Loki Laufeyson

[Thor]
Loki was born in the realm of Jotunheim as the son of Laufey, king of Jotunheim. Abnormally small for a child of the Frost Giants, he was taken in by Odin after the end of the war. Odin claimed that his reasoning for taking Loki in was in the hopes that one day joining the two realms in peace. Through all of his childhood, Loki is unaware of this, believing the lie that he'd been told his entire life; that he was the son of Odin and Frigga, born to be king. In truth, Odin had no intention of ever putting Loki on the throne. Regardless of that, he was treated no differently by his adopted family. Throughout his childhood, he felt overshadowed by Thor, never an equal. Thor's great strength was something of a large blow to Loki, so his adopted mother, Frigga, shared her gift of illusion magic with Loki in hopes that it would make him feel just as special as Thor. To Loki, she was the only one to ever believe in him. And as such, the only one he cared for as deeply as Loki could care for anyone.

On the day of his brother's coronation as King of Asgard, Loki used his magic to conceal a small handful of Jotun, allowing them to enter Asgard undetected. They entered the weapon's vault and attempted to retrieve the Casket of Ancient Winters, the weapon stolen from their realm when Odin conquered it. They were defeated, but this effectively put off Thor's coronation and lead the legitimate son of Odin to run off at the mouth against his father while Loki stood back quietly watching as his scheme ended in exactly what he'd desired. It wasn't so much that Loki desired the throne as he wished to be treated as an equal to Thor.

Thor argues that their invasion was an act of war and as such, they should respond in kind. He desired to make them learn to fear Asgard again so they would not think to challenge them again. Odin refuses, berating Thor for his decision. Because of this, Thor storms off, making a mess of a dining table and all the food atop it in a hissy fit. Loki joins him in the room quietly, not deterred by Thor's warning that he should not be around while Thor is so enraged. Loki expresses his feelings on the matter, telling his brother that he is right to wish for retribution for their invasion, but that he should just accept it because there was nothing he could do without defying their father. That cleverly worded comment plants a seed of rebellion in Thor's heart causing him to formulate a plan to attack anyway. Loki seems to try to talk him out of it, but to no avail.

When they approach the gatekeeper, Heimdall, he attempts to sweet-talk the Asgardian into letting them pass, only to be interrupted and called out on his deception. With the wind knocked out of his sails, Thor takes over proudly and gains them access to the Bifrost. Just before they head out, Loki tells Heimdall to inform Odin of this illegal mission.

Reasoning with the Jotun seems to go somewhat smoothly, as they do not attack immediately, and King Laufey offers to allow them to leave and ignore this transgression. Loki pipes in, accepting Laufey's most generous offer for the team. As things seem to cool down and Thor gives into his brother's urges to leave, Thor is taunted by the Jotun saying, "Run back home, little princess." Loki freezes, hearing this and knowing full well just how Thor will react, comments with a simple, "Damn." And fighting breaks loose. The fight takes off quickly and soon becomes too much for the small group of warriors against the large army of Jotun. A single Jotun grabbed Loki's arm, causing his clothing and armour to shatter under the touch, however, his very skin began turning a Jotun blue under the touch, spreading up his arm. In a panic, Loki dispatches the Jotun, clearly shaken by his body's reaction to the touch whereas everyone else was harmed by it. Loki insists that they must leave and Thor tells them to go, but makes no move to follow. They're chased after and eventually cornered by a large sabretooth-like beast which Thor defeats only to have them surrounded by Jotun with no escape. Heimdall refuses to open the Bifrost because of the risk of Jotun getting through, but Odin appears to rescue the small team.

Arriving back at Asgard, Thor is berated more for his actions and they fight verbally again until the son of Odin says the wrong things, getting himself stripped of his power and banished to Earth. Loki acts as if to defend Thor's actions, but is shut down by their father. Throughout the yelling, Loki puts on a play of compassion for Thor.

Loki admits to the others that he was the one who told Heimdall where they were going and to tell Odin immediately. It was the only thing that saved their lives, and he insists that when the others begin to show hostility towards him for it. He insists that he had no idea Odin would banish Thor for his actions. After defending himself and storming out of the room, he visits the Casket of Ancient Winters to investigate just why his body reacted the way it had to the Jotun. He's caught by Odin while holding the casket, demanding answers as to why just touching the weapon turns him into a Jotun, though more human in appearance as compared to the Jotunheim natives.

Loki makes the assessment that the Casket wasn't the only thing taken from Jotunheim that day. This forces Odin to reveal the truth of his birth to him; that he found Loki in a temple, abandoned. That Loki was, in actuality, Laufeyson. Loki demands to know why Odin took him, because he always has a purpose for what he does and it wasn't just out of charity. His plans are revealed to Loki, telling him that he'd hoped to bring about permanent peace through Loki, but that those plans no longer matter as Thor has returned them to a warring state.

"So I'm no more than another stolen relic! Locked up here until you might have use of me?!"

He begins to emotionally unravel before Odin, unsure of how to take this news. Knowing his whole life has been a lie. He wants to know why his father lied to him and refuses to believe it's because Odin cares for him. He claims it was to protect Loki.

"Because I'm the monster that parents tell their children about at night?!"

Laufeyson breaks out into an angry, emotional rant about how everything makes sense now. The reason Odin valued Thor over him and the reason he would never get the throne, because Asgard could never have a Frost Giant sitting on its throne. During this rant, Odin falls into his deep Odin Sleep.

Loki takes over the throne while Odin is unconscious and Thor is banished, leaving him as the only remaining heir. He is asked to undo Thor's banishment, but says his first command cannot be to undo Odin's last.

After a small talk with his mother about Odin and Thor, he visits Thor on Earth to tell him that his father is dead and that he is now on the throne. He also says that in order to maintain peace with Jotunheim, Thor must remain in banishment. He expresses his regret and bids his brother farewell.

Loki meets with Laufey again and makes a deal with him, revealing that he was the one who helped those soldiers enter. He tells Laufey that he will conceal a small group of soldiers and lead them into Asgard so long as they kill Odin. Once Odin is dead, he says he will return the Casket to the Frost Giants.

Thor's friends go behind Loki's back and flee to Earth in search of Thor so they can bring him home. Loki sends an assassin after them to kill them. When it seems that they cannot kill the metallic assassin, Thor begs his brother to kill him and leave his friends alive. Surprisingly, Loki accepts this offer and does just that, or so he thinks. As the assassin walks away, Thor's last actions bring back his Godly status, saving his life and giving him the strength to defeat the assassin.

Loki rushes into action, bringing the Frost Giants into Asgard. As they attempt to assassinate Odin and fight with his mother, Loki betrays the Jotun and kills Laufey just before he can kill Odin, announcing, "And your death came by the son of Odin." Thor returns and they share some spiteful words before Loki takes to the Bifrost to destroy Jotunheim via overloading the Bifrost while connected to Jotunheim. This was all to prove to Odin that he was the worthy son. He fights Thor, getting overly emotional over everything. Thor destroys the Bifrost to safe Jotunheim, isolating Asgard from the other realms. Thor and Loki fall to their doom only to be caught by Odin. Loki pleads with his father, telling him he did this all for him. He did everything to prove his worth to Odin, desperate for his approval. All he gets for his efforts are a hushed, "No, Loki." Crushed by his father's disapproval, Loki lets go of Gungnir and falls into the swirling special distortion created by the Bifrost.

Last we see of Loki, he did not die that day, and is prodding into the mind of Doctor Eric Selvig.

[The Avengers]
Some time passes and Loki finds himself in a strange realm, home to the Chitauri. The Tesseract begins acting up in SHIELD's possession. Unable to shut it down, as it's a self-sustaining power source, it eventually discharges and pulls Loki through an unstable portal, bringing him right to Earth. He kills several SHIELD agents and injures more, taking Clint Barton (Hawkeye) with a tap to his chest by the Chitauri Sceptre that brings him under Loki's control, commenting, "You have heart." as well as Dr. Selvig, claiming them both to do his bidding. Fury makes attempts to mediate the situation and prevent it from spiralling out of control, but is shot down by Loki with a simple comment, "An ant has no quarrel with a boot." He announces that he's here to free the people of Earth from freedom. Fury attempts to keep him from the Tesseract, but fails. He escapes with a few of SHIELD's men and the Tesseract just before the compound breaks apart.

Loki puts his mostly brainwashed team to work finding materials and designing a device for the Tesseract that will allow him to open a stable portal. Leaving the work to his 'minions', he goes in search of another item in Germany and allows himself to get captured after Barton gets away with the target.

Flying their new prisoner back to SHIELD's airship, lightning begins to lance across the sky prompting Loki to grow very nervous. Cap. America throws a barb at him about being afraid of lightning, to which Loki replies, "I'm not overly fond of what follows." No sooner do the words leave his mouth, Thor appears in the sky and ends up snatching Loki from his captors. His brother tries to convince him to gives up his 'poisonous dream' and come home, but Loki refuses just before Stark and Thor begin fighting. Captain America eventually breaks up the fight and they recapture Loki, delivering him to SHIELD. He seems hardly put off by these events. Seeming almost haughtier, if possible.

Loki is locked away in a cell built for the Hulk, designed for near instant jettison from the helicraft. Fury and Loki banter a bit, all the while Loki seems far less distressed than he truly should be as a captive of SHIELD. He even throws a subtle jab at Stark hidden within a jab at Fury, angering Fury and wearing out his patience.

"Let me know if 'True Power' wants a magazine or something."

Natasha visits Loki in his cell, managing to sneak up on him for the most part, of which he is impressed. He tells her he expected her to come to him after Fury began torturing him for information. That she would come to him "as a friend" and expect him to cooperate. She asks him about Barton and what will happen to him. He avoids the question, asking her if she's in love with Hawkeye. He asks about her debt and she begins regaling her past with Barton. Afterwards, he taunts her and verbally attacks her from behind the glass, each word dripping with more venom than the last. Then he tells her he'll make Barton kill her, then bring him back to view his handiwork just before killing him. She appears shaken, brought nearly to tears by his words. Thinking he's worked his way into breaking down the careful walls in her mind, he lets slip an important detail. She completely played him, and he realizes it too late; having met his match in manipulation in the form of Black Widow. She alerts the others then thanks Loki for his cooperation.

Shorty thereafter, they all gather into the lab to keep an eye on Banner before everything falls to pandemonium. Each of their bristling personalities show forth, causing tension to grow with each word spoken until the air is so heavy, they seem moments from tearing eachother to pieces. With just a simple suggestion from Loki combined with their personalities, the delicate tightrope they walk unravels and drops them all into a free-fall, struggling to shoot eachother down. They are easily kept distracted while Loki's 'minions' take out one of the engines with ease. The chaos and panic stops the fighting, but only eases tension slightly.

Thor makes his way to the cell holding Loki just in time to see the door open to release his brother. Thor takes a mad dash to tackle his brother and prevent him from escaping, only to fall for one of Loki's illusions, tumbling right through Loki, trapping himself within the cage instead.

"Are you ever not going to fall for that?"

Agent Coulson steps in with a prototype weapon developed from the Destroyer just as Loki prepares to jettison Thor from the ship. He tells Loki to step away, while training the large weapon on the God of Lies. However, Loki is yet another illusion, stabbing Coulson in the back as he threatens the fake. Loki hesitates then ejects Thor.

"You're going to lose. It's in your nature."

Coulson stalls Loki by taunting him lightly with a gentle tone. Loki takes the bait and begins advancing on Coulson again, arguing his point when Coulson fires the weapon, catching Loki square in the chest with the bright, fiery discharge. Despite Coulson's last ditch effort, Loki escapes, seemingly not terribly harmed by the weapon.

Stark returns to his tower to find Selvig and Loki on his rooftop with a device powered by the Tesseract. Stark fails to destroy the device, so he decides to confront Loki, removing his damaged armour and offering him a drink. He claims he's going to threaten him. Loki follows up with, "You should have left your armour on for that." But Stark has other plans. Loki refuses the drink, posturing with Stark. Tony delivers a beautiful speech about protecting the Earth, and if they fail, avenging it.

"How will your friends have time for me, when they're so busy fighting you?"

He taps Tony on the chest with the sceptre and it clanks against the miniature Arc Reactor in his chest, nullifying its controlling powers. Loki looks baffled and gives it another go, ending in the same result. Miffed, he states that this usually works.

"Well, performance issues, you know… is not uncommon. One out of five."

In a small fit of rage, Loki attacks Stark and throws him out his own window. Fortunately, it had all been a ploy to get a hold of the bracelet for his new suit. Just before plummeting to his doom, the suit encases his body mid fall and he kicks the repulsors on, ceasing his fall. Just as he regains his air, the device activates, opening a rift to grant the Chitauri army entrance.

Loki tends to mostly hang back and let the army fight the Avengers and destroy New York. He changes his attire via illusion to give himself a more regal look, clad in his gold armour and gaudy, horned helmet. Thor drops in next to him and demands he turn off the device or he'll destroy the Tesseract. Loki tells him that he can't and they engage in battle. Thor tries to reason with Loki, reaching out to the brother he once knew. Loki seems to be swayed by his words, tricking Thor into lowering his guard. He takes that moment to strike, stabbing Thor in the abdomen with a small knife. It doesn't seem to do much to slow Thor down, so Loki takes his chance to retreat after a few more whaps from Thor.

Hawkeye tries to put an arrow in Loki as he's buzzing by, but he catches it. Only for it to promptly explode in his face and knock him off his ride. He doesn't get a break as the Hulk decides to throw him around a bit. And yet, he still survives.

"Puny God."

Loki is caught by the Avengers, facing the group with weapons raised as he climbs out of his little crater, battered and worn. Despite all his conviction and pride, he's a man who knows when to step back in the face of overpowering defeat.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."

Loki is bound, gagged, and taken back to Asgard with the Tesseract by Thor.

[Thor II]
"Hello mother. Have I made you proud?"

Brought before his adoptive father for sentencing, he is told Frigga, his adoptive mother, is the only reason he is not to be executed, and that he will never see her again. He was sentenced to life in the dungeon.

Despite Odin's promise of never seeing his mother again, she uses her illusion magic to visit him in his cell, still caring deeply for her adoptive son. Likewise, Loki still cares deeply for her. She continues to deliver creature comforts to her son while never once stepping foot in the dungeon, so she isn't actually breaking Odin's rules. During a conversation with her that begins to wind him up, he finally shouts that Odin is not his father and she seems dispirited by those words, asking, "Then am I not your mother?". After a long, thoughtful pause in which Loki's expression falls, he steels himself and replies calmly, "You're not."

"Always so perceptive about everyone but yourself."

She holds her hands out to him and he touches her illusion, watching it fade away despondently.

Lying in a bed in his cell, tossing a cup repeatedly into the air and catching it, he hears the 'birth' of Kurse and watches as the monster frees most of the dungeon's criminals from their cells. As he approaches Loki's cell, contemplating releasing him, then thinks better of it and leaves Loki there. Loki gives him directions to the "stairs to the left" and Kurse seems to take them. The trickster returns to his relaxed state, sitting against a wall near the force field, reading one of the books his mother sent him while the fighting ensues outside his cell. Asgardians attempt to subdue the prisoners while Kurse escapes.

Loki is later approached by a guard who informs him of Frigga's death at the hands of Malekith and Kurse. He waits for the guard to walk away after delivering the news before releasing his rage upon the items in his cell in a burst of power. Later, when Thor comes to visit him for his help in escaping Asgard, he appears as an illusion to his brother to hide his grief. The room appears spotless and he seems uncaring, asking if Thor came to gloat.

"Loki, enough. No more illusions."

Momentarily shocked by his brother's perceptiveness, he then drops the illusion to show his room in disarray, littered with broken items and destruction. His own visage is equally as unkempt, grief-stricken. He asks if she suffered, but Thor counters by telling him he didn't come to share their grief. That he offers a far richer sacrament. He offers the chance of vengeance to Loki for his help escaping Asgard. Then afterwards, returning to his cell. Loki asks Thor what makes him think he can trust him, and Thor replies curtly, "I don't. Mother did." Then proceeds to tell him that the only thing that has saved him in the past was that Thor always had hope that his brother was still in there somewhere. That hope is gone, and he will kill Loki at his first sign of betrayal.

"This is so unlike you brother. So clandestine! Are you sure you wouldn't rather just punch your way out?"

They make their escape quickly with Loki lightly antagonizing his brother the whole way before Thor finally handcuffs him. Meeting up with Sif and Jane, Jane recognizes him and slugs him in the face with venom in her tone saying, "That was for New York!" Loki seems amused, announcing that he likes her. Guards begin approaching and Sif offers to hold them off, but stops Loki from leaving, leaving him with a final threat; if he betrays Thor, she'll kill him. They make it to the room with the crashed Dark Elf ship where Volstagg offers to hold them off so they can escape. He stops Loki, just as Sif did, and threatens him as well, but Loki cuts him off.

"You'll… kill me? Evidently, there will be a line."

They board the ship and Thor begins pressing buttons in an attempt to engage it and fly. Every press seems to fail, only making noises and soft humming sounds, but no real progress. Loki throws a few snarky jabs at Thor as he tries, seeming ever more amused by his brother's continued failure. Then begins trying to give Thor 'pointers' on how he should go about pressing the buttons until he finally gets the ship is powered up and moving. He takes out a large number of columns within the room, thanks to the strange shape of the ship.

"I think you missed a column."

Breaking out of the palace, Loki continues with his playful barbs and carefree behaviour, even after Jane falls to the floor. He's ever more amused by the events unfolding around them as they're being chased and fired upon, agitating his brother with each quip. Thor flies through a narrow tunnel, catching a statue with the long tail of the craft and slicing clean through it, which elicits from Loki, "Good job! You just decapitated your grandfather!" Finally, agitated by Thor's incompetence, he begins a rant, telling Thor just how brilliant this idea of his was, tearing it to pieces verbally only to end up being shoved out an airlock.

"I see your time in the dungeon has made you no less graceful, Loki."

Fortunately, Fandral is just below in an Asgardian ship, skimming the surface of the water, to catch him. Loki seems genuinely impressed that Thor tricked him, but is told to do as he promised. Loki takes up steering the new ship while Fandral jumps off to take care of a pursuer. He aims them for a small crevice in a mountain that makes Thor nervous. Loki tells him that if it were easy, everyone would do it. Once they make it through, and the portal takes them to Svartalfheim, just as promised. He punctuates their arrival with a droll, "Ta-da~".

They have a bit of a bickering brotherly moment that progresses into a fight, ended when Thor seethes, saying that mother wouldn't want them to fight. Loki smiles and counters, "Well, she wouldn't exactly be shocked." Thor wishes he could trust Loki, but Loki tells him to trust his rage.

Loki tells Thor that this plan of his will probably get them killed, then asks for the cuffs to be removed nonverbally. Thor seems hesitant and Loki replies, "You still don't trust me, brother?" Thor simply counters with, "Would you?" Before removing them. Loki rubs his wrists and slips his dagger from under his coat declaring that he wouldn't then promptly stabs Thor with it. The deception shouldn't be surprising, yet Jane shouts in shock anyway. He sends Thor tumbling down the hillside, saying that he didn't care about Frigga or any of them. He roughs Thor up and cuts off his hand to prevent him from grasping Mjolnir, all under the keen eyes of Malekith. He grabs Jane when she runs to Thor's side, and throws her to Malekith's feet, introducing himself as Loki of Jotunheim. He insists the only thing he wants is a good seat from which to watch Asgard burn. Kurse defends his claim, saying he was in the dungeon as an enemy of Asgard.

Malekith seems to believe him, and takes the Aether from Jane while forcing Thor to watch him gain the power. It all turns out to be a farce. A plan to get the Aether from Jane's body so they could destroy it and save her. Thor shouts to Loki once it's out and Loki dispels his illusion. Thor takes up the hammer while Loki throws himself over Jane to protect her as lightning strikes the exposed Aether. When the dust settles, everyone is pensive, but the Aether just reforms and possesses Malekith. Malekith begins to leave as his small entourage takes on Thor. Kurse activates a grenade and throws it towards Jane. Loki throws her aside and nearly gets sucked in in the process, but Thor rescues him. Thor goes after Malekith, but is intercepted by Kurse, leaving Loki with the other group, which he easily dispatches before going to Thor's rescue.

Loki stabs Kurse in the back with one of the other elves' weapons, but is captured by Kurse and pulled into a bear hug, impaling him on the weapon as well. At the same time, he activates one of Kurse's grenades on his belt and leaves it there, sending Kurse out with a "See you in Hell, monster."

"No, no, nono! Ah, you fool, you didn't listen!"

Loki admits that he's a fool, dying in his brother's arms, repeating that he's sorry over and over. Thor offers to tell their father what he did here today, but Loki shoots it down by saying he didn't do it for Odin. Thor is forced to leave Loki's body as a dust storm kicks up and he and Jane take cover in a cave.

Later, Thor is seen speaking to his father on the throne. With all the realms brought together by the alignment, every realm saw Thor offer his life to save them from Malekith. Odin asks what Asgard can offer its new king in return for bringing all the realms together. Thor turns down the throne, vowing to protect Asgard and all the realms, but that he could not do so from the throne. He says, "Loki, for all his grave imbalance, understood rule as I know I never will." He says he would rather be a good man than a great king. Odin asks if this is his son speaking or the woman he loves, countered by Thor with, "When you speak, do I never hear mother's voice?" He insists that it doesn't matter what Odin promises him, even if it's to allow Jane to rule by his side, he doesn't want the throne.

"One son who wanted the throne too much; another who will not take it. Is this my legacy?"

Thor insists that Loki died with honour and that he shall try to live the same, is that not legacy enough? Odin seems pleased with this answer. Thor offers up Mjolnir, but Odin tells him that it belongs to him if he is worthy of it. He sends Thor off with one final statement, telling him that if he were proud of the man his son had become, even that he could not say, that it would speak only from his heart. Thor thanks him and leaves.

Odin's image burns away in magical light to reveal Loki on the throne.

"No, thank you."