#loki character study

[blondetornado]

loki and his search for belonging (thor 2011)

after rewatching thor (2011) over the weekend and diving deep into loki meta and one of the best loki fics i've read (a villain state of mind by mikkeneko on ao3), i can safely say im astounded by just how many people failed loki in his life.

i think that's what makes loki such a great character - there is an undeniable humanness to him in the way you can understand why he makes the choices he does, but you can't excuse them either. he betrays his brother, he lies, he cheats, he manipulates, but at his core - he is lost, he's been lied to, he's been betrayed. there is a deep self-hatred and wanting to belong that cripples his every action and that ultimately causes his downfall.

he wants to belong so badly, to feel accepted, that when he believes he never will be after learning out the truth of who he is, that he goes as far as trying to eliminate an entire race and planet to prove to odin and to everyone that he is not a mistake. he is one of them. he will belong. he will make them accept him.

it's such an interesting character study. i'm tempted to dive in further in a fic, but need to clean up the concept and story further.

[mischief-lies-and-stories]

What Now Loki: Speculation For What Comes Next

Spoilers for Loki season 2.

I'm queuing this for later in the week, but I'm writing right after the finale, so I might think of some other things to add in another post later.

Also, I'm not surprised but I am very disappointed there won't be another season.

Firstly, Loki will never just be one thing. He's said so himself in the comics, many times.

So, he'll watch the timelines for a bit, perhaps provide routine maintenance here and there as needed, but he isn't He Who Remains. He can't be. He has people he loves, who love him. He did this for them. And I think part of what he learns this season is that he doesn't have to do it all on his own, he doesn't need to be by himself, he doesn't deserve to be alone, as Sif informs him in the time prison in Season 1, nor does he want to be.

He'll find a balance, between his "purpose" and his own personhood, his needs and wants, his desire for companionship and sense of belonging.

He'll find his way back to Thor at some point, but not permanently. He isn't just who he is to Thor, brother, foe, fair-weather friend, sometime ally. He has an identity outside of him now. He has friends outside of his brother, friends who value him not for his relations or his titles but himself. He's sacrificed so much for those people, worked so hard to save those people and to make sure they stayed safe. I don't think he can just let them all go for good.

Once he feels like he can leave the timelines for a spell and they won't impode, he'll go back to his friends.

I don't think we've seen the last of him simply because he's transitioned to essentially becoming a Timekeeper.

[citizen-of-the-fandom]

me in 2012: Loki is just misunderstood!

me in 2021: just because Loki's decisions make sense considering his character's history doesn't mean he's not an ass

[inkyblacc]

Words as Weapons (Seether) + Loki Character Study

[bebx]

Hithere! Different anon who saw your TVA Loki answer and just wanted to react on what you said (that you would have understood better were it Ragnarok or Infinity War Loki). Though I mostly agree, let's not forget Loki actually saw everything meant to happen to him in TDW, TR and IW, which may have make him reconsider some of his choices and relationships. Now of course, seeing is not the same as experiencing first hand, and it doesn't erase the trauma of what he just went through with Thanos!

About this.

I believe there're two outcomes seeing one's own death by the hands of their own abuser, as well as seeing the gruesome death of their own mother, could've gone;

It could either make them reconsider their choices in terms of how they act, how they will or will not let other people in. Or other words, it could make them grow and become less hostile

Or it could make them even more hostile towards everything, especially if they were in a situation where they were captured by an organization they'd never heard of, and were surrounded by strangers who, for all they knew, wanted to kill them

Loki claimed the things he saw, his own future and what happened to Frigga, was a hoax. He then lashed out at Mobius because of it. And while I agree that deep down, Loki knew it was real, and what he saw had effected him greatly in how he behaved moving forward, I still think that seeing his own death, as well as his own mother's death, should've made him more mentally messed up. And while I also do agree that, considering Loki's character, it's in character for him to pretend what he saw didn't bother him, I still don't think he'd, you know, outright behave the way he did in the show?

Seeing it play out on a big screen in a place where he was the prisoner where everything was shoved in his face — in a matter of what? a minute? — is definitely different than experiencing it firsthand where he could grow and learn from it step by step, but these are all just my opinions

[bebx]

There’s a lot about the Loki show I didn’t like but I didn’t see Loki as being out of character. It seemed pretty in character from what we’ve seen of him: Really mischievous, Short tempered, avoids difficult emotions or moments with comedy, Smart but doesn’t always think ahead (Yeah great planner but dude’s plans always end up failing cause he missed a detail), etc. only real difference I got from the two Lokis is that TVA Loki is forced to be humbled and constantly stressed. I don’t really get the complaints on that matter.

I see where you’re coming from and honestly a part of me agrees with you, though there’s also another part of me that still thinks “nahh he wouldn’t say this” while watching some of the scenes from the show. I think the main reason why some people, myself included, think he’s kind of ‘out of character’ is because this isn’t the Ragnarok Loki who’s grown and earned his character development but pretty much literally Avengers Loki who was supposed to still be mentally fvcked and just overall very messed up. I would’ve understood if it were Ragnarok or Infinity War Loki, since those versions of Loki would’ve let his guard down, and it would’ve been in character for him to be funny, mischievous, etc. Avengers Loki — aka the version of Loki TVA Loki is supposed to be — is still very much wounded, physically and mentally. So, in my opinion, some of his actions in the series can be seen as a little bit ‘off’ — especially when we saw how hostile The Dark World Loki acted towards Thor and his own family, and TDW Loki is kind of the same version of Loki as Avengers Loki in terms of ‘How He’s Likely to Behave After What He’s Recently Been Through’. So Avengers Loki, TDW Loki and TVA Loki, in my personal opinion, should’ve been very much similar to one another. Except TVA Loki is the odd one out. In other words; for TVA Loki to just ‘be his funny, mischievous self’ when he was pretty much kidnapped and was around total strangers, after he was held hostage and tortured by Thanos, can be… weird? I mean sure I’ll admit there’re scenes from the series that I adore and think are wholesome; how he genuinely trusts Mobius and how he’s able to care about him, for instance. Or even how he cares about Sylvie. But I also personally believe those scenes would’ve been more meaningful if they were scarce; to show that this Loki is still very wounded and guarded, but he’s still able to care for someone else. To have him act like a lovesick child 80% out of his screen time, when this is supposed to be Avengers/TDW Loki, is not very in character for him. That’s just my opinion.

P.s. would love to assure everybody again that, while I have my personal favorite, I do love every version of Loki, be it TDW, Ragnarok, TVA or any version/era of Loki. What I’m saying here is that I don’t think TVA Loki would say some of the things he said, or do some of the things he did, in the series when he was supposed to be wounded and mentally guarded, followed by what happened in Avengers, since TVA Loki is supposed to have the same personality as Avengers Loki; basically he’s supposed to be the same version of TDW Loki, only that TDW didn’t happen in this timeline in which the events in the show took place.

[quasikool]