10 Times Loki Saved the Day

As Marvel’s most beloved trickster, Loki toes the line between good and evil. In fact, the Asgardian prince toes the line, dances around it, smears it, and convinces the line that actuallyit could be Thor’s hammer. Once the most scheming foe for Thor and the Avengers, Loki regularly wreaked havoc on all of Earth’s heroes until a major character shift in the modern age, which he accomplished through story.

While many fans see the word “synergy” as a dirty word, Marvel’s efforts to align Loki with his suave Marvel Cinematic Universe counterpart resulted in some of the most unpredictable stories. Loki has always been invested in the lives of Marvel heroes, but as he’s grown, his reason for heroism has become more selfless, even if it only occurs on occasion. His complex transition from scheming villain to lovable anti-hero opened new doors for the character and various heroic deeds over the past 14 years.

10 Loki Saves Himself First

Siege #4

Like a parent on a plane in a nosedive, Loki had to first save himself before saving others. In a particularly out-of-character moment during the Siege of Asgard event, Loki sacrifices himself to the demonic void and apologizes to Thor in the process. Soon, the trickster god was reborn as Kid Loki, a young boy with little memory of his past.

In perhaps Loki’s greatest trick, the Norse god negotiated with Hela prior to his death during the Siege of Asgard. Their deal allowed him to strike his name from the Book of Hel, avoiding a true death. Loki wanted a fresh start with a chance to rewrite his own story, free from his destiny to be a constant thorn in Thor’s side, although the path to redemption was a bit ironic as it required a sacrifice from Kid Loki.

9 Loki Births a New Universe

Loki: Agent of Asgard #17

After a bit of maturing, Loki becomes Asgard’s premiere secret agent. Working for his adoptive mother, he aimed to counter his evil past with some iconic heroic deeds in 2014’s groundbreaking Loki: Agent of Asgard series. The series lasted a year, ending with an exceptional climax that MCU fans will draw similarities with the end of the second season of the Loki Disney+ series and the future of the Avengers franchise.

Few characters survived the incursion that ended the 616 Marvel Universe that would launch one of Marvel’s most legendary events, Secret Wars. Resilient as ever, Loki survives the catastrophe and becomes the God of Stories. He faces the cosmic grouping of beings called Those Who Sit Above All in Shadow in a blank void. Calling in to question the origin of their very existence, Loki defeats the shadowy deities and embraces his greatest power. By weaving a new story, Loki rebirths the universe as he steps through a door to the future.

8 Loki Rewrites the Serpent’s Story

Journey Into Mystery #629

Loki’s power of story is prevalent in almost all of his storylines, regardless of if he is referred to as the God of Stories. In 2011’s Fear Itself crossover, the creative team highlights Loki’s penchant for telling tales as he rewrites the legend of one of Asgard’s strongest villains. The young trickster adjusts the legend of the Serpent, because “gods do not have history. They have story.”

Unfortunately, Kid Loki’s twisting of the Serpent’s story did not come without a cost to his Asgardian family. While Thor was triumphant over the Serpent, the thunder god sacrificed his life to exploit the weakness given to the Serpent by Loki’s rewrite. While Loki would eventually help his brother return to the land of the living, this act builds on the theme that Loki’s heroic deeds often come at the cost of others.

7 An Upset Stomach Helps End the War of the Realms

War of the Realms

Like most of Loki’s victories, his success stems from his ability to deceive. For instance, in War of the Real ms, Loki pretends to have returned to his evil ways, joining the Dark Council led by Malkeith the Accursed, one of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim. He even goes so far as to almostkill his adoptive mother, although he reveals he did so to stop her from being murdered by Malkeith.

As the war heats up with the Dark Council launching an assault on Midgard — Earth for those less familiar with Asgardian terminology — Loki reveals his true allegiances, which prompts his birth father, King Laufey of the frost giants, to swallow his son in one of the comics’ more grotesque moments. Loki escapes from the belly of the beast with help from Earth’s heroes and kills Laufey in the process. This act was crucial in winning the war as Laufey had unleashed a world-ending blizzard with an ancient artifact.

6 New Mutants Team Up Against Zombie Valkyries

Exiled Crossover

A lesser-known act of heroism comes when Loki helps save San Francisco and the New Mutants in Exiled, a crossover event between New Mutants Vol. 3 and Journey Into Mystery. Suffering from amnesia, Loki—calling himself “Luke”— believes he is just a fanboy pretending to go along with mutant Valkyrie Dani Moonstar when she tells him he’s actually the Norse god of mischief. It’s clear that Loki doesn’t want to believe her, but it’s likely he knows that the mutant psychic represents a powerful ally to Asgard.

Dressed in an X-Men uniform, Loki is convinced of his past when soul-sucking shieldmaidens called the Disir attack the city. Cursed by his adoptive grandfather Bor, the Disir turn on their master, cornering him in battle. Using his wits, Loki turns to his “Plan B” and convinces Bor that the only way he can save himself is by lifting the curse and freeing the powerful army.

5 Loki Saves His Lost Daughter

Amazing Spider-Man #503-#504

In a rare instance, before Loki rewrote his destiny, the trickster aimed to be a better father than Odin or King Laufey, his biological Frost Giant of a dad. The Asgardian deceiver teams up with Spider-Man to save his daughter from a dark sorcerer of chaos named Marwen. The villain took possession of Tess Black, revealed to be Loki’s daughter, to fight the god of mischief.

With Spidey’s help, Loki ripped the evil magician from Tess’ body and offered Spider-Man a favor. However, one could argue that the wall-crawler repaid his debt by introducing Loki to New York City’s street food. While it wasn’t necessarily a universe-level threat, this instance showcases that Loki’s motivations can be nuanced and not always self-serving.

4 Loki Suspends His Presidential Campaign

Vote Loki Miniseries

Being as charismatic as any politician, Loki turns his sights on the White House in Vote Loki. As one would expect, Loki’s schemes put him in the front of the presidential race but cause chaos in other parts of the world, including Latveria, where Doctor Doom rules all. At the start, Loki does well with potential voters, drawing their attention both on and offstage, eventually trying to use the media to his advantage.

In the end, Loki acts outrageously on national television after being baited by Daily Bugle reporter Nisa Contreras. As a surprise to no one, this was all an act on his part, as Loki never does things unintentionally. Although he’s seen negotiating with an unknown candidate at the end of the series, the trickster had also revealed that his candidacy of lunacy was to bolster the career of Contreras, hoping that she could expose the politically corrupt.

3 Morality Swap Makes Loki Worthy

Avengers & X-Men: AXIS

In another moment of altruism, Loki was a key player in ending the morality-swapping spell at the center of the Avengers/X-Men event AXIS. With a morality that’s always been a bit gray, Loki finds himself worthy enough to wield Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, in a fight against a then-villainous thunder god. While not the only time that Thor would be deemed “unworthy” of his power, the thunder god’s ego is dealt a blow as Loki—now referring to himself as the God of Heroism and Truth—challenges his brother with his own powers.

While keeping one of the strongest Avengers at bay was critical to saving everyone, it was Loki’s softer skills that helped end the threat of Red Onslaught, a supped up Red Skull. The trickster accompanied Magneto in recruiting another magic powerhouse in Enchantress. She joins Loki and the other temporarily reformed villains in returning the world to the status quo of good and evil super beings.

2 Trickster Honesty Saves the Young Avengers

Young Avengers Vol. 2

After the older Loki takes possession of Kid Loki’s body, Loki joins the Young Avengers team along with Wiccan, Hulkling, Hawkeye, America Chavez, and other fledgling heroes. Loki manipulates the young heroes so that he can control the magical powerhouse Billy Kaplan, aka Wiccan. His devious machinations lead to an extradimensional parasite attacking along with an army of evil Young Avengers led by a girl named Leah.

Confronted by the ghost of Kid Loki, the elder trickster realizes that Leah is a manifestation of his guilt over Kid Loki’s demise. In an uncharacteristic moment of honesty, Loki reveals his great deception to his teammates, causing Leah and her evil companions to fade away. While the Young Avengers showed him mercy, Loki snuck away from the team, fearful of what could happen as he “can’t avoid being Loki.”

1 Loki’s Ultimate Save is a Two-For-One

Journey Into Mystery #645

Perhaps the most heartbreaking of Loki’s heroic deeds is the one where Kid Loki sacrifices himself to an echo of his older self, proving that Loki is one of the greatest liars in Marvel Comics. The convoluted and twisty storyline begins when Kid Loki makes a deal with Nightmare. By giving him a literal piece of his mind, the Fear Lord creates a powerful weapon called the Fear Crown.

Loki regrets his choice once Mephisto steals the crown, threatening to create Hell on Earth. Feeling responsible, Loki seeks counsel from his older self, who says since the Fear Crown comes from Kid Loki’s mind, the only way to destroy it is to destroy his own mind. However, because of the elder Loki’s scheme to take his name out of Hela’s book, the only way to destroy Kid Loki’s mind was for the elder Loki to overwrite the boy’s mind with his own, thus resurrecting himself. In an act fitting a true hero, Kid Loki chooses to sacrifice himself for the greater good, a choice that seems to equally traumatize and inspire Loki.