One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's most well-known and beloved villains, Loki is a complex character, his personality as chaotic and paradoxical as the role he plays in the lives of others. Played by acclaimed actor Tom Hiddleston, Loki first appears as the antagonist of Thor, only to evolve throughout his stint in the MCU.
With the release of the Disney+ series Loki, his character has grown even further. While Loki has its faults, the series adds an extra layer of complexity to its title character, allowing audiences to understand Loki a little better. Loki also gives fans a better look at both his strength and his weaknesses.
10 Strength: His Jotun Physiology Gives Him Might, Endurance, And Longevity
While Loki is raised as the prince of Asgard, he is in reality a Jotun, a frost giant. Like the Asgardians, Jotnar have superhuman strength and resilience. Loki is able to withstand the fall through the Void. During Avengers, his skin is shown to be immune to gunfire. He easily recovers from the explosive arrow shot by Hawkeye and even survives the Hulk's attack. It's probably Loki's Jotnar ancestry that saves him when he is stabbed on Svartalfheim by the dark elf Kurse.
9 Weakness: His Inferiority Complex Makes Him Emotionally Unstable
Loki's Jotnar background doesn't come without a price. He always feels like an outsider in his own family, and he grows up in his brother's shadow. He is told by Odin that he is meant to be a king, only to find out later that the throne that belongs to him is Jotunheim's.
As Loki has been raised to hate the Jotnar, his inferiority complex turns into outright feelings of self-hatred. His disgust and desperation are so overwhelming he murders his birth father and attacks Jotunheim with the Bifrost.
8 Strength: His Love For His Family And His People Endures Despite His Actions And Experiences
Loki may have done many villainous things, but even at his worst, he never truly gives up on his love for his family. He is infuriated by Odin's lies, but he shows concern when the Allfather falls into the Odinsleep. In Avengers, he tears up as he stabs Thor. His mother's death in Thor: The Dark World enrages him and breaks his heart.
Loki comes to the aid of the Asgardian people when they are under siege from Hela. During Avengers: Infinity War, he even agrees to give Thanos the Tesseract for his brother's sake and sacrifices his life in an attempt to save Thor. In the Disney+ series, 2012 Loki revisits these events, and his visible grief clearly shows that he isn't as cold or aloof as he may have liked to be.
7 Weakness: He Oscillates Between A Desperate Need For Approval And A Hunger For Power
Loki is the classical figure of the rejected second son, desperately seeking his father's approval. Everything he does in the first Thor is presumably in an attempt to prove himself worthy of Odin's affection. This need is what ultimately makes Loki try to take his life when Odin rejects him.
After he falls into the Other's clutches, his character is significantly twisted. The Scepter uncovers Loki's secret hunger for power inside him, which causes him to resent his family even more. The need to be Thor's equal is amplified into the desire for a throne, though this may not have truly been Loki's wish at all. Like Coulson says, Loki lacks conviction.
6 Strength: His Magic Is His Greatest Weapon
Loki's skill in magic is legendary in the comics. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he isn't nearly so powerful and his skills can seem inconsistent. Still, a brief look over the abilities he displays reveal him to be a master of illusions. He often creates holograms of himself, using them to trick his opponents in battle. He can also masquerade as others, and according to Thor, is able to completely shape-shift – having used this skill to turn into a snake when they were children.
The Disney+ series reveals that Loki is telekinetic and possesses the ability to project his consciousness. He can also seemingly summon objects, perhaps from a pocket dimension. Loki demonstrates this skill when he uses the Casket of Ancient Winters against Heimdall, and again in Loki and Thor: Ragnarok while summoning daggers.
5 Weakness: He Is Arrogant And Often Looks Down On Humans
Paradoxically, despite being insecure, Loki still has a massive ego. The two may in fact be two sides of the same coin, as he could be hiding his own feelings of self-disgust behind a facade of arrogance. Either way, this often works against him, as it's not unusual for him to underestimate opponents. Loki calls Hulk a 'dull creature', ignoring the threat he poses. This leads to the Hulk grabbing him and severely injuring him.
A similar episode happens with Doctor Strange, though the consequences aren't nearly so dire. Even after the Sorcerer Supreme makes Loki fall through a portal – presumably for thirty minutes – he looks down on Strange and isn't nearly as prompt in attacking him as he could be.
4 Strength: He Is Skilled In Hand-To-Hand Combat And Fighting With Weapons
While he has a preference for the use of magic, Loki is also trained in hand-to-hand and weapons combat. Throughout the movies, he has used the spear of Asgard's king, Gungnir. During Avengers, he stabs several people – including Phil Coulson – with his scepter. He seems to favor daggers, though, and he is shown using the weapon in Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnarok, and Loki.
3 Weakness: He Is Unhinged After Everything He Has Gone Through
The traumatic events Loki has gone through haven't left him unscathed. He's visibly unhinged when he emerges from the portal in Avengers, and the knowledge of his ancestry has left deep emotional scars. He's also terrified of the Hulk. When he first sees Bruce's alternate self on Sakaar, his first reaction is to attempt to flee the planet. He and Bruce do make amends – and he seems calm when facing Bruce – but he's very good at deception, so one can safely say that he probably still has significant issues.
2 Strength: He Is Incredibly Intelligent And Has Knowledge Of Arcane Objects And Pathways
Loki has many times demonstrated his intelligence, both as a villain and as a hero. His scheme to thwart Thor's coronation is foolproof and only backfires because of unexpected factors – Heimdall's distrust and his own secret ancestry. This isn't the only time he opens secret pathways, as he does something similar in Thor: The Dark World, leading his brother and Jane Foster to Svartalfheim. In the Disney+ series, Loki easily determines his alternate female self is hiding in apocalypses. His older variant, played by Richard Grant, shows the true extent of Loki's potential, in both magic and wisdom.
1 Weakness: He Is Reckless And Often Doesn't Think Things Through
Loki's greatest weakness is that he doesn't always think things through. His mischief makes enemies, and Sif never forgives him for the prank he played with her hair. In his anger over being imprisoned, he offers the dark elf Kurse information, which leads to his mother's death.
During Thor: Ragnarok, Loki rules Asgard in a reckless, decadent way, foregoing his responsibilities. This seems incredibly strange as he is well aware Thanos is nearby and probably looking for the Infinity Stones. But he completely ignores that, and as he makes his escape from the Weapons' Vault, he even takes the Tesseract with him. This may have been the reason Thanos finds the Statesman in the first place, making Loki indirectly responsible for the massacre of his people.