Warning: This article contains spoilers for the Loki season 2 finale.
Thor: Love and Thunder might’ve depicted most gods as decadent slobs who lay about doing nothing for millennia in Omnipotence City, but the MCU has long told us that the Asgardian pantheon takes its jobs and duties seriously. Even, or perhaps especially, Loki, who’s definitely lived up to its titles over the years.
Tom Hiddleston’s adoptive brother to Thor has arguably been even more attentive to his purpose as a god than his sibling, as we know Thor sometimes thinks he’s the “God of Hammers” rather than the God of Thunder. That’s impressive as Loki is actually the god of a bunch of things, once you factor in his long and storied comic book history.
In the wake of Loki season 2’s big developments, there’s been much speculation about the character taking on other godhoods too. But what is that all about and what else is Loki the god of? Here’s your bible on everything you need to know about Loki’s deific duties.
God of Mischief
Loki, the God of Mischief — it’s just what he is, right? Going right back to his roots in Norse mythology, Loki is a trickster god and as such is most famous for causing mischief. Honestly, leading alien invasions of New York and attempting to subjugate humanity might seem like a pretty extreme definition of mischief, but still, this title is one that has become synonymous with the Asgardian throughout his comic book history and his characterization in the MCU.
God of Evil
Another traditional title of Loki’s in the comics is “God of Evil,” which perfectly suited him back in the days when he was a classic conniving villain. However, in the MCU, even at his most wicked in The Avengers, Loki hasn’t been what you would call out-and-out evil so the nickname has never cropped up in live-action. This is part of a trend for Marvel adaptations to avoid the E-word across the board, like Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in Fox’s X-Men franchise and the total lack of Baron Zemo’s Masters of Evil in the MCU so far.
God of Lies
“God of Lies” is another epithet belonging to Loki in the comics. And, to be honest, it definitely suits him to a T. With his shapeshifting and tendency to produce copies of himself to confuse his enemies, Loki has always utilized lies to his own advantage. His scheme in The Avengers, for example, relied upon him convincing the heroes that he didn’t want to be captured. However, as Loki undergoes personal growth — in both the MCU and the comics — “God of Lies” starts to fit him less and less, hence his most recent title…
God of Stories
Perhaps to better align the comics with the MCU version, the 2010s saw Marvel Comics reboot Loki from the ground-up, with the original villainous character choosing to reincarnate himself as a new being. This new Loki — sometimes called Ikol — sought to defy both his own past and the universe’s (not to mention his family’s) expectations for him by becoming, well, if not always a good guy then at least not an evil one. This ultimately led him to reject his legacy as the God of Lies.
Realizing that a lie is just a story, and he was determined to rewrite his own, Loki embraced a new title and purpose: as the God of Stories. Loki season 2, episode 5 heavily indicated the MCU was finally going in this direction too when O.B./A.D. Doug started lecturing Loki on the importance of stories over science and how sometimes following story logic can save the day. By the end of the episode, Loki seemed to have realized the truth in this, declaring “I can rewrite the story.”
And yet season 2 ended up with Loki embracing a different kind of “glorious purpose”…
God of Time?
Yes, despite the set-up, Loki doesn’t actually take on the mantle of God of Stories in the Loki season 2 finale. What actually happens is he essentially assumes He Who Remains’ place as the ruler of all time, except he only does so to keep his friends safe and to rescue the multiverse. He’s able to weave the branched timelines together into a world tree with himself imprisoned inside. He’s now omniscient and omnipresent but oh so lonely.
In effect, then, Loki has become God of Time. Interestingly, this isn’t one of his various titles from the comics — although his fate does tie into his earliest appearance on the page in the most mind-blowing way. Just further proof of how Tom Hiddleston has made the character his own and Loki will never be the same again. For all time. Always.