A series of crossover stories by Khaman V
with a fairly simple premise: After his impersonation of Odin is discovered, Loki has fled Asgard and gone on the run. Upon learning that all versions of himself are fated to die at Ragnarok, Loki decides he wants to try and change his fate by doing something completely unexpected: allying himself with a ragtag group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who understandably don't trust the sincerity of his redemption quest. chaos, drama, and heartwarming moments ensue.
The stories take place in an alternate timeline with some small things changed:
- Loki's impersonation of Odin at the end of Thor: The Dark World is discovered shortly after the end, and as a result Loki is forced to go on the run to avoid execution.
- Coulson's promotion to Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the acquisition of the Playground, which happened at the end of the show's season 1 finale, is delayed until the beginning of the third story.
- Fitz's brain damage issues from Season 2 have been toned down.
- In this universe at least, Odin is still alive, and simply went into the Odinsleep offscreen.
- In the Codex 'verse, Loki is not allied with Thanos in any way, shape, or form.
Although nominally a crossover between the Thor movies and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the saga includes and/or references characters and events from all corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from Daredevil (2015) to Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).
As of 2016 there are a total of thirteen stories in The S.H.I.E.L.D. Codex universe:
- "A Clear and Pleasant Loki", the original story, set shortly after the first season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..
- "Rolling Thunder"
- "In the Bleak Midwinter"
- "An Honest Man", set between Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2A and 2B.
- "Stitched"
- "An Agent of Chaos"
- "Sleipnir"
- "The Janus Paradox", set after Season 2B and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
- "We Lived in Castles"
- "Mr. Fix-It"
- "A Snake Came Crawling"
- "Darwin's Dragon"
- "When the Man Comes Around", the Grand Finale. Crosses over with The Avengers instead of Thor.
- "The Lion in Spring", A side story set after the finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s third season, where Loki attempts to console Daisy over Lincoln's death by telling her the story of how his parents first met.
- "With Postcript to Follow", the Epilogue.
Because it's set in the middle of the MCU's second phase, spoilers for every Marvel film up to Ant-Man, and TV series up to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2, and Daredevil Season 1 are unmarked.
The SHIELD Codex stories provides examples of:
- And I Must Scream: Apparently Thanos' ultimate fate at the end of When The Man Comes Around.
- And the Adventure Continues: How the saga ultimately ends.
- Arc Villain: Several:
- Ian Quinn and Raina in A Clear and Present Loki.
- The Chitauri hybrids in Rolling Thunder.
- Doctor Doom in An Agent of Chaos.
- Amora the Enchantress in A Snake Came Crawling.
- Berserk Button:
- Loki's status as a frost giant and all the emotional baggage attached.
- Nobody is allowed to touch or drive Lola except Coulson.
- Big Bad: Thanos
- Bittersweet Ending:
- A Snake Came Crawling. Thanos has finally gotten his hands on the Tesseract and Asgard has been heavily damaged by the Chitauri forces, but Loki, Thor, and Odin manage to save Asgard from total annihilation, allowing S.H.I.E.L.D. and the rest of the galaxy breathing room to prepare for Thanos's next move. .
- At the end of When the Man Comes Around, Thanos's remaining generals have banded together to avenge his death, Doctor Doom may be Not Quite Dead, and the Sokovia Accords are still being talked about. Nevertheless, Thanos has been defeated (although not completely finished off, the Infinity Gauntlet dismantled, and despite the chaos, the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are ready to face the world.
- Breather Episode: In The Bleak Midwinter, Stitched, Sleipnir, We Lived in Castles, Mr. Fix-It, and Darwin's Dragon.
- Christmas Episode: In The Bleak Midwinter.
- Distant Epilogue: With Postscript to Follow, in which Coulson dies of old age and Loki brings the team to Asgard to mourn him.
- Don't Fear the Reaper: Death is quite polite and playful.
- Eldritch Abomination: Shuma Gorath and Chthon.
- Enemy Mine:
- How Coulson and his team see their relationship with Loki at first.
- Death forms a temporary alliance with Nebula in When The Man Comes around in order to get her close to Thanos for the final battle.
- Fate Worse than Death: Implied to be in store for Thanos after Nebula uses the Infinity Gauntlet on him in When the Man Comes Around. He's apparently in a vegetative state and according to Nova Prime, The Collector took possession of his body.
- From Beyond the Fourth Wall: Inverted. At the end of When the Man Comes Around, Loki takes the Infinity Gauntlet and hides it in another universe so far away from his own that the stones' powers are rendered null and void. Ours.
- Grand Finale: When the Man Comes Around
- Guest-Star Party Member:
- Doctor Strange (2016) and Tony Stark in The Janus Paradox.
- Rocket and Groot in An Honest Man, and A Snake Came Crawling.
- The Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the entire Nova Corps in "When The Man Comes Around".
- Halloween Episode: We Lived in Castles
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Inverted. Loki is periodically tempted to slip back into his megalomaniacal super-villain ways, but each time soundly rejects the opportunity.
- Hero of Another Story: the events of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s second season still occur more or less the same as in canon in between stories.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Coulson and Loki bond over this trope.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: In Sleipner, Loki is (partially) introduced to Farbauti, his biological mother.
- Running Gag:
- Loki's reactions to various parts of Norse Mythology ranging from outrage to Squick.
- Nobody touches or drives Lola except Couslon.
- After listening to "Princes of the Universe" in the first story, Loki becomes a fan of Queen.
- In Rolling Thunder, he listens to one of their albums on a continuous loop during a long car ride.
- In An Agent of Chaos, Skye pre-loads their songs onto his S.H.I.E.L.D.-issued cell phone.
- Shoot the Dog: Loki was forced to kill off a rare world to stop the reemergence of the Chitauri in An Honest Man.
- Shout-Out:
- In the first story, Loki and Coulson listen to "Princes of the Universe" while driving to New York City.
- Loki also reads Watership Down during his confinement in the Bus's prison cell.
- In Rolling Thunder, Agent Triplett refers to the Chitauri nest as an amateur production of Aliens. Loki is later seen watching it in An Agent of Chaos.
- When Loki explains his situation to Coulson in An Honest Man, Coulson's response is "so you want me to go all Magnum, P.I. on this."
- In Stitched, Skye gives Loki a Stitch plush toy as a housewarming gift.
- In An Agent of Chaos, Loki has "Let It Go" on his phone. Skye even sings a few lines.
- At the end of When the Man Comes Around, Loki compares his disposal of the dismantled Infinity Gauntlet to a scene from one of the Indiana Jones films.
- In the first story, Loki and Coulson listen to "Princes of the Universe" while driving to New York City.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Loki and just about everyone.
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Unexpected Character:- Loki, god of stories pops in out of nowhere in The Janus Paradox, much to Loki's confusion and Death's annoyance.
- When Loki hides the dismantled Infinity Gauntlet beyond the Fourth Wall at the end of When the Man Comes Around, he bumps into Stan Lee.
- Viking Funeral: Coulson gets one in With Postscript to Follow.
- Villain Team-Up: Nebula and Doctor Doom join forces in When the Man Comes Around.
