Scarlet Witch vs Loki: who wins in the comics?

Scarlet Witch versus Loki puts two of the most powerful sorcerers in the Marvel Universe head to head, and my pick is Wanda Maximoff. Loki has the physical advantage and, I think, the edge in magical versatility. But the Scarlet Witch's raw power and her proven ability to disrupt other magic users make her too much for him.

I'm not focused on the Marvel Cinematic Universe versions of these characters, because that isn't as interesting to me. This is about the comics, the Earth-616 versions.

Scarlet Witch's chaos magic and hex bolts warp reality and probability

Wanda Maximoff is the Scarlet Witch, a mutant with probability manipulation and reality warping abilities. She is the twin sister of Quicksilver, the mother of Wiccan and Speed, and the ex-wife of the Vision. She has taken on many roles throughout her life, but she will forever be known for causing the decimation of mutantkind.

Her main power is the ability to manipulate and warp reality at will. It was granted to her by the High Evolutionary's experimentation and further amplified by a demon at her birth. She warps reality by manipulating a force known as chaos magic, which results in her hex bolts. These bolts destabilize probabilities by affecting energy fields and matter, ultimately inducing chaos.

When she's stable and healthy, Wanda wields her powers with great skill and proficiency, and she can trigger and control multiple occurrences at once. She has blocked Thor's lightning, slowed down time, teleported herself and others, transformed War Machine's armor into pure iron, and wrapped a powerful monster in water before sending it flying away. By manipulating probabilities, she has made machines explode, caused guns to jam, made people miss their attacks and even caused an opponent's powers to stop.

House of M and the nexus being status of the Scarlet Witch

When Wanda served as a conduit for Earth's life force, her powers were amplified further, although not always under her conscious control. In that state her power is so great that she can alter the entire Earth's reality at will and permanently shift the nature of all possible futures without even realizing she has done it. That is how she created the House of M reality and unleashed the infamous spell that eliminated most of Earth's mutant population.

Doctor Strange later said that spell was so complex and so strong that it had woven itself into reality and the world of magic itself, and that trying to reverse it would cause all of reality to implode. More recently, with a strong power source, she cast this spell again, which suggests that maybe she doesn't need to be a conduit for Earth's life force to display that level of power.

She is also considered the nexus being of Earth-616. According to the Watcher, nexus beings are rare individual entities with the power to affect probabilities and the future, serving as the focal point for their reality and a cornerstone for the multiverse. Being a nexus being suggests she could be placed alongside others like Jean Grey, Franklin Richards and even Odin Borson. The Scarlet Witch is clearly exceptionally powerful. She was the only one who was able to hold her own and defeat the Phoenix Five, and even Dark Phoenix Cyclops.

Loki is physically stronger than he gets credit for

Loki is the Asgardian god of mischief and prince of lies, the adopted son of Odin and typically the archenemy of his brother Thor. He is also the adopted brother of Angela, a former Guardian of the Galaxy. Loki has schemed against Thor and Asgard for ages, and his cosmic meddling led to the formation of the Avengers.

Loki isn't known for physically fighting opponents, but as an Asgardian and a Frost Giant, he's definitely superhuman. He's strong enough to bring down buildings with a punch and can lift over 50 tons. He's fast enough to dodge bullets and Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, and durable enough to take attacks from Thor, the Hulk, the Silver Surfer and even Surtur. He also has an impressive healing factor that lets him survive lethal blows. He was once able to reattach his head after it had been cut off.

Loki is physically impressive and, I think, underrated. The fact is he usually doesn't get into physical fights. He prefers not to, because his whole thing is magic.

Loki is the most skilled magician in Asgard

Loki is the most skilled magician in all of Asgard and one of the most skilled magicians in all the Nine Realms. His magic comes from two sources: his innate ability to manipulate Asgardian energies and his vast knowledge of sorcery. He has used it to match and hurt the Silver Surfer, Apocalypse and Surtur, take down Beta Ray Bill and the X-Men, turn Jane Foster's skin inside out and turn Bor, Odin's father, into snow.

He has shattered Doctor Strange's magical shields and completely dispelled Strange's attacks against him. He can create magical shields or walls to protect himself, and one time he turned a man's hand into glass just for touching him. Loki is also skilled at using projections to trick opponents, having tricked Thor, Surtur and even Odin himself. He has turned men into goats and clouds into dragons. "There really does seem to be no limit to what Loki can accomplish through magic."

Loki is incredibly intelligent too, second only to Odin in all of Asgard. He's persuasive and cunning enough to rule worlds and conquer alien civilizations, but he's obsessed with tormenting Thor, so he has restricted himself to Earth.

Loki would win a physical fight with Wanda if he could get close

Physically speaking, Loki has an obvious advantage. Wanda is basically a human, while Loki is a god who has regularly traded blows with Thor. If he were able to get close enough to the Scarlet Witch, there's no doubt in my mind that he could kill her with physical might alone.

The problem is he won't be able to get that close. If she has blocked Mjolnir and prevented it from hitting her, then she can obviously prevent Loki from hitting her. So this fight isn't going to be a physical showdown. It's going to be a magical one.

Loki has the edge in magical versatility through illusions and shapeshifting

Both characters are powerful magic users. Loki is much more the classic, stereotypical magician, using offensive and defensive spells, fast illusions and even shapeshifting. Wanda's powers come from chaos magic and aren't technically spells like Loki's, but hex bolts that can do anything she likes. Still, in terms of magical versatility, I've got to give the edge to Loki, mainly because of his illusion casting and shapeshifting.

He's also smart and clever about how he uses his magic. When he wasn't able to fight Thor as himself, he shapeshifted into a large snake, a wolf and an eagle to put the fight on a more even playing field. He can create clones to confuse Thor, and he has cast illusions and created clones to trick even Odin and Surtur.

It's possible that Loki could rely on his cunning and trickery here, creating illusions to make Wanda think she's doing something she isn't, or fighting someone who isn't there. Then, while the Scarlet Witch is distracted, Loki could take her out, all because he's more of the typical sorcerer and knows how to use magical versatility in a fight.

The Scarlet Witch has more raw power than Loki, a god with a small g

Versatility is important, but so is sheer power, and that's where the Scarlet Witch has him beat. Loki shouldn't be underestimated. He has broken through Doctor Strange's magical shields, and Strange has had difficulty stopping his attacks. But at the end of the day, Loki is a minor god, a god with a small g.

Wanda's powers partly come from, and were amplified by, Chthon, an elder god and archdemon. Chthon is the brother of Gaia, the mother goddess of Earth's pantheons, which makes him something like Loki's great great great great great great grand uncle. He's an elder god, and the sky father pantheons are spawn of those gods. I'm not saying the Scarlet Witch is as powerful as Chthon, because she obviously isn't, but he is partly the source of her power.

Wanda's hex magic is especially potent against magic users, including Loki

Wanda's probability manipulation and hex magic are especially powerful against other magic users. She has disrupted the spells of the Enchantress. Morgan le Fay sought her out to use her powers to warp reality. She was even able to defeat Dormammu.

Wanda has also disrupted the spells of Loki himself, using her hex bolts to make his teleportation spell misfire. She is specifically able to go up against and take down magic users, and she has beaten Loki before. She's done it before, and she can do it again, especially now that she has more control over her powers.

Why the Scarlet Witch beats Loki

If Loki really wants to win, his best bet would be his powers of manipulation, messing with her mentally so she does something that works out in his favor. That is possible. At the same time, Wanda is unstable, and that makes her powers unstable. If Loki so much as frightens or angers her, that emotional reaction might cause a hex bolt that triggers a chaos wave and takes him out. He would have to be very careful about how he deceives her.

At the end of the day, I think the Scarlet Witch is just too much for him. Her powers are specifically able to disrupt magic, Loki would have a very difficult time tricking her, and she has beaten him before. The Scarlet Witch wins this one.