Loki might just be Marvel's most beloved villain… or at least Marvel's most beloved villain
that's still alive.
On the eve of Tom Hiddleston's spinoff, we review his back-stabbing, Hulk-wielding, treacherous
MCU behavior.
Anybody with a sibling would probably admit there have been times when they've at least
idly considered murder — but they're not serious.
Loki, on the other hand, has indulged in the desire to end his brother's life, not even
once, but on multiple occasions.
He seems to have honed this murderous impulse from a young age, beginning with the snake
stabbing incident.
Towards the end of "Ragnarok," when the newly formed Revengers are busy making plans to
free Asgard from the diabolical grip of Hela, they discuss their plans, at which point the
group is interrupted by Loki.
Thor casually throws out the fact that his little brother has tried to kill him many
times before.
“He transformed into a snake and he knows I love snakes so I went to pick up the snake
to admire it and he transformed back into himself and he was like ‘byah!’ and then
he stabbed me.”
Kid Loki literally lured his brother into a trap and tried to kill him.
We've all heard the phrase "boys will be boys," but this story sounds a bit extreme, even
by the outsized standards of Asgardian myth.
Let's not split hairs: Thor's problems in his first standalone film were largely due
to the God of Thunder's own personal issues.
His headstrong, stubborn behavior got the Son of Odin banished to Earth in a hot second
— after literally starting an interplanetary conflict between Jotunheim and Asgard.
That said, you don't have to peel back the curtain too far to see that it was actually
Loki who was pulling the strings behind the whole situation the entire time.
The mischievous brother kicked things off by letting the Frost Giants into Asgard before
the kingdom's big coronation ceremony.
After that, he was right there by Thor's side, convincing his unruly brother to enact vigilante
justice on Frost Giant leader Laufey and his oversized minions.
He also ensured that their father Odin found them, saved them ... and then kicked Thor
off Asgard as punishment for his impetuous crimes.
From there, Loki took his brother's place, informed Thor his parents had rejected him,
and sent the massive, all-but-indestructible being known as the Destroyer to kill Thor.
In fact, the plot of the entire first film has Loki enacting one diabolical scheme after
another, pulling strings from start to finish.
Loki's treatment of his brother in "Thor" was pretty appalling.
But it pales in comparison to the collateral damage the quarreling brother created in the
wake of his bid for the Asgardian throne in Thor's absence.
At the end of the first "Thor" film, Loki races out to the Bifrost, where he initiates
the rainbow bridge and sends it hurtling directly into Jotunheim itself.
When Thor arrives on the scene, he pleads with his brother, saying that channeling dimensional
energy would rip the planet apart.
This, in many ways, might be Loki's most despicable act of all.
Whatever the outcome, it marks the point where his recklessly destructive mischievousness
boiled over onto innocent bystanders — like, lots of innocent bystanders.
As the Bifrost rips through the home planet of the Frost Giants, buildings are leveled
and crowds are shown running for their lives.
Many are crushed in plain view; numerous others most likely met a similarly dismal fate offscreen.
Such rampant destruction in the name of power and family quarreling isn't just wrong — it's
sickening.
Loki's blatant disregard for an entire planet is scary.
No matter how charming the character might be at times, and how easy it is to root for
him when he decides to play the hero at certain MCU moments, it's important to remember that
he is also very capable of careless wanton destruction — and massive collateral damage.
Pinning the blame for the Chitauri invasion of Earth entirely on the God of Mischief can
be a bit of a point of division for pro-Loki Marvel fans.
And admittedly, in Loki's defense, the God of Mischief was actually under the influence
of the Mind Stone throughout the invasion.
This little factoid started as a fan theory, building up steam until it was confirmed by
the powers that be at Marvel Studios.
They even updated their official page for Loki with the explanatory line that, while
he has been known to influence others with the Scepter holding the Infinity Stone, "unbeknownst
to him, the Scepter was also influencing him, fueling his hatred over his brother Thor and
the inhabitants of Earth."
That's a pretty good case for Loki's at least partial innocence during the Earth invasion
catastrophe that leads to the big set piece in "Avengers."
However, it does not excuse one critical piece of the story: Loki was the guy who went to
Thanos in the first place.
The Son of Odin was certainly in his right mind when he showed up knocking at the Mad
Titan's door, asking for a shortcut to power.
If any of us helped a murderer, there's a good chance we'd be hearing from the police;
Loki helped the guy who murdered half the galaxy.
Early in "Avengers," Loki allows himself to be captured and placed in confinement on the
Helicarrier.
As the Avengers make their first, failed attempt to coalesce into a team, Loki remains happily
contained, waiting for his chance to strike.
When the time comes, Loki's lackeys arrive on the scene, at which point all Asgardian
hell breaks loose.
Part of that process is the unleashing of the Hulk, as Banner loses control and begins
to tear the ship apart.
The Avengers manage to contain the damage and keep the ship afloat, but in the chaos,
lives are lost — including the death of beloved S.H.I.E.L.D.
agent Phil Coulson at the hand of Loki himself.
While the "influenced by another being" argument does still hold up through all of this, it
doesn't change the fact that Loki is clearly enjoying himself.
It's hard to argue that he wouldn't have experienced similar joy without the Mind Stone at play.
To be fair, this item on the list of Loki's all-time worst MCU misdeeds was an accident.
But this is an examination of Loki's worst moves, and sometimes those can be accidental
— like in "The Dark World," when he helped cause his adoptive mother's death.
When the dark elf Kurse neglects to free Loki from prison, the God of Mischief gives him
some pointed advice:
"you might want to take the stairs to the left."
But spitefully giving Kurse directions ultimately blew up in Loki's face painfully when the
monster kills Frigga while she is attempting to defend Jane Foster.
While his devious comment ends up causing trouble for others, too, in this particular
instance Loki had no one to blame but himself for the emotional price of his backhanded
deed.
After the events of "The Dark World," Loki spends a number of years masquerading as his
father.
The fact that the son is stealing his own father's identity is bad enough to land on
the extra naughty list — but don't forget, Loki also keeps Thor in the dark by encouraging
his brother to stay off-world pursuing his own quests rather than worrying about Asgard.
Once Loki's on the Asgardian throne, he uses the opportunity to build statues to himself,
indulge his deepest narcissistic tendencies, and casts a spell over his father that leaves
him in a daze at a retirement home.
Making matters worse, Loki's time as king of Asgard was most likely a thoroughly pre-planned
ordeal.
Fans have long theorized that Loki never had a kingdom on Earth in mind when he asked Thanos
to borrow an invasion army.
Some have postulated that the Asgardian prince may have actually been playing the long game
by scheming to get captured and brought back to Asgard, so he could worm his way onto the
throne one way or another.
In either case, impersonating a monarch and ruling in his name definitely earns a place
of distinction on the list of Loki's worst moments.
Accident or not, one of Loki's worst moments came when he inadvertently opened the door
for his horrifying sister Hela to get back to Asgard.
As Hela is unleashed from her prison, she arrives on the scene, destroys Mjolnir, and
begins toying with her brothers.
In response, Loki panics, asking Skurge to return him and his brother back to Asgard.
As the pair are whisked back to Asgard, Hela hitches a ride and kicks them both out.
Considering the genocidal, destructive events that followed in the film, that moment of
retreat was a very, very bad move.
It's hard not to pin the blame on Loki for Hela getting such an easy ride to Asgard.
After Loki and Thor are thrown out of the Bifrost in "Ragnarok," they find themselves
on the planet Sakaar.
Loki gets there first and by the time Thor shows up, Loki is in full-fledged self-survival
mode at this point, and refuses to lift a finger to help his brother.
As Thor is prepped for his impending showdown with the Grandmaster's champion, Loki sits
in a cushy box seat.
Perhaps even worse, he cheers as his brother gets the same treatment at Hulk's hands as
Loki suffered in "Avengers."
Loki betrays his brother again when Thor makes his jailbreak off the planet, attempting to
turn his brother over to the authorities.
Granted, Thor is one step ahead, and Loki may have even made amends with his brother
not long afterward, but all this behavior was quite reprehensible, even by Loki's standards.
When Loki sees something shiny, he can't keep his hands off it.
This holds true when he walks past the Tesseract at the end of "Ragnarok."
When Loki and Thor save the day by unleashing Ragnarok by placing the Crown of Surtur on
the Eternal Flame and defeating Hela, a happy ending seems in order.
"The damage is not too bad, as long as the foundations are strong...
Now those foundations are gone.
Sorry."
But, as the Asgardian refugees travel through space, they are confronted by none other than
Thanos himself in his search for the Infinity Stones.
Loki's possession of the shiny, superpowered gem brings the catastrophic attention of Thanos
down upon them, causing destruction and misery for the Asgardians and the death of Loki himself.
While a decent case could be made for the desire to nab an Infinity Stone when it's
just lying there, Loki's actions once again came back to bite him — and his people,
and ultimately the universe itself, in a supremely painful manner.
You'd think Loki would have learned the first time.
Or the second.
You'd think that, but you'd be wrong.
Loki's first Tesseract burglary happens in "Avengers," then he gets his hands on the
Infinity Stone a second time in "Ragnarok," which leads to his untimely death.
Fortunately, "untimely" is exactly how he pops up with the Tesseract a third time, not
in the future, but in the past.
When the Avengers go back in time to gather up Infinity Stones in "Endgame," they initially
botch the job when the Tesseract is dropped right in front of the captured 2012 version
of Loki.
Seeing an opportunity for mischief, Loki snatchs the Infinity Stone a third time, disappearing
into his own spin-off Disney+ show.
While 2012 Loki's story is a fun side effect of the "Endgame" storyline, it doesn't change
the fact that it was a nasty twist for Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
The sudden absence of the Tesseract leaves the team scrambling, as Loki's initial getaway
nearly upsets their entire time heist.
If they hadn't found an alternative, Loki's actions could have prevented the Blip return
and left half of the universe permanently snapped away.
Where does Loki's story go from there?
Fans are eager to find out — and discover how many more times this Marvel favorite is
going to do some very bad things.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
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