A YJA Moment - The Life and Times of Loki

Loki Laufeyson. The frost giant child rescued by Odin many centuries ago. He who would attempt to overthrow Asgard, plunge the Nine Realms into war and lead an alien invasion of Midgard. In recent years, defeated and bored of his existence, Loki wandered the single goal - Discover the truths that Odin the Allfather gained when he sacrificed his eye to Mimir's Well.

It's unclear how Loki found the knowledge. Some say that he followed in Odin's footsteps and that he sports an artificial eye. Others say he made bargains most foul with the most shadowy of entities. Regardless, the god of mischief found the greatest secret that Odin ever learned. He learned of the true depths of Fate.

Humanity and the gods were linked. The gods needed the worship of the masses for their power but were bound to mortal beliefs. It was a subtle bind, encouraging the gods to fulfill the roles that humanity had spun from them. If the god had been caught telling a lie, then it was likely that they would always be considered the god of lies, mischief or deception. They would be rewarded when they acted in an appropriate manner and would even gain supernatural powers.

It was this binding that forced Odin to adopt the identity of Allfather Christmas, whom the world knows as Santa Claus. It was also this phenomenon that set Loki and Thor on a seemingly eternal rivalry, the gods of mischief and thunder.

Then Thor died and the bounds of fate had no god of thunder, so chaos reigned. It rained every day for weeks, the sky echoing with thunder. Armed with his knowledge of fate and his desire to break the mold created for him, Loki took the unheard-of step and picked up Thor's hammer. Becoming both the god of lies and thunder (or as Mel calls it "The god of meteorology") has changed Loki. Still the charming agent of chaos, the Laufeyson has become more heroic, helping the new Avengers and unaware that instead of breaking his bonds, he has instead been ensnarled even more.

With the return of Thor and the rest of the heroes from the dimensional fragment, the Odinson seems uninterested in reclaiming his position as god of thunder. It remains to be seen if Loki continues to wield Mjolnir or will attempt to cast it off in order to regain some freedom from the shackles of fate in which he finds himself tightly bound.