History Main / TricksterGod

* Maui, the demigod from Myth/PacificMythology, most recently depicted in ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}''. Among his achievements were stealing fire from the Underworld (the island goddess Te Fiti's heart in Moana), fishing out New Zealand (and the Hawaiian Islands, and basically every island Polynesians live on) from the ocean, and lassoing the sun and beating the living crap out of the Sun until it agreed to slow down and not streak across the sky so quicklyÂ

* Maui, the demigod from Myth/PacificMythology, most recently depicted in WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}. Among his achievements were stealing fire from the Underworld / (the island goddess Te Fiti's heart in Moana), fishing out New Zealand (and the Hawaiian Islands, and basically every island Polynesians live on) from the ocean, and lassoing the sun so it wouldn't streak across the sky so quickly. "Lassoing" isn't the full story; he also beat the living crap out of the Sun until it agreed to slow down.Â

* Maui, the demigod from Myth/PacificMythology, most recently depicted in WesternAnimation/Moana. Among his achievements were stealing fire from the Underworld / (the island goddess Te Fiti's heart in Moana), fishing out New Zealand (and the Hawaiian Islands, and basically every island Polynesians live on) from the ocean, and lassoing the sun so it wouldn't streak across the sky so quickly. "Lassoing" isn't the full story; he also beat the living crap out of the Sun until it agreed to slow down.Â

* Mara the King of Demons in UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} is the Buddhist equivalent of a trickster. Â

* The Devil in the popular folklore of many cultures has this role. Â

* Myth/NorseMythology: Loki, one of the most famous examples thanks to his appearances in ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' and various adaptations. He's a spirit of chaos, and Odin's bloodbrother, who's mostly kept around because he's useful, but ends up causing more trouble than he helps and eventually betrays the gods ([[TheDogBitesBack though not entirely without reason]]...)Â

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* Myth/Native American Mythology:Â

** Tezcatlipoca subverts the archetype in that he was at the same time an authority figure and a very important one at that. The only times he was really trickster-ish was mainly when he wanted to annoy his brother, Quetzalcoatl.Â
** He was definitely at the far "god of chaos" end of the trickster archetype. [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Alternative names for him]] translate approximately to things like "he to whom we are his slaves", "change through violence" (likely a reference to revolution), and "enemy of both sides".Â

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': The Norse trickster god Loki goes around playing {{Deadly Prank}}s on various people, usually to take the haughty down a peg or two. It's later revealed that Loki had actually made a deal with the ArchangelGabriel to impersonate him for a few millennia.Â

A deity or demigod whose domain encompasses deceit, pranks, and reversals. Most gods have some [[{{Shapeshifting}} shape-shifting]] and [[LoopholeAbuse use semantics to betray the spirit of an agreement]], but these characters are defined by these stories in a way that other (probably {{Jerkass|God}}) gods aren't.Â
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A deity or demigod whose domain encompasses deceit, pranks, and reversals. Most gods have some [[{{Shapeshifting}} shape-shifting]] and [[LoopholeAbuse use semantics to betray the spirit of an agreement]], but these characters are defined by these stories in a way that other (probably {{Jerkass|God}}) gods aren't. They are the divine subtrope to TheTrickster.Â
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SubTrope of StockGods (each god in a pantheon are responsible for standard aspects of reality). Other stock gods that overlap include GodOfChaos ("chaos" may encompass randomness, potential, entropy, destruction/disordered creation) and God of Knowledge ("knowledge" may encompass cunning/trickery).Â

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* Hoki the Jokester in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels, banished from Dunmanifestin after pulling "the old exploding misteltoe trick" on Blind Io. Also Scrappy the kangaroo in ''Literature/TheLastContinent'', who works for the Old Man Who Carries the Universe in a Sack.Â
-->A creature like him appears in many belief systems, although the jolly name can be misleading. Tricksters have that robust sense of humour that puts a landmine under a seat cushion for a bit of a laugh.Â
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* In ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'''s second campaign, Trickster Cleric Jester is devoted to The Traveler...who is curiously not in the official pantheon for Exandria. [[spoiler:This is because he is Artagan from the first campaign, who accidentally went from archfey to godhood through posing as one to a young Jester and gained a cult of followers as time went by. When the ''actual'' god of Trickery finds out, she isn't too pleased but accepts the transfer of most of Artagan's followers to her.]]Â
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* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Discord, the spirit of chaos, has tried teaching Twilight Sparkle "lessons" when it's clear he's trying to ruin her day. Â
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* ''VideoGame/PathOfExile'': When passing through a Mirror of Delirium, a "Strange Voice" whispers words directly into the player character. He's hinted to be the trickster god Tangmazu, whose greatest achievement was turning the goddesses of the sun and moon into eternal enemies. However, his trickery is less pranks and more deception, and his words are meant to bring out paranoia, hysteria, and despair.Â
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* ''VideoGame/DesktopDungeons'': Tiiki Tooki likes money (he's the only god that lets you trade Gold for Piety) and appreciates dirty tricks like killing weaker enemies and using poison. He dislikes it when you drag out combat (getting hit by the same enemy more than once) or be cowardly and use [[LastChanceHitPoint death protection]]. As for his boons, he provides bonuses involving First Strike, Dodge chance, and Poison, XP gain, and a Gold bonus.Â

* ''VideoGame/PathOfExile'': When passing through a Mirror of Delirium, a "Strange Voice" whispers words directly into the player character. He's hinted to be the trickster god Tangmazu, whose greatest achievement was turning the goddesses of the sun and moon into eternal enemies. His words are more sinister than playful, speaking words that inspire paranoia and despair.Â
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* ''Franchise/DragonAge'': Both the Andrastian Chantry and [[spoiler:Corypheus]] agree on this much; the Old Gods tricked the Magister into entering the Golden City. The difference is what exactly the "trick" was. According to the former, it was persuading them into betraying The Maker. According to the latter, it was that the Black City was already empty and corrupted before they got there. This example contains a TRIVIA entry. It should be moved to the WordOfGod is that the Black City was verifiably golden in appearance before the Magister's attempt to invade it however, which raises even more questions.Â

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A deity or demigod whose domain encompasses deceit, pranks, and reversals. Most gods have some [[{{Shapeshifting}} shape-shifting]] and [[LoopholeAbuse use semantics to betray the spirit of an agreement]], but these characters are defined by these stories in a way that other (probably {{Jerkass|God}}) gods aren't. They are the divine subtrope to TheTrickster.Â
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This trope is OlderThanDirt since it appears in several real life mythologies, where the god's trickery is used as a lesson for the audience. These gods teach indirectly, through inducing/induced hardship, and people learning from it, instead of giving direct instruction. Because of that, they are often associated with storytelling and are as commonly the victim of pranks and mischief as they are the provocateur.Â
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SubTrope of StockGods (each god in a pantheon are responsible for standard aspects of reality). Other stock gods that overlap include GodOfChaos ("chaos" may encompass randomness, potential, entropy, destruction/disordered creation) and God of Knowledge ("knowledge" may encompass cunning/trickery).Â
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