History Main / KarmicTrickster

* The Norse god Loki, although sometimes a ScrewySquirrel, brought Karmic Trickery to bear against the villains for the greater good on several occassions. Loki would often [[VoluntaryShapeshifting tart himself up]] in drag to trick his enemies - a classic Karmic Trickery ploy - and often teamed up with Thor for a mix of BrainsandBrawn.

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* Till Eulenspiegel in German folklore: many of his "merry pranks" aims at exposing the hypocrisy and greed of others.
* Jesus Christ in [[Literature/TheBible the Gospels]]. He is responsible for giving the Pharisees a bad name and exposing the hypocrisy of temple priests.

* The character EddieGuerrero portrayed in the late part of his {{WWE}} career was very much a Karmic Trickster; he'd jokingly use {{heel}}ish tactics against heels, but because they were all bad guys, and he was so funny about it, the crowds ate it up. One of his favorite tactics would be to pound the mat with a steel chair, throw it into an opponent's hands, and collapse to the mat, so that when the EasilyDistractedReferee turned back around, he'd naturally assume that the heel hit Eddie with the chair. And then, when the ref turned around to chastise the heel (on the occasions where he didn't outright disqualify him), he'd mug for the crowd and pose for the heel, such as putting his hands behind his head, as if he were relaxing in a hammock.

* Eric Cartman in the ''SouthPark'' episode "Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants". The visual style imitates Characters/BugsBunny wartime short films.

[[quoteright:335:[[LooneyTunes http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bugsandelmer_5493.jpg]]]]

* Jesus Christ in [[TheBible the Gospels]]. He is responsible for giving the Pharisees a bad name and exposing the hypocrisy of temple priests.

** Tweety is another LooneyTunes example.
* AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog nudges Sonic into this direction, repeatedly foiling Robotnik's plans in the most LooneyTunes-eqsue ways imaginable.

* Most of the Tiny Toons from ''TinyToonAdventures'' fit into this category. Especially Babs and Buster. Makes sense, considering the entire show is an ''[[AffectionateParody affectionate parody]]'' of old LooneyTunes cartoons, featuring [[{{Expy}} Expies]] of old LooneyTunes characters being ''taught'' by said characters.

* Loud Kiddington from ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}} Histeria!]]'', particularly in a sketch featuring him as a Mountie in the episode "North America".

See also: KarmicProtection.

* [[TwelfthNight Feste the jester]] embodies this role, appropriately enough for a play celebrating Mardi Gras. The carnival is supposed to showcase the inversion of the social order and laugh at it all, which is precisely what Feste does. He points out the logical flaws in Olivia's mourning, sees through even Viola's clever wordplay, and cuts the pompous, Puritan Malvolio down to size... [[DisproportionateRetribution and then some.]]

* On ''{{Supernatural}}'', this is the [[EnsembleDarkhorse Trickster's]] MO: he seeks out people who he thinks are assholes or who annoy him, and punishes them in some manner he deems appropriate, generally killing them in the process.

* Br'er Rabbit, moreso in the original stories than in the [[{{Disneyfication}} Disneyfied]] ''{{Song of the South}}''. Bugs Bunny was partially based on this character.

* The Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister) in ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' (although Wakko is closer to being a ScrewySquirrel) are somewhat offset by the fact that they can be cheerful and annoying to ''anybody'', but are generally harmless until someone starts being a JerkAss. Then he gets labeled their "Special Friend", and all bets are off. In one episode, they're being driven crazy by a parody of the nanny from ''{{The Sound of Music}}''... but can't bring themselves to clobber her, because she's not doing anything ''wrong''. [[spoiler:They hire [[ScrewySquirrel Slappy]].]]
* Most of the Tiny Toons from ''TinyToonAdventures'' fit into this category. Especially Babs and Buster. Makes sense, considering the entire show is an ''[[AffectionateParody affectionate parody]]'' of old LooneyTunes cartoons, featuring [[{{Expy}} Expies]] of old LooneyTunes characters being ''taught'' by said characters.

* Randall Patrick [=McMurphy=] of ''[=~One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest~=]'' is a somewhat more realistic version of this, with a touch of MessianicArchetype thrown in.

* [[TomAndJerry Jerry]] generally waited until Tom victimized him before unleashing torment upon the cat... except when he occasionally didn't wait.

* The Norse god Loki, although sometimes a ScrewySquirrel, brought Karmic Trickery to bear against the villains for the greater good on several occassions. Loki would often [[VoluntaryShapeshifting tart himself up]] in drag to trick his enemies -- a classic Karmic Trickery ploy-- and often teamed up with his adopted brother Thor for a mix of BrainsandBrawn.

* Jesus Christ in [[TheBible the Gospels]]. He is responsible for giving the Phariseans a bad name and exposing the hypocrisy of temple priests.

* In many North American Native traditions the figure of Coyote. Raven a bit further North, and Anansi the Spider down in Africa. He carries on this role in NeilGaiman's ''AmericanGods'' and ''AnansiBoys''.

* Pumphutt in ''{{Krabat}}'' walks from mill to mill and punishes the masters who treat their apprentices like shit.

* The Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister) in ''{{Animaniacs}}'' (although Wakko is closer to being a ScrewySquirrel) are somewhat offset by the fact that they can be cheerful and annoying to ''anybody'', but are generally harmless until someone starts being a JerkAss. Then he gets labeled their "Special Friend", and all bets are off. In one episode, they're being driven crazy by a parody of the nanny from ''{{The Sound of Music}}''... but can't bring themselves to clobber her, because she's not doing anything ''wrong''. [[spoiler:They hire [[ScrewySquirrel Slappy]].]]

* Loud Kiddington from ''[[{{ptitle17u4r74z}} Histeria!]]'', particularly in a sketch featuring him as a Mountie in the episode "North America".

** Also the recent character Thorn, who has the same power set. Thorn's also fond of just general silliness, using himself as the 'butt'. Yes, they have apparently met, and are currently engaged in a prank war.

* AdventuresofSonictheHedgehog nudges Sonic into this direction, repeatedly foiling Robotnik's plans in the most LooneyTunes-eqsue ways imaginable.

* [[Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff Ferris Bueller]] and [[{{Main/ptitle41utvrlt140j}} Parker Lewis]] sometimes perform Karmic Trickery as part of their escapades.

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* [[{{Main/ptitle9htstpre}} Ferris Bueller]] and [[{{Main/ptitle41utvrlt140j}} Parker Lewis]] sometimes perform Karmic Trickery as part of their escapades.

* The titular character played by AudreyTautou in ''{{Amelie}}'', who sets out to drive a jerkass grocer insane by making barely noticeable changes in his apartment.

* On ''{{Supernatural}}'', this is the [[EnsembleDarkhorse Trickster's]] MO: he seeks out generally horrible people (like sadistic frat boys, snooty journalists, womanizing professors, or jealous husbands, to name a few) and gives them exactly what they deserve, usually killing them in the process.

* [[TomAndJerry Jerry]] generally waited until Tom victimized him before unleashing torment upon the cat...except when he occasionally didn't wait.

[[ObfuscatingStupidity May masquerade]] as TheFool, or vice versa; whether silly or wise, he will always display HiddenDepths (if only a knack for {{comedy}} and {{common sense}}) whom the audience supports and invariably laughs with, not at. This is not always true of other [[TricksterArchetype Tricksters]] in general, who are sometimes cast as {{cloud cuckoolander}}s, irrepressible [[ScrewySquirrel agents of chaos]], lesser [[LoveableRogue chaos-bringers]] who are constantly being [[AnAesop taught a lesson]] themselves, or cosmic {{butt monkey}}s. Such traits rarely apply here.