Seven Times Loki Teamed Up with the Good Guys

If it serves the god of mischief, he’ll do whatever it takes to get his way.

Loki has a lot of qualities – arrogant, selfish, tricky, occasionally cruel… easily angered. However, he holds two assets above all others: strategic and self-preserving. Now and then, Loki realizes that he would be better served to team up with heroes rather than bedevil them. This week, in WOLVERINE: INFINITY WATCH #2, Loki partners up with Wolverine to prevent a cosmic disaster – at least, this is what we’re supposed to believe…

Here are seven of those mismatched make-goods that convinced Loki that it might be in his own self-interest to play along:

With Ragnarok bearing down on Asgard, Loki decided that he far preferred a realm under the protection of his father Odin than having to work alongside the demon Surtur. Thus, Loki joined with dead old dad, his brother Thor, Heimdall, and all the rest of his usual Asgardian foes to repel the demon’s advances.

Moreover, after the fight, for once, Loki did not even try to turn the chaos to his advantage and wrest the throne from Odin’s grasp.

Once again, Odin and the Asgardians faced a mythological challenge, this time from the Egyptian god of death Seth and his hordes. And once again, Loki decided that while living with his family could never prove good, living under the rule of Seth would still prove worse.

Loki became so dedicated to the cause of rescuing his father and forcing back the hordes that he sacrificed his own body for the cause. Then, in true Loki fashion, he managed to negotiate a new physical shell courtesy of, you guessed it, Seth. Loki can be wily one.

We do not mention nearly enough that Loki has children out there in the world. Like all gods, it seems, Loki can be the love ‘em and leave ‘em type. However, he keeps tabs on his offspring from afar. Thus, when his child Tessa Black became host to a powerful agent of chaos known as Morwen, Loki refused to let it happen.

Naturally, the god of mischief contacted Doctor Strange for a hand. Strange could not be reached. But Spider-Man was around and volunteered to do his best to help. Despite Loki’s rather condescending attitude towards the wallcrawler, the two achieved their goal and sent Morwen scurrying. Loki seemed so overwhelmed with appreciation he even pledged to Spidey a favor to be collected some time in the future.

Loki, having already assumed the form of Lady Sif, went a step further and disguised himself as Scarlet Witch. Using this familiar form, he organized a team of Avengers to oppose the elder god Chthon. Not only would this plan protect Earth and eliminate a possible rival to Loki’s power, it also fit with his long-term goal to destroy Norman Osborn – all while still seemingly working with Osborn as part of the Cabal.

In the end, the Avengers realized the con and forced Loki to run. Still, the groundwork he already laid, plus what the team did after his departure, still brought about his goal: breaking Osborn.

After Thor was killed and slept the eternal slumber, he was forgotten by everyone – except for Loki.

Working together with Silver Surfer, Loki returned Mjolnir to its natural state and sent it into Valhalla after the deceased thunder god. Once Thor and the hammer reunited, Thor’s memory came rushing back to him and he successfully fought his way back to life. In doing so, Thor also returned everyone else’s memory. Thus, Loki, who rewrote the book allowing Thor to stop the Serpent but only through his own death, brought his brother back to life.

While traipsing about in his “good” younger body, Loki joined with the Young Avengers in their battle against Mother, the universe-threatening parasite that sought to dominate them.

He had a simple plan: convince Wiccan to restore his full powers to him and then ditch the teens, leaving them to their fate. The first part went exactly as planned – Wiccan, who trusted Loki, aged kid Loki into teen Loki and, with it came all the god’s power. The second part seemed to go as planned, then Loki made a mad dash for parts unknown. However, for the first time, Loki could not ignore his conscience. He turned back around and returned to his teammates, standing with them as they defeated Mother.

Sometimes Loki gets his entire personality inverted and teams up with other villains who have also been switched into heroes. Okay, less “sometimes” and more this one time.

Scarlet Witch cast a spell that inverted all the heroes and villains in her general area. The good guys became bad and vice versa. Loki joined forces with the similarly switched, like Magneto, Carnage, Hobgoblin, and the Enchantress, and was rebranded as the god of heroism and truth. In this new role, he had to go up against his now-evil brother. For the first and only time, Loki found he could wield Mjolnir, the inversion rendering him worthy. With the hammer, he defeated Thor just before the inversion reversed. For that brief shining moment, however, Loki proved he could be every bit the hero his brother had been.

Will Loki’s partnership with Wolverine prove to be just as heroic? Find out in WOLVERINE: INFINITY WATCH #2, written by Gerry Duggan with art by Andy MacDonald, on sale now online and at your local comic shop!