The Marvel Cinematic Universe's god of mischief is a fan-favorite villain turned anti-hero, whose exploits have ranged over multiple films, and now, in the character's very own spinoff series. Tom Hiddleston has become synonymous with the name Loki, making him one of the MCU's most recognizable faces.
Even with his constant popularity, Loki Laufeyson has still suffered much throughout his extended lifetime, experiencing more than his fair share of trial and heartache. Over his record-setting tenure in the MCU, the character has had several truly terrible things happen to him, making him all the more sympathetic to viewers.
In the summer of last year, Loki became the first MCU villain to earn his Disney+ series, which saw him discover the Time Variance Authority, a group of time-traveling law enforcement agents intent on preserving the Sacred Timeline. Upon being arrested by their hunters, Loki is forced to endure humiliation after humiliation under their custody.
After being forcibly disrobed, depowered, and publicly embarrassed at a kangaroo court, Loki's pride takes a considerable dip. While things certainly could have gone worse for him, to suffer such humiliations is rare for a being of Loki's power, and something he won't soon forget.
When Loki attacked New York City with an army of Chitauri soldiers, Earth's mightiest heroes were forced to join together to defeat him. During the battle, Loki faces off with the Incredible Hulk, who effortlessly smashes him, leading to one of the funniest insults of the entire MCU.
While Loki sustained no lasting physical injuries from this encounter, the incident continued to haunt him long after. Upon encountering the Hulk once more on Sakaar, Loki revealed just how afraid of the green behemoth he had become, indicating that their last interaction had left quite an impact on him.
Though stories of Loki and Thor's childhood seem to indicate that the younger of Odin's sons had always been mischievous and conniving, it would seem that the trickster god was never truly acted with evil intent until he learned of his true lineage, that he was the son of the Frost Giant Laufey.
This revelation broke the already unstable Norse god, who then escalated his plan to include the destruction of Johutenheim, and all the Frost Giants. His outrage at his father's lies can be seen in Tom Hiddleston's brilliant acting, as he pushes Odin into premature hibernation.
After turning against Asgard and faking his death, Loki came across Thanos and the Black Order. The Mad Titan sent Loki to obtain the Space Stone from Earth, giving him an army of Chitauri soldiers to do so. However, Loki's plans were thwarted by the newly-formed Avengers, who defeated his army and captured the god of mischief.
Loki has always been particularly good at rolling with the punches, even when his most extravagant schemes go awry. However, he was unable to completely outrun this failure, as it would lead Thanos to kill him years later aboard the Statesman.
Much of Loki's plot dealt with uncovering the mysterious force behind the TVA, who was later revealed to be He Who Remains, a variant of Kang the Conqueror, as portrayed by Jonathan Majors. After He Who Remains is killed, Loki finds himself in an alternate reality, with a completely different TVA, one openly devoted to serving the villainous Kang.
This shift of realities comes directly after Loki's long redemptive arc, where he learned to care for those around him, including his fellow TVA agents, including Mobius and Hunter B-15. However, in this new timeline, his friends don't even seem to know who he is or their history together. What will happen to Loki in this new universe remains to be seen.
At the end of Thor: Ragnarok, the titular hero works together with Loki, Valkyrie, and the Hulk to release the giant Surtur, who destroys Asgard in a scene worthy of viewing on Disney+'s IMAX ratio. While Asgard's fall lead to the death of Hela, it still proved quite tragic for those who had once called it home.
Ragnarok doesn't show much of Loki's reaction to Asgard's destruction, but Loki addresses the issue once more, as a variant version of the character learns about the event for the first time. This scene is one of the few times that the god of mischief's emotions are put boldly on display, as he is shown weeping over the plant he had grown up on.
Though they were not always friendly, Loki and Thor seemed to have a generally good relationship in the first Thor film. However, as the events of the movie unfolded, Loki betrayed Thor and Asgard, going on to become one of the MCU's greatest villains.
Even though Loki claimed not to need Thor, the loss of his brother's trust was one of the worst things to happen to him. It took years for the two to rekindle the brotherly bond they had once had, and when they finally had, it was taken away from them. One must wonder what might have happened and how the universe might have been different had that trust not been erased at all.
Loki spent much of his spinoff series falling in love with the female variant of himself, known as Sylvie. The god of mischief seemingly put off his villainous ways in favor of caring for her, only to be betrayed in the end, as she prioritized her mission to kill He Who Remains over her love for him.
In a rare case of being the betrayed rather than the betrayer, Loki's world is shattered. Not only was he cast aside and lied to, but it was done by the one person in the universe more important to him than himself. Loki's pain at this betrayal has yet to be fully explored, but will no doubt take quite a toll on him.
Thor: The Dark World is often thought of as one of the worse MCU films, but it does include some important character work with Loki. After he is imprisoned for his deeds in The Avengers, he helps a group of dark elf infiltrators find their way through the castle, unknowingly leading them directly to his mother Frigga, who is killed.
Frigga was one of the few characters whom Loki actively mourned, though he put up a front as if he was unaffected. In reality, the goddess's murder broke the trickster, leaving him guilty and unloved, as she has been the only one who seemed to care for him growing up.
Loki's redemptive arc was complete at the beginning of Infinity War, leading him to attempt to be heroic in trying to kill Thanos before he could continue his campaign to find all six Infinity Stones. The Mad Titan then effortlessly murdered Loki in front of Thor's very eyes, casting his lifeless body aside without a second thought.
Loki's death is tragic of and by itself, but all the more so when compared to the bright future he had in front of him at his demise: he had just patched up his relationship with Thor and could have very well become a hero in the eyes of the world, but his glorious purpose was cut short on that front, leaving endless thoughts of "what if..." in his wake.
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