Everyone knows Loki as the brother of Thor, the God of Mischief, an antihero, and the kind of guy who just never seems to ultimately die no matter what situation he gets himself into.
But how much do we really know about his origins and his goals? Is Loki a villain or a hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Let’s find out.
RELATED: Is Loki a God Explained
Where is Loki From?
All Loki ever wished in his lifetime was to belong and achieve his ‘glorious purpose’ in this world. To him, he believed he was destined to rule over Asgard after Odin’s time.
Loki was raised by King Odin and Queen Frigga as the brother of the God of Thunder, and the Prince of Asgard, but he wasn’t exactly an Asgardian by birth.
When Odin had to banish Thor to the realm Midgard, it was then that he unveiled Loki’s true family lineage of being Laufey's son, a Frost Giant.
As it turned out, Loki’s size as a Frost Giant didn’t secure his place amongst his race, leading Odin to take him in as his own.
Instead of feeling as though Odin wanted him as his son, Loki took this to heart, believing that his history was what prevented him from taking his place on Odin’s throne.
What is Loki the God of?
In Norse Mythology, Loki is a trickster god who is neither fully good nor evil. His true main purpose is to always create chaos through his manipulative power of shapeshifting.
Loki’s background as a ‘God’ was portrayed quite similarly in the MCU. He isn't a 'God', per se, but the MCU considers him as one because of his superhuman abilities.
Not to mention, since Loki was always in his brother Thor’s shadow, it gave him more time to learn the magical arts and earned him the ‘God of Mischief’ title.
At one point, Loki disguised himself as a snake to lure Thor in and once he had fooled his brother, he transformed back into his human form and stabbed him.
Loki’s powers allowed him to become even more powerful when pulling off his tricks and pranks on any target he desires, this includes astral projection, shapeshifting, hypnosis, molecular rearrangement, energy blasts, telekinesis, and more.
Because of his title, he had earned it by backing up his source of power with his strategies in terms of exceeding Thor and Odin’s capabilities.
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What is Loki’s Goal?
Loki’s actions towards his brother were always rooted in his jealousy, convinced that nobody loved him as much as they had loved Thor, who was always better in the things Odin sought in choosing the new ruler for Asgard.
Since that was obviously not happening, Loki opted to come down to Earth, where the Tesseract was placed. He had summoned the Chitauri army and even promised Thanos he would hand over the Space Stone after he took over the world.
Unfortunately, he failed when he faced the Avengers during the Battle of New York. His main goal was always to rule over Asgard or Earth, both of which he didn’t get to do.
At his dying breath in Avengers: Infinity War, though, his goal was still to prove that he was worthy, and that was by sacrificing himself to save his brother, Thor.
READ MORE: Is Loki a Villain or Good Guy in the MCU Explained
Is Loki a Villain or a Hero?
As mentioned before, Loki’s main goal may have been to cause chaos in every step of the way he took, but what does this make him, exactly, a villain or a hero?
Loki’s character development was largely evident, considering we had almost seen him in every Marvel movie there is in the MCU. He was involved in the Thor movies, and the Avengers movies, and even earned himself his own titular series on Disney Plus.
He has never claimed a single side he belonged to. It always highly depended on which side he gets more leverage on the good guys or the bad guys’ side. But if we’re talking about Loki who died at Thanos’ hands, Loki is most certainly a hero.
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