The god of mischief, Loki was born to the bad guys but he proved himself good in the end. Even now, many fans wonder if Loki is really good or just adding another layer to hide his bad intentions?
One of the reasons for such uncertainty is that Loki’s intent is always unclear to the audience. He acts like he doesn’t care but deep down he does.
Today, We are about to unveil the complex personality of Loki with 7 reasons on why the Norse god is good and 7 why he’s pure evil/bad.
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7 Reasons Why Loki Is Good
1# Saved Jane Foster
In Thor Dark World, The cruel leader of dark elves “Maliketh” has awakened and created a weapon out of the Reality Stone called the Aether.
As the Aether was drawn from one of the infinity stones, It can bend reality to the wielder’s will. Maliketh planned on using it to convert matter to dark matter.
He was on a mission to destroy Asgard with it but before he could get his hands on the deadly weapon it bonded to a living host on earth named Jane Foster. When Thor’s girlfriend became sick, He had to bring her to Asgard to extract aether out of her.
On the other side, Maliketh lead the dark elves along with Algrim the strong into the chambers of Asgard. When he confronted Jane, she was under the protection of Frigga. The Queen of Asgard tricked Maliketh along with his forces and even sacrificed herself to save the innocent girl. The elves then flee on the arrival of Thor and Odin.
Soon after this, Thor was planning to take on Malekith and also to save his girlfriend from the Aether while Loki was rotting in a cell with vengeance. When Thor confronted Loki, He helped them get to Savartalfheim, where the brothers fight off the evil elves.
Remember the line :
“Trust my Rage”
Soon the Accursed extracted Aether out of Jane Foster and the couple got out safely with Loki’s temporary sacrifice. The God of Mischief used his powers to avenge his mother’s death and save an innocent life which we rarely get to see from him.
Maybe, that wasn’t his plan of action but his guilt made him do that. Thereby, saving Jane Foster from the deadly weapon Aether.
2# Hides Pain
Loki always believed he was the heir to the Asgardian throne, The rightful king of the realm.
In fact, He was raised as an equal to Thor but the truth that he wasn’t one among them broke his heart.
His real father King Laufey of the frost giants abandoned him to die in the cold and it was Odin who adopted the child as his own. When he knew the hard beginnings of his birth, He couldn’t bear it.
Loki’s heart was broken from the inside. The tragic past left a hole that burns forever. The fact that no one saw his suffering made him lonely. Even with all the weight-bearing, He never ceases to laugh and amaze us. He always tries to hide his pain and never complaints about it.
The only one who genuinely cared for him is his mother but her death hit him hard which had its effect on molding his character to a certain extent. From then on Loki was determined to become the king of Asgard no matter what.
We may think he is evil but deep down he still cares with all his heart.
3# Rescued Odin From Seth
This one’s a no-brainer.
Have you ever heard the story where Loki saved Odin from another God?
In Marvel Comics, Gods have their differences just as the common people. These may lead to conflicts between them which were seen multiple times in different storylines.
In the Mighty Thor Comics, An Egyptian god named Seth betrayed all other Egyptian gods and absorbed their powers for himself. When he knew about the almighty Odin and the Norse gods, He wanted to prove himself stronger and plotted to destroy Asgard.
This took place when Thor and Loki are both grown up and are rearing to prove themselves for the throne.
In an attempt to destroy Asgard, The Serpent god kidnapped Odin. While Thor was busy fighting Surtur(Destroyer of worlds), It was Loki who fought off against the Egyptian god’s armies and rescued Odin from Seth.
Odin and Seth then had a historical clash where Seth was defeated as Loki’s physical form got destroyed. This proves Loki isn’t that bad after all.
Fun Fact: Odin’s battle against Seth was said to be so powerful that it rippled across every plane of reality which further shattered galaxies and reignited dying suns.
4# Save Asgardians
Before Hela, The Odinson brothers found out about their lost sister Angela. She’s an angel who was punished by Odin for betrayal.
In Original Sin, The Tenth Realm issue #5, Loki was given a golden opportunity to help Angela as an advisor to battle against Asgard. He would be well treated and respected if he wins her the battle over Asgard which didn’t give him much supremacy.
In the final act, As we all knew the trickster, Loki played Angela and defended Asgard with Odin and Thor. He stayed faithful to his family and saved thousands of Asgardian lives that day.
Though he may seem like an evil character, Loki’s best interests always lie towards Asgard. Loki believes he is the right fit to rule Asgard and his actions always lead to it one way or another.
In the MCU, After Odin’s death, the spell was broken and Hela rose from exile. She massacred everyone who didn’t kneel to her and went for the throne.
In the final showdown, Thor formed a group of defenders called the Revengers which includes Hulk, Valkyrie, and himself.
When the fate of the universe is on line, Loki had to join and he pulled off an amazing entrance saying :
“The savior of Asgard is here”.
He used his skills to fight off Hela’s undead army and was able to find a way to defeat her. He recreated Surtur the destroyer of worlds who in turn destroys Asgard and Hela with it.
Loki proved himself as a formidable ally when called upon in times of stake and the reason Asgardians survived was because of his actions.
5# Just Wants To Get Noticed
I know Loki did many bad things but was it all intentional?
Everything he did was to prove himself to his adopted father, Odin. Yes, He may have gone to extreme ends but the evilest he ever got was the time when he invaded earth.
Loki isn’t truly bad, It’s the hurt that made him who he is today. Odin always favored Thor over him which only added fuel to his suffering.
Loki lived in the shade of his brother for years and was neither appreciated nor recognized for his deeds. He wanted to be equal by proving his competence to his father. The God of Mischief wants to redeem himself to prove his worth not only to his brother but also to the Asgardian people who always loved Thor.
Agree on it or not, We really rooted for him when he said these line in Thor(2011) :
“I never wanted the throne, I only ever wanted to be your equal!”
6# Campaigned For The President
What better combination than the God of Mischief and Politics?
Loki once campaigned for the president of the United States and Yes, It really did happen.
In Vote Loki(2016) issue #1, Loki contested the role by raising huge amounts of money and power in the United States.
Loki on an election campaign is interesting to look out for if you are an opponent as he can win you over with his charming smile and handle almost any situation he’s thrown into.
You may think what in the world a god had to do with the elections and may even wonder why does he even need more wealth with all the riches he had at his disposal in Asgard.
A political journalist, Nisa Contreras also began to suspect Loki. As she started to work her way up the investigation, She disclosed some shocking secrets.
The storyline of Vote Loki goes on for four long issues and finally, the truth is revealed to the readers where we get to know that Loki did this to draw out corrupt politicians to his advantage in succeeding in the elections.
Though Nisa gathered some evidence on Loki and derailed him out of the campaign, He did some good to the people of the U.S.A. The Loki series revolves around this theme and I hope we get to see more of it on Disney Plus.
7# Lifts Mjolnir
When Odin said, “Whosoever holds this hammer if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.”
We knew anyone who wields Mjolnir will be good at heart.
In 2014’s Axis Issue, Something unbelievable happened. Scarlet Witch is one of the powerful mutants in the Marvel Universe. She can bend reality at her will but when squared up by Dr.Doom she inverted the mortality of few heroes and villains. Thus, the name Axis for the comic book storyline.
This inversion includes both Thor and Loki, As Thor becomes evil and Loki a God of Truth.
Note: As we all knew, Loki’s character is a bit complicated, He was not converted into a full-scale hero here.
The Asgardian brothers fought an epic battle against each other where Loki wields the Mjolnir to defeat Thor.
This storyline proves Loki wasn’t fully bad before the inversion and moreover, he lifts Mjolnir which itself is an iconic feat pulled off by only a handful in the Marvel Comics.
Fun Fact: In Loki #4, Loki finally wins. He has achieved his goal of total victory over Thor and it becomes clear he has never had less.
7 Reasons Why Loki Is Bad
1# Invaded Earth
In the MCU, The mad titan handed over the specter and Chitauri to Loki in exchange to conquer Earth, Loki did it without hesitation.
He cleverly tricked the avengers and bought time to open a portal to bring the deadly army of Chitauri into New York.
The Earth realm was under the protection of Thor who was supposed to defend it. Thanks to Nick Fury, The Avengers were formed and fought back the invader.
At some point, even the avengers were pinned by the alien soldiers. It took the full might of all 7 avengers to finally close the portal and capture the God of Mischief.
Similarly, In Avengers issue #1, Loki controlled the Hulk laying waste to the city of New York in an attempt to lure his brother out. This resulted in the formation of Avengers.
In both cases, Many lost their lives and numerous were wounded with a lot of property damage, all because of Loki’s actions. Though Marvel confirmed Loki was under the control of Mind stone in the MCU, He was the one to be blamed.
2# Only Himself
If it’s one thing we can say for sure about Loki it is that he always prioritizes himself.
The most obvious way for him to get out of tough situations is to fake his own death. At this point, Loki has mastered the ability to fake his death and get away with anything.
Seriously, How many times have you been fooled thinking he did a selfless sacrifice only to realize it was a contingency?
Over the years, Loki has died several times and came back to life from all those deaths but one of the most recent storylines proves his prime concern is he himself.
In the Seige Storyline, Loki sacrificed himself in the hands of Sentry which again turned out to be one of his contingencies to get out of the situation.
The God of Mischief was later born as a kid with no memory of his previous incarnations.
Eventually, Loki’s original spirit caught up with the kid and was striking the innocent kid inside his soul to give up.
At last, The evil spirit of Loki gained control of his body and destroyed the kid once and for all, returning to his previous evil notions.
This proves Loki is bad who doesn’t let anyone divert him from his schemes not even himself.
3# Treason
With everything he did, Loki is one not to be trusted at all.
The God of Mischief has sided with many individuals over the years but neither the good guys nor the bad ones believe him completely.
Let me explain this to you in detail.
In Marvel Comics, At one point Loki was obsessed with the throne and plans to sit on it. So, He took over Lady Sif and confined her soul to an old lady.
He manipulated fellow Asgardians into doing his work and killed Bor Burison, the father of Odin. When Odin was about to be named Thor as the king of Asgard, he exiled Odin and resurrected Bor with his magic.
Loki made the god of thunder the culprit for Odin’s death and created a conflict between Bor Burison and Thor.
Bor Burison and the mighty Thor fought off an epic battle which resulted in Thor killing Bor. Loki then joined forces with Doctor Doom to defeat Scarlet Witch when she was about to invert reality.
With many twists and turns in Loki’s tale to sit on Asgard’s throne, This storyline was considered to be one of the greatest ever.
4# Starts The Evil Eye Battle
The Evil Eye of Avalon is a cybernetic power object which can manipulate, disintegrate matter at the molecular level.
The God of Mischief wanted that power for himself but he couldn’t defeat the defenders on his own. Especially, the master of mystic arts, Doctor Stange as its prime contender.
So, He manipulated others to join him to get his hands on the evil eye. In the Defenders War, Loki joined forces with Dormamu and fights the defenders of the earth to acquire the evil eye of Avalon.
The whole arena turns upside down when Loki manipulates the defenders to fight amongst themselves. He made Namor, Black Panther, Hulk, Mantis, and many others heroes turn on their friends to fight by his side.
The match-ups of this battle were outstanding as Namor and Captain America battle in Japan, Ironman and Hawkeye face off in New York, Vision and the Silver Surfer face each other in a volcano, and finally, it’s Thor and Hulk smackdown.
Everyone here thinks they were right and doing it for the greater good but in reality, It was Loki who was manipulating and pulling the strings on both sides to get what he wanted. This proves Loki is indeed evil, who is not only dangerous for the opposition but also for his own team.
5# Almost Destroyed Jötunheimr
Before the Ragnarok, Arrogant Thor dived straight into the Jothnheium to kill the Frost Giants. Odin then stripped the powers and banished Thor to earth.
It was Loki who set up Thor to exile from Asgard so that he can be a bit closer to the throne.
In the later parts of the movie, Loki visited Jotunheim and strike a deal with Laufey that he would help them enter Asgard to kill Odin. It seemed like Loki plotted to kill Odin to take the throne but he actually saved Odin by betraying Laufey, his father.
The god of mischief then set out to destroy Jotunheim and the whole frost giants with the Bifrost. If it wasn’t for Thor, He would have wiped off the entire Frost Giants race. Loki did all this to make him look like the deserved one to the throne of Asgard.
Loki was so determined for the throne that he would erase an entire race just for increasing the possibility of becoming a king.
6# Fools People
As the name suggests, Loki, The God of Mischief likes to manipulate and play with others.
In the Comics,
- He sent Hulk to destroy Thor which resulted in the formation of Avengers
- Convinced Beta Ray was a Skrull to the Asgardians
- Granted Mid Guardians with powers to fight for him
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Many heroes have fallen prey to his magic.
- He hypnotized Hawkeye to escort him
- Doctor Erik Selvig in opening the portal for Chitauri
- He tricked Thor into the lock which was dropped later
- Manipulated the God of Thunder into banishment
- Made Hulk go berserk on the Helicarrier
- Betrayed his father Laufey
- Fooled the Mad Titan by giving away the Tesseract.
Basically, Loki will be the creator of chaos when he needed something from someone.
7# Turns Thor into a Frog
In Thor issue #364, The god of mischief transformed Thor into an amphibian. While Thor radiates with a sense of pride and considers himself as a noble warrior, Loki just turns him into a frog.
This took a heavy toll on Thor’s confidence and was utterly humiliating for him. We all knew Loki was a trouble maker but going to this extent was uneasy not only to Thor but also for the fans.
This may not be as evil as it seems but the ability to turn the god of thunder into a freaking frog will always be minacious.
This transformation in turn leads to a different storyline for a frog named the Throg. Thor set up a path to Throg who became the Frog of Thunder as he lifts a tiny Mjolnir.
Throg had the most shocking career to date in Marvel Comics as his adventures were both nail-biting and entertaining. He also appeared in Avengers vs Pet Avengers(2010) where the human superheroes face off the animals.
With all the explanation, It seems Loki is not a cruel beast as he’s not entirely evil. He’s just a broken god who turned bad but can do so much good to the world.
Finally, Here’s what Tom Hiddleston said about Loki :
“I think the first film really humanizes him, and I think it makes the rest of the journey interesting. It makes you always think that he could be pulled back and redeemed.”
I believe his character is similar to Lucifer A.K.A Satan. Loki was made bad to do the right things which keep the balance in check.
Comment what do you think of Loki? Is he good or bad?
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Thank you, Yours averagebeing.