Thor and Loki (and the Superheros They've Become)

Though traditionally Odin is the greatest of the gods of Asgard, his son Thor has gripped modern America's imagination the most. This is almost certainly due to comic books legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's brightly-colored pop-culture take on the God of Thunder and his world in 1962's Journey Into Mystery #83. More recently he has gained attention with a feature film based on this version as well as inclusion in the blockbuster Marvel's The Avengers movie. In both movies he was played by Chris Hemsworth opposite a scene-stealing Tom Hiddleston as Loki - who we'll get to shortly.

Thor races to save Lorelei from the Dark
Elf Malekith on Walt Simonson's cover

In Norse mythology, Thor was a god who hit things with his magical hammer Mjolnir first and asked questions...well, often never. He took offense at everything and would not tolerate the idea that anyone could be stronger, tougher, or a better drinker than him. He wasn't especially bright, though, and was easily tricked. It was likely for the best that he traveled often with Loki the trickster-god, who though troublesome was at least intelligent and could get him out of messes. It didn't save Thor from messes caused by Loki himself, though.

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby took this pride and made it Thor's downfall. As they told the story, Odin grew so sick of his son's vanity and temper that he cast him to Midgard - our realm of Earth - to learn humility as a mortal. This comic book portrayal occasionally explained the Asgardians as an advanced alien culture, but they were treated as gods whenever cultural tastes shifted from science-fiction realism back to magical realism.

A comparison of handmade jewelry based on the traditional
Mjolnir, Thor's hammer, and the Marvel version.
Both are from etsy.com.

Neil Gaiman, another comic book creator and novelist known to take inspiration from mythology, tends to be less kind to the mythical god. Gaiman's Thor as portrayed in the Sandman graphic novel Season of Mists is an idiotic brute with little going for him but strength. In Gaiman's American Gods, Thor isn't even present, having committed suicide early in the 20th century.

Loki, the trickster god of the Norse pantheon, is variously villainous, pathetic, and misunderstood, but always a troublemaker. Though he was born to frost giants, he is almost always depicted as a human-like Aesir and considered to be as much a god as any others in Asgard. This was reconciled in Marvel's stories by saying he was adopted by Odin after a victory over Loki's frost giant father and raised as Odin's son and Thor's brother. Loki is by nature a shape-changer, so the idea of him usually taking a human-like shape is not at odds with his usual portrayal.

The subject of Loki's parentage brings up another interesting point about his Marvel incarnation: Traditionally he's referred to as Laufeyjarson, which refers to his mother Laufey rather than his father. The Marvel stories portray Laufey as male and king of the frost giants, making the surname Laufeyson less peculiar.

Traditionally Loki is very much a wild card. He often travels with Thor and the pair seem to be good friends, but Loki also causes him and the rest of Asgard a great deal of trouble. Loki does sometimes do something extremely useful that gets everyone out of trouble and saves the day, but usually it's because he caused the problem in the first place. Ultimately Loki is responsible for the death of Balder, another of Odin's sons and one who is much beloved by everyone in Asgard, and he is finally cast out and punished

Marvel's interpretation of Loki was, until recently, all supervillain foil for Thor's role as superhero. As the adopted son of Odin, he and Thor were raised as brothers. Loki was not only a runt among frost giants but a runt among Asgardians as well, and growing up in the shadow of his powerful brother left him bitter and resentful. He spent much of his time trying to get rid of Thor so he could take the throne of Asgard for himself and being summarily defeated.

Loki underwent a further reinterpretation and update in the movie versions of Thor and The Avengers. Cultural trends had shifted away from evil-for-the-sake-of-evil villains, and so Loki was written to be more sympathetic, motivated at first by a need for fatherly approval and then by revenge for what he felt had been denied him by fate. All of this made him an extremely popular character, especially with young women.