The Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU, abounds with memorable characters that have helped the films receive great acclaim the world over. Primary heroes such as Captain America and Thor, and intense villains such as Thanos and Killmonger, have kept movie watchers enthralled for over 10 years. But while these examples of good and evil push the stories forward, they aren't the only characters that make the movies memorable.
Other such characters are the complex "wild cards" that leave the audience guessing about what they will do next. No character in the MCU fits this category better than Loki, the god of mischief. He's a complex character, and this trait often comes into full view with the witty and devious things he says. After all, there's a reason so many characters try to silence him throughout the films.
10 "I Never Wanted The Throne! I Only Ever Wanted To Be Your Equal."
In the original Thor film, Loki went from being Thor's troublesome younger brother to a serious threat to Asgard and all the other realms. He accomplished this by taking over Asgard while Odin was in the Odin Sleep and Thor was banished to Earth. He then used the Bifrost, the kingdom's mythical device that connects it to every other realm, to try to destroy the homeworld of the Frost Giants to prove his worth.
When Thor finally made his way back to Asgard, the brothers met for an inevitable fight. It was at this moment that Loki explained that all he ever wanted was to be seen as his brother's equal.
9 "Well, I Guess That's Worth A Look."
At the end of Thor, Odin and Thor watched as Loki fell into the collapsing Rainbow Bridge and was transported away. They presumed him to be dead and mourned for the loss of their misguided son and brother.
But in the film's after-credits scene, it was revealed that Loki was much harder to kill than his father and brother thought. Using his magic, Loki followed Dr. Erik Selvig into a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. bunker and listened as the scientist spoke with Nick Fury about the powerful Tesseract artifact. Knowing the object's potential, Loki slyly remarked on how it was worth a look.
8 "Are You Ever Not Going To Fall For That?"
After Loki revealed himself to be alive on Earth and launched his scheme to take the Tesseract and use it to conquer the planet, the Avengers sprung into action to capture him. They eventually did imprison him on a S.H.I.E.L.D. Hellicarrier, but they failed to realize that was his plan from the beginning.
Loki had brainwashed some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and recruited various enemies of the organization to help him sabotage the flying ship. His hope was to get rid of all his enemies simultaneously. Thor attempted to catch Loki before he could escape from his prison, but Loki used his magic to fool and trap his brother, which gave him a chance to mock the Avenger.
7 "You Must Be Truly Desperate To Come To Me For Help."
In Thor: The Dark World, Loki was taken back to Asgard to be imprisoned for what he had done during the events in The Avengers. He could not make much trouble for the Asgardians from within his cell, but when the Dark Elves invaded the kingdom, Loki's simple and malicious advice to the Dark Elves resulted in his home being nearly destroyed and his mother being killed.
Being overwhelmed by the Dark Elves and not knowing how to defeat them, Thor reluctantly decided to recruit his brother and offered him a chance at redemption. Loki accepts, but never one to pass on a chance to rile his brother, he first remarked on Thor's desperation.
6 "You'll... Kill Me? Evidently, There Will Be A Line."
Despite being freed by Thor, none of the Asgardians felt inclined to trust Loki. They, Thor's closest friends especially, knew that Loki would not be able to resist his desire to manipulate or betray Thor, and they made their concerns known by threatening to kill Loki if anything happened to his brother.
There eventually came a point when the threats became repetitive for the god of mischief, as all of Thor's friends took their turn telling him what they would do to him if Thor didn't survive. Still unable to break his habit of goading people who threaten him, Loki let the last person know that there would be a line.
5 "Well Done. You Just Decapitated Your Grandfather."
When Thor and Loki staged their plan to defeat the Dark Elves, they first needed to find a way to escape the enemy-occupied Asgard. Doing this required them to steal a Dark Elf ship, which Thor didn't know how to operate. He managed to get the craft moving, but his control was far from stellar, resulting in a lot of collateral damage as they fled.
As they tried to leave Asgard, the Dark Elves gave chase, which gave Thor even more trouble with operating the ship. Again he crashed into objects, one of them being a massive statue of his grandfather. Not missing the humor in a situation, Loki took the chance to congratulate Thor on beheading his ancestor.
4 "You Had One Job!"
At the end of Thor: The Dark World, Loki had brainwashed and impersonated Odin so he could take his father's place as ruler. While everyone believed him to be Odin, Loki abused his power to make everyone serve him and feed his desires for praise.
Unfortunately for Loki, Thor deduced what he had done and returned to Asgard to confront him. Loki had a plan for if his brother returned, but this plan relied on the Bifrost guard Skurge being able to announce Thor's arrival before the god of thunder could find Loki. There was no way that Skurge was going to be able to move faster than Thor, but that wasn't enough of a reason to keep Loki from remarking on his failure.
3 "I Have Been Falling... For Thirty Minutes!"
When Thor forced Loki to show him where he had hidden Odin, the god of mischief led him to a retirement home in New York City. The only issue was that the building had been demolished since then, leaving the brothers with no idea of where to find their father.
Luckily, they were given some unexpected assistance from the sorcerer Dr. Strange. He teleported them both to his sanctum in New York so he could talk with Thor about the situation, but he chose to leave Loki perpetually falling in the portal. Dr. Strange released Loki once Thor reminded him that his brother was still gone, but Loki was not exactly grateful for release or the experience.
2 "I Have To Get Off This Planet."
Loki and Thor crash-landed on the planet Sakaar after their fight and escape from their sister Hela, but they arrived on the planet at separate times. Loki arrived first and quickly earned the favor of the planet's ruler, the Grandmaster. Thor, on the other hand, was forced to fight in the planet's gladiatorial games. And for his first fight, Thor needed to face an unexpected opponent: the Incredible Hulk.
When Loki, who was watching the fight with the Grandmaster, saw the Hulk, he quickly remembered what the monster had done to him on Earth during the events of The Avengers. Not wanting to suffer a repeat beating, Loki's first thought was to flee the planet.
1 "We Have A Hulk."
The Avengers: Infinity War began with a scene of Thor's ship and his remaining Asgardian people being decimated by Thanos and his forces. With Thor captured and most Asgardians dead or dying, it didn't seem like they had many options for survival. This was when Loki stepped in with a desperate attempt to make use of his wit once again.
Luring Thanos in with a false sense of security by offering the Titan the Tesseract, Loki quickly stepped aside while also letting his enemy know that the Asgardians still had one option left for victory: a very angry Hulk.