The History Of Asgard God's and Godesses

All about Loki

Loki is the son of Laufey, King of the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, one of the "Nine Worlds" of Asgardian cosmology. Odin, ruler of Asgard, led his subjects in the war against the giants. Loki's birth had been prophesied by a lightning strike, but Laufey had kept his birth hidden due to his shame over his son's diminutive size. Laufey was subsequently slain in battle and the giants were defeated. Surveying the spoils of war, the Asgardians discovered a small god-sized baby hidden at the giants' main fortress. The infant was Loki. Because Loki was the son of an enemy fallen in battle, Odin elected to adopt him and raise him as his son along side that of his blood sons, Thor, the future thunder-god, and Balder, god of light and prophecy.

In childhood, Loki greatly resented the fact that the other Asgardians greatly favored the young Thor, who already had a nobility of spirit and excelled in all his endeavors over himself. As a boy, Loki began studying the arts of sorcery for which he had a great affinity. His hatred of Thor grew, and while still a boy, Loki vowed to become the most powerful god in Asgard and to destroy Thor to achieve this end. After achieving adulthood, Loki began making alliances with known enemies of Asgard.

As Loki grew to adulthood, his inborn propensity for mischief had begun to manifest itself and he earned the nickname of "God of Mischief," but as his deeds became increasing malicious, and his lust for power and revenge became apparent, he also became known as "God of Evil." Loki attempted many times over the years to destroy Thor and seize the throne of Asgard for himself. Several of his acts of mischief became recorded by the Vikings and German tribes who worshipped the Asgardians as gods. Although sometimes amusing and helpful to the gods, Loki's most infamous acts include ransoming the goddess Freia to the giant Hrimthursar, invading uninvited the party of Aegir in honor of the gods and indirectly creating the curse on the ill-fated Ring of the Nibelung. At times, Loki even incited strife between the pantheons of foreign gods such the Olympian Gods of Greece, the Danaans of the Celts and the Anasazi of the North American tribes. His most malicious act by far was by setting into motion the events to Ragnarok, The Twilight of the Gods, but tricking the his foster brother Hoder to slay Balder. Leading the forces of evil into Asgard, Loki was slain by the god Heimdall. Much of these events seemed to have occurred during a previous incarnation of Asgard which was afterward restored by forces under Odin's control. In the new Asgard to rise from the foundations of the previous Asgard, several gods were reborn or recreated from their previous lives: Loki's sons, Narvi and Vali were not reborn in the new Asgard; however, the goddess Hela, the daughter of this previous Loki, returned to life and she refers to the reborn Loki as her father still. However, the prophecies linking Balder to Ragnarok remained in effect.

At one point, Loki was imprisoned bound to a rock as the venom of a serpent dripped to his head. Loki's faithful wife, Sigyn, remained by his side to collect the venom in a bowl to protect him, but every time she turned to empty the bowl, the venom dropped on to Loki and burned him. Finally, Odin mystically imprisoned Loki within a tree as punishment for his many crimes. Sometime thereafter, Thor was banished to Earth to learn humility in the mortal form of Dr. Donald Blake.

Shortly after Thor regained his memories and the ability to resume his godly form at will, Loki succeeded in freeing himself from his imprisonment. There followed a long succession of clashes between Loki and Thor. Sometimes, Loki battled Thor directly, and on other occasions, Loki used pawns to battle Thor, some of whom he temporarily endowed with increased superhuman power, such as the Cobra and Mister Hyde. Loki is responsible for transforming "Crusher" Creel into the Absorbing Man and for the revival of the Asgardian Destroyer as an opponent for Thor. Loki has attempted to turn Odin against Thor and to steal Mjolnir, Thor's enchanted hammer. On one occasion, Loki mystically exchanged bodies with Thor. Loki has temporarily seized control of Asgard of Asgard when Odin was incapacitated. However, Loki has invariably been thwarted in his bids for power and revenge by Thor.

Recently, Loki joined Thor and Odin in their battle against the demonic Surtur. Surtur intended to destroy Asgard, and Loki, whose goal is to rule Asgard, thereafter felt obliged to stop him. After Odin and Surtur vanished at the end of the battle, Loki began his machination to be named the new ruler of Asgard. As part of his plans, he magically transformed Thor into a frog, using power drawn from Surtur's abandoned sword, but Thor was restored to his true form when the Asgardian Volstagg destroyed the engine draining power from the sword. Loki was unable to prevent the ascension of Balder to the Asgardian throne after Thor refused the throne himself in order to remain protector of Earth.

Odin, however, resurfaced as the Egyptian god Seth attempted to conquer Asgard and regained the throne. Loki again came to Asgard's defense but only for his own selfish desires. He even masqueraded as Odin for a while and merged Thor with a mortal man named Eric Masterson and magically buried Thor's consciousness deep within Masterson. During this time, Masterson was the new Thor and became the hero Thunderstrike even after he and Thor were separated. After Odin regained power over Asgard once more, Loki was now permanently exiled. Loki was among the Asgardians affected by Odin's spells to protect the Asgardians from Seth's tampering with Yggdrasil and was transformed into a mortal corporate trader named Tso Zhung without any knowledge of his immortal existence. Odin had intended for Thor to restore the Asgardians to their true forms, but Thor at that time had been seen to a "pocket universe" by Franklin Richards to protect him from the events of Onslaught. Seth was later defeated and the gods regained their true forms, but the experience left them vulnerable to the Dark Gods. By now, Thor had returned to Earth but had been merged with a mortal named Jake Olson to conceal him from the Dark Gods. After the Dark Gods were defeated, Loki plagued Thor by attacking him indirectly through Jake Olson, but to contend with his treachery, Odin remade Loki over as Loren Olsen, a clone of Jake, stripped of Loki's godhood and power.

Odin, however, sacrificed himself on Earth in a renewed battle with Surtur, and Thor finally accepted the throne of Asgard in the view of his apparent demise. Loki's godhood was restored by the goddess Karnilla and he set out a revised version of Ragnarok using the recovered forges that had created Mjolnir. Thor meanwhile learned that the recurring incarnations of Asgardians had been set in motion by mysterious beings known only as "Those Who Sit Above In Shadow." In order to put a end to the recurring cycles of Asgard, Thor slew Loki attacking Asgard and then carried his still conscious head on his belt as he opened Asgard to the forces of Surtur. Asgard was destroyed in the aftermath, and the Asgardians were lost except for Thor who disappeared into a deep sleep. In Asgard's destruction, "Those Who Sit Above in Shadow" followed them in death and were unable to revive them.

Thor eventually woke and reappeared on Earth soon thereafter and was able to reclaim his godhood and the still present Odin-Force, which he required to restore Loki and the Asgardians to life. Loki was restored to life, however, in the body of Thor's love, Sif. By now, Loki's interest had changed from conquest of Asgard to the complete humiliation and driving out of Thor with the Asgardians. She claimed to have no more plans now that Ragnarok was over, but used subterfuge and deceit to force Thor into slaying Bor, the father of Odin; a murder which resulted in Thor being driven from Asgard. Loki soon joined the Cabal, the antithesis to the Illuminati, in order to use Norman Osborn as his lackey and foil in creating as much strife and disorder among the heroes of Earth. From behind the scenes, Loki soon began impersonating the Scarlet Witch among the Avengers in order to keep Osborn's own plans for power from interrupting her own plans to return to Asgard to its proper place in the Nine Realms. Thor eventually separated Loki from the body of Sif. Unfortunately, Osborn sent the forces of HAMMER, his counterpart to the now defunct SHIELD, into attacking Asgard which following the last Ragnarok now existed on Earth. As Asgard faced destruction, Loki used the Norn Stones to help the Avengers prevent the destruction of Asgard and surrendered his life in the process.

Before the Siege of Asgard, however, Loki had manipulated Hela into taking his name out of the Book of Hel, allowing himself to be reborn as a young boy in Paris named Serrure, ("lock" in French), without any memories of his acts as an adult. Just what occurs next remains to be seen.