In the past few years, Thor's brother, but not by blood, Loki has been everywhere. It's pretty obvious that since the movie Thor came out, actor Tom Hiddleston's portrayal of the Asgardian God of mischief and lies has gotten a lot of people a bit more interested in this character, who was originally created in 1962.
With a new series recently released, which was pretty awesome by the way, and three movies under this character's belt, we decided to take a look at what makes Loki such a cool character. Haters beware, this isn't the place for you.
Here's a quick Loki 101 for you. He's the son the Frost Giant Laufey, and after Laufey's death, Loki was adopted by Odin. Loki became very adept at Asgardian magic and he and his brother Thor became sibling rivals. Loki may have been just Thor's antagonist in the beginning, but he truly became a Marvel villain in the early days of the Avengers. He tricked the Avengers and others to think that Hulk was on a rampage, which led to the Avengers fighting the Hulk.
Through the years, he's gone through a lot of changes: he tried to capture the Infinity Gems, tried to start Ragnarok, which led to his beheading, was reborn into a new body which was female, worked with Norman Osborn during Dark Reign, died again, was resurrected by Thor into the body of a child, joined the Young Avengers and now works for the All Mother as an Agent of Asgard. He's been around for decades, but he's not some second-tier villain. He's been one heck of a baddie for Thor, The Avengers, and everyone else in the Marvel Universe to deal with.
One thing that really sets this Marvel character apart from the rest is his look. It's incredibly recognizable no matter what he (or she) might physically look like. His style and the way Loki dresses is a reflection of where that character came from. No matter what, you're going to see gold and green on Loki, and no matter what Loki will be wearing some sort of golden head wear. He's a character almost anyone can recognize now and it's mainly because he was in a whole bunch of recent films.
Loki was a huge part of the films Thor, Thor: Dark World, and The Avengers. Brilliantly portrayed by Tom Hiddleson, this character wowed audiences across the world. He had a look similar look to the comics, but updated to look a bit more "realistic" for the film. He was one heck of a villain in Thor and Avengers and then became one heck of an ally in Thor: Dark World. His induction into the world of Marvel films really upped his cool factor, and again, it's mainly because Hiddleson "killed it" as the character.
Loki works on so many levels because he's a character who works well as a both a hero and a villain. By hero, we obviously don't put him on the same level as Captain America where he takes orders and does what's right. Loki is a bit more down the middle of the road character whose alignment changes depending on the situation he's in. Like, right now, in LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD, I'd consider him Lawful Neutral (What's up fellow D&D nerds?) meaning he does follow a code (All Mothers and protecting the new Asgard), but he's not really a hero or villain. He's in between, for now. Right now, he's a bit like a wildcard hero. Anything can happen, while he's working for the good of mankind (Asgardiankind).
Currently, in LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD, Loki is working for All Mother on a secret mission (spoilers ahead!). There's something wrong with Thor. He's not himself, and it's up to Loki to figure out what the problem is. What we come to find, and here's where it gets spoilery, the evil Loki, that most people grew up with, is back, so there are now two Lokis! It's a great time to be Loki in the Marvel Universe, especially since in this new series, the reader gets to root for him. These are the reasons why Loki is so dang cool.
Mat "Inferiorego" Elfring is a writer, twitterer, podcaster, and recent Loki supporter.
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