The Marvel Cinematic Universe has expanded hugely since the first Avengers movie, but even with dozens of new heroes and villains to enjoy, Loki remains an absolute fan-favorite.
The trickster God (played by Tom Hiddleston) first appeared in Thor, before becoming the primary villain of The Avengers… and at first, it seemed that he was a pure villain. A stunning, charismatic, incredibly cunning villain, but a villain nonetheless.
However, the brother of Thor Odinson is so much more than just another bad guy, and his evolution in the MCU has shown fans just how complex he can be. He may be out to protect himself, but he’s also capable of helping others, and his relationship with his (adopted) brother is multilayered and absolutely beautiful.
Loki’s villainy and redemption is one of the best long-arcs of the MCU so far, and fans can’t wait to see what happens to Loki in Infinity War… even if there are many who fear that this war might be the trickster’s last.
Whether Thanos’s plan spells Loki’s doom or not, it would be nice to not just see Loki return as we already know him, but to also see some more of the Trickster’s impressive powers on display. Fans have already seen some of his sorcery and shapeshifting, but Loki can do a whole lot more than that in the comics…
Here are the 15 Powers You Didn’t Know Loki Had.
15. Telekinesis
Fans did get a brief glimpse of Loki’s telekinesis in the MCU, when he learned of Frigga’s death, and in his grief, he trashed his cell using only his mind.
He’s also used his telekinesis in battle, using this power to fling knives without using his hands.
However, the majority of the time, he prefers to use his less physical abilities - manipulation and telepathy (to the point of hypnosis) are more his style, as he sees physical strength (like that of his brother) to be brutish and less impressive than mental strength.
His telekinesis is an impressive power nonetheless, and one that he definitely uses a little more in the comics. We’d love to see him make better use of this on the big screen in future.
14. Worthy Of Mjolnir
Of everyone in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, only two have been shown to be worthy to wield Mjolnir – Thor himself, and Vision, who was capable of casually passing it to Thor.
Even Captain America, “good” as he is, couldn’t lift it.
However, in the comics, Loki has been found worthy of the great Asgardian weapon… thanks to a spell that reversed the ideals of good and evil.
This happened in Avengers & X-Men: Axis #9, when Doctor Doom and Scarlet Witch created the spell in order to overcome Red Skull. Loki, now “worthy,” scooped up the hammer and beat the crap out of Thor with it – and while this isn’t likely to happen in the MCU, now that Mjolnir was destroyed by Hela, it’s still worth mentioning.
13. Immortality
It’s no secret that Loki is particularly difficult to kill, and he’s survived several times in the MCU, just to pop back up and cause mischief a little later on. However, in the comics, he’s actually functionally immortal at this point – something that could well make an appearance in the MCU.
Loki can still be harmed and even die, of course, it’s just that he’s managed to have his name stricken from the Book of Hel, meaning that when he dies, he is not destined to join the other Asgardians in the afterlife, but is free to return to Earth in another form.
This can become the same form, because he’s a shapeshifter. It’s a nifty trick.
12. Flight
Everyone knows that Thor is capable of a form of flight, using his hammer to boost himself into the air, but Loki is also capable of taking to the skies… using his sorcery.
Part of Loki’s magical skills include energy manipulation that allow him to levitate, and even to fly – although he doesn’t use this power very often. He has previously used it to create distractions or simply to help himself, although he has other magical abilities that often work better – still, we’d love to see him hovering menacingly (a la Magneto) before a future battle commences.
However, his flying abilities are never going to be Loki’s main means of getting around, because as we’re about to learn… he can also teleport.
11. Teleportation
In the MCU, Loki may be able to conceal his presence and sneak between the worlds without using the bifrost, but it’s not quite clear how he does it. In the comics, on the other hand, he is perfectly capable of travelling using teleportation.
This is another one of his magical abilities, and the limits of this power aren’t defined.
He also doesn’t often use it, or uses it secretly, before making his grand entrance in another way.
He’s even recently claimed that he cannot teleport himself and Squirrel Girl across the galaxy, even though that was a flat-out lie, and he just wanted to take a road trip… but whether he uses his teleportation abilities often or not, Loki can certainly teleport when he feels like it, even between dimensions.
10. Power Transfer
As well as using his own powers, Loki has the ability to transfer his powers to others for periods of time.
He has even been able to create new superhumans permanently by granting them powers when he chooses.
In the past, he has boosted the existing telepathy, strength, or speed of his allies (although before you get too convinced that he’s a good guy, he would usually do this in order to use them to fight for him so he could hang back and avoid getting hurt).
He also created Absorbing Man, using a compound of rare Asgardian herbs to grant him the ability to absorb the powers of others, in the hopes that Loki could then use Absorbing Man to defeat Thor.
9. Sorcerer Supreme
Yup, you heard that right – Loki is not just an incredibly powerful sorcerer to rival the greatest magic users of Asgardian history, he is actually the current Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Universe.
While this is largely just a title, and doesn’t grant him any extra powers of his own, there are a few new tricks that Loki has up his sleeve thanks to the Vishanti.
By giving him the title, some of his existing magics are boosted, and of course, he now has access to the Sanctum Sanctorum, with all the books and magical items within that fantastic place, which he can use to learn and manage spells that he has never heard of before.
In short, this is Loki, but more magically powerful than ever before.
8. Super Speed
Not to the level of a true speedster like Quicksilver, of course (and why would he need that, given the teleportation abilities, anyway), but like all Asgardians and Frost Giants, Loki has a measure of both superhuman speed and superhuman agility and reflexes.
This does appear briefly on-screen, as he uses it in battle with Captain America in order to get the upper hand, and it’s clear that he is capable of moving and thinking much faster than an average human.
He also is shown to catch one of Hawkeye’s arrows in mid-air… which is not quite like catching a bullet, but he could probably manage that too, and snatching an arrow casually out of mid-air before it strikes him is just plain impressive.
7. Possession
Loki is known as a shapeshifter, although for a time in the comics, he struggled to shapeshift into anything that wasn’t still “him” – that is, he could become a wolf (for example), but it would be a wolf that still looks very much like “Loki.”
However, it’s also been shown that as well as shapeshifting to look like someone else, Loki is also capable of taking possession of someone else’s body
. Most notably, he has done this to Lady Sif, during Secret Invasion: Dark Reign.
He pushed her soul out of her body and into that of an elderly woman, and then took over her body, using it to try and gain power in Asgard.
6. Healing Factor
Most fans think of a healing factor as something belonging to mutants like Wolverine or Deadpool, but Loki himself has a healing factor too.
Part of his incredible healing ability is actually magic – and Loki uses his sorcery to make himself invulnerable to almost all injury – even being beheaded.
However, he does also have a degree of natural healing ability thanks to his Frost Giant physiology, which gives him the ability to recover from injury almost instantly (like, for example, being smashed against the ground by the Hulk, which would utterly obliterate most men, and even many superheroes).
This healing factor is combined with his Frost Giant superhuman durability and stamina to make him capable of withstanding just about anything that the world (or the Avengers) might throw at him.
5. Super-Strength
Another power that comes to Loki thanks to his Frost Giant heritage, many fans would be surprised to see Loki as a character possessing super-strength.
Unlike Thor or Captain America, he’s not a muscle-bound hero who can easily and obviously lift a car without breaking a sweat… but that doesn’t mean that he’s not a whole lot stronger than a normal human.
In fact, Loki can hold his own against Thor, and can lift up to 50 tons with ease. He simply doesn’t, because he believes that this kind of brute strength is something that he is just a little bit better than, given that he is a genius and a master manipulator, and not someone who needs to use his physical strength to prevail.
4. AllSpeak
Have you ever wondered why it is that the Asgardians could come to Earth and appear as Gods to the ancient Norse, then reappear in the current age with the apparent ability to speak English? Or how, on Sakaar (in Thor: Ragnarok) both Loki and Thor are able to communicate with the various alien beings they encounter?
The answer is a mystical Asgardian ability or skill known as AllSpeak, the ability to be heard by any being in their native language, and to understand any being in return.
Although Loki is a Frost Giant in the MCU, in the comics, his upbringing as an Asgardian and his time there give him access to the ability as well – however, it’s not explained as such on the big screen.
3. Magic Immunity
Another one of Loki’s most useful magical abilities is that of almost total immunity. He has been shown to be unaffected by the “slave disks” of the Controller, which would drain the mental energy of anyone else and place them under the Controller’s… well, control.
He’s also been able to resist the control of the Voice’s voice, and seems to be able to stand up against any telepathic or hypnotic control like this.
Loki has even been magically immune to Rogue’s power-absorption, when they went up against each other in the ‘80s and he simply laughed at her “futile” attempts to weaken him.
This, combined with his multi-layered immortality (both his removal from the Book of Hel and his magically-powered healing), make him essentially impossible to either control or kill.
2. Wielder Of The Norn Stones
Although Loki has some serious magic of his own (both his ability to manipulate Asgardian energy and his learned sorcery), he has also been known to use a magical object or two in order to further enhance his already considerable powers.
The Norn Stones are an Asgardian object that give Loki extra magical abilities.
This includes intangibility, the ability to throw magical power bolts (which, arguably, he can also do without the stones), the ability to project real life events to show them to others (which Loki has used to show Thor that Jane Foster is in danger), and the ability to manipulate the world around him in myriad other ways.
Loki has also explained that the powers the stones grant do change depending on the existing powers that the wielder has, which makes them almost limitless.
1. Truth Magic
Thor is not the only son of Odin who has a magical Asgardian weapon created for him “if he be worthy.” Loki also has a weapon, the magical Truth Sword, Gram.
It is described by Loki himself as “once held by Sigurd, first hero of Asgard. A sword of ancient magic, bathed in Dragon’s Blood, a sword of truth. To suffer the blade is to suffer all the truths you deny yourself.”
Gram gives Loki the ability to cut through telepathic control that others are under, to allow someone to see their own corruption and escape it, and to pierce any lie. As such, it suits Loki, the God of deceit and tricks, to hold the sword of truth – although, like Mjolnir, Gram can be destroyed (and has been, in the Marvel Universe).
Can you think of any other special powers or abilities that Loki has? Sound off in the comment section!
