Loki vs. Mephisto Fight Settles Who Is Marvel’s Greatest Trickster

Mephisto and Loki both pride themselves upon their skills as tricksters. Both take delight in seemingly offering something for nothing only to spring the trap once the bargain is struck. However, a battle between the two in a Bring on the Bad Guys special confirms which of them is the better cosmic con artist.

Written by Anthony Oliveira, with art by Jethro Morales, Bring on the Bad Guys: Loki #1 finds the god of mischief in trouble. However, Mephisto is willing to use his power to turn back time and undo the lie-smith’s latest prank. All he has to do is retrieve the soul of a mortal singer, whose ancestor was denied Mephisto generations earlier. It is a bargain the trickster god is all too happy to accept.

However, Loki being Loki, it is far too mundane to simply stab said singer with a soul-stealing dagger right away. Instead, in his guise as the god of stories, he makes his own bargain with the young man.

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Playing the part of a patron, Loki commissions the singer to write an opera based on the song he heard him singing as he approached him. This simple song becomes an epic opera about a prince who matches wits with a demon.

How Loki denies Mephisto his due

Mephisto is not surprised by Loki delaying the inevitable. He is also not amused by the god of stories commissioning an opera mocking their current situation. To that end, Mephisto tries to ruin the show by killing the actor playing the demon. The show must go on, however, as Loki knows better than anyone. He takes on the demon role himself and seems to finally stab his protege with the soul-stealing knife Mephisto provided.

However, upon Loki’s return to Hell, Mephisto finds the dagger empty. It is then the Norse trickster explains his scheme and how he followed the letter of their bargain while violating the spirit. While Loki was charged with capturing the mortal singer’s soul, it was not specified he use the dagger to do so. Instead, he inspired the singer to put his heart and soul into a truly original story. This effectively gave his soul to Loki and kept it from Mephisto’s reach.

However, while Loki proved himself more cunning than Mephisto, his victory was bittersweet. The power of the original opera is watered down over the years through repeated adaptation and commercialization. Thus while Loki denied Mephisto the young singer’s soul, the opera devoted to the god of stories’ glory was likewise rendered soulless.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Loki #1 is now available at comic shops everywhere.