Loki/Thor
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Thor/Loki |
| Alternative name(s): | Thunderfrost, Thorki[1] |
| Gender category: | Slash, Incest |
| Fandom: | Avengers, Thor, Marvel Comics |
| Canonical?: | Non-Canon |
| Prevalence: | Most common |
| Archives: | Loki/Thor (AO3) |
| Other: |  You can be blind even with two eyes, fan art by aivelin, created for the fic storm chaser (2017) |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Thor/Loki, also known as Thunderfrost or Thorki, is the slash pairing of Loki and Thor in Marvel fandom.
Many fans of this pairing consider it to be pseudo-incest, as the characters are not blood related. Still others consider this pairing to be incestuous as they were raised together as brothers, and there is a considerable Thorki anti-shipping community.
Canon
They grew up as brothers in the palace, often portrayed as Loki being in Thor's shadow. As Loki discovers the truth about his heritage, he gets angry and bitter and tries to kill Thor repeatedly. Thor constantly tries to get Loki back on the right track, and in the end they make peace with each other.
Fandom
Thor/Loki is a popular slash pairing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and related Marvel Comics 'verse.
Ship Appeal
They just seem hopelessly entangled to me. They were raised together, but Loki always felt like he was other and less than. Loki loves Thor, but he's intensely jealous of all that Thor seems to effortlessly obtain while Loki remains completely overshadowed despite his greatest efforts. When you have a touch of the ole' madness like Loki does, it gets twisted all around so that love and hate simmer very very closely together.As for Thor, I think that he just loves and is fiercely protective of Loki and will do just about anything for him. I don't think he's quite as naive as some fics make him out to be, but he's no dummy and I think he has a physical intelligence (notice how he's always touching Loki?) and has definitely started growing an emotional intelligence since his exile. I feel like he is beginning to understand Loki's madness, but he's still hopeful that they can reconcile.
Anyway, for me the Thor/Loki relationship is so intense that I can't see them being romantically involved with anyone else. Sure, they may have short term or physical relationships with other people, but they are each other's primary emotional relationship.[2]
Common Tropes & Themes
- Odin's A+ parenting: It usually involves Loki being overlooked/neglected/mistreated as a child, while Thor is loved by all, though sometimes his bad parenting affects both boys, even if differently.
- Jotun!Loki: Where Loki was not rescued by Odin and was raised in Jotunheim as a prince of the realm. In many works use of this trope sidesteps any issues related to incest, because Thor and Loki were raised apart. Some tropes usually associated with this one are:
- Arranged Marriage: Thor and Loki have to marry, more or less willingly, to secure the peace between their realms. Sometimes, the marriage is only a trick by Laufey to destroy Asgard, that's foiled by Loki's love for Thor. It usually involves depicting the Jotun as an one-gender race, so Loki can carry Thor's children.
- War prize: Usually, it involves Thor getting Loki as war prize after a war between Asgard and Jotunheim, though sometimes is the opposite.
- Slavefic: Loki as Thor's thrall is the most usual version, though a few fics exist that depict Thor as Loki's slave.
- Arranged Marriage is also a common storyline outside the Jotun!Loki trope. Often Thor and Loki must marry to secure peace between Asgard and Jotunheim.
- MPREG and kidfic: Usually with Loki as carrier, either due to him being a Jotun or by the way of magic.
- Redemption fics: Usually set after one of the movies, in those fics Loki redeems himself, at least to some extent, and starts (or restarts) a relationship with Thor. It may involve prison or punishment for Loki, or the revelation that he was tortured or threatened by Thanos.
- Refugee Ship/New Asgard: post-Ragnarok there was a lot of fanworks focusing on Thor and Loki's lives on the ship, and them building a new life together in New Asgard
- Alpha/Beta/Omega: Usually with Thor as Alpha and Loki as Omega, though the opposite has also been featured.
- All Human AU: these stories may have Thor and Loki always being human, or they become human by some means of magic or unexpected event
- Sometimes, a third brother named Baldr is mentioned. He is their younger brother in Norse Mythology.
- Threesome: usually involving other Asgardians or members of The Avengers
Statistics
- In 2018, Thorki was ranked 22nd on Tumblr's Top 100 Ships of 2018[3]
Terminology
- Thunderfrost and Thorki are the pairing names for the ship.
Challenges
Controversies
Thor/Loki is a controversial ship as it portrays two men raised as brothers in a sexual relationship. Although not related by blood, many fans still find the focus of these fics disturbing and a number of fans are Thorki anti-shippers.
Fans of this pairing often point to the fact that these two are not related, and not even of the same species. They also highlight Norse Mythology (on which the characters of Thor and Loki are based) as been accepting of incestuous relationships, and posit that their relationship would not be as taboo on Asgard as it is on Earth.
Many fans of this pairing refer to it as pseudo-incest but it is more commonly tagged as 'Sibling Incest' on Ao3.
Fanworks
Fanart
- Loki as the stolen Relic Thorki part of a series of Jotun!Loki AU by hechizero-emplumado
- untitled, Archived version by thacmis
- Loki and Thor by Nay-Hime
- Little Loki and Thor by foagydja
- Loki and Thor by whodemonf
- Loki and Thor 4EVER by hiyade
- Under the mistletoe by GoreChick
Fanfiction
- Athelas by astolat.
- Chaos War by astolat.
- Hug Therapy by astolat: Humor fic where Thor gets Loki back with the help of the Avengers' therapist.
- Freedom Is Life's Great Lie by amberfox17: Dark fic where Thor was captured by an evil SHIELD after he was banished to Earth.
- Wild Ambition Fortune Ice Prefers by amberfox17. With Jotun!Loki and arranged marriage.
- One More Year in Asgard by chubbychoco: Post-The Avengers.
- On My Knees (Fighting You to My Dying Breath) by OneWhoSitsWithTurtles: Post-The Avengers.
- Eight Months of a Century by stereobone: Post-The Avengers Mpreg.
- Mirror, Mirror by jane_potter link, with trickster!Thor and warrior!Loki.
- The Gentle Heart (Is a Savage Leash) by Saucery: Dark AU fic. (offline, not archived)
- The Unwinding of Loki by d: Runaway Bride AU.
- A Psalm of Life, Archived version by orphan_account
- Celebrations, Archived version by cavaleira inspired by kaz-on-the-plate
- Take the Long Way Home by cavaleira
- Loki Wrapped In Red, Archived version by Marie_Phantom (2014)
- storm chaser by cloudsovercalifornia: coda to Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Trémulo camino al Cielo by PerlaNegra first kiss (2012) (Spanish language)
- Shatter (Thor story) by Aria (2011)
Fanvids
Meta
- Regarding Thorki and Incest by mayphoenix (2015)
- This is just to say... (or maybe it's a Thorki manifesto) by Tumblr user heyjudesie
Zines
Example Art Gallery
Podbook cover by Cybel for tinypinkmouse's recording of Athelas (2011)
Tenderness. Thor/Loki by the-ALEF (2012)
Cover art for the art zine A Gift by boltplumart (2013)
THORKI-15 by Veilchen (2013)
Cover Art by Minoru Joeling for their zine of collected works, Minoru Joeling Art Collection 2015-2017
Archives and Communities
- Loki/Thor fanworks at Archive of Our Own
- Loki + Thor at FanFiction.net
- Loki/Thor podfics at Audiofic Archive
- Thorki tag at Wattpad
References
- ^ The Avengers Ships: Master List
- ^ Comment by reddit user RavenBringsLight, on r/marvelfans post Ship of the Week: Thor/Loki. Feb 2016.
- ^ 2018’s Top Ships