusion, Thor opted to launch a counterattack on Jotunheim with a number of his friends, and while Loki initially tried to dissuade his brother, he eventually relented and went along with the plan.
Once on Jotunheim, Thor again led them into conflict and attacked the Jotuns even after being granted safe passage home. During the ensuing fight, Loki was surprised by his own resistance to the Jotuns' freezing touch, a revelation that led him to conclude that he was at least partly Jotun rather than an Asgardian as he had been led to believe.
Loki confronted Odin over his lineage, but gained little more than an historical account of his early life before Odin lapsed into his "Odinsleep". With Thor already banished to Earth for the attack on Jotunheim, Loki stood unopposed and assumed the role of Asgard's regent. From his position of power, he continued to manipulate others, firstly making Thor believe Odin had died, then forcing obedience from other Asgardians and finally manipulating the Jotuns into making an attempt on Odin's life.
Sibling Rivalry
When Thor's friends disobeyed Loki to bring word of his actions to Thor, Loki responded by sending The Destroyer after them to eliminate Thor. This action proved his undoing when Thor's courage in confronting the automaton paved the way for his return, and just as Loki revealed his double-cross against the Jotuns who were infiltrating Asgard, Thor arrived to challenge him over his actions. The resulting fight quickly moved to Heimdall's Observatory where Loki had opened a portal that would destroy Jotunheim. Thor's power ultimately overpowered Loki's cunning, at the cost of the observatory and the Bifrost.
As Loki fell into the abyss below, the spear in his hand was grabbed by Thor who in turn was anchored to the remnants of the bridge by the newly-awakened Odin. He appealed to his adoptive father that by annihilating the Jotuns he was doing what was best for Asgard. Odin sadly rejected this, and with his Asgardian life now in tatters Loki released the spear and allowed the void to claim him.[1]
The Tesseract
Falling in the void, Loki arrived at the Sanctuary, and met the Mad Titan, Thanos. Thanos then gave a scepter to Loki who had a Blue Gem inside it that can be used as a powerful weapon or a mind-controlling device.
Accepting the deal, Loki turned his focus back to Earth in search of a suitable agent, someone close to the Tesseract. He found Erik Selvig, a friend of Thor's, who had been summoned to the task of unlocking the secrets of a mysterious cube. Loki, as an apparition in control of the man, whispered words of encouragement to proceed.
In time, Selvig came to understand some of the Tesseract's capabilities, and through Loki's influence he developed equipment that would focus some of that power. When the time was right, Loki activated the Tesseract, forming a temporary warp that pulled him through to its location. He was immediately confronted by soldiers intent on capturing him and keeping him away from the Tesseract, but these he dispatched effortlessly. Subjugating both Professor Selvig and Clinton Barton to his will, he stole the Tesseract and escaped before the energy it had unleashed consumed the area.
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Loki returns to Earth
Loki next went to Stuttgart, Germany, and staged a spectacular public appearance as a diversion while Barton raided a secure installation for an iridium compounded needed to focus the Tesseract's power. As he proclaimed his authority over humanity, he was challenged by an old man who informed him that men would not kneel to men like him. As he prepared to strike the man down, Loki found himself challenged by Steven Rogers, the time-displaced World War II hero known as "Captain America", and Tony Stark, the genius inventor also known as "Iron Man". Outnumbered, he allowed himself to be captured, and was further amused by the appearance of his own brother, Thor, who had arrived to return him to Asgard, but Thor was convinced to let S.H.I.E.L.D. take Loki into custody.
Unleashing The Monster
The trio took him into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody aboard their Helicarrier where he was placed in a confinement capsule designed to hold the Hulk. From there his mere presence was enough to provide a disruptive element that would fragment the only group of heroes that had any hope of stopping him. During his incarceration he had an audience with Natasha Romanoff, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent codenamed "Black Widow". He subjected her to a play of wits where he ferreted out her deeper misgivings, but was completely caught off guard when the spy tricked the trickster. Loki was duped into revealing that his intent was to enrage Banner into becoming the Hulk, which would destroy the carrier and disrupt any resistance against him.
Despite his loss in the game of wits, Loki's plan to distract and sow the seeds of disharmony continued successfully, and when the assembled heroes had all but torn themselves apart with their disagreements, he made his next move. This came in the form of a daring commando raid led by Clinton Barton. The attacking force struck at the carrier's critical locomotive systems and inadvertently caused Banner to change in the process. Loki was released while S.H.I.E.L.D. was scrambling to repulse the attack and save the ship. During his escape he also encountered and killed Agent Coulson, an event that would provide far reaching repercussions.
Battle of New York
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Loki then went to Stark Tower in New York City where Professor Selvig had erected a device that could harness the Tesseract's power to form a stable dimensional rift. Tony Stark, fresh from the raid on S.H.I.E.L.D., caught up with him here and abandoned his wrecked Iron Man suit to engage him in a battle of wits. When Loki grew weary of the stalling tactic he tried to corrupt Stark as he had done with Selvig and Barton, only to be physically blocked by the arc reactor in Stark's chest. Annoyed, he threw the inventor out through a window, and was surprised when a freshly built Iron Man armor rocketed out after the man. Loki found himself briefly under attack when the fully suited Iron Man rocketed back up to retaliate before turning to deal with the Tesseract.
The portal, now fully active, opened the way for Loki's Chitauri army to come pouring through, and with his triumph near at hand he suddenly found himself challenged by his brother, Thor. Loki was adeptly beaten by Thor's centuries of battle experience and showed no interest in Thor's appeal to stop the mad scheme. After stabbing Thor and being thrown to the ground, Loki threw himself off the building to land on one of the Chitauri's small flying craft. An aerial chase with Agent Romanoff left his craft destroyed by one of Barton's arrows and Loki within easy reach of the Hulk. His plans unravelling fast, Loki's frustrated rant goaded the Hulk into simply picking him up and repeatedly slamming him into the ground. When he eventually summoned the strength to crawl, he found himself face to face with six of the Earth's mightiest, and quietly requested a drink. He returned to Asgard as a prisoner of Thor along the Tesseract.[2]
Prisoner
When Loki was returned to Asgard, Odin sentenced him to prison, claiming that it was only due to Frigga that Loki remained alive. Frigga alone continued to communicate with her imprisoned son, and did so by way of a projection of herself to his cell. She also supplied him with books to help him while away the hours.
His months of boredom ended when Algrim arrived and broke open many of the prison cells. Algrim contemplated Loki in his cell for a moment before turning away and leaving him to his cage. Grasping an opportunity to harass his foster father, Loki advised Algrim where to find the exit. Not long after the sounds of battle had died away, he learned that Frigga had been slain, and this knowledge sent him into a fit of rage.
The Dark World
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When Thor decided to take Jane Foster, whose body contained the Aether, to Svartalfheim, he opted to use Loki's knowledge to show him the way; with the Bifrost inaccessible due to Odin's decree, Loki's secret paths out of Asgard were Thor's only hope. Together, with the help of Thor's friends, the pair made a daring escape on one of Malekith's own fighter craft, and then further confused their trail on board an Asgardian flying skiff.
Shortly after their arrival on Svartalfheim, they attracted the attention of the dark elves. Loki then turned on Thor, stabbing him and cutting off his hand. He told him he hadn't really cared for Frigga, then gave Jane to Malekith, asking for nothing in return but a seat from which to watch Asgard burn. However, when Malekith took the Aether from Jane, Loki dropped his illusions and revealed that Thor had not been betrayed nor dismembered. The brothers attacked, but were thwarted when Malekith drew the Aether into himself before Thor could destroy it. Algrim also waded into the fight and had Thor all but beaten in a test of brute force until Loki used speed and stealth to trigger one of Algrim's implosion grenades still attached to him.
All Hail The All-Father
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Loki disguised as Odin
Loki succumbed to injuries sustained in the fight with Algrim, and apparently died with Thor promising him that he would tell Odin of Loki's efforts. Again this proved to be another ruse when he assumed the identity of an Asgardian scout sent to Svartalheim, then later regained the throne of Asgard while disguised as Odin, accepting Thor's subsequent decision to remain on Earth[3] after banishing Odin to a retirement home in New York.
Loki's subsequent reign as Asgard passed by relatively unnoticed, although Heimdall may have determined the truth as he was declared a traitor and forced to go on the run while Skurge took over his responsibilities as gatekeeper. Eventually, Thor returned to Asgard, concerned at how Asgard's enemies had been allowed to gather their forces without the All-Father stepping in, and found 'Odin' lounging on a chair and watching a play about Loki's final sacrifice. Quickly determining that something was wrong, Thor pushed him into a position where 'Odin' would be struck by Mjolnir as it returned to Thor, forcing Loki to drop the disguise. He agreed to lead Thor to Odin, but this plan was complicated when the retirement home had been closed and Loki was briefly captured by Doctor Strange, until Thor explained the situation to Earth's new Sorcerer Supreme and received his help in finding Odin's current location. The pair found him in Norway, where Odin passed, but not before telling both is sons he loved them.
After Odin's death Hela was released from her prison and appeared to the pair and ordered them to kneel before her, while Loki tried to talk things peacefully, Thor threw Mjolnir at Hela which she destroyed. Being vastly outmatched the pair tried to go back to Asgard through the Bifrost Bridge. Hela followed behind and threw both Thor and Loki out of the Bifrost during mid-transport, with Loki believing this killed Thor.
Sakaar
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Loki arrived on Sakaar and through unknown means came in favor of the Grandmaster. Here he found Thor was still alive and could not do anything to ensure his brother's release. Loki communicated to his brother, where he attempted to convince Thor to abandon Asgard, and instead, join him by the Grandmaster's side. However, Thor refused.
Time later, Loki watched how Thor was forced to fight in the Contest of Champions against it's champion and joined The Grandmaster in his box for his Contest of Champions. However, it turned out that the champion is the Hulk, to Loki's shock and horror. Loki tried to leave Sakaar, but he was quickly stopped by the Grandmaster, forcing him to watch the fight.
The next day, after Thor and Hulk disappeared, Loki and the Grandmaster's bounty hunter Scrapper 142, who had initially captured Thor, were contacted by the Grandmaster, who offered a great bounty for their capture. After being captured by 142, Loki was locked in her room. He was later presented as a peace offer to Thor and Bruce Banner, who had changed back to human form. Loki joined the trio, forming the team known as the Revengers. Before returning to Asgard, the Revengers initiate a revolution on Sakaar to free Grandmaster’s prisoners and steal his shield generator-powered ship.
As Loki attempted to betray the Revengers and their rebel allies to escape from Sakaar quickly, Thor implanted Loki with theControl Disk on his back before he acts his betrayal, leaving the God of Mischief paralyzed for this karma. After the rebellion is successful, just as the Revengers manage to enter Asgard, Loki is soon found and rescued by Korg.
Loki and the Sakaaran Rebellion arrived in time to help the Revengers evacuating the surviving Asgardians from Hela. As Hela is still too powerful and cannot be killed while Asgard reamins, Thor told Loki to revive Surtur to initiate Ragnarök. Before reviving Surtur with Eternal Flame in Odin's Vault, Loki managed to get the Tesseract. As the Ragnarök began, the Revengers, along with all surviving Asgardian refugees and Sakaaran Rebels escaped Asgard quickly, while watching Asgard’s destruction and killing Hela.
As Thor made preparations to head back to Earth, out of nowhere, an enormous ship appeared in front of the Ark.[4]
Infinity War
The ship belonged to Thanos and his Black Order, who boarded the Statesman, massacring half of the ship, with the other half managing to escape. Loki was among those who remained. The Mad Titan demanded that Loki hand over the Space Stone but attempted to hide the fact that it was in his possession. Now being held at knife-point by Proxima Midnight, and surrounded by the rest of the Black Order, Thanos began to torture Thor with the Power Stone being pressed against his head.
Threatened with Thor's death, Loki revealed the Tesseract to Thanos, before siccing the Hulk on him - quoting Iron Man from their confrontation in Stark Tower years before. As Hulk charged forward, Loki dropped the Tesseract and lunged to push Thor out of harm's way. However, Hulk was easily overpowered by Thanos and was beaten badly. Once he had been disposed of, Ebony Maw picked up the Tesseract and presented it to Thanos, who crushed it and added the encased Infinity Stone to his Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos then triumphantly ordered the Black Order to go to Earth to obtain the remaining Infinity Stones there.
Under the pretense of offering himself as a guide to Earth, Loki feigned continuing servitude to Thanos while secretly readying a dagger. Hoping that he had fooled Thanos, Loki attempted to stab his throat, but the Titan easily predicted the move. He stopped the knife with his Infinity Gauntlet, and, grabbing Loki by the throat, began strangling him.
Thanos sarcastically mocked Loki for choosing the word "undying" while referring to his false allegiance, rebuking him for not choosing his words wisely. Despite this, Loki remained defiant even though he was now at the mercy of Thanos, and threatened him that he would never succeed in his plans, and would not become a god like he sought to be. This did not faze or anger Thanos at all, and while Thor watched, he calmly crushed Loki's neck. Dropping his broken corpse at Thor's knees, Thanos mocked him by saying that this time, Loki would not be resurrected.
Thor mourned for Loki's death, crying over his lifeless body while Thanos used his newly acquired Infinity Stones to destroy the Statesman and teleport himself and the Black Order away. Loki's corpse, along with the newly-deceased half of the Asgardian population, was then blown up in the Statesman's explosion and left floating in the debris left over from the spacecraft. Only Thor, albeit injured both physically and emotionally, was confirmed to have survived the ordeal.[5]Attributes
Powers
Superhuman Strength: Loki possesses a formidable strength as a result of his Jotun lineage, that is comparable to his Asgardian contemporaries. He kicked a man several yards into a wall, and has thrown another across a room and through a window. He was also shown to easily be able to physically overpower super-soldiers, as seen in his battle with Captain America. His strength also extends his ability to leap distances far in excess of human capability.
Superhuman Reflexes: Loki has enhanced reflexes that allowed him to catch an arrow shot at him while flying a high speed Chitauri aircraft without looking at it, although Captain America was able to match him in terms of speed when the two fought.
Superhuman Durability: Loki's body possesses an extremely high durability, rendering his skin bulletproof and allowing him to withstand several blows from Thor, being hit by a lighting attack, and even survive repeated battering from the Hulk bodily slamming him into a tiled floor. He was also shown capable of taking a direct hit from Phil Coulson Destroyer based gun without suffering noteworthy amounts of injury. Due to being a Frost Giant, he also possesses an extremely high tolerance for cold as demonstrated by his lack of discomfort while in Jotunheim.
Superhuman Longevity: Loki has the capacity to live for thousands of years. Loki was a baby at the end of the last great war between the Asgardians and the Jotuns over a thousand years ago and is now in the physical appearance of a human male in the prime of life.
Sorcery: Loki has an extensive knowledge of Asgardian magic. He was able to use his magic to mask his presence from Heimdall while he was in Jotunheim, and make himself invisible to the SHIELD workers when trying to lift Mjolnir. He can influence the minds of others, such as when he manipulated Eric Selvig into researching the Tesseract, and later probing Valkyrie during their short battle. He is also able to exert a more potent hypnotic control when using his sceptre directly on people who were trying to stop him. He uses his knowledge to change his attire from his usual armor, to a human suit, and to his battle armor, and he can summon weapons like the Casket of Ancient Winters, Sceptre, his knives, or the Tesseract at will.
Illusion Manipulation: He can create illusions, often creating illusory copies of himself to trick his attackers. Loki could also alter his attire, his voice and his physical aspect in order to resemble another person.
Abilities
Strategist: Loki is a cunning strategist and highly intelligent.
Arcane Lore: Loki possesses great skill in wielding mystical artifacts, notably Odin's staff, the Casket of Ancient Winters, and the Tesseract. He also has a great deal of skill in his use of arcane lore. He uses his knowledge primarily to conjure illusions and manipulate others to do his will. He has demonstrated the ability to cause objects to seemingly disappear into thin air, or summon them at will. furthermore, he cursed Odin to loose his memory, to which the all-father stated it was indeed quite the feat, and that Frigga would be proud. He also claims to know of secret pathways between worlds that allow him to travel without using more common transportation methods. As ruler of Asgard he also gained control of the Destroyer for a time.
Expert Combatant: Loki has extensive combat training that allowed him to fight off and kill several Jotuns in Jotunheim, defeat several S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives, and hold his own against Thor and Captain America for a time, the latter even commenting on his fighting skills.Weaknesses
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Weapons
Loki's conventional weapons include a spear, throwing daggers, and miniature explosive devices.
He also possess or possessed several artefacts of powers:
- Casket of Ancient Winters: Loki used the Casket of Ancient Winters to unleash powerful blasts of winter cold.
- Chitauri Sceptre: The sceptre was given to Loki by the Chitauri and it allowed him to fire energy blasts, as well as channel some form of hypnotic mind control. Due to Erik Selvig's tampering with the Tesseract portal focus, the sceptre also became a fail safe key to deactivate the Tesseract rift. The Sceptre also allows Loki to communicate with the Chitauri's Envoy.
- Gungnir: He wielded, for a time, Gungnir as a symbol of his temporary reign as King of Asgard in Odin's stead. This gave him the power to control the Destroyer.
Notes
- Tom Hiddleston portrays Loki in the films Thor, Marvel's The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War. Hiddleston also provided voice-over work as Loki for the video game Thor: God of Thunder.
- Ted Allpress portrays a younger version of Loki in the film Thor.
- Matt Damon makes an uncredited cameo in Thor: Ragnarok as an Asgardian stage actor portraying Loki.
- Hiddleston was originally reported to return as Loki in Avengers: Age of Ultron,[6] he would have appeared in the vision Thor had when he was affected by Wanda Maximoff's powers, asking Thor "Oh, what would father say?" which referenced his then-current position in the throne of Odin.[7]
Trivia
- Tom Hiddleston originally auditioned for the role of Thor before it was given to Chris Hemsworth.
- Loki was originally planned to die in Svartalfheim in an early cut of Thor: The Dark World. Test audiences were skeptical towards Loki's death and were convinced he was going to eventually return. Because of this, the film was changed so he effectively survived.[8]
- Matt Damon, who portrayed Loki as a stage actor in Thor: Ragnarok, coincidentally previously portrayed a different Loki in the 1999 film Dogma.
See Also
- 21 appearance(s) of Loki Laufeyson (Earth-199999)
- 5 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Loki Laufeyson (Earth-199999)
- 11 minor appearance(s) of Loki Laufeyson (Earth-199999)
- 17 mention(s) of Loki Laufeyson (Earth-199999)
- 85 image(s) of Loki Laufeyson (Earth-199999)
- 1 quotation(s) by or about Loki Laufeyson (Earth-199999)
- 3 victim(s) killed by Loki Laufeyson (Earth-199999)
- 4 item(s) used/owned by Loki Laufeyson (Earth-199999)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Thor (film)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Marvel's The Avengers
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Thor: The Dark World
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Thor: Ragnarok
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Avengers: Infinity War
- ↑ McLean, Craig (2 November 2014) Idris Elba interview: Marvel movies are 'torture' The Telegraph. Retrieved on 2 November 2014.
- ↑ Wilding, Josh (5 May 2015) Joss Whedon Reveals What Loki's Scene In AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON Consisted Of ComicBookMovie.com. Retrieved on 5 May 2015.
- ↑ Tom Hiddleston —Life As Loki Interview Special The Empire Film Podcast.