History Main / TricksterMentor

** In many ways, UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} Superman was one of these, particularly to his pal Jimmy Olsen and his girlfriend, Lois Lane (as well as his various other girlfriends). There are countless stories where Superman puts his loved ones through various sorts of Hell in order to teach them lame moral lessons. For Jimmy, the lessons often boiled down to "don't drink things you're not supposed to;" for Lois, they usually were "stop trying to find out my secret identity/trick me into marrying you." For the readers, the lesson was "[[SuperDickery Superman is a dick]]."
** The Super-Teacher From Krypton was a robot built by Jor-El to teach his son. Of course, then the planet blew up... but by a fluke, the robot survived (a ''lot'' of Kryptonian stuff survived in UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}}) and eventually found Kal-El as a [[ComicBook/{{Superboy}} teenager]] on Earth. The robot took it upon itself to guide him in the wise use of his powers. The robot appeared twice, once in UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} and then once in UsefulNotes/{{the Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}}. In both cases, it acted like an incredibly high-handed and manipulative JerkAss, and while Clark had to admit he had learned valuable lessons from it, he was ''very'' glad when the wretched thing took off back into outer space. [[FridgeBrilliance So maybe this is where Supes picked up these same qualities when "mentoring" people as an adult.]]

** Q, from his appearances in various series, plays tricks that seem borderline evil at times, but ultimately contain an important lesson . . . unless he's just messing with you. The three big ones: In "Q Who", he arranges an encounter between the ''Enterprise'' and [[OutsideContextProblem the Borg]], giving the Federation a year's warning and time to prepare before the Borg were due to arrive. In "Tapestry", [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong Q gives Picard a chance for a Do-Over with the promise it won't affect others]], leading Picard to discover that [[ForWantOfANail his untidy past and brash youth was necessary for him to become the person he is today]]. Finally, in "All Good Things...", Q sets up Picard to create the paradox that would prevent life evolving on Earth; but at the same time gives him the [[HumanityOnTrial tools to escape]]. And at the very end, it seems like Q might be about to reveal another big secret to Picard... but decides that HelpingWouldBeKillStealing, and merely tells him, "You'll find out."

** To a good number of fans, Princess Celestia, due to being a PhysicalGoddess who could easily solve many of the larger crises that plague Equestria. She sometimes admits to Twilight that she would've solved the problem herself, but she decided to let her figure it out for herself as part of her friendship lessons.
** [[ReformedButNotTamed Discord]], from Season 4 onward. Granted, half the time his method of "teaching" is more so messing with Twilight and then crafting a lesson about friendship as a justification/excuse to continue doing so, with some of his lessons being purely accidental or rendered moot by episode's end. This is then deconstructed in the series finale when [[spoiler:it is revealed he was pretending to be Grogar for the entire season and brought back several of the previous villains to form a LegionOfDoom as a "final test" for Twilight before she succeeds Celestia and Luna as ruler of Equestria, and help boost her confidence in the process. It backfires, leaving him [[BroughtDownToNormal drained of his magic]] by his treacherous recruits, the villains bigger threats to Equestria than ever before, and Twilight believing that [[HeroicBSOD none of their previous successes were actually real and nothing they did actually mattered]] for a good chunk of the finale]].

%%* The entire [[IncrediblyLamePun Allalie]] family qualifies, especially Henry/Verey and Callan. Henry attempts to change his mother by showing her illusions and always asks the question, [[ArcWords "What did you learn?"]] Callan attempts to do this for Jake but fails--Jake just becomes angry and confused. The family also tricks an alcoholic journalist into giving up drinking. [ZCE:Where is this family from?]

* K. Pinkerton Silverfish, the author of the titular self-help book in Stephen Manes' children's novella ''Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days''. The protagonist Milo does all sorts of ridiculous things at Dr. Silverfish's instruction, like wearing a stalk of broccoli around his neck, going without food for a whole day, and finally staying up all night doing nothing but lying in bed and drinking weak tea. When Milo screws up by nodding off during the last task, the book reassures him by explaining the moral of the story: nobody's perfect, and people who obsess over trying to be perfect just make themselves look silly.

* ''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce'': The Magic Tribunal refuses to help the Mystic Rangers and teleport them into danger, but continue observing them to see if they succumb to despair during their DarkestHour. When The Rangers continue fighting and realize how they've been overconfident, [[SecretTestOfCharacter the tribunal decide that Earth is worth saving]].
-->'''Black Tribunal''': A valuable lesson merits a valuable reward.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** Q, from his appearances in various series, plays tricks that seem borderline evil at times, but ultimately contain an important lesson . . . unless he's just messing with you. The three big ones: In "Q Who", he arranges an encounter between the ''Enterprise'' and [[OutsideContextProblem the Borg]], giving the Federation a year's warning and time to prepare before the Borg were due to arrive. In "Tapestry", [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong Q gives Picard a chance for a Do-Over with the promise it won't affect others]], leading Picard to discover that [[ForWantOfANail his untidy past and brash youth was necessary for him to become the person he is today]]. Finally, in "All Good Things...", Q sets up Picard to create the paradox that would prevent life evolving on Earth; but at the same time gives him the [[HumanityOnTrial tools to escape]]. And at the very end, it seems like Q might be about to reveal another big secret to Picard... but decides that HelpingWouldBeKillStealing, and merely tells him, "You'll find out."
** The Continuum itself managed a double-header. In "Deja Q", [[BroughtDownToNormal they make Q mortal for his constant jerk-ass behavior]], teaching him a bit of humility, but also got to see how humanity would treat someone who had put them through so much aggravation while he was helpless.
* Sabrina's Quiz Master on ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch''.
* The Trickster from ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. Half the time he's teaching a lesson, and the other half he's just killing for fun. Oh, and [[spoiler:[[LightIsNotGood he's]] [[OurAngelsAreDifferent an]] [[ArchangelGabriel archangel.]]]] Arguably, he is always teaching someone a lesson, these just usually [[AesopAmnesia go over the recipient's head]]. Often because said head is rolling away.
** He tries to teach Sam that he can't save Dean from dying and going to hell because of his deal by sticking Sam in a GroundhogDayLoop where Dean ends up dying in increasingly ridiculous ways every repetition and Sam can't stop it from happening. Arguably, this just ends up making Sam ''more'' desperate.
** In a later episode, he sticks the boys in [[TrappedInTVLand TV Land]] and makes them play out the "roles" they are cast in in each show to try to get them to "play their roles" in the coming apocalypse. He ends up having a much more selfish motive in this one: [[spoiler: because he's Gabriel, who ran away from heaven because his brothers were fighting each other, and he wants Michael and Lucifer to have their showdown because "I just want it to be over!".]]

-->'''Claude''': "Do! Something! ''Unexpected!''"
* ''Series/Supergirl2015'': The Music Meister in this version, instead of being a slightly comical, musical-inducing villain, is instead a trickster and a match-maker who's trying to teach our heroes about love.
* Mr. Roarke from ''Series/FantasyIsland''. He'll give you the means to fulfill your biggest dream, but it doesn't mean he'll grant said dream to you in ''exactly'' the way ''you'' want it to be. You'll have to [[AnAesop learn your lesson]] through it, and sometimes your life and sanity will depend on it...
%%* Garak was this to Bashir in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''.
%%* {{Satan}} himself plays a Trickster Mentor to Zeke in ''Series/{{Brimstone}}'' and Sam in ''Series/{{Reaper}}''.

** In their essay "The Sound of One House Clapping" (appearing in the volume ''House and Philosophy''), Jeffrey C. Russ and Jeremy Barris argue that House is a trickster mentor in the classic Zen tradition. The closing [[StoryArc arc]] of Season 3 has Foreman wrestling with the prospect that he's an EvilMentor. This comes back in Season 6 [[spoiler: after Chase [[IDidWhatIHadToDo murders a patient]] (an African dictator) to prevent him from perpetrating genocide on part of his country's population.]]

* R.J. in ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury'' fulfills this role. He often will have the Rangers do seemingly stupid things in the name of teaching them valuable lessons.
** Also Dimitria from ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'', who spends much of her time speaking in riddles for the team to solve.
%%* Max Malini in ''TheCape''
* Slightly unusual use ''Series/ChinesePaladin'', as TheHero is this to his {{Lancer}} Jinyuan, setting him exercises such as standing on one leg and reciting nonsense. The twist comes when Jinyuan is perfectly aware that he's being set up, but goes along with it anyway--for the [[SecretTestOfCharacter exact same reasons.]]
* This is George Bluth's parenting style on ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''. Whenever his kids misbehaved when they were young, George would hire a man who had lost an arm working for the Bluth company to help stage an accident, making the kids think that a random stranger had lost an arm because they were ignoring their father's advice. Sometimes it made sense, such as "accidentally" running the employee over because the kids were yelling too much in the back, other times it was just plain bizarre-George once tried to convince his kids that leaving their doors open with the air conditioning running had led to the guy losing his arm.
* Sam Weiss from {{Series/Fringe}}. His teachings involve having Olivia do seemingly inane things like tie shoes. They seem completely useless until Olivia reflexively stands up... without the aid of the crutches she thought she couldn't move without. He's also delightfully snarky and constantly cracks jokes while teaching Fringe team his odd lessons.
* [[TheOlderImmortal Methos]] from Series/HighlanderTheSeries. Especially in the later seasons, he tends to teach [[TheHero Duncan]] lessons through manipulation, rather than giving him straightforward advice. [[VitriolicBestBuds His brand of wisdom is not always appreciated.]]

* Subverted in ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' with the Nuwisha werecoyotes. The Nuwisha see themselves as trickster mentors to the Garou and other Fera, but judging from the other tribebooks, their "lessons" produce confusion, embarrassment, or anger more often than enlightenment. The FantasticRacism does not help.
* ''TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful'': As befits her Court's values of surprise, laughter, and freedom, the Queen of Spades is usually this to her Princesses. In particular, when a Princess brings a problem before the Queen, she will often propose a completely absurd solution, knowing that in the process of explaining ''why'' the absurd solution won't work, the Princess will hopefully realize a solution that ''will'' work.

* Kokichi Oma in ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa V3|Killing Harmony}}'' occasionally acts as this towards Shuichi. During his Free Time Events, Kokichi threatens the detective to play with him, but intentionally loses every time. When he cuts himself playing the knife game, Kokichi deems Shuichi the winner by default, explaining it's possible to win by not playing. [[spoiler:It turns out Kokichi knew the game was being broadcast and was trying to screw over the audience, and Shuichi realizes at the end that the only way to win Danganronpa is ''to refuse to play'']].
%%* Ovan picked up this habit in ''VideoGame/DotHackGU''.

* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' furnishes a few examples. Master Li is characterized this way early on, with several characters remarking on his idiosyncratic behavior, [[spoiler:before he is [[TreacherousAdvisor revealed]] as the true BigBad]]. The Forest Shadow is a more complete example: she's a powerful fox spirit (see the citation on Coyote above), a class of beings assigned by the CelestialBureaucracy to confront humans with [[SecretTestOfCharacter Secret Tests of Character]]--even when she needs your help, this is how she approaches you.

* In ''VisualNovel/IkemenSengoku'', Mitsuhide Akechi acts as one to the female main character in his route. He takes on the role of her instructor, teaching her politics, horsemanship, weaponry, and self-defense skills, and even though he claims that he's doing all of this just to keep an eye on her to make sure that she doesn't defect from the Oda forces and teases her mercilessly about her initial ineptitude at these skills, he never once loses patience with her and his relentless training succeeds in making her much better equipped to survive in the Sengoku period.

* Everything about the Old Man in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' points to this as he teaches you(both the player and character of Link, who is an AmnesiacHero this time around) most of the basics of the world while appearing to do day to day things. Once you find out that you have to leave the area, which is on a high up plateau, the Old man then gives you a goal of beating seemingly random shrines promising reward of the item that will help you leave, but even that is a teaching you about the spirit orbs you get from that. Only after all that it's revealed that The Old Man is [[spoiler: the spirit of the former King of Hyrule and testing you/Link to see if you re-adopt the mantle of hero. He then tells you the story of the fall of his Kingdom and appears to pass on after giving you the item to leave.]]

* In ''Webcomic/ThogInfinitron'', Shaman Magog acts both as Thog's mentor and trickster, often leading Thog into situations that will allow Thog to grow as a human being, but sometimes seemingly just for his own entertainment.
* [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Netta]] from ''Webcomic/{{DDG}}'' veers between trickster or cynical mentor depending on her mood

* In Literature/WhateleyUniverse, Chou is 'blessed' with the Monkey King as a mentor. In "Summoning Sweeties", the Monkey King explains his/her actions all but quoting this trope.

* Subverted with Magic Man in ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime.'' In his debut episode, he pretends to be an old homeless man and begs Finn for food, and then does Finn "a favor" in return: transforming him into a giant foot. He claims that he did so to teach Finn a lesson; and only changes him back when Finn expresses regret of having given Magic Man the food. No one can figure out the lesson in the end beyond Magic Man just being a jerk.

%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

* John Constantine the ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'' is a mentor to Timothy Hunter in ''ComicBook/TheBooksOfMagic''. Because of John's profession as con man, he sometime pranks Tim, sometimes to the point of endangering the kid's life.
* The Red Dragon from ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}'' is a pretty low-key example; but it's especially noticable in the early parts of the comic, where he in between his lazing around and BigDamnHeroes moments will occasionally do some pretty weird things, either to teach the protagonists a lesson or just mess around with them.
-->'''Fone Bone:''' The dragon's doing this! He ''wants'' you to think he doesn't exist!\\
'''The Red Dragon:''' ''[Pokes his head out of a well]'' Actually, I just want her to think you're nuts.
* From ''ComicBook/AmericanBornChinese,'' [[spoiler:The Monkey King disguises himself as the stereotypically obnoxious Chin-Kee]] to teach the protagonist a lesson about not abandoning his heritage.

* Deconstructed with Phoenix Wright in the ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'' fanfic ''Fanfic/DirtySympathy''. His teaching style and fast-and-loose antics not only costs him Apollo's respect, but also causes his own plans to fall apart when he finds out that Apollo framed Kristoph for a crime he didn't commit and wasn't working alone.

** Deconstructed in ''Fanfic/PartingWords'', where Twilight is so sick and tired of being a pawn in Celestia's games that she renounces her place as Celestia's student. In spite of halting her 'cryptic mentor' tendencies with Twilight Sparkle, in the sequel, ''Fanfic/TheGreatAlicornHunt'', Celestia still tends to be enigmatic and manipulative with a few things, not the least of which includes selecting a host of male guards for Twilight and Fluttershy in hopes that they find their 'super special somepony'. Kinda backfires with the Wonderbolts when she fails to fully debrief them on their 'true' mission with Rainbow Dash. This is also a major factor in why Sunset Shimmer fell, as she saw Celestia much like Twilight did in the beginning of ''Parting Words'', and hated being manipulated.

--->'''Applejack''': Consarnit. ''[[[FacePalm face hooves]]]'' We really gotta sit the Princess down one day and have an intervention. This cockamamie 'cryptic mentor' nonsense is getting old.

* ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'': [[SpaceMarine Khnemu]] taught Shinji the ways of scheming and manipulating. In order to train him properly, Khnemu betrayed and backstabbed Shinji constantly, and he expected that Shinji tried to outwit him and double-cross him in turn. Even so, he cared for his disciple, and Shinji was aware ot it.
* ''Fanfic/CorrinReacts'': Azama certainly thinks he's one. Unfortunately for [[ChickMagnet Kaze]], it manifests in him allowing Kaze's [[AbhorrentAdmirer fangirls]] to chase him through the Hoshidan capital.
* ''Fanfic/TheDifferentverse'': Celestia still shows signs of this, but she's more honest about matters than in canon. It helps that Moondancer was straight to the point with her about what they'd figured out.
* ''Fanfic/ErasedPotential'': Nedzu ''always'' has an angle, if not several, and once he learns of Izuku's existence as Aizawa's Quirkless protégé, he immediately sets several plans into motion. However, his willingness to treat Izuku as a pawn causes him to quickly lose his respect... and once he tricks Toshinori one too many times, several members of U.A.'s staff turn against him as well.

* Ino in ''Fanfic/TheLastPrayer'' insists she's using her blackmail against Sakura to make the girl rethink her affection for Sasuke. Sakura spends the entire month think Ino is trying to "dilute her love for Sasuke". It's not until the end of the month that Ino reveals the whole thing was a SecretTestOfCharacter. Had Sakura refused to go along with the blackmail and let Ino release the pictures of her (really Ino in Sakura's body) fellating Naruto, Ino would've handed them back. Instead, Sakura willingly degraded herself and did everything in her power to keep Sasuke from seeing those pictures because it might hurt her chances with him. Though Sakura doesn't ''truly'' get the lesson until Sasuke threatens to kill her parents if she really wants to understand him and Sakura's horrified to realize that she briefly considered it, making her realize just how unhealthy her feelings towards Sasuke is.
* ''Fanfic/UnbreakableRedSilkenThread'': Heather, through the use of Cody's perverted nature not only managed to get him to spend time outside and away from gaming, but to actually ENJOY exercising and WANT to get himself into better shape. [[spoiler: This continues with her lessons for Jasmine, working her up and riling her temper to life so she wouldn't suppress it all the time while also getting her more comfortable with sexual contact. This in turn is exceeded by the way she has been working over Gwen to break her up with Duncan, which basically boiled down to doing absolutely nothing while Gwen tries to figure out what she is up to.]]
* ''Fanfic/MyHeroPlaythrough'': [[Manga/MyHeroAcademia Shota Aizawa]]'s penchant for putting his students through "logical ruses" to force them to develop backfires when, after he's forced to reveal his SecretTest during the Quirk Assessment Test, several students openly question Aizawa's fitness to be their teacher: it takes All Might's explanation for them to settle down, and even then Aizawa gets in trouble because he was explicitly warned against doing it.
* [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12518868/1/Sucker-Bet Sucker Bet]] Deconstructs this with Jiraiya and Kakashi's teachings towards Naruto. This teaching style is only beneficial if the recipient has the base knowledge to figure things out, something that Naruto, (an orphaned, impulsive, emotionally neglected child with a lack of social skills), lacks. When Naruto is later trained by the toads, they achieve much better results because they're more patient, straightforward, and attentive to him.

--> '''Simba:''' What was that for?\\
'''Rafiki:''' It doesn't matter! It's in the past! ... The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it. *swings again, Simba ducks this time*
* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}} 2: Legends of Metru Nui'': Turaga Lhikan hides his identity to his cellmates, Onewa, Nuju and Whenua and gets them to perform [[WaxOnWaxOff seemingly odd tasks]] while he [[ProverbialWisdom spouts cryptic truth-nuggets]] that drive them crazy, forcing them into conflict to unlock their [[MaskOfPower mask powers]].

%%* ''Literature/MaryPoppins''

* In the Creator/StrugatskyBrothers' later Noonverse novels, Rudolf Sikorski, the GovernmentConspiracy KnightTemplar, works somewhat like that with the protagonist Maxim Kammerer. He keeps [[ShootTheDog shooting the dog]] and does a classic BreakingSpeech when Maxim first meets him. It all seems to do Maxim some good service in the end, though.

* Coriakin from ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'' seems to be this for the Duffers he looks after: for instance, he turned them into Monopods for disobedience. He also put a bearded mirror in his mansion, most likely to prank his guests.
* Hasan ibn Sabbah in Vladimir Bartol's ''Literature/{{Alamut}}'', with the twist that he usually has the followers who realize that he is a trickster covertly killed. When one of them survives and comes back for revenge, he declares him as his own son in every sense but biological, and blesses his search for enlightenment. ''And it works!''
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': ''Tales of the Slayer'':
** In ''And White Splits the Night'': Laurent took Asha in at a young age but, unlike many Watchers, she never told Asha that she was being trained as a Potential Slayer and let her think she was only learning combat for defense against bullies. If Asha hadn't been chosen as a Slayer, Laurent would have probably never told her the truth about the Watchers Council and the Slayers.
** In ''Ching Shih'', Master Wang instructed the Potential Slayer Xiaoqin about the Slayer and vampires while pretending to just be a storyteller of fables. He never mentioned the Watchers' Council, presumably due to suspecting it would ruin the romantic image of a lone magical warrior that would make Xioaqin listen to his stories.%%* Fizban[[spoiler:/Paladine]] in the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}} Chronicles'' trilogy.
* Vergere from the Literature/NewJediOrder. Later works established her as being also an EvilMentor.
* K. Pinkerton Silverfish, the author of the titular self-help book in Stephen Manes' children's novella ''Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days''. The protagonist Milo does all sorts of ridiculous things at Dr. Silverfish's instruction, like wearing a stalk of broccoli around his neck, going without food for a whole day, and finally staying up all night doing nothing but lying in bed and drinking weak tea. When Milo screws up by nodding off during the last task, the book reassures him by explaining the moral of the story: nobody's perfect, and people who obsess over trying to be perfect just make themselves look silly.
* ''Literature/AnElegyForTheStillLiving'': Robin Goodfellow, when he isn't just messing with Francis for the fun of it.
* In ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Once_And_Future_King The Once and Future King]]'' the wizard Merlyn teaches Arthur/The Wart through a series of trials by transforming him into various animals to prepare him for life once he becomes the High King.
* In ''Literature/EndersGame'', the Battle School instructors have set up a system where almost everything the instructors do is part of a trick.
* Master Li from ''Literature/BridgeOfBirds'' (the namesake of the one under "Video Games") is a classic example. Being the son of two infamous bandits, he's partial to lengthy, intricate plots and bluffs of which Number Ten Ox is a part, and isn't afraid to put one over on his student from time to time, but he does manage to teach him effectively.
* Haymitch from ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' definitely qualifies; years of [[TheAlcoholic heavy drinking]] and being a Hunger Games survivor have probably contributed to the "trickster" part of his mentorship. He gets into intense arguments fairly often with Katniss and although Katniss usually doesn't like what she hears, Haymitch is normally right, if not in a [[BrutalHonesty brutally honest way.]]
* The entire [[IncrediblyLamePun Allalie]] family qualifies, especially Henry/Verey and Callan. Henry attempts to change his mother by showing her illusions and always asks the question, [[ArcWords "What did you learn?"]] Callan attempts to do this for Jake but fails--Jake just becomes angry and confused. The family also tricks an alcoholic journalist into giving up drinking.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Harry Dresden has the misfortune to have several supernatural entities of great power and mysterious natures interested in teaching him something, but he's never entirely sure ''what'' he's meant to learn. Examples include [[FairyGodmother Leanansidhe]], [[TheFairFolk Queen Mab and the Mothers]], the ArchangelUriel, [[EldritchAbomination He Who Walks Behind]], and [[ShroudedInMyth Rashid the Gatekeeper]], and since many of them appear to be on [[GambitPileup different sides]] and are quite willing for him to die if he's not strong enough to survive the lesson, he's often lost for reliable, non-lethal guidance. As of ''Literature/ColdDays'', he's finally had it spelled out to him that [[spoiler: he should just keep blundering through life, trying to sort out the problems he comes across / creates along the way, as it seems destiny has every intention of continuing to [[SpannerInTheWorks aim him in the general direction of whatever needs to get broken]]]].
** Harry himself is this to Molly. When teaching her about magic, he's mostly straightforward, but when teaching her about ''life'', he prefers making her understand things rather than simply learn them. This is evidenced in the bead string subplot.
* Willy Wonka in ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' is a variation: The whole purpose of the Golden Ticket contest and the tour of his fantastical factory for its winners is to find a child worthy of inheriting the place. Those who disregard his instructions and give in to their worst natures as they explore it are nastily altered -- even, in the [[Theatre/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory 2013 stage musical]], killed! Those who reveal their best natures through the journey, even if at the time it seems counterproductive to do so, are rewarded. Gene Wilder, who played Wonka in [[Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory the 1971 film adaptation]], beautifully summarizes this trope with the story of agreeing to do the film on one condition: He wanted to make his entrance with a cane, limping, then suddenly somersaulting, "Because from that point on, no one will know if I'm lying or telling the truth." The director agreed to it, and the rest is history.
* In ''Literature/{{Murderess}}'', ‘Hat Lad is this for Lu, giving her cryptic directions and pulling off NotQuiteDead on her twice.
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': Tasio's goal is to help Eric learn confidence and preservance. His methods involve deception, cunning, and many dangerous situations.
* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}} Chronicles 4: Tales of the Masks'': Turaga Nokama seemingly betrays Toa Gali and traps her in an underwater cave with a GiantSquid, since getting her to panic and attempt the unthinkable was the best way to master the {{Intangibility}} power of the [[MaskOfPower Mask of Speed]]. As a bonus, Nokama shows Gali a secret carving about her own past stint as a Toa, lying about it to make Gali inquisitive and question the Turaga's authority. In doing so, Nokama not only tricked Gali into becoming more powerful but drove a wedge between the five other Turaga elders, nudging them to drop their secrecy and reveal what they've been hiding from their people for a thousand years.
* In ''Literature/LostTime''/''Literature/DeadLands'' and ''Literature/ResurrectionLife'', Nathaniel David Parker acts as this for Blake and Gideon, respectively. He is limited in what he can and can't say by God, so he pushes his charges in various ways in order to let them figure out what he wants from them without him outright saying it, unless the situation calls for it. He will pull every dirty trick in the book if it means his students learn how to think for themselves and be aware of how to love and lead the people around them, so that he can follow the rules he has to submit to and get some high-quality [[{{Troll}} Trolling]] in as well, because ItAmusedMe.
* ''Literature/TheWitchOfKnightcharm'': Lauren, an elite student at an evil WizardingSchool, serves as this to Emily, a new student (and the protagonist) whom Lauren personally recruits. Lauren acts as a sort of mentor but rarely tells Emily what she wants the other girl to learn, instead dropping hints and relying on Emily to figure things out. For instance, Lauren doesn't explicitly state that she wants Emily to help her destroy the psychopathic top-ranked student Morgan, but she does guide Emily into learning that the top students are judged by the performance of the students they hand-select, and Emily thus realizes she can undermine Morgan (who is too strong to fight directly) by defeating Morgan's handpicked student Alejandra.

--> '''Black Tribunal''': A valuable lesson merits a valuable reward.

->... and she [Eris, Greek goddess of Strife] is far kinder to men. She stirs up even the shiftless to toil; for a man grows eager to work when he considers his neighbour, a rich man who hastens to plough and plant and put his house in good order; and neighbour vies with his neighbour as he hurries after wealth. This Strife is wholesome for men. And potter is angry with potter, and craftsman with craftsman and beggar is jealous of beggar, and minstrel of minstrel.

* Terry Pratchett's ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'' includes Lu-Tze, a deliberate pastiche of Mr. Miyagi style trickster mentors. In true Zen form the humble sweeper Lu-Tze never quite lets on whether he's a profoundly enlightened wiseman with reality-defying martial arts powers or just a wiseass who gets by on audacity and luck alone. Right up until the end, when it is revealed [[spoiler:that he's the former]].

* The deity known as the Bastard from Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/{{Chalion}}'' books, ''Literature/PaladinOfSouls'' in particular.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

--->Once a renown philosopher and moralist was traveling through the land and stopped in Nasrudin's village. He asked Nasrudin to recommend a place to eat, and, being hungry for intelligent company as well, invited Nasrudin to accompany him. At the restaurant, they asked the waiter what the special of the day was, and were told, "Fish -- fresh fish!" They ordered two.\\

* K. Pinkerton Silverfish, the author of the titular self-help book in Stephen Manes' children's novella ''Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days''. The protagonist Milo does all sorts of ridiculous things at Dr. Silverfish's instruction, like wearing a stalk of broccoli around his neck, going without food for a whole day, and finally staying up all night doing nothing but laying in bed and drinking weak tea. When Milo screws up by nodding off during the last task, the book reassures him by explaining the moral of the story: nobody's perfect, and people who obsess over trying to be perfect just make themselves look silly.

* Master Li from ''Literature/BridgeOfBirds'' (the namesake of the one under "Video Games") is a classic example. Being the son of two infamous bandits, he's partial to lengthy, intricate plots and bluffs in which Number Ten Ox is a part, and isn't afraid to put one over on his student from time to time, but he does manage to teach him effectively.

* The entire [[IncrediblyLamePun Allalie]] family qualifies, especially Henry/Verey and Callan. Henry attempts to change his mother by showing her illusions and always asks the question, [[ArcWords "What did you learn?"]] Callan attempts to do this for Jake but fails- Jake just becomes angry and confused. The family also tricks an alcoholic journalist into giving up drinking.

* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'': A very, ''very'' generous interpretation of Izaya's character places him as one of these. His favorite hobby is messing with people's heads, manipulating them into going through emotionally devastating circumstances, seemingly ForTheLulz. However, the ordeals Izaya puts people through often force them to confront some ugly truths about themselves, as Izaya [[BreakingSpeech is happy to point out]]. They may not be ''happier'', but Izaya's victims are often wiser for having been used by him.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': King Bumi for the duration of "The King of Omashu". Also to his whole city when he surrenders rather than subject them to a doomed siege, and then cackles about it a lot rather than explaining anything.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': Glossaryck is a deconstruction, as his cryptic messages and metaphors don't work ''at all'' for the LiteralMinded Star, who either fails to figure his advice out or ends up misinterpreting it and stumbles into a solution he never intended. Previous wand users like Star's mother openly admit that the tiny, god-like being is incredibly unhelpful even if you are willing to parse his odd statements and behavior.
* ''WesternAnimation/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeries'': The Wise Warlock from "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?" episode, overlapping with EccentricMentor. At first he appears to be a phony and a grumpy old man, seemingly unwilling to help Sabrina and instead trying to sell her items from his shop; however, at the end he turns out to be really wise, and gives Sabrina an important piece of advice. It is likely, though not outright stated, that his "phony/grumpy old man" persona was deliberate pretense. Oh, and he's also [[BarefootSage perpetually barefoot]].
* ''WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground'': The Oracle of Delphius fills this trope. He comes complete with koan-slinging and a lampshade.
-->'''Sonic''': Don't you ever just give a straight answer?\\
'''Oracle''': What do you think?

* Subverted with Magic Man in ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime.'' In his debut episode, he pretends to be an old homeless man and begs Finn for food, and then does Finn "a favor" in return: transforming him into a giant foot. He claims that he did so to teach Finn a lesson; and only changes him back when Finn expresses regret of having given Magic Man the food. No one can figure out the lesson in the end beyond Magic Man just being a jerk.

* Herschel of Ostropol is Nasreddin's Yiddish-speaking cousin from the Ukraine. In one of his more famous episodes, he stole one drumstick from a rich man's roast goose and ate it. When the owner of the goose confronted him, Herschel insisted the bird had only one leg to begin with. "There's no such thing as a bird with one leg," said the rich man. Herschel then took him to a local pond where waterbirds were standing on one leg, with the other leg drawn up into their feathers. The rich man made noise to scare the birds, and they all lowered their second leg and flew away. Herschel's comment: "See, if you'd shouted and waved at the roast goose, you'd have seen its other leg, too."

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Jiraiya adopts the "thrown in at the deep end" method of training. Literally. Unsatisfied with the hero's progress at accessing his power, he throws him into a ''chasm''.

* ''Literature/TheWitchOfKnightcharm'': Lauren, an elite student at the evil WizardingSchool known as Myth/TheScholomance, serves as this to Emily, a new student (and the protagonist) whom Lauren personally recruits. Lauren acts as a sort of mentor but rarely tells Emily what she wants the other girl to learn, instead dropping hints and relying on Emily to figure things out. For instance, Lauren doesn't explicitly state that she wants Emily to help her destroy the psychopathic top-ranked student Morgan, but she does guide Emily into learning that the top students are judged by the performance of the students they hand-select, and Emily thus realizes she can undermine Morgan (who is too strong to fight directly) by defeating her own handpicked student Alejandra.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Some might say Luffy's grandfather is one as well considering his training techniques to make Luffy a great marine, however, since his reasoning was made clear and it backfired big time it could just be TrainingFromHell.

-->-- ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Works_and_Days Works and Days,]]'' ''Hesiod'' (c. 700BC)