Loki

Loki, also known as The Sovereign One, initially dubbed the Mysterious Boy by fans, is a character that makes his first appearance in Bayonetta 2. As one of the new characters that was teased in the initial E3 2013 preview of the game, he is shown to reside in Purgatorio and is genuinely surprised when Bayonetta is able to see, as well as speak, with him.

Profile
Loki is attempting to reach the sacred mountain of Fimbulventr, but is suffering from amnesia as to why he is travelling there in the first place. He strikes a deal with Bayonetta to get the two of them through by claiming that his mysterious powers will prove necessary to reach the Gates of Hell and save Jeanne's soul.

Personality
Loki has a straight forward way of speaking, and is often to the point about situations. He has a tendency to become very defensive when being criticised or teased by Bayonetta, at least until she demonstrates her own skill against the angels. He doesn't seem to treat her with much regard at first, often being uncaring and using blunt language until the two agree on their deal to get into Fimbulventr. He possesses an accent similar to that of Bayonetta's and often calls her "love" as she calls him "little one". Unlike Bayonetta, however, Loki uses colloquial speech found in rough and hardy areas of London, an example of this slang being 'punter'. When he later hears of Bayonetta's own past regarding lost memories, he grows concerned for her well being and does what he can to help her reach her goal.

Appearance
Loki has ice blue eyes and silver hair, done up in corn rows. He has a blue mark made out of a portion of the symbol of Aesir on his forehead, shaped to an hour glass turned on its side. He has a darker skin tone than the other characters, matching his other half in appearance when they're in their youthful states. Loki wears a green and yellow sleeveless hoodie with baggy orange pants, as well as various gold jewelry and what looks like prayer beads near his shoes. He also wears goggles over his eyes when his hood is up, yet has them hang around his neck in most circumstances. His shoes are teal and white sneakers, partly covered by his pants.

Powers and Abilities
Loki has more than competent fighting capabilities and is shown to possess enough skill to deal with Angels single-handedly. He is also very agile, capable of leaping over and around angels while throwing what appear to be enchanted cards at them. Hitting his angel assailants with even one of these cards causes them to dissolve into gold dust. He also can manipulate energy to use in combat such as creating a shield and charging his throwing cards. His natural agility translates well into his animal form which is a flying squirrel. However, that agility isn't able to fend off the more skilled opponents such as the Masked Lumen.

In addition to his fighting skills, Loki has additional powers related to the Remembrance of Time that allows him and Bayonetta to navigate the streets and paths of Noatun. He is able to seemingly reverse the destruction of structures with this power and creates new walls and paths to travel across. Loki also has the ability to turn into a small blue sphere of energy in order to teleport from place to place. In some instances, he is shown forming blue flames around his hands in order to use magical items in the environment around him.

Early Life
Prior to the events of the first Bayonetta, the God of Chaos Aesir decided to enlighten humans to the true nature of their world and split his divine power between humanity's virtues of light and dark to create the Eyes of the World. In doing so, Aesir also split his very soul into two beings, Loki and Loptr. In order to protect the balance that his split had given the world, Loki was tasked with the Sovereign power, the power to control the Eyes themselves whereas Loptr was given the Prophetic power, being able to use his powers of the Remembrance of Time in order to keep track of the world's progression. Loki and Loptr were also composed of good and evil virtues, with Loki being the 'better' half and the one who decided to enlighten humans when he was Aesir.

During the Witch Hunts 500 years ago, Loptr as the evil half of Aesir, decided to take back the Eyes of the World for his own use. He killed Rosa and would later use this event to spur Balder into believing that Loki was the true culprit because of their similar appearances. Loki, realising that Loptr wanted him out of the way because of his ability to control the Eyes, escaped to the future but lost his memory in doing so. The only thing he remembers is his name and the urge to reach Fimbulventr, most likely because of his former life as Aesir.

Bayonetta 2
Loki is first encountered by Bayonetta the moment she lands in Noatun, almost landing on top of him when he is transformed into a squirrel. Later on at the Cascade Foregrounds further in town, after being initially confused as to why angels are ignoring her, she sees the boy fighting off his aggressors using his cards and agility to get the best of his opponents. Bayonetta applauds his performance and Loki seems to be baffled that she can see him. When he threatens to attack her, she casually dispatches an angel and explains that they are both in Purgatorio. Loki seems confused by this and threatens her not to get in his way.

Bayonetta encounters Loki again inside a Noatun church, pinned down by the remains of the defeated Valiance. Though foul mouthed and angry, he tries to strike a deal with Bayonetta to help get himself free. Though criticizing his negotiation skills and his lack of knowledge on how to speak to women, Bayonetta agrees to go with Loki through Noatun to reach Fimbulventr and keep him safe from angels along the way. After being ambushed by Glamor, Loki is referred to as the 'Sovereign one' and is told to accompany the angel to the 'Prophetic one' for some unknown reason. Loki refuses and is promptly pushed aside whilst Bayonetta deals with the aggressor.

Loki later guides Bayonetta through Noatun, using his abilities to conjure structures and giant waves in order to move from one place to another. When questioned how he can do this, Loki rebuffs Bayonetta and claims he has nothing else to say on the subject rather than admit that he can't remember. After heading through a church, Glamor returns once again and attempts to kidnap Loki to make sure he is taken to Loptr and not awaken his lost memories. Bayonetta is able to save him and the two are briefly separated upon landing back on the ground. Disregarding Bayonetta for the time being, Loki heads towards Fimbulventr and pauses to contemplate why he has to go there. After being struck down by pains in his head at trying to remember, he is attacked by the Masked Lumen and is only saved by Bayonetta interfering before he is struck down. He claims he's never seen the Sage before and initially thinks Bayonetta knows him. He takes a sideline whilst the witch engages in battle.

Upon getting to the Cathedral of Cascades, where a person can choose to go to Paradiso or Inferno, Loki is able to use his powers to get the two of them to the top and get across the 'Bridge To The Heavens'. However, the angel Valor impedes their progress and the pair fall down to beneath the church to an underwater shortcut that could lead them to the Gates of Hell. After narrowly avoiding death at the hands of the Masked Lumen again whilst trapped inside the demon Insidious, Loki learns the reason why Bayonetta is so intent to reach the Gates of Hell. He says that Fimbulventr can wait and that he will do what he can to help her.

Upon reaching the Gates, Loki and Bayonetta are stopped by both the Masked Lumen and Loptr together. The Sage implores Loki to remember his crimes by looking upon his face, but the boy claims that nothing comes to mind. Whilst Bayonetta is kept at bay by Loptr, Loki is barely able to dodge most of the Sage's attacks until reaching a stalemate. Before Loptr can incapacitate them both, Loki flings his cards at the Gates to open them. He implores Bayonetta to follow him and allows himself to be sucked in along with the witch and the Masked Lumen.

After Bayonetta has defeated Alraune and saved Jeanne's soul, she is able to see Loki once again being hounded by the Masked Lumen. She gives chase on Diomedes and lets Loki be carried away to safety by the demon whilst she tackles the now unmasked Balder. However, as Balder gains the upper hand in their duel, Loki suddenly reappears in a mysterious blue energy. Unable to realise where he is, he suddenly yells at Bayonetta to get away from him before a shock wave of light envelopes both her and Balder, making them vanish into the past. Loki himself is transported back to the foot of Fimbulventr where he is found by Luka. Now remembering that his evil half intends to capture the Eyes to become Aesir once again, he begs Luka to take him to the top of the mountain before he is captured by Loptr.

Once Bayonetta and Balder return to the present after having learnt the truth about Loptr, they find Loki in his evil half's grasp as he explains the true nature of Aesir's split and the powers they both contain. Loptr absorbs Loki's Sovereign power and is able to capture both the Right and Left Eye using it, gaining Aesir's power once more. As Bayonetta and her father team up to stop him, Loki reveals that he has a trick up his sleeve. Having remembered that he has more power in his cards and not just his Sovereign power, he explains to Loptr that Aesir's true power is over "nothingness", having the ability to erase anything he chooses from the world. Using that power, Loki is able to destroy the Eyes, claiming that human free will will determine whether the world will be destroyed along with them or whether it will shape it's own path. This act weakens Loptr enough to the point where Bayonetta and Balder can defeat him using a combined summoning.

After Loptr's soul is absorbed into Balder to prevent him from escaping and the Sage returns to his own time, Loki says that the world appears to be in one piece. Claiming that the world has no real need for him anymore, he says that he plans to 'take a break' from the world's affairs and return again at some point in the future. He assumes his identity as Loki, not Aesir and as he begins to fade away, he bids farewell to Bayonetta who insists that he call her Cereza. With a chuckle, Loki says that she still doesn't look like a Cereza to him and then disappears in a blue haze.

Several days later after the events of Fimbulventr, Bayonetta and Jeanne are on a post-holiday shopping trip when Bayonetta notices a woman and a pram walk by. One of Loki's cards then flutters out of it and is taken away by the wind, hinting that his rebirth has been sooner than she released.

Trivia

 * Many have noted that with his fighting style using magic cards, while wearing an upside down pyramid-like pendant on his gold chain, Loki's design and fighting style could be a possible reference to the main character of the anime and trading card game, Yu-Gi-Oh!.
 * Additionally, his dark complexion and white hair gives him a passing resemblance to Marik Ishtar, who was coincidentally one of the main antagonists of the series and was in conflict with his evil half.
 * According to the kanji and appearances of his cards, they appear to be the 21 Major Arcana of Tarot.
 * The name Loki is of Norse origin, and it is the name of the Norse God of Mischief and Mayhem.
 * On an interesting note, the name Loki has no real meaning, even to this day no one has yet to figure out its true origins. On a particular note, it is believed to possibly be a mirror to the Old Norse name Luka, which means "close" in the archaic language. Many think that due to similar spelling, the name Loki could roughly mean "apart", making it the polar opposite of the name Luka.
 * Loki's beast form may also have been based on Ratatoskr, the messenger squirrel that travels across the Norse world tree Yggdrasil.
 * The host of the E3 2014 demo of Bayonetta 2 stated that the his name was Loki long before Platinum Games confirmed it.
 * On the chapter select screen, the hand that flips the chapter cards can be seen with a bracelet that looks identical to Loki's. This implies that Loki is the person on the map, similar to how the chapter select in the first game shows Cereza moving a wooden figure of Bayonetta from place to place.