In mythology and the study of

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

and

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

, a trickster is a character in a story (

god In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

, goddess, spirit,

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwise disobey normal rules and defy conventional behavior.

Mythology

Tricksters, as

archetypal The concept of an archetype ( ) appears in areas relating to behavior, History of psychology#Emergence of German experimental psychology, historical psychology, philosophy and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a stat ...

characters, appear in the myths of many different cultures. Lewis Hyde describes the trickster as a "boundary-crosser".Hyde, Lewis. ''Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth, and Art''. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. The trickster crosses and often breaks both physical and societal rules: Tricksters "violate principles of social and natural order, playfully disrupting normal life and then re-establishing it on a new basis." Often, this bending and breaking of rules takes the form of tricks and thievery. Tricksters can be

cunning Cunning may refer to: * Cunning (owarai), a Japanese comedy duo * Cunning folk, a type of folk magician * Cunning (surname), a list of people with Cunning as a surname See also * * * Cunningham (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

or foolish or both. The trickster openly questions, disrupts and mocks authority. Many cultures have tales of the trickster, a crafty being who uses tricks to get food, steal precious possessions, or simply cause mischief. In some Greek myths Hermes plays the trickster. He is the patron of thieves and the inventor of lying, a gift he passed on to Autolycus, who in turn passed it on to

Odysseus In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus ( ; , ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; ), is a legendary Greeks, Greek king of Homeric Ithaca, Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Odyssey''. Od ...

. In Slavic folktales, the trickster and the culture hero are often combined. How loki wrought mischief in Asgard by Willy Pogany

Frequently the trickster figure exhibits gender and form variability. In

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

the mischief-maker is

Loki Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...

, who is also a shapeshifter. Loki also exhibits sex variability, in one case even becoming pregnant. According to "The Song of Hyndla" in The

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related ''Prose Edda'', although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse ...

, Loki becomes a mare who later gives birth to Odin's eight-legged horse Sleipnir. In African-American folklore, a personified rabbit, known as Brer Rabbit, is the main trickster figure. In West Africa (and thence into the Caribbean via the slave trade), the spider (see Anansi) is often the trickster. In southern African a ǀKaggen is often the trickster, usually taking the form of a praying mantis.Bleek (1875
A brief account of Bushman folklore and other texts
/ref>

Comparison with clown

The ''trickster'' is a term used for a non-performing "trick maker"; they may have many motives behind their intention but those motives are not largely in public view. They are internal to the character or person. The

clown A clown is a person who performs physical comedy and arts in an Improvisational theatre#Comedy, open-ended fashion, typically while wearing distinct cosmetics, makeup or costume, costuming and reversing social norm, folkway-norms. The art of ...

, on the other hand, is a

persona A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...

of a performer who intentionally displays their actions in public for an audience.

Native American tradition

While the trickster crosses various cultural traditions, there are significant differences between tricksters from different parts of the world:

Many native traditions held
clown A clown is a person who performs physical comedy and arts in an Improvisational theatre#Comedy, open-ended fashion, typically while wearing distinct cosmetics, makeup or costume, costuming and reversing social norm, folkway-norms. The art of ...
s and tricksters as essential to any contact with the
sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...
. People could not pray until they had laughed, because
laughter Laughter is a pleasant physical reaction and emotion consisting usually of rhythmical, usually audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to certain external or internal stimuli. Laug ...
opens and frees from rigid preconception. Humans had to have tricksters within the most sacred ceremonies for fear that they forget the sacred comes through upset, reversal, surprise. The trickster in most native traditions is essential to creation, to birth.

Native American tricksters should not be confused with the European fictional picaro. One of the most important distinctions is that "we can see in the Native American trickster an openness to life's multiplicity and paradoxes largely missing in the modern Euro-American moral tradition". In some stories, the Native American trickster is foolish; other times wise. He can be a hero in one tale and a villain in the next. In many Native American and First Nations mythologies, the Coyote spirit ( Southwestern United States) or Raven spirit (

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

) stole fire from the gods (

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

, and/or sun). Both are usually seen as jokesters and pranksters. In Native American creation stories, when Coyote teaches humans how to catch salmon, he makes the first fish weir out of logs and branches. Wakdjunga in Winnebago mythology is an example of the trickster archetype. Wisakedjak (Wìsakedjàk in Algonquin, Wīsahkēcāhk(w) in

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

and Wiisagejaak in

Oji-Cree The Anisininew or Oji-Cree are a First Nation in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, residing in a band extending from the Missinaibi River region in Northeastern Ontario at the east to Lake Winnipeg at the west. The Oji-Cree pe ...

) is a trickster figure in Algonquin and Chipewyan Storytelling.

Coyote

The Coyote mythos is one of the most popular among western Native American cultures, especially among

indigenous peoples of California Indigenous peoples of California, commonly known as Indigenous Californians or Native Californians, are a diverse group of nations and peoples that are indigenous to the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and afte ...

and the Great Basin. According to

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

(and other Plains) tradition, Old Man Coyote impersonates the Creator: "Old Man Coyote took up a handful of mud and out of it made people". He also bestowed names on buffalo, deer, elk, antelopes, and bear. According to A. Hultkranz, the impersonation of Coyote as Creator is a result of a taboo, a mythic substitute to the religious notion of the Great Spirit whose name was too dangerous and/or sacred to use apart from at special ceremonies. In Chelan myths, Coyote belongs to the animal people but he is at the same time "a power just like the Creator, the head of all the creatures." while still being a subject of the Creator who can punish him or remove his powers. In the Pacific Northwest tradition, Coyote is mostly mentioned as a messenger, or minor power. As the culture hero, Coyote appears in various mythic traditions, but generally with the same magical powers of transformation, resurrection, and "medicine". He is engaged in changing the ways of rivers, creating new landscapes and getting sacred things for people. Of mention is the tradition of Coyote fighting against monsters. According to Wasco tradition, Coyote was the hero to fight and kill Thunderbird, the killer of people, but he could do that not because of his personal power, but due to the help of the Spirit Chief. In some stories, Multnomah Falls came to be by Coyote's efforts; in others, it is done by Raven. More often than not Coyote is a trickster, but always different. In some stories, he is a noble trickster: "Coyote takes water from the Frog people... because it is not right that one people have all the water." In others, he is malicious: "Coyote determined to bring harm to Duck. He took Duck's wife and children, whom he treated badly."

Oral stories

William Powell Frith The Relapse Midnight Alarm 3-3

* Abenaki mythology: Azeban * Afro-Cuban mythology: Eleggua, Eshu * Akan mythology: Kwaku Ananse * American folklore of African origin: Brer Rabbit (compare Compère Lapin in the French-speaking Caribbean), Aunt Nancy (a corruption of Anansi, also spelt 'Anansee', among other spellings) * Arabian mythology: Juha, Sinbad * Ashanti folklore: Anansi * Australian Aboriginal mythology: Bamapana,

* Aztec mythology: Huehuecoyotl * Babylonian mythology: Lilith * Bantu mythology: Hare (Tsuro or Kalulu) * Basque mythology: San Martin Txiki * Belgian mythology: Lange Wapper * Brazilian folklore: Saci, Curupira * Bulgarian/ Macedonian folklore: Hitar Petar (Itar Pejo), Kuma Lisa * Caribbean folklore: Anansi *

Celtic mythology Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples.Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press , pp. 183 (religion), 202, 204–8. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed ...

: Fairy, Puck, puca *

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature throughout the area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology encompasses a diverse array of myths derived from regional and cultural tradit ...

: Huli jing (Fox spirit), Nezha, Red Boy, Sun Wukong (Monkey King) * Chukchi mythology:

Kutkh Kutkh (also ''Kutkha'', ''Kootkha'', ''Kutq,'' ''Kutcha'' and other variants, ) is a Raven in mythology, Raven spirit traditionally revered in various forms by various indigenous peoples of the Russian Far East. Kutkh appears in many legends: as ...

* Costa Rican folklore and literature: Tío Conejo (Uncle Rabbit) *

mythology: Wisakedjak * Crow mythology: Awakkule, Mannegishi * Dutch folklore: Reynaert de Vos, Tijl Uilenspiegel *

Egyptian mythology Egyptian mythology is the collection of myths from ancient Egypt, which describe the actions of the Egyptian pantheon, Egyptian gods as a means of understanding the world around them. The beliefs that these myths express are an important part ...

: Set,

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

English folklore English folklore consists of the myths and legends of England, including the region's Legendary creature, mythical creatures, traditional recipes, urban legends, proverbs, superstitions, Folk dance, dance, balladry, and Folklore, folktales tha ...

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

, Puck, Brownies *

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

an mythology: Daucina * French folklore: Renart the Fox * German folklore: Reineke Fuchs, the Pied Piper, Till Eulenspiegel *

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

: Eris, Prometheus, Hermes,

, Sisyphus * Haitian folklore: Anansi, Ti Malice * Hawaiian mythology: Kaulu, Kupua * Hindu mythology: Baby Krishna (stealing butter),

Narada Narada (, ), or Narada Muni, is a sage-divinity, famous in Hinduism, Hindu traditions as a travelling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He is one of the Manasputra, mind-created children of Brahma, the creator ...

, Mohini, Hanuman (shapeshifting and teasing sages). * Hopi and

Zuni mythology Zuni religion is the oral tradition, oral history, cosmology, and religion of the Zuni people. The Zuni are a Pueblo people located in New Mexico. Their religion is integrated into their daily lives and respects ancestors, nature, and animals.

: Kokopelli * Igbo folklore: Ekwensu * Igbo mythology: Mbeku *

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

n folklore: Kantjil, or kancil in modern orthography * Inuit mythology: Amaguq * Irish folklore: Leprechauns, Briccriu * Islamic mythology:

Iblis Iblis (), alternatively known as Eblīs, also known as Shaitan, is the leader of the Shayatin, devils () in Islam. According to the Quran, Iblis was thrown out of Jannah#Jinn, angels, and devils, heaven after refusing to prostrate himself bef ...

, Khidr,

Nasreddin Nasreddin () or Nasreddin Hodja (variants include Mullah Nasreddin Hodja, Nasruddin Hodja, Mullah Nasruddin, Mullah Nasriddin, Khoja Nasriddin, Khaja Nasruddin) (1208–1285) is a character commonly found in the folklores of the Muslim world, ...

* Italian folklore: Giufà (Sicily),

Pulcinella Pulcinella (; ) is a classical character that originated in commedia dell'arte of the 17th century and became a stock character in Neapolitan puppetry. Pulcinella's versatility in status and attitude has captivated audiences worldwide and kept ...

(Naples) * Japanese mythology: Kitsune, Susanoo, Kappa, Bake-danuki, Hare of Inaba * Jewish folklore: Hershele Ostropoler (Ashkenazi), Joha (Sephardic) * Kazakh folklore: Aldar kose * Kiowa folklore: Saynday * Korean folklore: Kumiho, Dokkaebi, Seokga * Lakota mythology:

Iktomi In Lakota mythology, Iktómi is a spider- trickster spirit, and a culture hero for the Lakota people. Alternate names for Iktómi include Ikto, Ictinike, Inktomi, Unktome, and Unktomi. These names are due to the differences in languages betwe ...

, Heyoka *

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

and Spanish folklore: Pedro Urdemales (Pedro Malasartes in Portuguese) * Levantine mythology: Yaw * Māori mythology: Māui * Mayan mythology: Maya Hero Twins, Kisin * Micronesian mythology: Olifat * Miwok mythology: Coyote *

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

mythology: Agadzagadza *

* Norwegian mythology: Espen Askeladd * Northwest Caucasian mythology: Sosruko * Ohlone mythology: Coyote * Ojibwe mythology: Nanabozho * Philippine mythology: Nuno sa Punso, Tikbalang, Pilandok * Polynesian mythology:

Maui Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...

* Pomo mythology: Coyote * Pueblos dancing: Koshares * Romanian mythology: Păcală * Russian folklore: Ivan the Fool * San Folklore: ǀKaggen *

Slavic mythology Slavic paganism, Slavic mythology, or Slavic religion refer to the Religion, religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation of the Slavs, Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and ...

: Veles * Spanish mythology: Don Juan, The Trickster of Seville * Sumerian religion: Enki * Tibetan folklore: Akhu Tönpa, * Thai folklore: Sri Thanonchai * Tumbuka mythology: Kalulu * Ukrainian folklore: Lys Mykyta, Oleksa Dovbush, Lysychka-sestrychka, Cossack Mamay * Ute mythology: Cin-an-ev * Vietnamese folklore: Trạng Quỳnh, Bang Bạnh – Xã Xệ – Lý Toét, Thằng Bờm, Cuội, Bác Ba Phi * Vodou: Papa Legba, Ti Malice, Baron Samedi *

Welsh mythology Welsh mythology (also commonly known as ''Y Chwedlau'', meaning "The Legends") consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of t ...

: Gwydion, Taliesin, Morgan Le Fay, Twm Siôn Cati *

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

n mythology: Anansi,

Tortoise Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like o ...

Yoruba religion The Yorùbá religion (Yoruba language, Yoruba: Ìṣẹ̀ṣe), West African Orisa (Òrìṣà), or Isese (Ìṣẹ̀ṣe), comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practice of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in pres ...

: Eshu

Literature and popular culture

In modern literature, the trickster survives as a character archetype, not necessarily supernatural or divine, sometimes no more than a

stock character A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a type of character in a narrative (e.g. a novel, play, television show, or film) whom audiences recognize across many narratives or as part of a storytelling tradition or convention. Th ...

. Often, the trickster is distinct in a story by their acting as a sort of catalyst; their antics are the cause of other characters' discomfiture, but they are left untouched.

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's Puck is an example of this. Another once-famous example was the character Froggy the Gremlin on the early USA children's television show "Andy's Gang". A cigar-puffing puppet, Froggy induced the adult humans around him to engage in ridiculous and self-destructive hi-jinks. For example, many European

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

s have a king who wants to find the best groom for his daughter by ordering several trials. No brave and valiant prince or knight manages to win them, until a poor and simple peasant comes. With the help of his wits and cleverness, instead of fighting, they evade or fool monsters, villains and dangers in unorthodox ways. Against expectations, the most unlikely candidate passes the trials and receives the reward. More modern and obvious examples of the trickster archetype include

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons (originally Leon Schlesinger, Leon Schlesinger Productions) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the ' ...

, the Cheshire Cat from Lewis Caroll's

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

, Jerry from Tom and Jerry, Joker from the Batman series, and Pippi Longstocking. When writing the screenplay for ''The Curse of the Black Pearl'', Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio envisioned Jack Sparrow as a trickster, and Hector Barbossa as his corrupt

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

, though both characters viewed as both light and dark tricksters.

Online and multimedia

In online environments, there has been a link between the trickster and Internet trolling. Some have said that a trickster is a type of online community character.Campbell, J., G. Fletcher and A. Greenhill (2009).
Conflict and Identity Shape Shifting in an Online Financial Community
, ''Information Systems Journal'' (19:5), pp. 461–478. .

Anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

James Cuffe has called the Chinese internet character Grass Mud Horse (''cǎonímǎ'' 草泥马) a trickster candidate because of its duplicity in meaning. Cuffe argues the Grass Mud Horse serves to highlight the creative potential of the trickster archetype in communicating experiential understanding through symbolic narrative. The Grass Mud Horse relies on the interpretative capacity of storytelling in order to skirt internet censorship while simultaneously commenting on the experience of censorship in China. In this sense Cuffe proposes the Grass Mud Horse trickster as 'a heuristic cultural function to aid the perceiver to re-evaluate their own experiential understanding against that of their communities. By framing itself against and in spite of limits the trickster offers new coordinates by which one can reassess and judges one's own experiences.'

References

Sources

* * * * * * * Datlow, Ellen and Terri Windling. 2009. ''The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales.'' Firebird.
''California on the Eve – California Indians''

Miwok The Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) are members of four linguistically related Native Americans in the United States, Native American groups indigenous to what is now Northern California, who traditionally spoke one of the Miwok lan ...

creation story * Joseph Durwin
Coulrophobia & The Trickster
' * *Lori Landay
Madcaps, Screwballs, and Con Women: The Female Trickster in American Culture
' 1998 University of Pennsylvania Press * Jones, Christa C., editor. ''Djeha, the North African Trickster.'' Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2023. 196 pages. . * Paul Radin ''The trickster: a study in American Indian mythology'' (1956) *Allan J. Ryan
The Trickster Shift: Humour and irony in contemporary native art
' 1999 Univ of Washington * Trickster's Way Volume 3, Issue 1 2004 Article 3 "Trickster and the Treks of History". *Tannen, R. S., ''The Female Trickster: PostModern and Post-Jungian Perspectives on Women in Contemporary Culture'', Routledge, 2007

External links

Joel Chandler Harris and the Uncle Remus Collection
{{authority control Mythological archetypes Jungian archetypes Literary archetypes