“Manipulative people do not understand the concept of boundaries. They are relentless in their pursuit of what they want and they have no regard for who gets hurt along the way.” ~ Unknown (found on Pinterest)

**Warning: possible spoilers ahead for Thor 2**

Loki is called the trickster god in Norse mythology.  By definition, wouldn’t manipulative fall under the list of a trickster’s characteristics?  I think so.  Manipulating objects, ideas, reality, emotions, etc…a trickster is a master manipulator.

We see this over and over with Loki in two distinct ways.  Physical and Emotional.

One of Loki’s strengths is his power to manipulate reality using the tricks Frigga taught him.  He distorts his surroundings, as he does in his cell in Thor 2.  He also duplicates himself in both Thor and the Avengers to gain the upper hand in a confrontation. In Thor 2, he also uses this ability to trick the Dark Elf, Malekith, into thinking he’d betrayed his brother. The magical powers he possesses are used to manipulate the physical world surrounding him and even himself.

All these things lead directly into his ability to manipulate people emotionally.  While he uses his magic to manipulate the physical environment, he uses his silver tongue to manipulate those around him at an emotional level.  He manipulates Black Widow (or believes he does, I’m still torn on exactly who had the upper hand on the infamous “mewling quim” conversation). He continually sends mixed messages to his brother, Thor. Does he want help, or is he using Thor?  It’s difficult to ever tell, especially in the Avengers. There were some points where I was convinced Loki desired his brother’s help but ended up coming off as a trick. Way to screw with his emotions, Loki. (I could write an entire book on the dynamics between those brothers.  Odin can take some blame as well…he is a master emotional manipulator himself.  But that’s for another discussion. Family therapy all around!)

It’s not difficult to see Loki’s actions cause a lot of emotional and physical turmoil.  He loves the chaos caused from them.  Manipulator…in multiple senses of the word.

One this is certain, Thor always sees his brother with hope and compassion, even in his anger and grief. He is the only one, besides Frigga, who sees Loki for what he truly is.

I tried to keep it simple, but there’s so many places I could have gone with this post.  🙂  I’d love to hear your thoughts…comments always welcome.