Can sideline characters be equipped with items? In particular referencing any of the Disney+ Loki figures (thinking 007 for this) and their Tesseract ability:

Especially for use with Disney + Loki 035's trait (at least the first half):

Thanks ahead for any responses explaining why / why not!

Well, first of all this rule is very relevant:

So note that a character that has been on the Sideline since the beginning of the game would not have any "start the game" effects occur until they are added to the map. Also note that characters can have their "start the game" effects occur more than once if they are moved to the sideline and then returned to the map again, link to relevant ruling.

Additionally, according to the following rule, any equipped character that is "KO’d, replaced, or equipped again" automatically becomes unequipped.

There is no rule that forbids characters on the Sideline from being equipped. You would just need to utilize a combination of effects to actually cause that game state since:

1. A character that was on the sideline since the beginning of the game would not "start the game" until they enter the map.

and

2. A character that is replaced, KO'd, or equipped again is automatically unequipped.

As for this specific interaction with Loki, there's no need for them to be equipped on the sideline since they'll become equipped when they come into play. Same with any other character that "starts the game equipped".

Doesn’t the fact that you have to pay the 5 points to have the trait prevent them from using it when they come into the game?

You're right. My eyes must have skipped over the +5. You can't pay the points for the optional trait for characters that begin on your sideline. Only for characters on your starting force, which does not include your sideline.

Everything I said earlier only applies if the ability is not an optional trait that costs points.

Thanks for catching that!

Thanks again for all the answers, especially the link to the ruling!

Is there a ruling for this one as well, or something in the comprehensive rules? I've searched through the CR a couple of times for that limit, to no avail.

It's literally the fact that the trait doesn't have "SIDELINE ACTIVE" as part of it.

Here's the combination of two rules that mean that Optional Traits cannot be paid for characters that begin on your Sideline.

Ah! Thanks again, Gensan, you've been a great help on this!