Thursday 6 June 2013

Heroes and Villains Blog Hop

Welcome to my post for the Heroes and Villains Blog Hop, I do hope you enjoy my selection. If you click the link or the image you will be taken to the master post for the hop run by Dani and Jackie.

First the Villain

So I really have to wax lyrical about my favourite villain, but before I do I have to say, I'm not usually into villains. I can appreciate a good one, but they are very rarely my favourite character. This gentlemen is definitely my favourite, hands down, without any competition.

The villain I am talking about is Loki of Asgard, adopted son of Odin and true son of Laufey, of the Avengers movie universe.


We first meet Loki in the film Thor. Now I am not going to lie, the first time I saw Thor I was not impressed, in fact I complained about it on my LJ, but the second time I saw it I realised something fundamental, I had been paying attention to the wrong brother. King of ironic given the overall plot of Thor.

In mythology Loki is the trickster god and he is the trickster in Thor as well. He is the younger brother, the shadow to Thor's heart winning bravado, and the brains of the operation. Thor is not an imbecile by any means, but he is brash, loud, proud and a bit of a tit at the beginning of the movie. Thor ends up banished, Loki finds out he's adopted and a Jotun (Asgard's ancient enemy) and winds up king, because Odin falls into Odinsleep and you can just tell that's not going to end well.


What I love about Loki is how broken he is. In Thor he could have become a laughing lunatic (which if you look at the original script is how he was written), but he doesn't, he just breaks more. He is the lost son trying to prove he is worthy, even if he goes about it in entirely the wrong way. Loki's actions ultimately make Thor a better person and at each point, if one thing had been different, Loki could almost have come out the good guy.

It also helps that he's played by Tom Hiddleston who is one of my favourite two actors ever (check out my Tom Hiddleston label to find out why). Tom's range and love for the character is what makes Loki so engaging to watch. Loki has depth and it's impossible to simply hate him no matter how bad he gets. Tom is also gorgeous, which helps :).

Loki's second outing comes in The Avengers and he's changed a bit by then. We're never shown quite what happened to him as he fell through the void or everything the Chitauri did or did not do to him, but he's more than a little crazy.

Personally I think a lot of the Loki we see in The Avengers is an act. The plan was too complicated and too full of holes to actually be viable and I'm a firm believer he wanted away from the Chitauri and back to Asgard and attacking Midgard was a good way to do it.

That's not to say he's still not more than a little cracked. He kills lots of humans and doesn't seem to give a damn about it. Loki is way over the line and a long way down the path to becoming the creature of chaos he's supposed to be. However, even after all he does he's still my favourite character. He has moments where there is sanity in his eyes, moments when Thor's words almost get to him.

I think Loki is playing the long game and I can only hope the movies continue to build his character in Thor 2: The Dark World, coming in November. Here's a little piece of artwork I did just after The Muppets came out and Tom Hiddleston raved about the movie on Twitter - since Tom's going to be in the next Muppet movie I think it's doubly relevant :).


Now to the Heroes

I can't choose just one for this, so I am going to list a few :).

Thor

I couldn't really have Loki without Thor and I think he's an idiot in the beginning of the movie that bears his name, but then that's the point. The way Thor grows as a character is superb and I love him in his own movies and in The Avengers.

He is loyal and brave and courageous; he loves deeply, will walk through hell for his friends and he's awfully pretty as well. I am very much looking forward to seeing the more mature Thor in The Dark World.
Aragorn

He's my favourite character from the Lord of the Rings movies. He's handsome, brave and downright badass through the whole thing.

What I find amusing is that I don't really fancy him when he's dolled up as king, I prefer the scruffy ranger hands down :). He's also the crossover character, the one who is human, only not quite and I love that about him. I really wish Tolkien hadn't written the appendix about him and Arwen, because they have such a fabulous romance.
Buffy

How could I have a list of heroes without Buffy? She was a revolution and a truly great character. The fact that she is not perfect, she is not the ultimate brain as well as being the ultimate slayer.

I love her for her faults and for her strengths. She's a teenager and she acts like one. Sometimes she sulks and yet at other times she shows more bravery than most people could ever imagine. She is strong yet vulnerable and she is always ready with a one liners.
Black Widow

I'm not totally obsessed with Marvel, promise, but I couldn't leave out Black Widow. This is one woman who can take on gods and win. She is totally awesome and she has no super powers. Her abilities are human and so well honed that she is a master assassin.

In a fight you want this woman to have your back.
Sapphire and Steel

These two are from an British 80s TV show and are an integral part of my childhood. They are agents of an unknown force for good and are elements as their names suggest. Some might say they are not heroes, but if Black Widow counts so do these two. They prevent destruction when time breaks through into the real world causing all sorts of supernatural events. If you have never seen this show and you enjoy sci-fi with a touch of paranormal that will scar you for life, this is the show for you. They keep talking about a remake and I think it would be really good.

Belgarion

This boy is from The Belgariad by David Eddings and I so, so, so love him as a character. He is just a boy dragged into events he cannot understand; in his case, the ongoing war between Light and Dark that has been raging for millennia with gods and wizards and demons and devils. The Belgariad is by far and away one of my favourite book series of all time. When he turns out to be far more than just a orphan farm boy it's not a surprise, but it is perfectly done and still he's more confused than competent. He faces a destiny that would scare the bravest warrior and he really doesn't know how to be a hero.

I could go on, I have so many favourites, but I'll stop here. Thank you very much for reading. I look forward to seeing everyone else's choices in the hop.

28 comments:

  1. Those were all great picks but, wow, I thought I was the only one who's ever seen Sapphire and Steel!

    I found the boxed set many years ago and started watching the entire series. It's a great show and I'm surprised they never revived it.

    Left and Write

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    1. It is such a shame they finished it where they did as well - could have done with so much more. Love Sapphire and Steel so much - I remember some of them from when I was a child, but I am pretty sure I didn't see them all until the DVDs came out. I keep eyeing the revamped DVDs because the old ones have the most annoying menu system known to man :).

      Thank you so much for dropping by.

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  2. Loki is an awesome villain. How can you not love him? One of the reasons I can't wait for the next Thor movie is because of him.
    Great hero picks, especially Black Widow. She is amazing and I love the way she saves the day in Avengers.

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    1. He's totally the reason I'm vibrating in place for the next Thor movie :).

      I cannot believe how some people said she was just window dressing in The Avengers ... clearly they weren't watching the same movie I was :).

      Thanks so much for dropping by.

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  3. Sapphire and Steel!!

    YES I loved that crazy show.

    Great choices.

    Tim
    The Other Side

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    1. Thank you and it was such a great show wasn't it - just slightly left of normal in a way that made it fascinating.

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  4. I can't help it, every time I see Tom Hiddleston as Loki, I grin like an idiot.

    ~MPL
    PepperWords

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    1. I think that's a perfectly acceptable reaction :).

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  5. So much I loved about this post! Very thorough. And yes, Aragorn...*sighs* What can one say to do him justice?

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    1. Thank you :). I think one might have to go on for pages to do Aragorn justice.

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  6. Loki is played well. I think he may be the star of the movie. Ah, your heroes. Top bill! Love Aragorn! *sigh* thanks for doing the fest with us!!!

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    1. Me thinks he may be the star too ;) - I'm sure Loki would like to think so!

      Thank you for hosting, it's been so much fun visiting everyone's blogs. I just finished :).

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  7. I love the Loki character; totally nuts, and sensitive, and insane, and deep, and crazy, and betrayed and... yeah, bipolar doesn't quite embrace the mountain of feelings that is Loki.

    And Aragorn? Yum! What can I say? I'm into medieval man with swords, which is why I'm about to marry a classical pianist lol

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    1. Loki is just brilliant - Tom brought to life a classic I think.

      Classical pianist ... so good with his hands then ;)

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  8. I think Loki has that whole betray the family thing, but since he wasn't their biological child, he's allowed to rebel a little.

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    1. Oh I think he's more than rebelling a little ... although for Asgard, who can say - conquering earth could all just be on the scale of a rather large tantrum as far as they're concerned. :)

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  9. I love the Muppets-Avengers crossover!!

    As Loki, he looks so evil, but I've seen the actor in other movies and he looks like such a nice guy.

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    1. They're both Disney, maybe we'll get the real thing one day ;)

      In interviews and from fan reports he seems like such a nice guy as well. He's absolutely lovely on Twitter, even when people are arses. Genuinely all round good chap I believe.

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  10. Loki is a brilliant character, and so well cast with Tom Hiddleston. However, I can't help but chuckle everytime I watch the end of the Avengers movie when Hulk gets his hands on him :)

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    1. That was such a brilliant way to bring him down to earth, very funny, also, if he was compromised by the spear like those he controlled, it would have been a good way to deal with that too.

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  11. I just watched Thor for the first time yesterday and I liked it a lot. I think Natalie Portman was miscast, although I do like her. Loki was pretty devious. :) Writer’s Mark

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    1. I like Natalie Portman in it, she's kind of pocket sized compared to most of the cast, but is so spunky it makes no difference. I also love Kat as Darcy :).

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  12. Loki is an excellent choice. I agree with Dani that he may have stolen the show!
    And Aragorn is my fave in LOTR. (Plus, Viggo played him so well.)

    Thanks for participating in our blogfest! :)


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    1. He totally did steal the show :). Thanks so much for commenting, sorry it took me so long to reply.

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  13. Great picks, I've never thought of Loki in such a positive light before, but I see I, not he, was being one dimensional.

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    1. :) He's definitely a character with depth. Thank you very much for commenting.

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  14. Oh, I am laughing because I think the same about Aragorn - he's much more tantalizing when he's scruffy. Excellent hero. I've not seen Thor, but I did think Loki was interesting in Avengers. Another Muppet Movie, you say? Yahoo!

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    1. He just does so well scruffy does dear Aragorn and he seemed so much older when they dressed him up and less sexy :). I recommend seeing Thor if you want to see the subtleties of Loki's character - it's a most entertaining movie as well.

      Yep, more muppets :)

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