History YMMV / Loki2021

** Ouroboros is such a lovable nerd in the vein of [[Film/EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce Waymond Wang]] who is excited to have Mobius see him after ''400 years''. [[spoiler:His original self as A.B. Doug is also excitable over seeing Loki, as Loki reminds him of a fictional character in his sci-fi book.]] According to his actor, he portrayed Ourboros as an adult version of his previous role of [[Film/TheGoonies Data]].

* PreemptiveShipping: The moment Mobius was announced as a character, fans immediately began shipping him with Loki before even started airing due to leaks indicating that the show would confirm Loki as bisexual, and thus many hoped or expected that Mobius would serve as a love interest to Loki. One of the first fics between them was written soon after the first trailer of the show dropped.

* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: Creator/TaraStrong is already known for her voice acting, but the Season 2 episode "1893" has her portray Miss Minutes going full {{Yandere}} for Victor Timely while keeping her Southern accent mixed with a ContraltoOfDanger that makes you feel the stalker-ish vibes the holographic clock AI is giving.

* AssPull: In "The Variant," Reset Charges and related weapons were explicitly established as [[spoiler: unable to prune any timeline that has gone past redline. But that is ''exactly'' what happens at the end of "Breaking Brad," which takes place 2 entire episodes ''after'' He Who Remains' death caused ''every Nexus Event on the Sacred Timeline to go past redline.'']]

* AssPull: In episode 2 of both seasons, someone [[spoiler: unleashes Reset Charges across the timeline(s) against the TVA's wishes for opposing reasons. When Sylvie and Dox bomb the Sacred Timeline(s), it's played up like a multiverse-creating/destroying cataclysm and it cuts to credits, setting those events up to affect the direction of the season's plot. Both bombings are casually and unceremoniously undone in the ''very next episode.'' While Dox getting rid of the multiverse [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome was never going to last thanks to He Who Remains' death]], Sylvie's creation of dozens of Nexus Events all over the shop was somehow stopped by the Minutemen, even though there's a shot of a TVA monitor of all the timelines branching towards redline in what appears to be too little time for the situation to be salvaged, let alone offscreen and with no attention drawn towards the TVA's ''miraculous'' efforts]].
** On a related note, did the TVA [[spoiler: [[MemeticMutation use the Reset Charges to undo the effects of the Reset Charges]]? [[MindScrew Whoa.]]]]
** In "The Variant," Reset Charges and related weapons were explicitly established as [[spoiler: unable to prune any timeline that has gone past redline. But that is ''exactly'' what happens at the end of "Breaking Brad," which takes place 2 entire episodes ''after'' He Who Remains' death caused ''every Nexus Event on the Sacred Timeline to go past redline.'']]

* AssPull: In episode 2 of both seasons, someone [[spoiler: unleashes Reset Charges across the timeline(s) against the TVA's wishes for opposing reasons. When Sylvie and Dox bomb the Sacred Timeline(s), it's played up like a multiverse-creating/destroying cataclysm and it cuts to credits, setting those events up to affect the direction of the season's plot. Both bombings are casually and unceremoniously undone in the ''very next episode.'']] While Dox getting rid of the multiverse [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome was never going to last thanks to He Who Remains' death]], Sylvie's creation of dozens of Nexus Events all over the shop was somehow stopped by the Minutemen, even though there's a shot of a TVA monitor of all the timelines branching towards redline in what appears to be too little time for the situation to be salvaged, let alone offscreen and with no attention drawn towards the TVA's ''miraculous'' efforts.

* AssPull: In episode 2 of both seasons, someone [[spoiler: unleashes Reset Charges across the timeline(s) against the TVA's wishes for opposing reasons. When Sylvie and Dox bomb the Sacred Timeline(s), it's played up like a multiverse-creating/destroying cataclysm and it cuts to credits, setting those events up to affect the direction of the season's plot. Both bombings are casually and unceremoniously undone in the ''very next episode.'' While Dox getting rid of the multiverse [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome was never going to last thanks to He Who Remains' death]], Sylvie's creation of dozens of Nexus Events all over the shop was somehow stopped by the Minutemen, even though there's a shot of a TVA monitor of all the timelines branching towards redline in what appears to be too little time for the situation to be salvaged, let alone offscreen and with no attention drawn towards the TVA's ''miraculous'' efforts.

** The rest of the series is not to be outdone. Lamentis-1 looks ''beautiful.'' The TVA backgrounds expand the space in a believable way. Perhaps most spectacular are the openings of both "For All Time. Always." and "Heart of the TVA," in which the camera zooms out of one universe and into another through colorful tubes of warped space that would make Film/DoctorStrange jump up from its seat and yell "bravo," revealing the asteroid containing the Citadel at the End of Time, first being balanced perfectly by the finely threaded lights of the Sacred Timeline, then having those same lights chaotically and beautifuly branch out and bump into each other and overwhelm the space, turning the whole dimension substantially more purple and blue. In the latter episode we also have tiny holagram He Who Remains and tiny holagram Ravonna chatting in a tiny hologram CATEOT while regular-sized real Ravonna watches from the background.

** Is it what Miss Minutes said to Victor Timely before she is [[spoiler:reset]] really what she wanted to say, or did she change her mind as she realized her [[spoiler:{{Pun her time was up}}]]. It wouldn’t make sense for her to sound urgent if she just wanted to taunt Timely. What adds to this question is the question of whether she even knew what [[He Who Remains’ backup plan was]] because she developed a crush on Timely and also wanted to takeover with Ravonna, which would not progress [[spoiler:He Who Remains’ plans. Perhaps He Who Remains saw Miss Minutes’ betrayal coming.]]

* MagnificentBastard: [DemiurgeArchetype He Who Remains]], a variant of [[Characters/MCUKang Kang the Conqueror]], is the mastermind behind the [[Characters/MCUTimeVarianceAuthority Time Variance Authority (TVA)]], created to prevent multiversal wars between timelines and preserve a single Sacred Timeline. Filling the TVA with mind-wiped time variants that fought with him in the multiversal war against the various Kangs, these agents would be sent into alternate timelines, resetting events back to the Sacred Timeline while arresting, judging, and executing the variants causing the divergences. He Who Remains tracks the actions of [[Characters/MCULokiLaufeysonVariantL1130 Loki Odinson Variant L1130]] and [[Characters/MCUSylvieLaufeydottir Sylvie Laufeydottir]] before having his assistant, Miss Minutes, confront the duo with the the proposal to live in their ideal world. Upon being confronted, He Who Remains gives the two the option of either taking over the TVA to ensure the stability of the timeline or [[MyDeathIsOnlyTheBeginning killing him and allowing his own variants to wage war across timelines]], which would invariably lead to one of them running the TVA all over again. Granting Loki the ability to timeslip before his death, He Who Remains posthumously forces him into one final choice: either allow his Temporal Loom that holds the timelines to explode and destroy the TVA and the branching timelines or kill Sylvie before she can kill He Who Remains, [[XanatosGambit either choice giving him full control of the Sacred Timeline once again]].

* MagnificentBastard: [[DeityOfHumanOrigin He Who Remains]] and [[MascotWithAttitude Miss Minutes]] are the masterminds behind the [[TimePolice Time Variance Agency (TVA)]], created to prevent multiversal wars between timelines, preserving a single Sacred Timeline. Filling the TVA with time variants kidnapped and brainwashed into servitude, these agents would be sent into alternate timelines, resetting events back to the Sacred Timeline while arresting, judging, and executing the variants causing the divergences. Both tracking the actions of [[Characters/MCULokiLaufeysonVariantL1130 Loki Odinson Variant L1130]] and Sylvie Laufeydottir, Miss Minutes confronts the duo with the the proposal to live in their ideal world before allowing them to pass when they refuse. Upon being confronted, He Who Remains gives the two the option of either taking over the TVA to ensure the stability of the timeline or [[MyDeathIsOnlyTheBeginning killing him and allowing his own variants to wage war across timelines]], which would invariably lead to one of them running the TVA all over again.

** Is it what Miss Minutes said to Victor Timely before she is [[spoiler:reset]] really what she wanted to say, or did she change her mind as she realized her [[spoiler:{{Pun her time was up}}]]. It wouldn’t make sense for her to sound urgent if she just wanted to taunt Timely. What adds to this question is the question of whether she even knew what [[He Who Remains’ backup plan was]] because she developed a crush on Timely and also wanted to takeover with Ravonna, which would not progress [[spoiler: He Who Remains’ plans. Perhaps He Who Remains saw Miss Minutes’ betrayal coming.]]

* FriendlyFandoms: There is a significant overlap between fans who like Loki and Sylvie (Sylki) as a couple and fans who ship Kylo Ren and Rey (Reylo) from ''Franchise/StarWars.'' It helps that in both cases a male TallDarkAndHandsome villain who makes a HeelFaceTurn starts off as an enemy of a headstrong ActionGirl. In both cases the two characters are linked metaphysically, with Loki and Sylvie being Variants of the same being, and Kylo Ren and Rey being linked by and able to communicate through the Force. The scene of Loki and Sylvie fighting the guards of the Time-Keepers as BackToBackBadasses drew a lot of comparison to the similar scene of Kylo Ren and Rey fighting Snoke's guards in ''Film/TheLastJedi.'' Both couples eventually share a kiss. And since Reylo's culmination in the sequal trilogy is considered disapponting and unsatisfying, many of its fans stated that "Sylki is what Reylo should have been." Sylki fandom also drew the sympathy of some Reylo fans due to Sylki shippers becoming the target of heavy harassment and AntiShippingGoggles from [[ShipToShipCombat ship rivals]] since the ship first got legs, which some Reylo fans expressed as relatable.

** Season 2 reveals right away that [[spoiler:the apparently "alternate" TVA where Loki ended up at the end of season 1 was in fact the same TVA in the past, which He Who Remains led openly. What caused him to wipe everyone's memories and create the Time-Keeper as figureheads?]]

* EvilIsSexy:
** President Loki gets a lot of love for his deep, growly voice and his swagger.
** Ravonna Renslayer is a strikingly beautiful woman played by Creator/GuguMbathaRaw, and she’s more or less TheHeavy for the first season. She is even able to use this status to her advantage a bit InUniverse, as her charm is a big factor in keeping Mobius unquestionably loyal to the TVA before the Lokis interfere.

** Many fans were upset with the MCU's track record of LGBTQ representation, often amounting to little more than teases between heterosexual characters that aren’t followed up on, or are minor characters who appear in one scene and never show up again. This show has Loki be explicitly identified by the TVA as "fluid" in regards to sex, which not only aligns with his comic book and mythological origins, but also officially makes Loki the MCU’s first queer protagonist to be confirmed on-screen. He's explicitly confirmed as bisexual in Episode 3, with him admitting to having had flings with both men and women, which director Kate Herron confirmed was one of her major goals with the show, [[ButNotTooBi although he's not given the opportunity to engage in same-gender relationships onscreen]]. Also some have pointed out that him being gender fluid isn't truly acknowledged, as while Sylvie's insistence on not being called Loki does have similarities with a trans person identifying by a new name she is implied to have simply been born a girl in her timeline as opposed to using magic to become female, [[spoiler: and when asking the other Lokis if they've ever met a female version of themselves before they respond with disbelief]].

** Ouroboros is such a lovable nerd in the vein of [[Film/EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce Waymond Wang]] who is excited to have Mobius see him after ''400 years''. [[spoiler:His original self as A.B. Doug is also excitable over seeing Loki, as Loki reminds him of a fictional character in his sci-fi book.]]

* MemeticMutation:
** Many French social media comments under the first trailer joked that "Loki is fleeing/gets arrested because he wants to evade taxes".[[note]]In France, [[SignificantMonogram T.V.A.]] is the acronym for "Taxe sur la Valeur Ajoutée" ("[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value-added_tax Value-added Tax]]").[[/note]]
** Meanwhile in [[CanadaEh Quebec]], T.V.A. is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TVA_(Canadian_TV_network) a television channel]].
** "What's a fish?" [[labelnote:Explanation]]Loki threatens to "gut [Casey] like a fish" if he doesn't give him the Tesseract, but the threat falls flat as [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Casey has never been outside the TVA and doesn't know what a fish is.]] This becomes funnier in Episode 11, because Casey (actually Frank Lee Morris) mentions that he and his fellow Alcatraz prisoners will be gutted like fish if they get caught.[[/labelnote]]
** Casey is more powerful than Thanos. [[labelnote:Explanation]]When the contents of Casey's junk drawer were revealed, many viewers joked that his dozens of Infinity Stones [[MemeticBadass would make him even more powerful than Thanos]], who only had 6.[[/labelnote]]
** "No ticket."[[labelnote:Explanation]]The scene where another variant is immediately disintegrated for not having a ticket, causing Loki to frantically display his own, naturally got a ton of comparisons to the similar scene in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''.[[/labelnote]]
** Loki crying at sad movies.[[labelnote:Explanation]]Loki tears up while he watches his main timeline counterpart's life play out in the Time Theatre, leading to viewers inserting sad scenes from other films (or alternatively events they find sad) he's crying to.[[/labelnote]]
*** Loki and Mobius watching events/movies/memes.[[labelnote:Explanation]]Related to the above meme, there's quite a few edits of the Time Theater scene to make it look like Mobius and Loki are observing things related to their actors, or other bizarre things.[[/labelnote]]
** If I had a nickel for every time Creator/OwenWilson was in Pompeii, [[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbTheMovieAcrossThe2ndDimension I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.]][[labelnote:Explanation]]Episode 2 has a scene where Loki and Mobius (played by Wilson) visits Pompeii just before it erupts. Fans are quick to point out that this isn't the first time Owen Wilson had to deal with the Pompeii eruption; the first being his role as Jedediah in ''Film/NightAtTheMuseumSecretOfTheTomb''.[[/labelnote]]
** Mobius' fascination with jet skis have become this with fans, some of them jokingly begging Marvel Studios to end the series with Mobius riding into the ocean on a jet ski of his own. Became an AscendedMeme in "Science/Fiction" when [[spoiler:Mobius's original self, Don, is first seen riding a jet ski.]]
** [[WesternAnimation/TheLorax2012 Once-ler]] 2 [[labelnote:Explanation]]The reveal that Loki fell in love with his alternate self led to people (mainly on Tumblr) drawing comparisons to the infamous Once-ler fandom from 2012, known for shipping the Once-ler with alternate versions of himself.[[/labelnote]]
** Mobius meeting characters played by Creator/OwenWilson.[[labelnote:Explanation]]After getting pruned, Loki met other versions of himself. Many fans immediately began making jokes that the same thing happened to Mobius, but he instead met the different roles Owen Wilson has portrayed, with the one most commonly talked about being [[Franchise/{{Cars}} Lightning McQueen]].[[/labelnote]]
** [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse Into the Loki-Verse]][[labelnote:Explanation]]A joke that's been on people's lips since the reveal of a second Loki in Episode one, which only got funnier at the end of Episode 4, when Loki runs into three more ''very'' different Variants of himself.[[/labelnote]]
** There are also many jokes with the "low key" pun.
** Do you really want another ComicBook/OneMoreDay story? [[labelnote: Explanation]]Due to the spiraling Mephisto theories which range from [=WandaVision=] to Loki, some fans wondered if everyone wants to repeat the infamous and controversial One More Day storyline for Spider-Man 3. [[/labelnote]]
** Thanos-copter is canon [[labelnote: Explanation]]The infamous and oft-memed [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E5rS9urVcAIy0GS?format=jpg&name=medium Thanos-copter]] makes an appearance in the Void[[/labelnote]]
** In Brazil, Alligator Loki is jokingly said to come from a timeline where Loki "took the jab" [[labelnote: Explanation]]President Jair Bolsonaro, that has supported anti-Vaxx views, had infamously claimed that Covid vaccination, particularly Chinese-made vaccines, would turn people into alligators[[/labelnote]]
** "You're my favorite" [[labelnote:Explanation]]In episode 5 Mobius gives Loki a long goodbye hug but whispers to Sylvie watching them that she's his favorite Loki variant. This is followed by users inserting pictures of any of their favorite things.[[/labelnote]]
** Greta Thunberg is in the MCU. [[labelnote:Explanation]]The Season 1 finale opens with several real life sound bites interspersed with clips from the MCU, and people especially latched onto Greta Thunberg saying "How dare they," speculating on what the context of her saying that within the MCU could be. Some even figured she might be fighting Thanos, showing him what true environmental activism is about.[[/labelnote]]
** All this happened because Hulk had to take the stairs. [[labelnote:Explanation]] With the first season ending with the Sacred Timeline breaking into a chaotic multiverse and Kang the Conqueror taking over the TVA, people were quick to remember that [[DisasterDominoes an angry Hulk breaking out of a stairwell and knocking the Tesseract into Loki’s reach was what kicked off the events that lead to that mess in the first place.]] [[/labelnote]]
** Pray for Doctor Strange. [[labelnote:Explanation]]Fans portray Doctor Strange as the OnlySaneMan who has to fix the multiversal shenanigans that Loki has caused, not to mention whatever was alluded to in ''[=WandaVision=]'' and Kang’s involvement in ''Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania''. Safe to say it's going to be a lot of work for him. However, memes of this very quickly died out after the trailer for ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' showcases Strange also botching up a spell that is implied to be the start of said chaos, with characters from [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy previous]] [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan live-action]] Spider-Man films appearing in the MCU. [[/labelnote]]
** Sylvie is a variant of Star-Lord. [[labelnote:Explanation]]Fans compare Sylvie's killing of He Who Remains as similar to Star-Lord's outburst in ''Infinity War'' in being an emotional outburst that directly results in the universe / multiverse going to Hell, and thus declaring that she is a variant of him and not Loki. It helps that they are both blonde and have a backstory of being taken by strangers at a young age.[[/labelnote]]
** Am I dead? [[labelnote:Explanation]]The first panel has any character waking up like Loki did in the Void, the second panel shows a group of characters played by the same actor replying "not yet, but you will be unless you come with us". Alternatively, the first panel has a character who was KilledOffForReal, and the second one has a group of dead characters replying "yep, you are"[[/labelnote]]
** Old man yells at cloud. [[labelnote:Explanation]]Episode 5 ends with Classic Loki, an old man who spends his final moments yelling defiantly before Alioth, which is essentially a doglike {{Cumulonemesis}}. Fans noticed the amusing similarity to the classic ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' meme.[[/labelnote]]
** Miss Minutes jump scare [[labelnote:Explanation]]From the season 1 finale, when Miss Minutes suddenly appears before Loki and Sylvie in the castle and says "hey y'all!" Completely unexpected, fans took it and began adding it in their videos to scare others.[[/labelnote]]
** What was your Nexus Event? [[labelnote:Explanation]]First panel - Loki asking this question in the Void. Second panel - the shot of Kid Loki answering it, with a random person inserted instead of him and saying something atrocious.[[/labelnote]]
** A massive number of memes and jokes comparing [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variants_of_SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 Variants]] to Variants of Loki or He Who Remains.
** What? Haow? [[labelnote:Explanation]]Due to Creator/OwenWilson and his CatchPhrase “wow” (often spelled “waow” due to the way he says it), many fans were disappointed that Mobius, Owen Wilson’s character, never once says “wow”. So they latched onto the next best thing: Mobius saying “how?”/“haow” toward the beginning of the show’s fourth episode. [[/labelnote]]
*** It’s breaking my reality right naow!
** This is the first time. For. Me. In. The, Marvel. Universe. [[labelnote:Explanation]] A clip from one of the show's [[https://youtu.be/7y4-WSywiSY?t=12 promotional videos]] became memetic for the extremely bizarre editing of this line, where it sounds like every word after "time" is awkwardly spliced together from several different takes. [[/labelnote]]
** After the Season 2 Trailer came out, fans joked that Ouroboros (played by Creator/KeHuyQuan) is a variant of [[Film/EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce Waymond Wang.]]
** B-15 reaction. [[labelnote:Explanation]]B-15's [[{{Squick}} disgusted reaction]] to General Dox and Hunter X-5's HeadbuttOfLove became a popular reaction meme especially after Episode 3 when Miss Minutes confessed her love for Victor Timely.[[/labelnote]]
** Hiddleston's acting is better than the entirety of ''Quantumania''[[labelnote:Explanation]]Many were underwhelmed by ''Film/AntManAndTheWaspQuantumania'''s attempt to set up Kang as the next Thanos, thinking that it simply made him look like someone who talks big but can't back it up. Many have instead found Hiddleston's acting as Loki utterly terrified of He Who Remains as more convincing proof of Kang's menace.[[/labelnote]]
** The ending of "Heart of the TVA" [[labelnote:Explanation (GARGANTUAN SPOILERS)]]The episode ends with the Loom finally collapsing and exploding, enveloping its timelines and the TVA in a flash of light. While this obviously isn't the end of the MCU or the show itself (with two episodes left), some have joked that this is the anticlimactic and depressing end of the MCU as we know it, with some further joking that Feige has pulled a RageQuit after worsening public opinions on the MCU and other troubles post-''Endgame''.[[/labelnote]]
** He Who Ramens/He Who Lo Meins[[labelnote:Explanation (Spoilers!)]]At the end of "Heart of the TVA", Timely unexpectedly is spaghettified by temporal radiation, leading to dark puns on noodle dishes.[[/labelnote]]
** Loki over here carrying the whole MCU. [[labelnote:Explanation (GARGANTUAN SPOILERS)]] What started as a simple joke about ''Loki'' being the best MCU property at the time of its airing suddenly became hilarious following the series finale, where Loki personally gathers up all the timelines and holds them together. Meaning he's ''literally'' carrying the whole MCU. [[/labelnote]]