writing

A-Z Blog Challenge Day 8

/ Jen Bradlee / Leave a comment

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“And you, sir, are very attractive. Therefore I will stare at you.” ~ Unknown

I’m not sure if I have an argument for this one…or even need one. But let’s get into it and see if something worthwhile comes out.  🙂

Tom Hiddleston is handsome, ergo Loki is handsome.

But I’m not going to stop there, oh hell no.  Loki is sinfully sexy. He is the diametric opposite of his brother, Thor, in almost all ways, especially in looks.  This is a good thing, though.

The Hero is supposed to be fair and muscular, dashing and attractive.  While the Villain is dark and of a more slender build, predatory and cunning.  Sound like a pair we know?

They’re archetypes, instilled in us since childhood. We’re taught to identify the villain based on his appearance.  Seriously, just watch any children’s film.  It’ll make total sense then. But we all know that isn’t how it works in the real world.  No one is completely good or evil.  We all have varying shades of darkness inside of us.  It’s how we choose to act on these dark impulses that define us. I think this applies to Loki as well.

We all grow up and see things without the cut and dry, black and white influence of childhood. It’s important to not judge a book by it’s cover. Loki is no different. I found a post from Tumblr that made a very good point while making me laugh.  Here it is:

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Just a side note, while Loki fits the physical description of an archetypal villain, he also fits the anti hero mold in this category as well.  Tall, dark, and handsome…*ponders the possibilities*

Is Loki handsome?

Hell yeah. You wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t feel the same way. Admit it…*winks*

A-Z Blog Challenge Day 7

/ Jen Bradlee / 11 Comments

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“He who is greedy is always in want.” ~ Horace

I’m torn about this one still. Is Loki greedy?  We’ve already established that he’s ambitious, which can be mistaken for greed if it extends too far.

Loki wants what he believe is owed him…the throne of Asgard. I wouldn’t call that greedy.  But his actions in the Avengers speak of greed in his desire for complete subjugation of humanity. Viewing this film as I did the first time I watched it, I can see how he can be considered greedy.  Since he was denied Asgard, he will take Earth. It was greed, pure and simple.

But I’ve already established that I don’t believe Loki was entirely himself during the Avengers. The tesseract had control over him. Through the film, we see the power of the tesseract affect everyone differently. I believe that while he was under it’s influence, it amplified a deeper desire hidden there. His greed…as well as his villainous nature. Do I think it was his ultimate purpose to conquer Earth? No…I think he wanted to be stopped and returned to Asgard. But that’s for another discussion and another post. It all goes back to his greed. He wasn’t willing to settle for half measures. Go big or go home. (Pardon the pun.)

The question that lingers in my mind is:  Since Loki now has what he desired from the beginning, will he want more?  I believe that will determine if it is truly greed that drives him or just  his drive to fulfill his destiny.

All questions and comments welcome…

A-Z Blog Challenge Day 6

/ Jen Bradlee / 8 Comments

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“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.” ~ Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

“Fearless minds climb soonest into crowns.” ~ William Shakespeare

When Loki falls from the bridge at the end of Thor, we see a sort of acceptance in his eyes as he falls.  He accepts his fate. So when we see him in the Avengers, after the betrayal and whatever happened to him between that moment of the fall and coming through the portal, Loki’s priorities have shifted.

He has experienced true fear: being shunned from everything he’s known, everyone who cared about him, being left to die, then tortured and forced into servitude (the power of the Tesseract). What does he have left to fear? Death does not scare him, because he’s faced fates worse than death.

Once Frigga is gone, Loki releases whatever fear remains.  He has become truly fearless, and that creates room for him to seize power as he’d always dreamed.

Loki understands fear like no one else, and as we all know, fear can be a powerful motivator if wielded properly.

Does this make him less of an anti hero and more of a villain?  Or does it just make him dangerous?

I’m dying for your thoughts on this…please comment.  Thanks.

*Images were found on Google images. No copyright infringement intended. Merely used as illustration points.

A-Z Blog Challenge Day 5

/ Jen Bradlee / 6 Comments

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“One nice thing about egotists: they don’t talk about other people.” ~ George Carlin

This goes back to the whole confidence/cocky thing I mentioned a few days ago.  But the definition of an egotist is different.  An Egotist is a person who is excessively conceited or self-absorbed; a self-seeker.

Loki is worried about one person, himself. His mission in each film has revolved around his needs, his desires, and his self preservation.  The only person he even vaguely considers trying to please is his mother, Frigga. But even then, Loki is disinterested in doing anything for anyone except himself.

He demands respect and adoration from everyone, focusing on his own selfish needs. This is obvious in the Avengers. Loki answers to only one authority, himself. He doesn’t care about the consequences of his actions, only the outcome and what it will provide him when all is said and done. That is, in my mind, the epitome of egotistical.

Does this make him more a villain and less of an anti hero?  Well, we all have ego, but can we let it drive us, define us, rule us and still be a good person? That’s a tough question.

I’m interested in what you think. Comment below.  🙂

*Images were found on Google images. No copyright infringement intended. Merely used as illustration points.

A-Z Blog Challenge Day 2

/ Jen Bradlee / 6 Comments

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“The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies.”  ~ Horus Fe-Nix

There comes a moment in every man’s story that defines them. For Loki, that moment was when he realized that his entire life, all his expectations for his future had been based on a lie.

To him this was a betrayal. He believed he knew who he was and what his role was in the future of Asgard. The venomous words Odin spoke in the first Thor film must have felt like a killing blow to everything Loki had been taught to believe about himself. He had to reconstruct his identity from the ashes of the life he had known.

That moment, that betrayal, cemented a resolve inside of him that led him down the path of the villain, but Loki still retained elements of the Anti Hero deep inside himself.

What do you think?  Had Loki not been betrayed by those closest to him, would he have chosen the path he did?

*Images were found on Google images. No copyright infringement intended. Merely used as illustration points.

A – Z Blog Challenge Day 1

/ Jen Bradlee / 21 Comments

I’ve decided at the last possible second to join the A-Z Blog Challenge.

I’m in lust/love with Loki as a character.  I find that he influences a lot of my writing, so I decided to discuss some of the reasons why by addressing his characteristics.  The more I watch Thor, Thor 2, and Avengers, the more I discover about him as a character and his development in the Marvel series of films.  Now, I’ve not read the comic books, so bear with me.  The greatest thing I’ve noticed when it comes to Loki is his complexity.

Our gut instinct is to brand him as the villain, because every story needs one and in many cases, he fits that description.  But as Tom Hiddleston said of Loki, “Every villain is a hero in his own mind.”  That being said, I’ve decided to compile a list of character traits for Loki, one for each day this month, showcasing the traits that can be inherent in both a villain and an anti hero.

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Anti Hero is defined as: a central character in a story, movie, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes.

Villain is defined as: a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot.

By these definitions alone, Loki is both an Anti Hero and a Villain.

For Day One:

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“Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.” ~ Salvador Dali

If you’ve seen the films, then you really don’t need me to go into great detail about how ambitious Loki is and how his ambitions only grow with every passing film. His character is multifaceted, intricate, and deceptive.  In the beginning we believe him to be the bad guy, a man without conscience, and while this is true, Loki is merely following the path of his own ambitious nature.  He knows what he wants and he invests everything to obtain it. Is not that true ambition?

Time to sound off. What do you think?

*Images were found on Google images. No copyright infringement intended. Merely used as illustration points.