The Trickster: Difference between revisions

{{worktrope}}

[[File:Eris_1_7936Eris 1 7936.jpg|link=Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas|rightframe|Eris, the goddess of Discord, fits this trope like a glove.]]

Tricksters can be anything from gods of chaos, bedeviling heroes for a few laughs, to master manipulators who use cruel ploys and [[Sadistic Choice|sadistic choices]]. They can also be heroes (or more likely [[Anti Hero|Anti-HeroesHero]]es) who make up for a lack of strength or bravery with manipulation, [[Crazy Prepared|planning]], or just plain [[Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty|cheating]]. The trickster is often a [[Master of Disguise]] and may have magical or super-powers. They're often found [[Walking the Earth]].

In mythology and religion, the trickster deity breaks the rules of the gods or nature, sometimes maliciously but usually, albeit unintentionally, with ultimately positive effects. Often, the bending/breaking of rules takes the form of tricks or thievery. Tricksters can be cunning or foolish or both; they are often funny even when considered sacred or performing important cultural tasks.

In modern literature the trickster survives as a character archetype. Often too, the Trickster is distinct in a story by his acting as a sort of catalyst, in that his antics are the cause of other characters' discomfiture, but he himself is left untouched.

The Trickster is NOT''not'' the same as the [[Jerkass]]. While the Trickster may be mischievous, impudent and uppity, he is not necessarily openly malevolent or sociopathic; in fact, in many cases (Prometheus, for example) Tricksters are ''more'' friendly to humanity than the gods are.

** [[Honest JohnsJohn's Dealership]]

:* [[GentlemanThe SnarkerGambler]]

:* [[Gentleman ThiefSnarker]]

*:* [[Classy CatGentleman BurglarThief]]

:** [[GreatClassy Cat GazooBurglar]]

:* [[GuileGreat HeroGazoo]]

:* [[HeadsGuile or TailsHero]]

:* [[HighHeads Schoolor HustlerTails]]

:* [[KarmicHigh TricksterSchool Hustler]]

:* [[LovableKarmic TraitorTrickster]]

:* [[MagnificentLovable BastardTraitor]]

*:* [[Puss inMagnificent BootsBastard]]

:** [[ManipulativePuss in BastardBoots]]

:* [[MasterManipulative of IllusionBastard]]

:* [[Mooching Master of Illusion]]

:* [[PlayfulMooching HackerMaster]]

:* [[RascallyPlayful RabbitHacker]]

:* [[ScrewyRascally SquirrelRabbit]]

:* [[TheScrewy SpookSquirrel]]

:* [[The TrampSpook]]

:* [[ThoseStrange WilyPond CoyotesWoman]]

:* [[TrenchcoatThe BrigadeTramp]]

:* [[TricksterThose MentorWily Coyotes]]

:* [[TricksterTrenchcoat TwinsBrigade]]

:* [[TurncoatTrickster Mentor]]

:* [[TwoTrickster Headed CoinTwins]]

:* [[The UnfetteredTurncoat]]

:* [[VillainousTwo-Headed HarlequinCoin]]

:* [[The WonkaUnfettered]]

* Xelloss in ''[[The Slayers]]''. He even refers to himself as a "trickster priest." ("fuzaketa puriisto", literally "the playful priest"; sometimes translated as "roguish priest" or "mysterious priest".)

* [[Jo JosJoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Manga)|Joseph Joestar]], to the Nth frickin' degree. "Your next words will be..."

* Johann Liebert from ''[[Monster (Animemanga)|Monster]]''.

* Satoko Houjou from ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro Nini]]''.

* ''[[SeitokaiStudent noCouncil's IchizonDiscretion]]'' has Chizuru.

* Izaya from ''[[Durarara!!]]''.

* [[Spider Man|Spider-Man]], whose actions end up teaching him his own wisdom.

* [[Batman (Comic Book)|The Joker and the Riddler]].

* [[Hellblazer (Comic Book)|John Constantine]]

* [[Plastic Man]], according to some people interviewed for the 80s cartoon DVD of the titular character, serves as a trickster in the DC Comics mythos of heroes.

* [[The Mighty Thor|Loki,]] Marvel's version of the Norse God of Mischief and Lies. Varies from out-and-out villain to anti-hero, depending on the writer and the incarnation (for example, de-aged Loki is a lot less malevolent than his previous, older self).

* Many of the characters [[Eddie Murphy]] has portrayed are Tricksters.

* [[The Mask (Filmfilm)|The Mask]] (explicitly linked to [[Norse Mythology|Loki]]) and most other characters played by [[Jim Carrey]], some mentioned elsewhere on this page, some not - such as [[Andy Kaufman]] (''Man on the Moon''), a [[Real Life]] trickster figure of sorts, who would be called just a troll today.

* [[Ferris BuellersBueller's Day Off (Film)|Ferris Bueller.]]

* [[Thor (Filmfilm)|Loki]], the on-screen incarnation of the comic book character of the same name who, in turn, was based on [[Norse Mythology|the Norse God of trickery and chaos]].

* Puck from [[The Sisters Grimm (Literature)|The Sisters Grimm]]. Given that he's supposed to literally be Shakespeare's Puck (from A Midsummer Night's Dream), this is unsurprising.

* Br'er Rabbit from ''[[Song of the South]]'' [[Older Than They Think|based on]] African-American folktales, is the American version of this archetype.

* Merry and Pippin from ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' are also [[Those Two Guys]].

* [[Discworld (Literature)|Granny Weatherwax]]. You don't have to have a sense of humour to be a Trickster!

* Randal Patrick McMurphy from ''[[One Flew Over the CuckoosCuckoo's Nest]]''.

** Neil also wrote [[Anansi Boys (Literature)|his own story]] about Anansi, going by the name of Charlie Nancy. He has... well, ''two sons who inherit his powers''.

* [[Neal Stephenson]] very evidently likes to both use and reference this archetype; [[Meaningful Name|Hiro Protagonist]] is a Trickster/Technologist in [[Snow Crash]], as are many of the key figures of both [[Cryptonomicon]] and [[The Diamond Age]]. In The Diamond Age, [[Playful Hacker|The Hacker]] is explicitly namechecked as a modern trickster archetype, and in Cryptonomicon Enoch Root discusses with Randy the way various cultures have interpreted the archetype - from worship (Athena) to deep distrust (Loki).

* Colin in [[John C. Wright]]'s ''[[Chronicles of Chaos (Literature)|Chronicles of Chaos]]''. Always ready to pull a stunt whenever they need a distraction.

* In [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s ''[[The Jungle Book (Literaturenovel)|The Jungle Book]]'', Tabaqui the Jackal.

{{quote| ''"All thanks for this good meal," he said, licking his lips. "How beautiful are the noble children! How large are their eyes! And so young too! Indeed, indeed, I might have remembered that the children of kings are men from the beginning."<br />

* Aiken Drum in Julian May's ''[[Saga of the Exiles (Literature)|Saga of the Exiles]]'', exiled for such pranks as altering a dam's configuration so that a giant penis sticks out of it, peeing water. {{spoiler|and that's ''before'' he gets super powers}}

* Willy Wonka of Roald Dahl's [[Charlie and Thethe Chocolate Factory|children's book]] (as well as his two movie incarnations) is a trickster of the [[Trickster Mentor|Mentor]] variety.

* In ''[[Harry Potter (Literaturenovel)|Harry Potter]]'', Fred and George Weasley. And Dumbledore has shades of the [[Trickster Mentor]].

* Foxface in [[The Hunger Games]], known for being [[Too Clever Byby Half]].

* ''[[The Darksword Trilogy]]'' has Simkin.

* In [[John C. Wright]]'s ''[[The Golden Oecumene (Literature)|The Golden Age]]'', ''The Phoenix Exultant'', and ''The Golden Transcedence'', the Neptunians. All of them. They live that far out to live a wild life in which sending people computer viruses is considered high spirits. In ''The Golden Transcedence'', Diomedes comments that he would of course steal a ship to carry out their plan, but he's surprised that inner-system people like Phaethon and Atkins would.

* In [[Rafael Sabatini|Sabatini's]] ''[[Scaramouche]]'', Andre-Louis plays this role on stage and in life. This aspect of the character comes out even more so in the [[Scaramouche (Filmfilm)|1952 film]].

* Tzigone from ''[[Counselors and Kings]]'' is a highly intelligent and playful street performer/thief (with latent magical abilities, though she really only starts developing those in the second and third books) who enjoys mocking her stratified society and overturning its rules wherever possible. Unlike some tricksters, though, when push comes to shove she's plainly one of the good guys.

* Robin Goodfellow from ''[[An Elegy for Thethe Still Living-living]]'' talks in riddles, plays practical jokes, manipulates anyone he can get his hands on and implies that he is the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of the Trickster Archetype.

* Harry Dresden of the [[Dresden Files]] believes himself to be this, but Murphy points out that he's actually very predictable, despite his occasional surpassing cleverness; he just has authority problems.

** Which doesn't help given that most of the White Council think's he's a [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|black magic ticking time bomb dark lord]] who [[Badass|fights necromancers from the back of a dinosaur]] that the Warden Commander and her right hand can't get ''close'' to and who [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|fights eldritch nightmares on an annual basis]].

* Zosim the Trickser God is a minor member of the pantheon in ''[[Shadowmarch]]'', though {{spoiler|he's ultimately revealed to be the [[Big Bad]], manipulating everybody to try and become top god}}. Interestingly, though the rest of his pantheon are clear counterparts to the Greco-Roman gods, Zosim himself resembles [[Norse Mythology|Loki]] far more than he does [[Classical Mythology|Hermes]].

* Most of ''[[The A-Team (TV)|The A-Team]]''.

* [[Doctor Who (TV)|The Doctor]], in practically every incarnation.

** [[The Master (trope)|The Master]] certainly qualifies as well.

* [[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]].

* The Trickster from ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'', who is revealed to be {{spoiler|the [[Archangel Gabriel]]}}. He's also known to some as {{spoiler|Loki}}.

* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'': Claude Rains.

* Uncle Arthur from ''[[Bewitched (TV)|Bewitched]]''.

* Gaius Baltar from ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica Reimagined]]'', although more out of desperation than anything.

* Rumplestiltskin in ''[[Once Upon a Time (TV series)|Once Upon a Time]]''. Very, very much so -- andso—and he's pulled his tricks on ''everyone''.

* The eponymous character in ''[[The Barber of Seville (Theatre)|The Barber of Seville]]'' and ''[[The Marriage of Figaro (Theatre)|The Marriage of Figaro]]'' (it's the same guy).

* [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:Gwydion |Gwydion]]

* Sun Wukong (Son Goku) / Monkey in ''[[Journey to Thethe West]]''

* Harlequin

* [[The Bible (Literature)|Jacob]]

* [[Ramayana (Literature)|Hanuman]]

** [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:Huehuecoyotl |Huehuecoyotl]] "Very Old [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|Coyote]]."

* Nasreddin Hodja (in Persian- and Turkic-speaking countries)/Juha (or Joha or Guha or Goha or...) (in Arabic-speaking countries), the [[Useful Notes/Islam|Sufi Muslim]] Trickster.

* Athena, in ''[[The Odyssey (Literature)|The Odyssey]]'', though you wouldn't know it from her more [[The Smart Girl|modern]] portrayals.

* [[Puss in Boots (Literaturenovel)|Puss in Boots]]

* [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:Heyoka |Heyoka]]

* Two words: [[Dungeons and& Dragons|Chaotic Neutral]].

* The Ragabash Auspice in ''[[Werewolf: The Apocalypse (Tabletop Game)|Werewolf: The Apocalypse]]''. Also all the Nuwisha or Werecoyotes.

* The pooka from ''[[Changeling: The Dreaming]]''.

* ''[[Warhammer 40000 (Tabletop Game)|Warhammer 40000]]'' has its typical [[Darker and Edgier|pitch black take on it]]. *The Deceiver is a weaker [[Eldritch Abomination]] who is one of the bigger players in the [[Gambit Pileup]] in the setting, and the Laughing God is one of the [[Have You Seen My God?|few surviving gods of the Eldar]], whose followers are the [[Monster Clown|Harlequins]] ([[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|space elf ninja clown acrobat librarians]]). On a smaller scale, there's a direct reference to this archetype in the latest Space Wolves codex, Lukas the Trickster, a [[Almighty Janitor|low-ranking]] [[Space Marine]] who replaced one of his hearts with a [[And I Must Scream|stasis bomb]] that [[Taking You Withwith Me|goes off on his death]].

*** Let this troper emphasize. Ninja. Clown. The fact that it's their defining game mechanic and they get ''saves'' (effectively, armor) on that account only accentuates the hilarity. They're one of the few Eldar units that can charge in the open, comparable to units from other factions whose armor was designed for repairing ships' reactors ''while they're on'', all on account of the fact that anyone who is [[Refuge in Audacity|both a ninja and a clown]] is impossible to hit.

** The whole archetype is part of the Space Wolves' hat. The majority are [[Boisterous Bruiser|Boisterous Bruisers]]s to varying degrees, and many of the younger ones have a real fondness for harmless (or sometimes, not-so-harmless) [[Screwy Squirrel|practical jokes]]. Lukas is a prime example on how extreme the Space Wolves' rebellious nature can be, since he doesn't even respect superiors within his own chapter as much as any other character.

{{quote| ''[[The Fair Folk|Raksha]] are the drunken sorority girls to the Lunar's fratboy, except the Lunar's fratboy is a world-walking trickster-god werewolf.''}}

* Early plays frequently featured [[Stock Characters]] of this type, usually underlings or servants--aservants—a trope solidified by the plays of [[Plautus]]. This was carried on into the ''[[Commedia Dell 'Arte]]'' and Elizabethan plays, such as the works of [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]].

* Robin Goodfellow from ''[[A Midsummer NightsNight's Dream]]''--otherwise—otherwise known as Puck.

* Tranio from ''[[The Taming of the Shrew]]''--named—named for a similar character in Plautus' play ''Mostellaria''.

* [[Highly -Visible Ninja|Highly Visible]] [[Phantom Thief|Thief]] Kay Faraday of ''[[Ace Attorney]]''.

* Juppo and Meg from the [[Suikoden]] series are "tricksters" by occupation.

* [[April Fools' Day]] in the webcomic [[Holiday Wars]] is a shapeshifting prankster.

* Coyote and Reynardine (based somewhat on the above-mentioned Reynard the Fox) from ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]''.

* Chaos of [[Life and Death (Webcomic)|Life and Death]]. Plays cross-dimensional golf, teaches people to hold their tempers in the most obnoxious way possible, and can be a show off. [[Beware the Nice Ones|DO NOT piss him off though.]]

{{quote| "I know! To regain our surprise, let's perform [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|Morning Screams!"]]}}

* In ''[[The Water Phoenix King]]'', the goddess Ailari, patron of travelers, messengers, merchants, inns, freedom, and fortune. Her various servants and champions all embody these aspects in different ways, starting with Anthem's protests that she's nobody's servant, thankyouverymuch, and Gilgam's shameless [[Rules Lawyer|Rules Lawyering]]ing and outright deceptions to see justice done without giving her away. (Vish even has Hermes' winged sandals, for all his Lawful inclinations.)

{{quote| '''Vish:''' ...Lady Luck. My Goddess. Yours now. Sanctifier of Journeys, Lady of Crossroads, Gallows-Girl of Thieves and the Courts of Night.}}

* In [[Strays]], the [[White -Haired Pretty Boy]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20110830153516/http://www.straysonline.com/comic/151.htm Holland].

* Sam "Some of my people have even survived after uttering the phrase 'Watch This!'" Starfall, of ''[[Freefall (Webcomic)|Freefall]]''. (Also, his species.) Many other characters have elements of this as well; heroine Florence Ambrose is even [[Uplifted Animal|a relative of Coyote's]].

* [[Labyrinth (Film)|Jareth]] is the resident one inIn the [[Fanfic|fan]] [[Web Comic|comic]] ''[[Roommates 2007 (Webcomic)|Roommates]]'' and its [[Spin -Off]] s (''[[Girls Next Door (Webcomic)|Girls Next Door]]'' and ''[[Down the Street (Webcomic]]''), [[Labyrinth|DownJareth]] is the Street]]'')resident one, but his [[Tangled Family Tree|whole]] [[The Fair Folk|family]] has shades of this.

* In ''[[Eight 8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|Eight Bit Theater]]'' the totemic spirit Raven once tricked Thief into thinking that he had died and was now in his own personal hell where he owned everything (and there was nothing left to steal). Then, several comics after "reviving him" tried to collect on the debt Thief owed him, instead Thief [[I Never Said It Was Poison|tricked Raven]] into admitting that he was never dead.

* The [[Hitler Rants (Web Video)|Youtube parodies]] of ''[[Downfall (Filmfilm)|Der Untergang]]'' turn Hermann Fegelein into a Trickster [[Arch Enemy]] of Hitler. Everything that goes wrong in the Third Reich can be attributed to Fegelein and his antics.

* Eris from [[Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas]], shown in the picture above, spends all of her time playing tricks on the protagonist (along with all the mortals in the story) and well, just causing general chaos. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUQYCf4OXyg&feature=related just listen to this theme song]

* [[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?|Roger Rabbit]]

* The Genie from Disney's ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]''.

* Digeri Dingo from ''[[Taz -Mania]]''. He often tricks Taz into doing dangerous things for his own profit. To keep him from being [[The Scrappy]], he's got some of the wittiest, most hilarious lines in the series and could possibly fall into [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] status because of this.

* Puck, the king of the tricksters himself, has appeared in both ''[[Gargoyles (Animation)|Gargoyles]]''. "What fools these mortals be!"

* Hexadecimal of ''[[Re BootReBoot]]'': pretty much defines this trope. Offoff the wall, powerful and above all, an artiste.

* [[Word of God]] describes [[The Spectacular Spider -Man]] versions of Spidey himself and the Green Goblin this way.

* In ''[[Xiaolin Showdown (Animation)|Xiaolin Showdown]]'', one of the first things Raimundo does is pants Omi and complain about the mat beds.

* The Magic Man from ''[[Adventure Time (Animation)|Adventure Time]]'' lives solely to knock heroes down a peg.

* Discord from ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' looks and acts like a Trickster, but beneath it there's a hidden side of malice. Also, when push comes to shove and trickery fails, he's not above just [[Cutting the Knot]] to get what he wants.

* Loki, from Marvel's animated feature ''[[Thor Tales of Asgard|Thor: Tales of Asgard]]''.

* June from ''[[Ka BlamKaBlam!]]'' is basiclybasically a female, human, eleven-year-old version of [[Bugs Bunny]]

[[Category:indexPunk Punk]]

[[Category:TheStock TricksterCharacters]]