Forget Batman and Robin, Thor and Loki may be the ultimate pairing in the history of superheroes. The constantly evolving relationship between the two brothers from Asgard is on a different level.
While the characters themselves are interesting, it may be the actors who bring them to life best. Despite Tom Hiddleston originally auditioning to play the character of Thor, director Kenneth Branagh made the right call by casting him as Loki instead. Hiddleston embodied the playful, clever, and nuanced God of Mischief perfectly. Meanwhile, Chris Hemsworth was able to provide a counterbalance as the muscular, level-headed, and beloved Thor.
However, despite the characters providing plenty of laughs, heart-breaking scenes, and copious amounts of fan fiction, they are not perfect. Throughout the Thor and The Avengers movies, there are instances where their relationship makes no sense at all.
How such an almighty god like Thor can constantly be tricked by Loki is a wonder in itself. Despite constantly betraying him, Thor is always ready to forgive and trust his adopted brother.
There are also several problems regarding Loki’s true identity as a Frost Giant that are never properly addressed. The issue of his skin color, which should be blue, and his age, which should make him appear older than Thor, are ignored.
With that said, here are the 20 Things About Thor And Loki’s Relationship That Make No Sense.
20. Why does Thor always trust Loki?
After being constantly betrayed by Loki, it is incredible how Thor goes back to trusting him in every movie. After all, every Thor film follows the same predictable pattern. Thor and Loki establish their brotherly bond, Loki then betrays Thor, and then Loki redeems himself by the end. This pattern even happens during Loki’s 10 minutes of screen time in Infinity War.
You would think that Thor would learn from this constant repetition of betrayal.
The Dark World may be the worst offender out of all. Thor and the audience are led to believe that Loki has finally become a trustworthy brother through sacrificing himself. However, it turns out that he has actually just fooled everyone and proved himself to be the master of deception.
19. Why did Loki hide the Space Stone from Thor instead of destroying it?
One aspect that doesn’t make sense in The Avengers is why Thanos trusts Loki with the Tesseract. Giving the God of Mischief a powerful Infinity Stone seems like a terrible idea. This is why it’s a surprising revelation that, in Infinity War, Loki is still in possession of the Space Stone. Loki had plenty of time between the movies to destroy the stone, which Scarlet Witch proved could be done. Instead, though, he keeps it and offers it to Thanos with very little hesitation.
It is surprising that Loki gives it up when he could use it himself. Rather than using it for his own means or telling Thor about it so that they could destroy it together, he appears to have forgotten all about it until Thanos demands it from him in Infinity War.
18. Why does Thor keep believing that Loki has passed away?
On screen, we have seen Loki pass away on three separate occasions. In Thor, he appears to take his own life by letting himself fall off the Bifröst Bridge after Odin’s rejection. His second fatality occurs in The Dark World, as he goes down in battle and is then cradled by Thor. Infinity War, the most recent example, sees Loki throttled by Thanos after a failed attempt on the Titan’s life.
However, despite these examples of trickery, Thor fully believes them and mourns for his departed brother every time. While it is unconfirmed if Loki survived his run in with Thanos, it appears that he is in Avengers 4 in some capacity whether that be appearing in present day or in a flashback. Thor never learns.
17. How do they reach Earth in The Avengers after the Bifröst Bridge collapses?
The final act of 2011’s Thor sees the dramatic collapse of the Bifröst Bridge, which separates Asgard from Earth. Despite the bridge being the only way to travel between the two planets, we still see Thor and Loki on Earth in The Avengers.
Thor mentions that Odin summoned Dark Energy to transport him to Earth, a substance that is never mentioned again. However, this begs the question: if Odin possesses such a powerful substance, why do Asgardians even need the Bifröst Bridge? It is also never mentioned how Loki gets to Earth. There is a possibility that he manipulated Erik Selvig to open the Tesseract portal, but this is incredibly vague.
16. Why do they look the same age?
In Thor, we find out that Loki isn’t a true Asgardian, but a Frost Giant that was adopted by Odin at birth. This is a big part of his character, as it explains his resentment towards Thor, the true heir and rightful ruler of Asgard. The fact that Loki is a Frost Giant means that he is mortal compared to Thor, who is an immortal god. This does not translate to screen, however, as Loki and Thor appear to be the same age on screen.
While Loki may moisturize excessively, it makes no sense that he looks the same age as his immortal brother.
It is never specifically confirmed how long Asgardians live, but Thor makes reference to the fact Odin is over 500,000 years old in Ragnarok.
15. Neither of them remember Hela
Ragnarok establishes that Thor and Loki aren’t the only children of Odin. It is revealed that Hela, who is portrayed by Cate Blanchett, is their sister. However, Thor and Loki are both blissfully unaware of her despite spending so many years on Asgard.
One theory is that Odin was remaining extremely secretive about Hela, as he wished to protect his sons from her. This is confirmed by the fact that he only mentioned her before he passes away, as well as by the fact that he attempted to cover up art that was drawn of her. However, this does not explain how other Asgardians, such as Valkyrie, were also unaware of Hela. It may be conceivable that Odin shielded Thor and Odin from Hela, but surely someone else in Asgard would remember her.
14. Loki is sad when Odin passes away
While Odin chose to bring up a Frost Giant alongside his son, it did not mean that he treated them equally. Odin often favored Thor over Loki, which led to resentment from the latter. When Loki found out that he was adopted, this resentment got out of control and he attempted to become ruler of Asgard.
After Odin rejects Loki’s pleas for approval, Loki kidnaps and imitates Odin, which we can see in Thor: Ragnarok. However, despite Loki’s anger, when Odin passes away, Loki sheds a tear for his adoptive father alongside his brother. While some fans may use the fact that Loki buried his emotions as a reason for this sudden outburst, it still doesn’t quite add up.
13. Why didn’t Loki pretend to team up with Thanos?
After Loki surrendered the Space Stone and watched Thanos attack the Hulk, the God of Mischief attempts to bargain with the Mad Titan. Loki swears his loyalty to Thanos… but he makes an attempt on his life immediately after. If Loki had pretended to join the Children of Thanos, he could have potentially saved both his and Thor’s lives. However, instead of infiltrating the ranks, earning Thanos’s trust, and then defeating him, Loki chose to attack him when he was already suspicious.
Thanos may have spared Thor’s life if Loki had joined his side, so the reason why Loki attacked the Mad Titan when he knew it would probably result in both his and his brother’s demise is a mystery.
12. Why doesn’t Loki’s skin turn back to blue after Odin passes away?
The biggest twist of Thor was the revelation that Loki was Thor’s adopted brother. However, if the movies were more accurate to the comics, this revelation would have been very obvious from the start.
King Laufey, Loki’s real father, is a blue skinned Frost Giant, which would have stood out in Asgard, where Asgardians’ have human-colored skin. Loki should have the same blue skin as his father, but upon finding the baby Loki, Odin waves his hand over him and changes his skin tone. This gesture seems to imply that Odin is hiding Loki’s blue skin, but this mmakes no sense in Ragnarok. When Odin passes away, Loki remains the same color as Thor, whereas Odin’s previous spell to keep Hela trapped is broken.
11. Why is Thor chosen to participate in the Grandmaster’s games and Loki is not?
In Thor: Ragnarok, it is unclear why Loki is not kept as a prisoner alongside Thor. When Thor first lands on Saakar, he is quickly taken prisoner and soon becomes a fighter in the ring. However, Thor soon notices Loki, who is sitting off to the side and is not tied down in any way. While Loki may have worked his way up into the Grandmaster’s inner circle, it doesn’t make sense that Loki was not forced to fight in the ring like Thor.
It is never explained why the Grandmaster is not suspicious of Loki breaking Thor out of imprisonment. Also, while the Hulk/Thor match was extremely entertaining, a Thor vs Loki fight would have also been incredible. This would have been the perfect way to include Loki in Ragnarok, as he feels unnecessary throughout much of the movie.
10. Loki once transformed into the body of Thor’s lover, Lady Sif
Fans of the MCU may remember a particularly funny scene in The Dark World where Loki changes his appearance several times. Loki transforms into Thor, Lady Sif, and Captain America. As the God of Mischief, many fans are aware that Loki can chance his appearance at will. Another example of this happens in the comic of Ragnarok, where he pretends to be Thor’s lover, Lady Sif.
While changing his gender is a handy ability, Loki transforming into the woman who Thor desires is pretty weird.
While the brothers already have a strange dynamic, bringing this into the mix takes things to an entirely different level.
9. Why does Hela look like Loki?
Hela may be the sibling of Thor and the daughter of Odin, but she is not related to Loki. Despite there being no blood relation, however, Hela and Loki are pretty similar. Her love for pointy helmets, her fondness for the color green, and her long black hair are just a few things she has in common with the God of Mischief.
Cate Blanchett even mentioned in an interview that “Hela looked very similar to Loki,” but she noted that she wasn’t just a female version of Loki. While Blanchett’s look does mirror Hiddleston’s, she is a touch more Cruella de Vil. Needless to say, it’s odd that Loki looks a lot more like Hela than Thor does, since she is the God of Thunder’s biological sister.
8. Hela’s statements about Thor and Loki
When Hela finally comes face-to-face against Thor and Loki, she taunts them. She claims that Thor looks nothing like Odin, and states that Loki’s voice is identical to Odin’s. This is confusing for many reasons.
For one, Loki is not related to Odin, so it is strange that he would sound like him. Tom Hiddleston also sounds very different from Anthony Hopkins, who has a very distinctive Welsh accent. Her comment that Thor and Odin look different is true, though, as Hopkins and Chris Hemsworth do not share any similar features. However, it is unlikely that she saw her father when he was Thor’s age, so how would she know?
7. The relationship between Thor and Loki has more compassion than Thor’s relationship with Jane
According to Film Journal International, “Is it wrong that the best relationship in Thor: The Dark World is between the titular Norse-god superhero and his adoptive brother Loki… [rather than between Thor and Jane, who is portrayed by] Oscar-winner Natalie Portman.”
It is unfortunate that for the second time after the Star Wars prequels, Portman has been paired up with someone she has no on-screen chemistry with. Instead, the main relationship of the movie seems to be between Thor and Loki, and not between Thor and the main love interest. Chris Hemsworth’s muscled and no nonsense Thor is the perfect antithesis to Tom Hiddleston’s lean and playful Loki. As the movies progress, it is always interesting to see how the two interact and play off each other. However, it would be interesting to focus on their relationships with other characters.
6. Both can be taken down by basic electric shocks
Considering the fact that Thor is a god - the God of Thunder no less - and Loki a Frost Giant, it seems strange that they are both so susceptible to electric shocks. Thor is one of the strongest Avengers. He is able to reignite the furnace of a star singlehandedly. However, for the purpose of Thor: Ragnarok, his kryptonite appears in the form of short bursts of electricity, which render him useless.
Meanwhile, Loki is able to shape-shift and can fool all the Avengers. However, he is also taken down by these electric shocks like his brother, reduced to a spasming mess on the floor. While this was most likely played for laughs in the more comedic Ragnarok, the continuity makes little sense compared to the previous movies.
5. Loki’s incredibly vague motivations and feelings towards Thor
Loki’s plan in The Avengers is extremely confusing. Thor certainly doesn’t know what it is, and it seems like the viewer doesn’t either. Loki appears to take after The Joker in The Dark Knight, as it seems like he wants to get caught but then then escape. However, why does he go through with this?
His actual motivations throughout the movie - and almost every other movie that he’s appeared in - are vague to say the least.
This isn’t even mentioning his feelings towards Thor, which vary from jealousy to admiration to, dare we say it, love. It seems that Loki is often a second thought in each movie - his character is always moulded to fit a specific storyline or plot.
4. Loki stabbing Thor when he was eight
In Thor: Ragnarok, Thor noted that Loki once transformed himself into a snake and stabbed Thor once he picked the creature up. Thor was only eight when this happened which, while funny, makes no sense.
In Thor, we are told that the brothers had a drama-free upbringing, which makes this act of violence stand out. It also goes against the previous dynamic that was established in the movies, which often focuses on the fact that Loki is jealous of Thor being the rightful ruler of Asgard and mad about Odin favoring his brother. While this is closer to what we see in the comics, it casts a different light on the version of Loki we see in the movies.
3. The shift between them during The Avengers and the other movies
The Avengers may be the darkest chapter of Thor and Loki’s relationship. Thor despises Loki for tricking everyone into believing that he had passed away. After all, Thor was mourning the loss of his brother when it was discovered that the God of Mischief was still alive. Meanwhile, Loki hates Thor for being next in line for the throne of Asgard.
However, during The Dark World, we begin to see a playful relationship between Thor and Loki. This fully manifests itself in Thor: Ragnarok, as the two brothers can be seen fooling around and playing the “get help” game. While it is interesting to see their relationship develop, the switch between the two being serious and funny seems to come from nowhere.
2. Their different accents
Anthony Hopkins is one of the most famous Welsh actors. To many fans, he portray’s Odin perfectly. However, all of the other Asgardians have distinctive English accents – from Idris Elba as Heimdall to Karl Urban’s Skurge. This makes Odin’s accent all the more peculiar, particularly compared to Thor and Loki’s accents.
Tom Hiddleston uses his English accent to bring a touch of class to Loki, who oozes charisma. Meanwhile, Chris Hemsworth, an Australian actor, perfects to use a rough and deep English accent, which demands respect and emphasises his authority. Perhaps Loki and Thor developed their accents from their English mother, but it still doesn’t make sense how their accents differ so much from Odin’s.
1. The royalty hierarchy
The biggest cause of all of the drama between Thor and Loki focuses on who will rule Asgard once Odin passes away. If it were not for the dispute over who would take the throne, Loki would never have turned on Thor.
However, the logic of the Asgardian hierarchy is never properly explained, or at least not to Loki. Thor is chosen as the ruler because he is older than Loki, as is the case with any royalty hierarchy. However, Loki seems to believe that this is because Thor is the favorite son of Odin. Loki convinces himself that this is the case, even when he was unaware that he was a Frost Giant and therefore ineligible. If Loki understood that it was simply because he was the youngest and wasn’t a true Asgardian, it’s likely that his and Thor’s relationship would be very different.
Are there any other things about Thor and Loki’s relationship that make no sense? Let us know in the comments!
