It's not a surprise that Tom Hiddleston's Loki is easily one of the most compelling characters introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). From film to film, he's flitted from being a full-on villain to a trickster hero to a misunderstood ally to a brother of questionable loyalty. And now, everyone's favorite God of Mischief is getting his very own television show.
But let's face it.
Loki is a brilliant schemer and while sometimes, he can hoodwink all the Nine Realms, sometimes his plans just fall flat. Here's a list of some of the most heroic things he's done, followed by some of his foolhardy moments in the movies.
10 He Faces The Avengers Coolly After His Defeat
In The Avengers, we know Loki, hungry for a throne, has made a bargain with Thanos. In exchange for the Tesseract, Thanos will provide him with his Chitauri army to conquer and rule Midgard. But the army is no match for the Avengers and Loki is beaten up brutally by the Hulk and knocked out cold.
Once he recovers, he sees that he is surrounded by the Avengers with their weapons out. But he is unfazed and very coolly he tells them, "If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."
Moreover, in Avengers: Endgame, we notice that despite the defeat, he has kept all his wits about him and is ever ready to escape. He even waves at the Hulk as he is ushered into an elevator and ready to be taken to Asgard for punishment.
And when a distraction does present itself, he reaches for the Tesseract and escapes, thereby creating a whole new timeline.
9 He Helps Thor Fight Hela Even When They Are Overpowered
Once Loki's pretence of being Odin and ruling Asgard was unmasked by Thor, the brothers set off to find their missing father. But Odin is weak and after a few words of warning, he dies and Hela, the daughter whose power he had harnessed (to make Asgard so powerful) and later imprisoned, is finally set free and is ready to wreak havoc.
RELATED: 10 Loki Storylines The Disney+ Series Could Adapt
In fact, Hela's power is so strong she dissolves Thor's hammer to dust with just one touch and as they travel through the Bifrost, Loki tries attacking her with knives, both to throw her off and to protect Thor.
8 He Returns To Save Asgard: "Your Savior Is Here"
In Thor: Ragnarok, Loki betrays Thor at the last moment and is found out. He is left alone, until Korg, Miek and the other gladiators find him. And it turns out that he has a change of heart, for instead of escaping elsewhere, he leads them to Asgard and plays a crucial role in fighting Hela and bringing about Ragnarok.
Loki not only fights in the final battle and rescues Asgardians, but he also grabs Surtur's crown from the dungeons and places it in the Eternal Flame, as Thor had asked him to do.
7 He Protects Jane Foster From The Dark Elves
Loki doesn't have any ties to Jane Foster, yet in Thor: The Dark World, he fiercely protects her in the battle with Malekith and the Dark Elves. But during the journey, he had scoffed at Thor's love for a mortal and later tricks Malekith to draw the Aether out of her.
And perhaps he was aware that Jane Foster without any fighting skills or training, wouldn't survive the battle, and so he saves her from certain death at least twice. He shields her from the attacks and pushes her aside and is almost sucked by a worm hole-like structure and is saved by Thor, in turn.
6 He Takes On Thanos, All By Himself
In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos' spaceship had caught up with theirs and Thor and the Hulk were not strong enough to take him and his henchmen on. Loki not only offers Thanos the Tesseract to save Thor's life but he also sacrifices his own life as well.
He tries to trick Thanos into trusting him and when he gets close enough, tries to attack him with his tiny knife. It's a futile effort of course, and Thanos strangles him, but Loki did it what he could to save his brother.
Even though Loki is a trickster god, not all of his tricks were successful. Here are some of his most foolish escapades.
5 He Tries To Attack Doctor Strange
One of Loki's area of expertise is illusion magic, taught to him by his stepmother Frigga. Yet perhaps because he has encountered very few magicians, he seems to have a very high opinion of his own skills.
When he meets Doctor Strange for the first time, he calls him a "second-rate sorcerer" and tries to attack him. Doctor Strange calmly traps him in a time-loop and only upon Thor's insistence, lets him out.
And a flustered Loki crashes into the floor, revealing that he had been "falling for thirty minutes."
4 He Is Rude To The Hulk
But that wasn't the first time, Loki's inflated ego got him into trouble.
In The Avengers, he shouts at the Hulk calling him a "dull creature" and saying that there were all beneath him and that he was a "God". Hulk, in response, smashes him repeatedly and remarks "puny god" once he is done.
No wonder, Loki felt uneasy around him, after that beating.
3 He Ends Up Helping Kurse Kill Frigga
When Loki is imprisoned in Thor: The Dark World, he is bored out of his mind. So when the Dark Elves invade Asgard and set free the other prisoners, Loki decides to help them out by telling Kurse that he ought to take the stairs to the left.
That of course, led them directly to castle chambers and Frigga died in the skirmish, protecting Jane.
And Loki, definitely blamed himself for it and later to assuage his guilt, helped Thor escape Asgard and fought alongside him to get his revenge.
2 He Tries To Trick Thor, Expecting His Brother Will Fall For It
Throughout the movies, Loki has repeatedly tricked Thor and Thor of course, fell for it each time. In fact, for a while Loki ruled the throne of Asgard pretending to be Odin, with Thor not suspecting a thing.
On Sakaar, Loki tries to betray Thor again, by trying to sell him out to the Grandmaster but this time Thor had anticipated it. It is Loki who gets tricked instead.
1 He Takes On Thanos, All By Himself
Yes, this is one for both sides. Loki's attack on Thanos was extremely brave no doubt, but it was also extremely foolish. As someone who had made a deal with Thanos before, Loki must have known that his feeble skill with knives, would be no match for Thanos. Yet, in order to save his brother, he risks attacking him and gets killed.
Moreover, Loki has several other skills, most notably his illusion magic and teleportation abilities. He could have distracted Thanos in a different way, by creating illusions of himself and Thor and the Hulk. That would have given him a better chance than a sneak knife-attack.
Well, there are fan theories that suggest that Loki did create an illusion and survive yet again, but we have to wait for the TV show to confirm or deny such head cannons.