i realised recently that i should probably clarify this, since not everyone has been reading my blog like the morning paper for two years, so:
when i compare loki to a jester, clown, or similar, it's not an insult, not even an affectionate one. i'm not calling him stupid, ridiculous, bumbling, inept, or anything along those lines; and it's not in reference to the post-TDW characterisation people often describe very unaffectionately in those terms. i'm actually saying he IS clever, calculating, and extremely deliberate in his self-presentation, because i'm calling him a performer.
this comparison originally grew out of the idea that, in less acute crisis situations, pre-canon loki might have been a kind of "class clown" to his peer group. and what i mean by class clown, specifically, is: an outsider and misfit who tries to disguise and compensate for their poor social standing by entertaining others, whether through humour or other attention-seeking stunts/performances.
there are two major pieces of evidence for this being true of loki.
the first is in T1, on the bifrost, before jotunheim. this is a brief moment, but it's still a significant one. for the first time, we see loki stepping to the front of a group, smiling, preening, and asking for attention. he practically says, "watch this."
the second is in TDW, after thor springs loki from jail. this one is emotionally messy, because (IMO) loki is not just trying to get thor's attention or approval, he's probing him, trying to work out what he's feeling - but there is still a very needy undertone to it. loki's been alone for so long and he doesn't know if he has any relationship with thor to salvage; he needs to make thor laugh or smile or even roll his eyes affectionately just to know that he still can. and so, again, he is suddenly and surprisingly taking centre stage - literally walking backwards in front of thor to make himself impossible to ignore.
between these two moments, we see loki trying to soothe his insecurity through many kinds of performance - humour and magic and even deliberate displays of manipulation/deceit. i think it makes a lot of sense for his character if you assume this is a long-standing habit.
for one thing, the mind games we see from him are often just an inversion of this - acting deliberately sinister or dangerous in order to elicit a particular negative response in his audience. for another, it really resonates with the double meaning of "tricks" - loki is not just disparaged for "tricking people", as in dishonour and deceit, but for "doing tricks", like a travelling entertainer - like someone of much lower status than a prince.
(and then we get into the servant side of the jester comparison, which is very much its own can of worms.)
