Loki
Thor (2011)
Characteristics and Powers: These people are legendary and mythical gods, so the things they can do tend to be ambiguous. It also means their weaknesses are ambiguous (like when Odin has to fall into the Odinsleep, then wakes up with no apparent reason for either). All I can go on is what is demonstrated in the movies, and their limitations seem to be absent.
We know Loki was born as a Jotun a.k.a. frost giant. But Odin can and has disguised him as an Asgardian. We know he can make illusions/doppelgangers of himself. How tangible they are, I don’t know, but I figure it’s related to how he can act covertly without attracting Heimdall’s all-seeing eye. Like all of the Asgardian royal family and friends, he has access to the Bifrost, which allows him to traverse between the nine realms, including Midgard/Earth. When Odin falls into the Odinsleep, Loki gets control of the weapons vault, which includes the “Casket of Ancient Winters” and “The Destroyer” (which is some kind of robot laserhead guardian?)
Loki is stronger in characteristics. Already he’s known as the King of Lies. He has a serial killer vibe–cold and calculating while appearing normal. And all his attempts at subterfuge are very subtle–no one ever knows he’s doing them, even as he pulls attention away from himself. And that sociopathy is triggered by his long-standing envy of his brother. He has no compunction about manipulating people to reach his own ends. This is ironic, because he was used himself, as a pawn in the war between Jotunheim and Asgard, so he’s not only not going to be king, he’s not even a proper prince.
Relationship to the Hero(es): Strong. Loki and Thor were raised as brothers (for how long, I don’t know. Thousands of years? I don’t know how Asgardian biology works). They seemed to get along, but Loki harbored resentment and jealousy towards him. Which is clearly Odin’s fault–he has always favored Thor. Despite this, his loyalty remains with Asgard, as he lures the king of the Frost Giants into Odin’s chamber only to kill him. The issue is that this is no way to ascertain leadership, and Thor knows this (or learns this by the end of the movie).
Goals/Motivation: Odin teases Loki by saying “One of you may ascend to the throne, but both of you were born to be kings.” What kind of message is that? That’s like saying “you’re both smart enough to go to college, but only one of you is going. And it’s not you.” This demonstrates Loki’s motivation for his scheme, which starts with sabotaging Thor’s coronation. He lures a few Frost Giants into the weapon chamber, which causes no permanent damage but feels like a violation. Thor responds with war, breaking the peace treaty and going against Odin’s wishes. Odin finds this out and depowers Thor, casting him down to Midgard/Earth. All you have to do is knock down one domino and the rest fall. The trick is knowing which domino to push.
But despite all this, Odin does not switch to Loki. Odin calls him a monster and says he will never be king. This only fuels Loki further. He even declares it out loud: “To prove to father that I am a worthy son.” (I love Asgardians, they’re never hard to figure out).
Relatability: Over time, Loki will become a “woobie“, so take that for what it is. But for right now, he’s about half-and-half. You can relate to him because of his issues with his siblings, being a black sheep, a non-prodigal son, an underdog. But he’s also a scheming politician and lies to get what he wants.
Fun Factor: I think it would be pretty fun to have godlike powers. That seems to be a no-brainer. You’re basically Superman with no flaws (can’t fly but you can teleport). You’re as clever as Danny Ocean and handsome like Benedict Cumberbatch. Your friends are cool people like Sif and the dwarf-like Volstagg and the ladies’ man Fandral. The only disadvantage is having to wear that helmet.
Fatal Flaw: Loki will never not be insecure. He’s adopted. He’s not a full-blooded Aesir. His father clearly shows favoritism for his brother, who is more famous, more well-liked, and stands to inherit the kingdom. He’s not strong or brave–the two most prized values in Asgardian society. The guy’s got nothing going for him except A) he’s smarter than everyone else B) he’s got a different kind of magic. His mold is such that he can’t help but be the bad guy in Asgard. Even if he tried to be a good guy, they’d still hate him, like the Grinch.
Method of Defeat: Thor confronts Loki on the Bifrost before he can destroy Jotunheim. Loki tries some illusions, but is not capable of going toe-to-toe with a lightning god. Thor sets Mjolnir on his chest to stop him from moving while he fixes the Bifrost. But when he can’t stop it, he destroys the rainbow bridge, preventing Asgardian access to any of the nine realms (and sacrificing his ability to return to Jane Foster). This results in the brothers almost falling into space, but Odin arrives at the last minute and catches them (in a The Good Son scenario). Loki pleads his case to Odin, but sees he’ll never get his approval. So he lets go and falls into the vortex. Which is probably something I would have done too. Fuck you, Odin.
The end credits show he is definitely not dead. He’s on Earth somehow and is influencing Dr. Selvig to access the Tesseract/Space Stone. (According to the wiki, the vortex was actually a wormhole that took him to the floating asteroid where Thanos is, so we’re missing some bits here.)
Final Rating: ★★★★
