10 Things You Didn't Know About Loki
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The world of comic books brings us multitudes of characters, both good and bad, and constantly reinvent the wheel in terms of bringing us the most unique villainous forces with unimaginable power.With Marvel leading the way in both the comic book and movie stakes, one would expect they would be able to maintain a great balance in managing their villains when transferring them to the big screen. For the majority of the MCU, this seems not to be the case, with one particular villain stealing the limelight from all of the other wannabe world-dominating acts.
That man is Loki, Asgard's scheming son and the God of Mischief. We know him as the one proclaiming his Avengers challengers to be as mewling suckers and eating up every bit of dialogue thrown at him. Thankfully, he is just as imposing on the comic book pages, all too often infuriating brother Thor and ensuring that the land of the gods is just as dangerous as the real world itself.
While many will declare that they know plenty about Tom Hiddleston's standout character, there is plenty that you may not know about Loki from the comics. Fortunately, that's where we come in, delving through the comic book archives and giving you some little known facts about one of Marvel's most devious villains to date.
10. He Was Originally A Redhead
While many will associate Loki with the infamous green outfit and his larger-than-life horned helmet, this was not his appearance when he first broke out onto the comic book scene. His debut first came in 1949 by way of Venus #6, which was published by Timely Comics - the future Marvel - and he was in fact a redhead, adorned with pink clothing. This would soon be followed by his 'modern' debut in Journey Into Mystery #85 in 1962, where he would be re-imagined and solidified with the look we know him for today.
9. He Has Created Various Characters
It's incredible when you look back at the sheer power that Loki has possessed in the past, even if he is only a half-brother to pure god, Thor. The God of Mischief has often been pushed to the point of ruin in his fight against Thor, causing him to head down drastic routes.
This meant the creation of beings such as Wrecker and Absorbing Man, as well as none other than three Sentinels from Project: NIMROD, binding them together to create one incredible force. Unfortunately for Loki, his creation would eventually be destroyed by a combination of Spider-Man and Captain Universe.
8. He Was A Woman...At One Point
You read that right, Loki has in fact been a woman in the comics, appearing as Lady Sif following the catastrophic events of Ragnarok. With the aid of Doctor Doom, Loki was able to transfer the spirit of Sif into an older woman, while taking over her body and making it his own. In this time, Loki was able to manipulate events to see Thor resurrect his Asgardian enemies as well as creating a path for himself to take the throne of Asgard. He has also been seen to take on the persona of Scarlet Witch in Mighty Avengers as well.
7. Loki Approved Of Thor Being Ruler Of Asgard
Something many of you will find utterly unbelievable to read, there was a time when Loki was in fact content with his half-brother taking the throne for himself as the ruler of Asgard. This occurred following Surtur finally killing Odin and Thor rising to the throne, and in turn seeing Earth having specific Asgardian values imposed upon it. Loki found this to be an opportunity to seek out new power and actually found himself pleased that his brother was in charge. Of course, this would eventually fall apart and the rivalry continue as an alternate universe was found and a shift of focus from Earth to this new realm occur.
6. Loki Has Wielded Mjolnir
Given to him as a precious gift from father Odin, Thor's trademark hammer Mjolnir is as much a part of him as his very limbs. So, you can imagine the shock when none other than Loki was able to wield the powerful weapon to attack his half-brother.
Having previously made his own version of the hammer, Loki took it upon himself to finally grab his brother's true weapon in Avengers & X-Men: Axis #9 just two years ago. The most shocking fact is that Loki almost killed his brother with the hammer, with only help from the likes of Doctor Doom and Scarlet Witch saving Thor from certain doom.
5. Loki First Became Evil At Eight Years Old
As one would expect, Loki's evil streak and devious nature started at a young age. When he was 8, Loki would bear witness to his father gifting Thor with the all-powerful Mjolnir, solidifying his preference for his true son. This would infuriate Loki, slowly leading to him attempting to steal the weapon on various occasions without success. As he continued to fail in his attempts, Loki would get more and more enraged, eventually leading to him vowing to kill his half-brother and ascend to the throne of Asgard.
4. Loki Was Reborn As A Child
As one of the chief manipulators in the whole of the Marvel comic book universe, Loki has seen his fair share of 'get out of jail' moments, including one in which he found himself reborn as a young child. Loki Laufeyson was the rebirth version of the much-loved villain, residing in Paris under the name "Serrure", before his brother Thor found him. Having no knowledge of his past endeavours, Loki would soon find out the terrible truth about his past. Despite this, he would look to actually aid Thor and Asgard, despite being treated with mistrust and hate from Odin and his followers, but eventually the evil would soon flow back in...
3. Loki's Mother
While the origins of Loki are known for Odin attacking Jotunheim, in a battle between his Asgardian forces and Laufey's Frost Giants, and then discovering him as a child in the Giant stronghold, little is ever told of his mother. Many regard Asgardian Frigga, Odin's wife, as his true mother, having taken Loki under her wing, but in fact that title is owned by Farbauti.
Little is actually known about Farbauti, but the fact that when she gave birth to Loki it gave Laufey much displeasure, since Loki was of an unusually small size. Because of this, he was hidden away in the Frost Giant stronghold to be seen by few.
2. Loki Is Pansexual
Here's one that Marvel looked to eradicate quite quickly, bizarrely, but it turns out that Loki himself is actually pansexual. Despite many arguing that his marriage to wife Sigyn would suggest otherwise, this was an issue actually raised by Loki author Al Lewing.
In the Young Avengers comics, Loki would often admit that he was indeed pansexual and would regularly refer to this fact, while future comic series Loki: Agents Of Asgard brought about this comment from Lewing: "Yes, Loki is bi and I'll be touching upon that. He'll shift between genders occasionally as well." So there you have it, we actually do have an LGBT comic book character in the mainstream, even if Marvel unfortunately wants to hide it from us.
1. Alternate Actors For Loki
The character of Loki is without doubt the finest on-screen villain we've seen from the Marvel Comic Universe throughout its current run. It is a role that has been owned by Tom Hiddleston since day one, but imagine the possibilities had another actor been drafted in.
After all, Hiddleston himself only got the role after auditioning for the starring role of Thor, but fortunately for us he suited the role of Loki like a glove. Just imagine though, if the favourite Jim Carrey had actually been cast as the chief villain. It's something that certainly would have been interesting, but possibly a little too out there, even in terms of the Asgardian realms. Other names thrown into the ring at the time were Josh Hartnett (we dodged a bullet there) and current Daredevil star Charlie Cox.
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