MCU: Loki Laufeyson (ENTP)

Most people who type Loki as an ENTP, do so based on his recent Disney + series. We did not do that. We paid close attention to Loki, and treated his TV iteration as separate from the rest of the MCU universe. INFJ is the most prominent theory on Loki, so we watched closely for that possibility, in addition to INTJ, ENFJ, and ENTJ, which are all alternate theories that we’ve heard other people put forward. However, we believe there is actually a case for Loki being an ENTP in movies.

Ne:

“Come on, this place is perfect for you. It’s savage, chaotic, lawless. Brother, you’re gonna do great here.” – Thor

“It varies from moment to moment.”

Loki is opportunistic, adaptable, and constantly scheming. Some of his schemes are more long term, which can lead to assumption that he’s a high Ni user. However, above all, Loki is opportunistic and many of his schemes revolve around manipulating the current situation he finds himself in to his advantage rather than always relying on long term planning. In many instances, Loki adapts his schemes to opportunities as they are presented to him, easily switching to a more ideal plan at a moment’s notice. His original plan, in the first Thor movie, while initially involving long term planning, shifted as time went and new information presented itself.

His adaptability and changeable nature comes out strongly in Thor: Ragnarok. He quickly comes up with new plans for every situation he finds himself in. He switches sides multiple times, in an effort to put himself in the best possible position given the information he has available to him. When facing Bruce Banner for the first time since trying to kill everyone back on Earth, Banner asks him, “where are you at these days?” (referring to his evil nature from before). Loki immediately (and honestly) says, “it varies from moment to moment.”

Loki thrives in chaos, because he is dominant Ne and able to adapt so quickly. Thor refers to Sakaar being the perfect place for him, because it is savage, chaotic, and lawless. No matter what happens, Loki seems to always land on his feet, surviving in some miraculous way. He never seems put off in the moment by surprises or unexpected happenings.

Some anecdotal evidence for Loki being dominant Ne is the fact that he can hardly shut up. Loki constantly antagonizes, mocks and pokes at people while in the middle of working with them or against them. While Thor is breaking him out of prison in Dark World, Loki spends the entire time bantering, and even changes into multiple different forms to goad him. Throughout every movie or show he appears, Loki’s default tendency is to talk his way in or out of situations. He relies on this skill more than his ability to plan.

Ti:

Loki: “I come with glad tidings, of a world made free.”
Nick Fury: “Free from what?”
Loki: “Freedom. Freedom is life’s great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart, you will know peace.”

“Your ledger is dripping. It’s gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer. Pathetic!”

Loki loves to play mind games with people. One of the go-to methods he uses when doing this is to twist the other person’s logic around and reframing it. Whether it’s claiming that freedom doesn’t actually make you free or trying to convince others of his current loyalty, Loki will default to trying to persuade people with his logic. His Ti in combination with Ne makes this an especially deadly combination. He likes to talk and likes to try to convince others that his point of view makes sense. (He often does this in an antagonistic way, rather than mixing in sympathy, empathy, or values to gain favor. The focus is on the pure logic, not feelings.)

There are many examples of him rationalizing with others, to shift their point of view or confuse their thinking. He attempts to do this with Heimdall shortly after becoming King, in order to make him shift his loyalty to Loki. In another instance, when captured by the Avengers, he tries to mess with Black Widow’s mind, although mostly for fun since it had no strategic value. (Ultimately, it even worked against him because he accidentally gave away information.)

The tendency to redefine concrete definitions to a personal, subjective definition is common for Ti, and Loki shown doing this. It makes for logic that seems contradicting and weird, but somehow makes sense. That tends to be a staple of Ti reasoning. In the first Avengers movie, Loki rationalizes that people need to be made free from freedom because freedom is life’s greatest lie.

Being a thinker, Loki often mocks sentimentality. His extremely cynical nature surfaces constantly, except for brief points in time in which he needs to remain in everyone’s favor for the sake of a scheme.

Fe:

We initially considered higher Fe for Loki. However, he frequently chooses to isolate himself from others, rather than forming a group of genuinely loyal followers. In addition, in Dark World, Loki has many opportunities to capitalize on the goodwill of others like his mother and Thor, but decides not to do so. Instead, he quickly falls back into his default antagonistic nature, rather than trying to strategically rebuild the relationship.

Loki tends to use his Fe in ways that advantage himself or manipulates others. In specific situations, Loki can come off as polite, kind, and concerned for the well-being of others. However, anyone who knows him recognizes him as someone who is prone to mischief. Thor’s warriors briefly consider whether he’s the potential traitor that Laufey alluded to, because his ill will toward Thor is known. They don’t appear to take his seemingly altruistic actions very seriously. Of course, once his betrayal is unveiled, Loki fully drops the act and doesn’t legitimately try to regain trust or loyalty. His “Fe” use is not consistent or long term, like we would expect from a higher Fe user.

When speaking to Thor after his exile to earth, Loki frames himself as the only one who wishes Thor could return home. He lies and says the others hate Thor, while producing many false reasons why Thor could not return. While Loki likes to frame things as though he is doing them either in the service of others or for their benefit, it is all just thinly veiled lies concealing his own greed and self-interest. One such example is when he informs the people of earth that ruling over them was doing them a favor because they were bred and raised to be ruled.

Si:

“Oh, dear brother, you’re becoming predictable. I trust you, you betray me. Round and round in circles we go. See, Loki, life is about, it’s about growth. It’s about change. But you seem to just wanna stay the same. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you’ll always be the god of Mischief… but you could be more.” -Thor to Loki

While there isn’t a lot of evidence readily available for inferior Si in the movies, there are a few things that potentially nod toward it. The quote above demonstrates someone who is stuck in an inferior Si rut.

Loki thrives on doing unpredictable things and deceiving others. Many fall prey to his tricks and schemes. However, over time, it’s easy to recognize that Loki falls back on the same patterns and schemes over and over again. At a certain point, it’s expected and even anticipated. Thor catches onto to this overarching pattern, and is eventually able to use Loki’s plan against him. Even though, Loki excels at adapting to a given circumstance, as Thor points out, Loki is ultimately unable to change or grow as a person. He just keeps doing the same things over and over again.