Oh Loki, the problem child of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Call him “The Trickster God,” “Son of Odin,” or just by his given name, he’s gotten away with some outrageous stuff in his career of chaos. In honor of those deeds, and because it’s never a bad time to talk Tom Hiddleston, here’s a hit parade of some of the adopted Asgardian’s shenanigans.
Letting The Frost Giants Crash Thor’s Asgardian Coronation
It’s one thing to be jealous of your siblings getting “the good stuff.” It’s a totally different beast, however, to let Frost Giants crash the coronation of Thor (Chris Hemsworth). What’s worse, this actually leads Loki to tease his brother into going on a secret mission to get revenge, leading to even more trouble.
Seizing Power Of Asgard
“Glorious purpose” is something Loki’s always seemed to be burdened with. So it should be no surprise that the moment Odin (Anthony Hopkins) was incapacitated in Thor, Loki just strutted up to the Asgardian throne and seized it. The man sure does love his thrones, and the power that comes with them.
Sending The Destroyer To Kill Thor
We’ve all had family spats in our lives, and sometimes it leads to fights that we regret ever took place. But at least most of us didn’t send a gigantic robot named “The Destroyer” to settle our score, like Loki did in Thor. Most of us just used pillows or toys, like honorable warriors.
Uses Hawkeye Through Mind Control
Loki and mind control are like Lucky the pizza dog from Hawkeye and a nice New York slice. The Avengers proved that fact rather well, as shortly after landing on Earth, the young conqueror took control of Clint “Hawkeye” Barton (Jeremy Renner), enslaving him for most of the 2012 film’s events. Something that would take years for Clint to get over.
Uses Professor Erik Selvig Through Mind Control
Professor Erik Selvig deserves a medal, or hazard pay from S.H.I.E.L.D., or both after what Loki’s put him through. The Avengers, as well as Thor’s post-credits scene leading into the film’s events see this warm hearted academic brainwashed and impersonated by the Trickster God. Which, in turn, lands him in an institution when we catch up with him in Thor: The Dark World.
Assaulting A Scientist While Breaking And Entering During A Theft
Loki’s visit to Stuttgart, Germany in The Avengers was quite eventful. This is especially true when, during a brazen heist, he separates Dr. Heinrich Schäfer (Dieter Riesle) from one of his eyes. And why? So he can obtain a rare element to use the Tesseract as an interdimensional portal!
Threatened A Survivor Of The Nazi Regime
Most things Loki’s done in his quest for power can either be laughed off, or dismissed as flights of megalomania altogether. But threatening an old man in Germany who obviously survived the Nazi regime of World War II? That’s one of those rare moments from The Avengers that will always be seen as horrific to the core.
Disrespecting Natasha Romanoff In Shakespearian Language
Whoa, nelly. If you really look into Loki’s insults from The Avengers, you’ll notice that he’s truly disrespecting Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) with Shakespearean language. Seriously, look it up, and prepare to be offended on her behalf.
Killing Phil Coulson
Out of all of the MCU’s twists and turns, Loki killing S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) in The Avengers is about as unforgivable as that time Jason Statham killed Sung Kang in the Fast Saga. Maybe someday we’ll see “Justice for Coulson” in the MCU.
Invading New York With The Chitauri
During Season 2 of Loki, the titular rapscallion provides a lighter explanation behind the Battle of New York. But no matter how cutely he describes it, the dude caused $160 million worth of death and destruction in the Big Apple, according to Kinetic Analysis Corp (via THR). It’s not tactical, but it’s also a pretty huge chapter of heinousness.
Taking Over A Comic Con Panel From Kevin Feige
Loki’s a multiversal animal, and as such he’s actually wrecked havoc in the world of our reality as well. Who else would have the horns to take over a San Diego Comic Con panel from Kevin Feige, in promotion of Thor: The Dark World?
Pushing A Young Thor Fan During A Thor: The Dark World Ad
How petty is this adopted trickster prince of Asgard? Well, in some Comedy Central ads hyping up Thor: The Dark World, Tom Hiddleston appears in character as Loki, and when he sees one little girl going crazy over Thor, he pushes her. It’s a light push, but still, that’s a kid, Loki?!
Impersonating Captain America
Steve “Captain America” Rogers (Chris Evans) is a national treasure with a heart of gold. So when Loki mocked that purity in an inspired Thor: The Dark World gag, Avengers fans took that personally.
Convincing Thor He’s Dead
Just when it looked like Thor and Loki may have buried the hatchet and started working together, the brothers were seemingly separated by death. However, as we eventually learned in Thor: The Dark World’s post-credits reveal, Loki was just playing dead to take power of Asgard…again.
Impersonating Odin
When we run into Loki in Thor: Ragnarok, we see that our green tinted anti-hero has helped himself to the Asgardian throne for some time. And he did so by impersonating his father Odin, after fooling his adopted brother into thinking he had died. At least he hired a troupe of actors, including an MCU cameo from Sam Neill, to entertain his subjects.
Getting Into The Grandmaster’s Good Graces
With their sister Hela (Cate Blanchett) running amok, and their father Odin dead, what’s a pair of brothers to do? For Thor, the answer is to fight to escape the clutches of The Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) and his gladiatorial arena. But what does Loki do? He gets in good with Thor: Ragnarok’s semi-villainous presence, and doesn’t do his brother any favors in the process.
Actually Dying At The Hands Of Thanos
For someone who’s faked their death several times over, and used trickery to get out of all sorts of scrapes when he wants to, how in the world did Loki lose to Thanos (Josh Brolin)? And yes, that Avengers: Infinity War demise was confirmed by the Russo Brothers to be absolutely true.
Stealing The Tesseract After The Alternate Battle Of New York
It really takes a special sort of person, in a particular set of circumstances, to pull two sorts of villainous stunts in the same course of events. As Avengers: Endgame saw Earth’s mightiest heroes trying to steal every Infinity Stone from the MCU timeline, the Tesseract disappeared in the hands of Loki in an alternate 2012. Disney+ subscription holders undoubtedly celebrated, as this led to the events of the Loki series.
Being The Actual Mastermind Behind The DB Cooper Heist
For decades the world has wondered how DB Cooper got away with his infamous heist. As it turns out, DB Cooper wasn’t a man…he was Loki’s titular anti-hero, as depicted in the first season of the Disney+ series. But how can you stay mad when Tom Hiddleston does it all with a charm and style that’s quintessentially vintage James Bond?
Teaming Up With Various Variants To Overthrow The TVA
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Loki tried to overthrow a massive system of governance for his own gain. His career of villainy is filled with instances like this, but one of the most outrageous is that time he teamed up with various variants, of himself and others, to overthrow how the TVA works in Loki.
Enchanting Alioth With Sylvie
Willing to do anything to get to The End of Time, Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) and Loki join forces to enchant Alioth towards the end of Loki Season 1. It took a ton of magic, and even some sacrifices from other Loki variants, but in the end this amazing feat was accomplished.
Becoming President, And The Baddest Loki Of All
One of Loki’s variants on its antagonistic protagonist, “President Loki,” is apparently the baddest of the bunch. More vicious and cruel than any other Loki, this guy beat a literal Lokigator for the title of the most evil. Though his cunning wasn’t enough to stop him from losing a hand to that chaotic scaly baby.
Pruned Himself From The Fabric Of Time
Loki Season 2 got wild with the fabric of time, including a scene where Loki prunes…Loki from the fabric of time. It was an attempt to stop Loki’s Time Slipping problem, and it worked for a while. Still, how often does one get to see the back of one’s head, especially when removing them from all of existence?
Threatening Hunter X-5 With His Own Shadows
For as bad as Loki can be at times, he certainly can use his abilities in the name of the common good. During Loki Season 2, the aspiring Asgardian ascendant managed to outwit Hunter X-5 (Rafael Casal) with some of that voodoo that he does so well. Cue multiple Lokis, including several shadow based enchantments, saving the day.
Breaking The Hearts Of The MCU Fandom In The Finale
For someone who’s as much of a trouble maker as Loki’s central character, he’s done some pretty amazing things for good. Season 2’s finale saw the supposed God of Stories merging all the timelines into one gigantic continuum, breaking the hearts of MCU fandom by seeming to sacrifice his freedom to preserve all time, always.
Taking Over Earth To Avenge His Brother’s Death
For as contentious as Loki and Thor’s relationship can be, Marvel’s What If… series took quite a multiversal turn. As the blonde prince of Asgard fell in battle in the episode “What If... the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?”, his adopted brother not only held Earth hostage to find his killer, he took the planet once he’d gained satisfaction.
Remaining A Frost Giant, But Becoming Friends With Thor
The Marvel’s What If… episode entitled “What If... Thor Were an Only Child?” actually gave Loki a more organic path in life. Not having been adopted by Odin after the war between Asgard and Jotunheim, Tom Hiddleston actually got to be seen as a Frost Giant in animated form. What’s more, he and Thor were actually friends, as seen during a rather epic party.
Questioning Real Time Transcription In Real Time
Trickster gods aren’t immune to falling into a rabbit hole of real time transcription. As the TVA’s transcript of everything he ever said in Loki caused him much consternation, Loki ended up getting riled up over something that was plainly explained.
Transforming Into A Snake, Then Stabbing His Brother
Now while we don’t see Loki turn into a snake and stab his brother in Thor: Ragnarok, the event is brought up in passing. Apparently it’s still a bit of a sore spot for the blonde beefcake, even after years of heroism, romance, and discovering coffee.
Impersonating Professor Erik Selvig
Ever hungry for the power of the Tesseract, Loki’s done quite a few nasty things when it comes to using other people’s minds and likenesses. In the post-credits teaser for Thor, one such moment saw him impersonating poor Professor Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) to try and nab that glowing power cube.
Often Insisting People Kneel To Him
Ok, I know that The Avengers’ Loki is in full on power grab mode. But the insistence that almost everyone should be kneeling to him is pretty outrageous, especially when he stoops to mind control and other sorts of trickery to get his way.
Seizing Power Of Asgard...Again
You know what they say: fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, I’m going to assume you’re a Loki. Thor: The Dark World only proved that adage to be true, as not only did Loki take the throne of Asgard yet again, he did so after convincing Thor he died a hero.
To love Loki is to know him, and to know him is to understand that the word outrageous doesn’t even cover half of what he’s done. And yet, despite the chicanery, cases of mistaken identity, and even bouts with death, we can’t help but celebrate the Trickster God of Stories whenever he shows up. That’s not only a testament to the writing behind the character, but also Tom Hiddleston’s performance, which will always be one of the MCU’s most glorious achievements.
