History Main / TricksterGod

* ''TabletopGame/{{MagicTheGathering}}'': The Plane of [[ClassicalMythology Theros}} has Phenax, the god of gambling, deception, and betrayal. Fittingly for the plane’s theme, he is a [[CompositeCharacter]] of Orpheus and Hermes.Â

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', when the family travels to Machu Picchu looking for Bart, they find a bush shaped like his head. Homer takes it as the work of Incan god Viracocha, which he calls "that trickster god".Â

* ''VideoGame/DesktopDungeons'': Tikki 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. However, his trickery is less pranks and more deception, and his words are meant to bring out paranoia, hysteria, and despair and [[CallBack recontextualizes phrases]] to make them sound more sinister.Â

** ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'' has Olidammara, the god of rogues, who delights in creating a bit of mischief amongst those whose lives he judges to be too comfortable, and Zagyg, the god of eccentricity and unpredictability, who just likes making things more complicated for people. They are mostly-friendly rivals, since the best challenge is obviously tricking a fellow trickster.Â

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': In the distant past, the goblin pantheon included a cunning trickster deity. This god was slain alongside almost all the other goblin gods when the deity Maglubiyet slaughtered the goblin, hobgoblin and bugbear pantheons in order to claim their races, but found a way to have the last laugh on its killer. The slain god survived in shattered form as many bodiless spirits, which appear when Maglubiyet commands his followers to assemble into hosts and possess goblins, turning them into the chaotic and destructive nilbogs and giving them magical powers focused on mischief and mockery in order to sow chaos and ridicule in Maglubiyet's forces.Â

%% Please see thread to discuss a new image.Â

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/loki_trickster_4.jpg]] Â
%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]Â

** The [[CleverCrows Raven]] fills the role in the Pacific Northwest, where he is an anti-hero sort of deity. His claim to fame would be stealing the sun from its keeper, allowing light to come into the world for the first time ever. The Crow also tends to be a similar archetype, but where the Raven is noble and dignified, the Crow tends to be more of a too-clever-by-half type who's tricks are prone to backfiring on himself because he's rude and arrogant.Â

* Myth/AkannMythology: Anansi the Spider is often known as the god of stories/knowledge because he tricked sky god Nyame into selling him every story that was ever told. The price was the capture of [[ImpossibleTask four dangerous and/or elusive creatures]] and Anansi promised to deliver ''five''. Many Anansi tales show him being the clever one, and tricking someone else, but many also show Anasi being tricked, if you are clever enough yourself.Â

* Myth/AfricanMythology: Anansi the Spider is often known as the god of stories/knowledge because he tricked sky god Nyame into selling him every story that was ever told. The price was the capture of [[ImpossibleTask four dangerous and/or elusive creatures]] and Anansi promised to deliver ''five''. Many Anansi tales show him being the clever one, and tricking someone else, but many also show Anasi being tricked, if you are clever enough yourself.Â

** The Raven fills the role in the Pacific Northwest, where he is an anti-hero sort of deity. His claim to fame would be stealing the sun from its keeper, allowing light to come into the world for the first time ever. The Crow also tends to be a similar archetype, but where the Raven is noble and dignified, the Crow tends to be more of a too-clever-by-half type who's tricks are prone to backfiring on himself because he's rude and arrogant.Â

* In ''TheSimpsons'', when the family travels to Machu Picchu looking for Bart, they find a bush shaped like his head. Homer takes it as the work of Incan god Viracocha, which he calls "that trickster god".Â

** The Raven fills the role in the Pacific Northwest, where he is an anti-hero sort of deity. His claim to fame would be stealing the sun from its keeper, allowing light to come into the world for the first time ever.Â

* ''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. 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. There's also Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf, trickster god of the Elven pantheon, who seems to serve a similar purpose to them as Loki did to the Aesir. As his title suggests he's regarded as a sinister, corrupting influence, preying on the dreams and souls of the elves now that he's sealed their gods away out of spite. [[spoiler:It does not appear to be the whole truth -- but the primary source of the claim is Fen'Harel himself.]]Â

* ''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. 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

SubTrope of StockGods and TheTrickster. Other stock gods that overlap with this trope include GodOfChaos ("chaos" may encompass randomness, potential, entropy, and destruction/disordered creation) and God of Knowledge ("knowledge" may encompass cunning and trickery).Â

* In ''TheSimpsons'', when the family travels to Machu Picchu looking for Bart, they find a bush shaped like his head. Homer takes it as the work of Incan god Viracocha, which he calls "a trickster god".Â

%%[[folder:Western Animation]]Â

%%[[/folder]]Â

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/loki_trickster2.jpg]] Â

* ClassicalMythology has Eris the goddess of discord (whose throwing an apple labeled "For the Fairest" among three goddesses when [[RevengeSVP she wasn't invited to a demigod's wedding]] was actually the cause of the Trojan War) and a more positive trickster in Hermes. While usually known as the messenger of the gods, he was also known for cunning and inventiveness; his first exploit was stealing the cattle of Apollo, earning him the mantle of god of thieves.Â

* GreekMythology has Eris the goddess of discord (whose throwing an apple labeled "For the Fairest" among three goddesses when [[RevengeSVP she wasn't invited to a demigod's wedding]] was actually the cause of the Trojan War) and a more positive trickster in Hermes. While usually known as the messenger of the gods, he was also known for cunning and inventiveness; his first exploit was stealing the cattle of Apollo, earning him the mantle of god of thieves.Â