Yer a lizard, Loki!

krakensdottir:

Okay, I’ve been batting this headcanon theory thingy around for a while. Has anyone else noticed that Loki at times seems to teleport, invisibly, from where he was actually standing, leaving an illusory doppelganger in his place? It really is the best explanation for a couple of scenes.

Exhibit A: Jotunheim

A frost giant charges Loki, who’s on the edge of a sheer cliff.

Sure looks like he’s really there, doesn’t he? He definitely acts like it. “Oh, I’ve just realized I’m between a giant and a cliff. Well this sucks. What to do…”

Then he goes calm, still. Concentrating.

And when the giant connects…

Whoop! SURPRISE, MOTHERFUCKER!

There you are. But were you back there the whole time, casting illusions? Was the whole ‘looking back at the cliff behind you’ an act? Or did you jump back there and leave a very convincing (but curiously passive) copy of yourself behind?

Exhibit B: Coulson’s Death

So here we have Thor in a cage and banging on the glass, managing to crack it, while Loki’s standing outside. And man does Loki react.

Okay, he laughs it off – “Wow bro, you got me good for a second there!” – but at first he tensed, hands up. Again, it seems like he’s actually there, in actual peril. And again, knowing what happens a minute later, it could be an act. But it seems to me like good evidence he’s actually standing there.

Until Coulson shows up, pointing a gun at him. And again, SURPRISE!

Tadaa! He was behind you all along. Only… maybe he wasn’t? Maybe that guy in front of you wasn’t an illusion till you showed up. And only then did Loki shift himself to another location while leaving an exact (visual) duplicate to make it look like he didn’t move at all.

Which is a hell of a neat trick, in that case, because then Loki could swap himself out with a double anywhere, any time. Just leave it there, like a lizard shedding its tail to give an attacker something to keep concentrating on. You don’t know he’s actually moved until it’s far too late.

(Also, this would go a long way toward explaining a scene in The Dark World. You know the one.)