10 Things Only Comic Book Fans Know About Thor & Loki's Rivalry
Thor and Loki have been bitter enemies since childhood, and their rivalry has literally reshaped worlds. Though the two brothers seem to have come to a kind of peace in the MCU, their age-old rivalry in the comics continues, even after some of their worst battles have left one or the other dead, at least for a while.
Though the two Asgardians have found common ground on occasion, they are more often at each other's throats. Their feud spans not just Earth-616, but across the multiverse into other timelines and realities. Some of their comic book rivalry could yet end up in the MCU, thanks to the introduction of the multiverse in the franchise.
10 Imprisoned In A Tree
One aspect of the rivalry fans haven't seen in the MCU, at least so far, is its very beginnings in the comics. When fans first met Loki in Journey Into Mystery #85, he's imprisoned in a tree in Asgard. This punishment came about because of Loki's sustained efforts to either get rid of Thor and even kill him.
What had started off as pranks became cruel and evil, and Odin trapped Loki in the tree. Loki caused a leaf to fall from hit Heimdall in the eye. His tears freed Loki and he then began his villainous campaign against Thor, who was now living on Earth.
9 Scheming With Dormammu
Fans likely know that Loki is responsible for the formation of the first and one of the best Avengers rosters, including Thor. They may not know that Loki struck back at the team while in league with Dormammu, the leader of the Dark Dimension.
The two powerful villains took on the Avengers and the Defenders together in Avengers #116-118 and The Defenders #10-11. During the crossover, Loki tries to turn Thor into his civilian alter ego, Dr. Donald Blake, to rob him of his power. This failed and Loki was captured by Thor.
8 Loki Turned Thor Into A Frog
Comic fans know Disney+'s Loki contained lots of Easter eggs and one of the best was Throg, a frog version of Thor. This amphibian version of the character is the product of one of the funniest moments in the rivalry.
In Thor #365, Loki uses his powerful magic to turn Thor into a frog, but like most of Loki's tricks, it doesn't work out the way he thought it would. Thor ends up maintaining his worthiness to lift the mystical hammer Mjolnir and leads a group of frogs into battle against the rats that are threatening their habitat.
7 The Absorbing Man Attacks
Loki's attacks on Thor are sometimes direct and sometimes not. He would often send other villains to do his work for him, as was the case with Crusher Creel, the Absorbing Man. Loki transformed Creel into the Absorbing Man specifically to set a powerful opponent against his Asgardian brother.
Creel and Thor first squared off in Journey Into Mystery #114, but Creel failed to steal Mjolnir away from Thor as Loki intended. Loki would continue to unleash other villains against Thor, including a Lava Man and Sandu.
6 The Surtur Saga
Loki and Thor's interests sometimes align, as they did during The Surtur Saga in the mid-80s. Though he never abandoned his deep hatred of Thor, Loki put aside his differences when Surtur attacked Asgard during the legendary run by writer and artist Walt Simonson.
Loki's ambition was always the throne, and in order to realize it, he needed a throne to exist. The two were able to fend off Surtur along with their father, Odin, but it wasn't long before Thor and Loki were back at each other's throats.
5 The Acts Of Vengeance Arc
One of Loki's biggest gambits was during the Acts Of Vengeance storyline in the early 90s. He creates a spell to weaken Thor and then sends one of the most powerful villains in Marvel Comics, the Juggernaut, to fight him.
This was part of a broader plan that involved nearly all of Marvel's major supervillains, including Doctor Doom, Magneto, and Kingpin. In Thor #432, Thor actually kills Loki for his actions. Loki would eventually return thanks to time travel, but Thor would be banished for Asgard for killing his brother.
4 Their Siege Storyline
As in the MCU, Loki's deaths are never really permanent. They are often affecting, as was the case during the Siege storyline. Loki dies at the end of the crossover, sacrificing his life to save Asgard from an invasion by the Dark Avengers, but it's actually his actions that led to the crisis.
Loki and Thor's rivalry experiences some of its biggest moments in this story as the two fight each other for Asgard, and then side by side against the forces of Norman Osborn, and finally, Thor kills Sentry to avenge the murder of Loki.
3 The King Loki Conflict
Thor and Loki's rivalry extends throughout time and space. With King Loki in the alternate reality of Earth-14412, he achieves perhaps his greatest victory against Thor. In the future, Loki becomes King Loki when he savagely injured Thor and took over Asgard. He then destroyed Earth, killing all of humanity.
This shocking act wasn't the end. Loki resurrected the Avengers into zombies and set them against Thor. Thor would defeat King Loki, but he fled into the past, where he remains one of a number of variants of the characters in Marvel Comics.
2 The Heroes Reborn Crossover
The original 1996 Heroes Reborn comic book crossover features a major example of how far Loki and Thor's rivalry will go. After Thor and the other Avengers are booted to another universe by Franklin Richards, Loki emerges as a creation of Franklin in that pocket universe, but with all of Earth-616 Loki's memories.
Furious that he can't access Asgard or realize his ambitions, he begins an evil campaign to get back at his brother, which included absorbing the energy of a number of villains like Kang The Conqueror to try and destroy Thor and the Avengers.
1 Marvel Zombies Attack
Fans of the new What If..? animated series know that zombie Avengers are a scary thing. Loki knows first hand. In Marvel Zombies Return #5, the rivalry between Thor and Loki takes on perhaps its most frightening aspect when the zombie Avengers eat Loki.
Despite his magical abilities and considerable intellect, the God of Mischief wasn't able to escape his undead brother or his teammates. He was one of the countless people killed in the gory rampage throughout the various Marvel Zombies titles over the years.