"The thing about fate: even if we can't change the big picture, our choices can alter the details. That's how we rebel against destiny, how we make our mark. What will you choose to do?"
~Loki
Loki, is the Norse God of mischief, chaos, and black magic. He is the blood-brother of Odin and was his former second-in-command during the Aesir-Vanir War, and is also the father of Hel, the goddess of the Underworld, the giant wolf Fenrir, and the world-serpent Jormungand, earning him the moniker, "Father of Monsters". Loki is also the one who killed Baldur, the god of love, justice, forgiveness, and light, back in the old days. Named after the giant king Utgardaloki, he is born from two parents from Jotunheim, Farbauti, and Laufey. As such, Loki is also mostly Jotun, but no one knows how or when exactly he made it into Asgard, let alone meeting Odin and becoming his blood-brother.
He is also known as the "Devil of the Norse Pantheon", Author of Woes, and the Skytraveller. He has been to the Greek pantheon a few times, notably after he escaped his Binding, posing as the mischievous sprite Dolos under Prometheus' wing. He has met deities from other pantheons as well, being in good relations with fellow trickster gods especially, such as Anansi, and is just as friendly with giants and monsters as he is with the gods, arguably moreso.
Personality[]
Loki is plausible, convincing, likable, and by far the wiliest, subtle, and shrewd of all inhabitants of Asgard, which makes it a pity that there is a hidden darkness in him. He is known to be highly manipulative and persuasive, those particular capabilities surpassing even the Allfather Odin, to where he once successfully convinced the Goddess of the Sea and Drowned, Rán, to lend him her magic net. This combined with his unpredictability makes him one of the most dangerous Norse gods, though he initially started out relatively tame.
Loki is frankly a bit of a cosmic prankster and generally seen as unreliable for most things. He can be selfish at best, and downright sinister at worst. But, one thing that is often not mentioned in his position as a sworn brother to Odin, and sure enough, when Odin's need is dire, Loki will come through for the Allfather, as can be seen during the Building of the Wall of Asgard and preventing Skadi from starting a war of vengeance against Asgard when her father Thiazi is slain. Loki is the one who the Norse gods go to when their forthright ways fail, and the trickster god knows this, often wagging this in front of them.
In his early journeys with Thor on Midgard and Jotunheim, Loki was almost always the voice of diplomacy and reason and saved many lives from being cut short by the Thunder God's infamous hair-trigger temper with quick thinking and the right words. In fact, Loki is usually the one solving problems that Thor or the other gods cause. Also when Thor lost his hammer (leaving Midgard defenseless), it was Loki who devised and jointly executed the operation to get it back from Thrym's kingdom. Loki can be considered just as responsible for most of the problems in Asgard, such as giving the Goddess of Youth Idunn to Thiaz, and cutting the Fertility Goddess Sif's golden hair. In these situations, Loki can and will help reverse his wrongs once he is threatened or bribed enough.
However, it is believed that his sanity deteriorated overtime the closer Ragnarok approached, being held accountable for the death of Baldur and being the one leading monsters against the Aesir during Ragnarok. However, it's also possible that Loki planned this, as Baldur is destined to be resurrected and to be the new leader of the Aesir after Ragnarok and will help rebuild the Nine Realms, and by killing him, this prophecy can move forward.
When he is drunk, Loki is even more verbally vulgar than before, and is almost prone to insulting others, no matter who. After the death of Baldur, he burst into Aegir's Hall drunk and started calling out each and every God and Goddess by name before utterly disrespecting them, his insults laced with enough truth to hurt without the grace to admit it themselves. The incident became infamous and known as the Flyting of Loki.
While he may seem like a casebook psychopath with no feelings of regret and shame when it comes to his tricks and insults, he often knows his limits, such as when he knew the Gods would be after him after killing Baldur and insulting everyone the night before. He reflects and often thinks of what his enemies would do and then forms a calculating countermeasure, though he often pushes it until he’s stuck in a situation that requires help from other gods. Most prominently, he can be cowardly, and recognizes when he is in danger, quick to fix any problem he caused to the demand of those much more powerful than him, such as Thor.
Abilities[]
Master Tactician: Loki's mind is perhaps his most powerful weapon. He constantly thinks of different strategies and plans, and his brain was highly valued within the dwarf community, particularly to Brokk, for its sheer intelligence. Very early on in his career, Loki proved cunning enough for Odin to temporarily trust him with the title of second-in-command of the Aesir in the Aesir-Vanir War when the two first met not long before. Loki is the one all of the Aesir go to when their plans fail, and when they need guidance, even Odin himself, who is supposed to be a god of wisdom and omniscience. He has formed strategies and counter-strategies for when he is in trouble, and he can thoroughly go through every possible option and picking out the best one in a matter of moments. He is highly skilled in psychological warfare and can break almost any opponent's will and momentum with the right words. As such, his incalculable genius makes him extraordinarily and exceedingly cunning but also makes him a frightening and supremely dangerous opponent.
Superhuman Strength: Loki's exact scale of power is hard to pinpoint, but as both a giant and a god, he must have considerable strength even for a god. He had caused worldwide earthquakes just by screaming during his Binding (His attack potency could be much higher, as humans can shatter glass by screaming at a certain frequency, and still break tougher surfaces with physical strength), and, according to his fate in Ragnarok, he will fight on-par with Heimdall, who will be fully-powered by the Bifrost, until the two kill each other. However, Loki strongly prefers to use his mind and engage in psychological warfare to best his enemies, as he views strength to be brutish and primitive.
Superhuman Durability: Being a god, Loki has rather impressive toughness, able to take an angry swing from Thor's gauntlet and get back up after he cut Sif's hair.
Superhuman Stamina: Loki's advanced musculature is considerably more efficient than the musculature of a human, although not to the level of the more powerful Aesir. His muscles produce minimal fatigue toxins during physical activity, enabling him to exert himself at peak capacity for extended periods without tiring.
Superhuman Speed: He is faster than the human eye can follow, and can move surprisingly fast. He has sticky fingers and is so fast that he stole a dwarf's teeth while they're in the middle of talking before they realize what happened. With his Skytraveller Boots on, Loki was said to have run so fast away from Thiazi in the air that the sky "boomed" around them, heavily suggesting that Loki had broken the Sound Barrier.
Superhuman Agility: As he toys with his enemies in battle, Loki's agility, balance, and bodily coordination makes him move with incredible grace and speed. He has shown this when he leaped out of his seat and stabbed the elf Fimafeng within a blink of an eye shortly before the Flyting of Loki, despite the god being intoxicated.
Asgardian Prowess: Being a member of the Aesir, he is stronger and faster in Asgard than he is anywhere else, and his magic becomes even more potent.
Absolute Shape-Shifting: With the shape-shifting skill that surpasses even his blood-brother Odin (although altogether he is much weaker than the All-Father), Loki can take the form of anyone or anything he can think of down to the molecular level, to the point where he has regeneration abilities to heal just by changing shape. His favorite transformations being the crow, the black fox, and a salmon. By shapeshifting, he can also take on the powers of whatever he changes into, as long as he is in that shape.
Illusion-Casting: He can cast realistic illusions and visual tricks. His illusions are perfect enough to pass as real and shatter like glass when he dispels them or someone breaks them. Loki is skilled enough to cause targets to see, hear, touch, and smell things that do not actually exist and causing them to perceive things differently from what they truly are. He can create complex and detailed, but fake, worlds from his own imagination, and ultimately alter the way he or the target is perceived.
Hypnosis/Charmspeak: One of his most potent abilities, he can use this type of hypnotism or persuasion in which it allows him to convince someone else to do or get whatever they want, and even cause a certain attraction towards him.
Serpent Venom Pain Transferral: A technique exclusive and unique to Loki, he is able to make someone feel the extreme pain that the serpent venom causes when it drips onto the trapped trickster god's face from time to time. He must have skin-to-skin contact with his victim to transfer such agony.
Magical Prowess and Mystiokinesis: Loki possesses vast knowledge and skill in the field of magic. With his magic, Loki can fire energy projectiles and summon force fields, produce specific effects onto targets or the enemies, to casting curses and healing properties, to name just a few.
Transmutation: Loki has the ability to alter the forms of other beings or objects, thus changing them into something else and back if he so wishes. This was shown when Loki transformed Idunn into a walnut so she was easier to carry during their escape from Thiazi.
Mind-Reading: Loki can read the minds of anyone he sees. This allows him to tap into their memories and worst fears.
Lies Lordship: As the God of Lies, he has divine authority and absolute control over lies and the ability of lying, possibly knowing when someone is lying and prevent someone from lying, which differs from the traditional Charmspeak and Telepathy.
Geokinesis (Minor): Though he actually cannot control Earthly elements entirely, he can cause earthquakes by shouting, which he did during his Binding when venom dripped upon him. Such earthquakes can cause the collapse of structures, ground, and can stun others for a brief period of time.
Aerokinesis (Minor): With the Skytraveller Boots on, Loki can literally walk on thin air. Though he cannot manipulate said-air, he can glide through it effortlessly and with great speed.
Immortality: As a god, Loki cannot die from old age or mortal illness.
Divine Form: As a god, Loki has the power to enter his true god state, called the Divine Form, which is so powerful, it can cause any mortal onlooker to immediately disintegrate. He usually goes into this form if he wants a mortal threat to be rid of quickly.
Weaknesses[]
Mystical Metals: The only thing known to kill gods, it is very possible it can kill Loki too.
Boredom: Another weakness is that he easily grows bored, and needs projects constantly, new things to learn, in order to distract him. He can also be easily distracted from matters at hand by more interesting things coming along.
Signature Weapon[]
In battle, Loki often uses knives or daggers to injure and/or kill his enemies, though he is also proficient with a spear. He was first shown to have throwing blades that glow when in use, which allowed him to kill attacking giants with a single throw. He has used a knife to kill an elf at Baldur's funeral dinner.
Sometimes his knives are coated in the venom of the serpent which dripped onto him, so even if not a lethal stab, the cut will still allow the venom into the bloodstream of the target. The result is effective at best, and twisted and cruel at worst.
Though not a weapon, the Skytraveller Boots are a pair of boots given to Loki after joining the Norse God ranks, which allow him to walk and run on the air itself. These also increase his speed, likely faster than the speed of sound according to feats in the original Norse stories.
Trivia[]
- A majority of the information on this profile comes straight from Norse mythology and Riordan canon about gods.