The Trickster openly questions and mocks authority, encourages impulse and enthusiasm, seeks out new ideas and experiences, destroys convention and complacency, promoting chaos and unrest. At the same time, the trickster brings new knowledge, wisdom and many AnAesop. Even when punished horribly for his effrontery, his indomitable spirit keeps him coming back for more.

The trickster is often a MasterOfDisguise and may have magical or super-powers. May play XanatosSpeedChess.

A list of subtypes can be found on the {{Tricksters}} page.
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Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Tricksters in folklore and legend ]]

* Loki
* Coyote
* [[RavensAndCrows Raven]]
* Weesagechak
* Nanabush / Nanabozho
* Spider Woman
* Anansi / Anancy / Aunt Nancy
* Hermes
* Prometheus
* Eshu
* Legbara
* Afrekete
* Sun Wukong (Son Goku) in ''JourneyToTheWest''
* Br'er Rabbit / Compe' Lapin
* Puck / Robin Goodfellow
* RobinHood.
* Reynard le Goupil (Reynard the Fox)
* Tyl Eulenspiegel / Uylenspiegel
* Hershel of Ostropol
* [[CunningLikeAFox Kitsune (Fox)]]
* Tanuki (Raccoondog)
* Badger
* Satan (and Lucifer)
* Dracula
* Maui
* Harlequin
* Mr. Punch
* Jacob
* Rare female version: Eris
* [[{{Ramayana}} Hanuman]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tricksters in pop culture ]]

* John Constantine in the ''{{Hellblazer}}'' graphic novels is a true WildCard and nearly a force of nature, often surprising friends, enemies and readers alike.
* Some Cirque du Soleil shows have Trickster characters; they usually sweep the everyperson protagonist into the world of the story. ''KOOZA'' outright calls its character Trickster. Probably the best example of the archetype in Cirque is Brian Le Petit, the principal clown in ''Mystere'', who is conceived as [[Main/NoFourthWall existing between the audience's world and the world onstage]] - and freely disrupts both worlds throughout. Cirque's limited-run TV series ''Solstrom'' had [[Main/MassiveMultiplayerCrossover a whole troupe of characters from various shows]] arriving on Earth from the sun to enact this archetype in various locales.
* Many vampire and clown characters.

[[folder:{{Advertising}}]]
* Dominoes pizza mascot The Noid.
* The Trix Rabbit
* The Hamburglar
[[/folder]]

[[folder:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* Vash the Stampede from ''{{Trigun}}''. [[spoiler: Knives Millions]] too, to a large extent.
* The homunculi (especially Envy) in ''FullMetalAlchemist''.
* The Mad Hatter in ''AngelSanctuary''.
* The Count from ''{{Gankutsuou}}''.
* Count D. from ''PetShopOfHorrors''.
* Tomie from ''Tomie''.
* Xelloss in ''TheSlayers''. He even refers to himself as a "trickster priest." ("fuzaketa puriisto", literally "the playful priest"; sometimes translated as "roguish priest" or "mysterious priest".)
* Horo from ''SpiceAndWolf''.
* The Sinners in ''ChronoCrusade'', particularly Aion.
* Naruto Uzumaki from ''{{Naruto}}''
* [[JoJosBizarreAdventure Joseph Joestar]], to the Nth frickin' degree. "Your next words will be..."
* [[MagnificentBastard Hiruma Youichi]] from ''{{Eyeshield 21}}''.
* MahouSenseiNegima has both Kazumi Asakura and Haruna Saotome acting like this on occasion.
* To a degree, [[spoiler: Marianne Lamperouge]] in CodeGeass.
** CC qualifies somewhat as well.
* Blue (Green in the US) in PokemonSpecial.
* Kaworu Nagisa in NeonGenesisEvangelion.
* Johann Liebert from {{Monster}}.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:ComicBooks]]
* [[FantasticFour Impossible Man.]]
* [[Comicbook/{{Batman}} The Joker and the Riddler]].
* Mr. Mxyzptlk from {{Superman}}.
* The original Trickster, it's in his name!
* [[{{Hellblazer}} John Constantine]]
* Nightcrawler, Gambit, and Iceman of the ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}''.
* Jaeger of the aboriginal sci-fi comic ''{{Finder}}''. Although he ''seems'' random and impetuous, his behavior is bound by the code of the titular super-scouts, but also his designation as a ritual scapegoat in his mother's native culture.
* [[VForVendetta V]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:{{Film}}]]
* CharlieChaplin
* Many of the characters EddieMurphy has portrayed are Tricksters.
* TheMask and most other characters played by JimCarrey, some mentioned elsewhere on this page, some not - such as AndyKaufman (''Man on the Moon''), a RealLife trickster figure of sorts.
* [[StarWars Han Solo]], to a degree. In the Brian Daley novels he pulls a wide array of tricks, with a playfulness that nicely offsets his grimmer, mercenary side.
* [[PiratesOfTheCaribbean Jack Sparrow]]. ''[[InsistentTerminology Captain]]'' Jack Sparrow.
* You need a name with a bit of style. Mixed with... romance. Something like... [[MirrorMask Valentine]].
* Kayako and Toshio from ''Ju-on'' (and the remake series, ''TheGrudge'').
* Tyler Durden of ''FightClub''. A more malicious example.
* The MarxBrothers, particularly Groucho.
* Flip from LittleNemo.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]
* [[AliceInWonderland The Cheshire Cat]]
* Merry and Pippin from ''{{Lord of the Rings}}''.
* MilesVorkosigan.
* The Grinch and Cat In The Hat both fit this archetype to a t. And they do look almost quite similar in their live action incarnations.
* [[{{Discworld}} Granny Weatherwax]]. You don't have to have a sense of humour to be a Trickster!
** Also, Moist von Lipwig.
* Randal Patrick [=McMurphy=] from ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest''.
** The novel's author, Ken Kesey, was something of a real-life example as well: he helped kick-start the hippie movement and drove around America in a painted bus handing out hallucinogens like candy. Then when he was on the run from the police he fled to Mexico and later went back over the border on horseback dressed as a cowboy.
* The Meddler of the ''{{Firekeeper}}'' novels, who is known for having seemingly good intentions but never stopping to consider the consequences.
* The Marquis of Carabas in ''{{Neverwhere}}'' by NeilGaiman. He is named after the young man who is helped by PussInBoots. In the original story, though, it is the cat, not the man, who is the Trickster.
**Neil also wrote his own story about Anansi, going by the name of Charlie Nancy. He has... well, ''two sons who inherit his powers''.
* NealStephenson very evidently likes to both use and reference this archetype; [[MeaningfulName Hiro Protagonist]] is a Trickster/Technologist in SnowCrash, as are many of the key figures of both {{Cryptonomicon}} and TheDiamondAge. In The Diamond Age, [[PlayfulHacker 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).
** Root himself plays the role of TricksterMentor in TheBaroqueCycle. Jack Shaftoe is the Trickster in spades as is, to a lessert extent, Eliza
* {{The Count of Monte Cristo}}.
* Colin in JohnCWright's ''Chronicles of Chaos''. Always ready to pull a stunt whenever they need a distraction.
* Harlequin, as seen in the story ''"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman'' by HarlanEllison.
**See also Neil Gaiman's "Harlequin Valentine".
* In RudyardKipling's ''TheJungleBook'', Tabaqui the Jackal.
-->''"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."\\
Now, Tabaqui knew as well as anyone else that there is nothing so unlucky as to compliment children to their faces. It pleased him to see Mother and Father Wolf look uncomfortable.''
* Kyprioth is the trickster god of {{Tamora Pierce}}'s [[TortallUniverse Tortall]] but the human Aly gives him a run for his money.
* [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Paladine]] in the ''Dragonlance'' novels. His greatest trick was doubtless passing himself off as the god of law, majesty, and nobility.
* Robin Goodfellow in the CalLeandros series. His species is a puck.
* Aiken Drum in Julian May's Pliocene series, 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 [[{{CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory}} children's book]] (as well as his two movie incarnations) is a trickster of the [[{{TricksterMentor}} Mentor]] variety.
* John Taylor from the {{Nightside}} novels, sometimes.
* In ''HarryPotter'', Fred and George Weasley. And Dumbledore has shades of the TricksterMentor.
** Amateurs! Peeves was a professional.
* ''WarriorCats'' has Sol. In addition to his life of travelling the earth to screw things up in as many places as possible, he has actually once been called a trickster in the books.
* Pocket in Christopher Moore's ''Fool''.
* El-ahrairah, the rabbit folk hero in ''WatershipDown''.
* Simkin in the ''Darksword'' novels.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
* Q from ''StarTrek''
* Most of ''TheATeam''
* [[{{Doctor Who}} The Doctor]], in practically every incarnation.
* Megan from ''{{Drake and Josh}}''
* Flabber from ''{{Beetleborgs}}''
* [[{{Babylon 5}} Londo Mollari]]
* [[{{Psych}} Shawn Spencer]]
*Lucy Ricardo of ''ILoveLucy''.
* ''The'' Trickster from ''TheSarahJaneAdventures''.
* ''The'' Trickster from ''{{Supernatural}}''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:TabletopRPG]]
* The Ragabash Auspice in ''Werewolf: The Apocalypse''. Also all the Nuwisha or Werecoyotes.
** Similarly, the pooka from ''ChangelingTheDreaming''.
* ''[[WarhammerFortyThousand Warhammer 40,000]]'' has its typical [[DarkerAndEdgier pitch black take on it]]. The Deciever is a weaker EldritchAbomination who is one of the bigger players in the ThirtyXanatosPileup in the setting, and the Laughing God is one of the [[HaveYouSeenMyGod few surviving gods of the Eldar]], whose followers are the [[MonsterClown Harlequins]] ([[NinjaPirateZombieRobot 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 [[AlmightyJanitor low-ranking]] SpaceMarine who replaced one of his hearts with a [[AndIMustScream stasis bomb]] that [[TakingYouWithMe goes off on his death]].
** The whole archetype is part of the Space Wolves hat. The majority are {{BoisterousBruiser}}s to varying degrees, and many of the younger ones have a real fondness for harmless (or sometimes, not-so-harmless) [[ScrewySquirrel 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.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* Yuffie Kisaragi from ''FinalFantasyVII''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:WebComics]]
* Coyote and Reynardine (based somewhat on the above-mentioned Reynard the Fox) from ''GunnerkriggCourt''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* BugsBunny
* [[ScrewySquirrel Daffy Duck]] ([[{{Flanderization}} originally]])
* WoodyWoodpecker
* [[WhoFramedRogerRabbit Roger Rabbit]]
* Heather from ''TotalDramaIsland''
* Norman from ''FiremanSam''
* The Genie from Disney's ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}''.
* Crash and Eddie from ''IceAge 2''.
* Bart Simpson from ''TheSimpsons''.
* Norm the Genie from ''FairlyOddParents''
* Digeri Dingo from ''TazMania''. He often tricks Taz into doing dangerous things for his own profit. To keep him from being TheScrappy, he's got some of the wittiest, most hilarious lines in the series and could possibly fall into EnsembleDarkhorse status because of this.
* The king of the tricksters has appeared in both ''{{Gargoyles}}'' and even {{Shakespeare}}. Puck "What fools these mortals be."
** Not to mention Coyote, Raven, and Anansi. Xanatos (yes, ''[[XanatosPlannedThisIndex that]]'' [[XanatosPlannedThisIndex Xanatos]]) patterns himself after the mythological trickster.
* The entire Dingo family in ''BlinkyBill'', but mostly Danny and Daisy.
* Hexadecimal of Reboot pretty much defines this trope. Off the wall, powerful and above all, an artiste.
[[/folder]]

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