Is Loki a good guy or a bad guy in Twilight of the Gods?

The animated series Twilight of the Gods centers on Sigrid, a half-giant shieldmaiden whose family is slaughtered by Thor, the God of Thunder, on their wedding day. Sigrid then becomes caught up in a vengeance plot by Loki, the God of Mischief, who himself, for mysterious reasons, has Thor's death in mind. The trickster god plays a dual role of deception and sympathy, as his tragic motives and backstory slowly surface over the course of the narrative. However, the character also has a penchant for using people like pawns to fulfill his demands, making his inner goals murky and ambiguous! SPOILERS AHEAD.

Loki tries to protect his children from Thor

Since being inducted into the halls of Asgard, Loki has been viewed as an outsider and a treacherous being by his fellow Aesir. He is ostracized by Thor and the other major gods, who view him as an enemy conspiring against them, largely due to his descent from a frost giant. When Loki falls in love with an ice giantess named Angrboda, the couple have three children – Jormungandr, Fenrir, and Hel. The Aesir, however, do not celebrate this news with joy. They send Thor to take away all of his children and assign them a fate worse than death. Jormungandr is cast into the sea, Hel is banished to the frozen realm of the dead, and Fenrir is chained for all eternity.

As a result, Loki begins to hate and loathe his fellow gods in Asgard. The god of mischief hatches a plan of revenge against Thor and the other Aesir and wants to get rid of them for their abuse of power. However, a problem arises in the form of the Ragnarok prophecy. According to the warning, Loki's children are destined to die at Thor's hand while fighting them. To avoid such a cruel end to their lives, Loki devises a way to kill Thor and avoid the death of his descendants. Therefore, his search for a suitable fighter leads him to Sigrid. Having lost her family, the shieldmaiden also harbors the same burning passion against the gods as Loki. The trickster god uses her as a tool to get rid of Thor before the god of thunder could one day kill his children.

The story of the scapegoat god

When Leif becomes trapped in Hoenir's mind in the Vanaheim arc of the story, Loki shows up to help Leif escape the mad god's cursed madness. The two team up to climb to the top of Hoenir's skeleton, where they believe an exit may be found. During their brief stay, however, Leif begins to see visions of his past cruelties, causing him to question his actions and ruthlessness. The more he is drawn into the visions, the more he loses sight of himself, prompting Loki to try to bring him back by other means. The god of mischief convinces Leif that all of his merciless decisions in the past were influenced by Loki. With the burden of his guilt now placed on Loki's shoulders, the King of the Volsungs is freed from his torment.

However, after further investigation and witnessing Loki's visions, Leif learns that the God of Mischief is himself a scarred soul. For years, Loki was helpless regarding the fate of his children, whom he believes he has failed miserably. At this point, Leif realizes that Loki was lying to him when he claimed he influenced his past decisions. For all of his ruthless and merciless murders, no one was to blame but himself. Loki reveals that he makes people believe he is the reason for everyone's mistakes, as it helps them live their lives without guilt while he is made a scapegoat for their inadequacies. This tragic truth opens Leif's eyes to the complexity of Loki's position as one of the Aesir gods. Despite being demonized by the rest of the world, the God of Mischief only lives according to his nature and what everyone expects of him.

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