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
An Aesop. Even when punished horribly for his effrontery, his indomitable spirit keeps him coming back for more.
The trickster is often a
Master Of Disguise and may have magical or super-powers.
A list of subtypes can be found on the
Tricksters page.
Examples:
Tricksters in folklore and legend
- Loki
- Coyote
- Raven
- Weesagechak
- Nanabush / Nanabozho
- Spider Woman
- Anansi / Anancy / Aunt Nancy
- Prometheus
- Eshu
- Legbara
- Afrekete
- Sun Wukong (Son Goku) in Journey To The West
- Br'er Rabbit / Compe' Lapin
- Puck / Robin Goodfellow
- Robin Hood.
- Reynard le Goupil (Reynard the Fox)
- Tyl Eulenspiegel
- Hershel of Ostropol
- Kitsune (Fox)
- Tanuki (Raccoondog)
- Satan
- Dracula
Tricksters in pop culture
- Charlie Chaplin
- Many vampire and clown characters
- Bugs Bunny
- The Cheshire Cat
- Woody Woodpecker
- Roger Rabbit
- Q from Star Trek
- Most of The A Team
- Many of the characters Eddie Murphy has portrayed are Tricksters.
- The Mask. And most other characters played by Jim Carrey.
- Impossible Man.
- The Joker and the Riddler.
- Mr. Mxyzptlk from Superman.
- Han Solo, to a degree.
- Norman from Fireman Sam
- Megan from Drake and Josh
- Merry and Pippin from Lord of the rings.
- The Genie from Disney's Aladdin.
- Flabber from Beetleborgs
- Crash and Eddie from Ice Age 2.
- Two words: Bart Simpson.
- Jack Sparrow. Captain Jack Sparrow.
- Miles Vorkosigan
- Dominoes pizza mascot The Noid.
- 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.
- The original Trickster, it's in his name!
- Granny Weatherwax. You don't have to have a sense of humour to be a Trickster!
- Randal Patrick McMurphy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
- You need a name with a bit of style. Mixed with... romance. Something like... Valentine.
- Coyote and Reynardine (based somewhat on the above-mentioned Reynard the Fox) from Gunnerkrigg Court.
- 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 existing between the audience's world and the world onstage - and freely disrupts both worlds throughout. Cirque's limited-run TV series Solstrom had a whole troupe of characters from various shows arriving on Earth from the sun to enact this archetype in various locales.
- Vash the Stampede from Trigun. Knives Millions too, to a large extent.
- The homunculi (especially Envy) in Full Metal Alchemist.
- The Mad Hatter in Angel Sanctuary.
- The Count from Gankutsuou.
- Count D. from Pet Shop Of Horrors.
- Tomie from Tomie.
- Kanako and Toshio in The Grudge.
- 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".)
