My ultimate favorite character is definitely Loki, of Norse mythology.
He was a trickster god. He is often looked on as being antagonistic,
but I think he was just charming and misunderstood. Shouldn't have
been punished by his brother as he was. (His son's entrails were used
to bind him and snake venom was dripped on him for all time or such.)
One of the most interesting things about him was that he was a Shifter.
He shapeshifted into whatever form suited him, and was neither male
nor female, but whatever sex and inbetween sex he chose. And, also,
whatever species. Once he turned into a horse and got frisky with a
lovely mare, and his kid was this mutant colt with six legs. His other
children were Hel, a half dead troll chick, Fenrir, the great Wolf god,
and the much respected world serpent, Jormungandr. (When this kid
grew up, he was big enough to circle the world and bite his own tail,
and when he lets go the world will end, the legend goes.) Anyway, Loki
is just badass, and is my heeerooo. He's smart and devlish and is just a
romantic sweetheart. Well, I made up that last trait in a way, but I'm
sure he was to his many mates! And he wasn't always tricking people
or doing harm. He helped the gods out as much as he toyed with them!
His character is paralleled by greek stories and native american tales of crows
and coyotes- the clever, witty tricksters. I really love the tales of the crow,
even more than the coyote god. Crows are the smartest birds
on the planet (smarter than parrots, and can learn to talk, too), and in
greek times they were actually honored citizens. There's a story where
a shopkeeper had one that spewed off advertisements of his wares, and
a jealous neighbor killed the crow, and was murdered by a town mob for
the sacrelige.. Anyway. Apparently, or so they say, there were once
white crows, but misdeeds led to the dark taint, or the cloak of knowledge,
or something. I also like the native tale where the crow stole the sun from
a different dimension.
Um.. Another of my favorite stories, though not my favorite character, is
of Elijah from the christian bible. His god sent ravens to keep him alive
in the desert. I thought that was pretty spiffy...
And then there's Loki's brother, Odin. Odin had Huginn and Muginn,
or Thought and Memory: two ravens who were kinda his personal CIA
agents, his eyes and ears, since he tore out one of his eyes as a sacrifice
for ultimate knowledge and whatnot. Understandable. I like Odin.
Even if he was a *Cough* to poor Loki. ;;
