What Is a Light Elf in She-Hulk?
We all know that She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was always meant to be a legal comedy series, and the comedy was in full swing in episode 3, especially with the case that Pug Pugliese was handling regarding Dennis Bukowski and the fact that he was scammed by a Light Elf from New Asgard. This made things quite hilarious because of the circumstances surrounding the case. But what is a Light Elf in She-Hulk?
The Light Elves are some of the different species of people that the Asgardians were able to conquer and absorb into the Nine Realms during the time when Odin and Hela were conquering worlds across the universe. In She-hulk, a Light Elf named Runa has the ability to shapeshift, which she uses as a scam artist.
Although the Light Elves were never used for comedy in the Marvel Comics universe, this particular Light Elf in She-Hulk became a comedic relief that provided a ton of laughs for audiences. Of course, She-Hulk was always going to be a comedy series, as Runa provided some laughs in her case against Dennis Bukowski. Now, let’s get to know more about Runa and the Light Elves.
Who Is Runa In She-Hulk?
As a legal comedy, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law explores different legal cases every episode and finds a way to make every case hilarious in terms of the overall nature of the case and the different people involved in it. Of course, the main case that Jen Walters was handling during episodes 2 and 3 concerned the parole of Emil Blonsky. But while Jen was handling that case, the rest of the Superhuman Law Division of GLK&H covered a different case.
The one involved here was Dennis Bukowski, who met in the opening scenes of episode 1 because he was one of the lawyers that Jen worked with when she was still with the District Attorney’s Office. While Jen was initially tasked to work with Dennis, the former co-worker had to work with Pug Pugliese instead because he didn’t want to work with his Walters.
Dennis Bukowski’s case normally shouldn’t be dealing with superhumans, but this was a special case because he was scammed by a Light Elf named Runa. As such, it came under the purview of GLK&H’s Superhuman Law Division because Runa was not from Earth and had the ability to shapeshift.
The story behind the case was that Dennis claimed that he was scammed by Runa, who shapeshifted into Megan Thee Stallion and asked for material things (including a car) from him. Of course, because his confidence was always out of place, Dennis was convinced that he was dating the real Megan Thee Stallion. As such, he was more than willing to give Runa what she was asking for.
Nevertheless, Runa posted a video where she admitted that she wasn’t Megan Thee Stallion but was actually just posing as her. This was where Dennis’s cause of action lies as he wanted to get compensated for the money that he spent on Runa, who he believed was the real Megan Thee Stallion all along.
Before the case went into the trial, Runa’s lawyer moved for the case to be dismissed on the grounds that she was the daughter of a Light Elf ambassador and, as such, should be given diplomatic immunity. But because the trial was being held in the United States and not in New Asgard, she couldn’t enjoy the diplomatic immunity she would have enjoyed had she been sued in New Asgard. That is why the case had to go to trial, even though the judge thought that Dennis was smart enough to know that there was no way he could have been dating the real Megan Thee Stallion.
As the series went on, it was clear that Runa, despite her advanced age, was quite mischievous. She even went as far as pretending to be Pug and Dennis to make sure that the case wouldn’t be moved forward. On top of that, she even posed as the judge in an attempt to find a way to get herself out of trouble.
Nevertheless, thanks to the testimony given by Jen Walters, who talked about how Dennis is someone who is so self-absorbed that he would think Megan Thee Stallion would date him, Pug won the case. Dennis was awarded damages worth the money he spent on the fake Megan Thee Stallion. On top of that, Runa was sentenced to prison for pretending to be the judge.
What Is A Light Elf In She-Hulk?
Of course, based on what we saw from the mischievous Runa, who used her shapeshifting abilities to pretend to be different people to scam them, it was clear that She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was taking the comedic route in introducing this Light Elf. Nevertheless, what exactly is a Light Elf in She-Hulk and in Marvel?
In the comics, the Light Elves are the opposites of the Dark Elves in the sense that they are quite peaceful, friendly, and happy. On top of that, they were always portrayed to be weaker than the Dark Elves in terms of their military might, as they are not as aggressive or as well-armed as their darker counterparts.
Of course, the Light Elves were conquered by Asgard as part of the Nine Realms. This held true in the MCU, where Alfheim formed part of the Nine Realms of Asgard. It is possible that Alfheim was one of the realms that Odi and Hela conquered way before Thor was even born. And it is also possible that the Nine Realms faced trouble when the Bifrost was destroyed and when the New Asgardians had to relocate to Earth after the destruction of Asgard.
Nevertheless, based on what we know about Runa, it is possible that the Light Elves in She-Hulk or the MCU are quite peaceful (despite Runa’s somewhat mischievous behavior) because they were still willing enough to send ambassadors to New Asgard. As such, we could still say that they are complete opposites of the evil and aggressive Dark Elves that we met back in Thor: The Dark World, as Malekith and his Dark Elf army literally waged war with the Asgardians thousands of years ago and during the events of the movie in an attempt to plunge the entire universe into darkness by using the Aether, which is the Reality Stone.
Considering that Runa, although quite mischievous, doesn’t seem to be half as evil as the regular Dark Elf, it is quite possible that the Light Elves in the MCU are generally peaceful people who are not predisposed to war. And because they send ambassadors to New Asgard, we do believe that they are still under the protection of the Asgardians as part of the Nine Realms.
