Loki (comics)

Loki (comics)
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Cover to Thor #64, by Ben and Ray Lai
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Venus #6 (August 1949), Journey into Mystery #85 (October 1962) (modern day)
Created by Adapted from the mythological Loki by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby

Characteristics
Alter ego Loki Laufeyson
Team
affiliations Karnilla, the Enchantress, the Executioner, Lorelei, the Absorbing Man, Dormammu
Notable aliases God of Lies and Mischief
Abilities High level magical and mystical powers,
Superhuman physical attributes,
Extended lifespan,
Shape-shifting,
Extrasensory abilities
High intelligence and expert manipulator



Loki (Loki Laufeyson) is a fictional comic book character, a Marvel Comics supervillain, based upon the Loki of Norse mythology.

Loki is a formidable foe in Thor's rogues gallery, and arguably Thor's archenemy. Perhaps Loki's most important contribution to the Marvel Universe is that the Avengers were formed to fight him.Contents [hide]
1 Publication history
2 Fictional character biography
3 Powers and abilities
4 Other versions
4.1 Ultimate Universe
4.2 Heroes Reborn
4.3 MC2
4.4 Marvel 2099
4.5 Earth X
4.6 Guardians of the Galaxy
4.7 Amalgam
5 In other media
5.1 Television
5.2 Video games


[edit]
Publication history

Loki made his first Marvel Comics appearance in Venus #6 (August 1949), where Loki was inaccurately featured as a member of the Olympian gods exiled to the Underworld.

He made his first official Marvel appearance in Journey into Mystery #85 (October 1962), where Loki was reintroduced by brothers and co-writers Stan Lee and Larry Lieber and he was redesigned by Jack Kirby. Loki has appeared in various issues of Journey Into Mystery, Thor, the Avengers and several other Marvel Universe titles. Marvel eventually found the character popular enough to let Robert Rodi proceed with writing a mini-series, Loki #1-4 (July 2004 - October 2004), that features a different look at the character.

The mini-series features painted covers and painted interior pages by artist Esad Ribic.

[edit]
Fictional character biography

Loki himself is not a member of the Asgardians, but is actually the son of Laufey, the deceased monarch of the Frost Giants, the ancient enemies of the Asgardians. Odin himself led the Asgardians into battle against the Frost Giants and killed Laufey in personal combat.

After slaying Laufey, Odin found a small Asgardian-sized child hidden within the primary stronghold of the Frost Giants. The child was Loki, and Laufey kept him hidden from his people due to his shame over his son's small size. Odin took the boy, out of a combination of pity and because he was the son of a worthy adversary slain in honorable combat, and raised him as his son alongside his biological son Thor. It should be noted that in Norse mythology, Thor and Loki are frequent travelling companions. Loki finds himself in numerous situations where his mischievous deeds find him at odds with the Aesir. He is responsible for many of the gods' magic items as payment for the wrongs he has committed. Loki is also blood brothers with Odin, and bound away for his major role in the murder of Baldur.

Throughout their childhood and into adolescence, Loki was resentful of the differences in which he and Thor were treated by the citizens of Asgard. The Asgardians valued great strength, tenacity, and bravery in battle above all things and Loki was clearly inferior to his foster brother Thor in these areas. However, Loki's gifts lay in other areas, most notably sorcery. He possessed a natural affinity to command great magical forces and hoped to somehow use these powers to become the most powerful god in all of Asgard and to destroy Thor. As Loki grew to adulthood, his natural talent for causing mischief would manifest itself and earned him a nickname as the God of Lies and Mischief. However, instead of playing harmless pranks, he grew steadily more malicious in his deeds, and his lust for both power and revenge was apparent to all those around him. In time, his nickname grew from being a playful and mischievous trickster god to the "God of Evil". Over the centuries, Loki attempted on many occasions to seize rulership of Asgard and to destroy Thor. Odin, who had long tolerated Loki's attempts, magically imprisoned him within a tree. Loki eventually freed himself from his prison, and his thirst for power and vengeance became even more consuming than it had been.

Loki's schemes eventually came to include Earth itself and these schemes often drew some of Earth's superhuman heroes to defend Earth and, often, Asgard itself. Loki was able to manipulate the Hulk into wreaking havoc, which accidentally led to the formation of the Avengers. Thor was one of the founding members of this superhuman team, and Loki often found his goals frustrated by them, even when they appeared close to success. Loki and Thor clashed more frequently, sometimes with Loki confronting Thor directly and sometimes using various pawns in order to achieve his ends. Among Loki's better known henchmen was the human criminal Carl "The Crusher" Creel, whom Loki transformed by sorcery into the superhuman criminal known as the Absorbing Man. Creel himself would proved to be a formidable adversary to Thor over the years. Loki even went so far as to attempt to turn Odin against Thor and to steal Thor's enchanted hammer, Mjolnir, but all his efforts failed. However, despite Loki's loathing for Thor and Odin, Loki helped to defend Asgard from destruction from Surtur and his fire demons. This was because Surtur's goal was to destroy Asgard, whereas Loki sought only to rule it.

In a scheme to gain greater power from Those Who Sit Above in Shadow, Loki created a power source on earth that gave all humans who entered it fantastic powers, such as being able to create food and clothing at will, or to be able to create structures with a minimum of effort. The X-Men and Alpha Flight came across this source of power and soon discovered its drawbacks. Not only was it killing all magical beings, such as Doctor Strange, Shaman, and Snowbird it also destroyed creativity. Food could be endlessly created but no new recipes written. Buildings could arise, but only in designs that came before. The humans ultimately rejected the gift, infuriating Loki, who promised revenge. Later, Loki would actually die at Thor's hands. Only manipulation of the time stream would bring him back.

At another time, a disguised Loki appeared on the grounds of the Avengers Mansion. He used the memories of Edwin Jarvis to manifest old Avengers enemies. Jarvis saw through the ruse and confronted Loki, who injured him. The Avengers appeared and thwarted Loki yet again. On another occasion, Loki actually worked with Spider-Man to stop Morwen, a Lord of Chaos, from destroying the world, although Loki was partly motivated by the desire to save his daughter, who was currently being used by Morwen as a host. Morwen herself helped in the fight, utilizing the will and fortitude that came from being a descendant of Loki. During this incident it is discovered Loki has many children. Afterwards, Loki promises Spider-Man a favor.

It has been prophesied that Loki will lead Asgard's enemies into the "Eternal Realm" and aid them in destroying it in a final conflict known as Ragnarök, or sometimes referred to as "The Twilight of the Gods". Loki fulfilled the prophecy of leading the enemies of Asgard against the Asgardians. This battle consumed all who participated in it and it was revealed that the cycle of the birth, lives, and death of the Asgardians was a continuing cycle presided over by beings known only as "Those Who Sit Above in Shadow". Thor, Loki's foster brother and monarch of the Asgardians after Odin perished in battle against Surtur months earlier, was able to put an end to this continuing cycle. All Asgardians perished in this last Ragnarok except for Thor who would disappear into a deep sleep. But this time "Those Who Sit Above" followed them in death and were unable to revive them. With Thor's recent return, it has been revealed that Asgardians now exist on Earth in mortal guises. It has been hinted that as long as good is alive (Thor) so must be evil (Loki). Whether or not he personally returns remains to be seen.

[edit]
Powers and abilities

Loki possessed similar attributes to those possessed by the Asgardians, despite being a member of the Frost Giants. Loki possesses a degree of superhuman strength that seemed to be roughly equal to that of the average male Asgardian. He aged at a rate vastly slower than human beings and was extremely long lived, though he did not possess the same aging process as other god pantheons, such as the Olympians. His body was immune to all known Earthly diseases and infections and possessed some degree of invulnerability to physical injury. At times he imbued himself with magical abilities that enable him to withstand injuries that would prove fatal to another Asgardian, such as being beheaded. His Frost Giant metabolism granted him superhuman levels of physical stamina in practically all activities.

Loki possessed the ability to generate and control a great quantity of mystical abilities for a variety of purposes. He could project powerful beams of concussive force, create highly durable magical force fields, temporarily increase his own physical strength and stamina, grant superhuman abilities to living beings or inanimate objects, fly at great speeds, and teleport interdimensionally. Apparently, Loki possessed some extrasensory abilities that resembled psionic powers. For instance, he could project his thoughts across great distances, even across dimensional barriers. However, he could not read the minds of other beings, though he could control their actions.

Aside from all of these mystical abilities, Loki was always depicted with a brilliant intellect. However, his passionate hatred of Thor, lust for power, and tendency to alienate others by his ignoble actions greatly impeded his ability to bring his well laid plans to fruition. Loki revealed during an encounter with Deadpool that he is fully aware he is a fictional character in a comic book.

[edit]
Other versions

[edit]
Ultimate Universe

Loki appears in the second volume of The Ultimates as the evil half brother of Thor. The Ultimate version of Loki has the ability to "shuffle time and space", and thus, in his first appearance caused a ripple during Thor's conversation with Volstagg. In the restaurant, Loki is apparently in the background which would mark his first "appearance" (he is mentioned and his powers apparently used, but he is only briefly seen). Loki comes to Earth after escaping from the Room Without Doors and begins to cause havoc, especially for Thor and the United States after assisting the Liberators. Through his power he creates the persona for himself of "Gunnar Golmen," the head scientist of the Norwegian extension of the "European Defense Initiative," the European counterpart to The Ultimates, and turns Thor into "Thorlief," Gunnar's brother, a former mental patient who stole the technology that Gunnar created for the Initiative.

Later in the story, he confronts the captive Thor and gloats, claiming that it is all just another one of their games, and informs him that there is a traitor in the ranks of the Ultimates. When Thor requests assistance from the guards, Loki is nowhere to be seen, though he appears as a snake around Thor's neck after they leave (most likely a nod to the real Loki in Norse mythology). Most recently (at the end of Ultimates 2 #9), Loki has stated that the reason he joined the Liberators was that "They had a Norse god on their side. It's only fair you should get one too", and that "Odin sent his son to bring the world peace. I couldn't resist the opportunity to mess that up." However, he is hesitant to use his abilities overtly, as he claims Odin will then be able to find him. Yet, once all The Liberators are defeated, he decides to do things himself. After revealing to The Ultimates who he was, he rises into the air and changing the color of the sky. At that moment though, the sky opens and Thor, his brother, appears for revenge.

Issue 13 shows further demonstrations of his power by attempting to trap Thor in an illusion and withstanding a direct blow from Thor's hammer uninjured, claiming it cannot hurt him. During this battle Thor mentions that Loki's powers have for an unexplained reason weakened. After summoning an army of monsters to battle the Ultimates and nearly killing Thor, the thunder god then proceeds to summon allies from Asgard while he hits Loki on the head with his hammer before either killing him or sending him back to Asgard where Odin awaits him.

Loki's motivation for his actions is not completely revealed. He mentions several motivations from a desire to cause World War III to Odin favoring Thor over him and attempting to gain Odin's favor. Throughout the whole ordeal Loki regards humans as mere playthings for his pranks. In addition to making a Norwegian super-soldier programming and people thinking it was real even though Norway was not part of the European Union he claimed to have been the one who framed Captain America for treason, regarding the failure of humans to realize the problems with these assertions as humorous.

[edit]
Heroes Reborn

In the controversial Heroes Reborn storyline of the late 1990s, the Fantastic Four and Avengers were transported into a pocket universe populated by duplicates of many individuals from their home universe, who were different and similar to varying degrees. This pocket universe was subconsciously sculpted by Franklin Richards, and did not include an Asgard, but rather than accept this as the natural order of things, the Loki native to this universe sought to discern why this should be. Eventually coming to realise that he and the rest of the pocket universe were the creations of Franklin, he began using this to his advantage, deconstructing other villains created as part of the universe and absorbing them into himself so that he might grow in power and transcend his existence as a facsimile. Seeking more power, Loki then utilised a rip in the fabric of reality to generate new versions of various Avengers villains' from the heroes' home universe, who he then pitted against them, and absorbed when they were defeated. With the truth of his actions revealed, however, Loki was forced to absorb energy from the rift directly, growing to a gigantic size, but was eventually defeated by the assembled forces of his former allies, the Avengers, and S.H.I.E.L.D. Later, during the Heroes Return storyline, Loki appeared alive, only to be crushed by Ashema, a member of the race known as the Celestials.

[edit]
MC2

In the reality of Earth-982, Loki decides to bring an end to the "Age of Heroes", still regretting the fact that his actions led to the creation of the Avengers. In the series Last Hero Standing, he kidnaps several major superheroes, brainwashes them so that they are more violent, and returns them to Earth so that they will destroy their reputations, knowing that his spell will be permanent the moment they shed innocent blood. Eventually, this plot is foiled by the superheroes of earth, most especially that reality's Captain America, who shatters the gem Loki was using to create the spell before any innocents can be killed. In battle, Loki badly injuries Captain America, but, because of his actions, Loki is banished to the limbo realm and is joined by the Hulk, who intends to punish him for affecting the Hulk with his spell and driving him to attack the other heroes.

Within the Avengers Next miniseries it is revealed that Loki's daughter {within the MC2 universe}, Sylene, is on a mission to restore Asgard, as a way to honor her father and to prove herself to the Asgardians. Unfortunately, her plan is not only to transform Midgard/Earth into a version of Asgard, but also to eliminate the Avengers, since Loki was blaming himself for his part of indirectly creating the team.

[edit]
Marvel 2099

In the Marvel 2099 line of series, the original Asgardians were no more. However, belief in them had grown into a full-fledged religion with many followers. Seeking to take advantage of this, a corporation called Alchemax decided to create their own pantheon. One of the company's scientists, Jordan Boone, decided that he wanted to have powers and snuck himself into the program. He ensured that he avoided the receiving of a computer chip implant which would give him falsified memories of his godhood. Jordan became the Loki of the program, but fled before the program and their floating fortress were destroyed. He later reappeared and remade himself as the villainous Halloween Jack who went about trying to warp the entire world with a Virtual Unreality Projector. His plan would have succeeded if not for President Doom stepping in with the help of the X-Men Meanstreak and Krystalin. Halloween Jack was supposedly killed in 2099 World of Tomorrow #2, but made an unexpected cameo in X-Force #92. He was somehow pulled from the timestream before his death and redeposited in the present where he pestered Domino. Since then his resident time period and/or location have been unknown.

[edit]
Earth X

In the reality of Earth-9997, Loki duped Odin into transforming Thor into a woman and he cast a spell across Bifrost that would prevent Thor from returning to Earth if he ever returned to Asgard. Among several heroes, in this reality, he opposed the Celestials due to finding out the falsehood of the Asgardians' origins. Realising that his form was actually solely dependent on his convictions (as that of all Asgardians), he became an angelic being with a very ambiguous appearance. With his new state, he was instrumental in defeating the Absorbing Man and he later formed the new Avengers and became the new Thor.

[edit]
Guardians of the Galaxy

In the reality of Earth-691, Loki is alive and well in the 31st Century.

[edit]
Amalgam

In the Amalgam Comics universe, Loki is joined with Desaad to form L'ok D'saad.

[edit]
In other media

[edit]
Television
Loki appears in an episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends voiced by John Stephenson.

[edit]
Video games
Loki is a boss enemy in the videogame Marvel: Ultimate Alliance voiced by Larry Cedar. He is one of Doctor Doom's top lieutenants in the Masters of Evil and gleefully looks after the Doctor's conquest of Asgard. He engages the game's heroes in battle by mentally inhabiting the Destroyer armor (after posing as Nick Fury to trick them into releasing it) only to be defeated when his physical body is accidentally attacked by the Destroyer. He also pretends to be the Mandarin earlier in the game so that the superheroes will go after Mandarin and not the Masters of Evil to get revenge on the Mandarin for deserting the team.

Categories: Characters introduced in 1949 | Characters introduced in 1962 | Fictional shapeshifters | Fictional wizards | Magic users in comics | Marvel Comics Asgardians | Marvel Comics characters who can teleport | Marvel Comics immortals | Marvel Comics supervillains | Mythology in comics
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