The Trickster: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Aelius:''' I think that if someone tried to rob you in the street, you'd pick his pocket, sell him a better knife and probably offer him a job as a tax collector.<br />

'''Basso:''' I choose to take that as a compliment.|''The Folding Knife''}}

 

A trickster is a god, goddess, spirit, man, woman, or anthropomorphic animal who plays tricks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and conventional behavior. The Trickster openly questions and mocks authority, encourages impulse and enthusiasm, seeks out new ideas and experiences, destroys convention and complacency, and promotes 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 (or plain sheer foolishness) keeps him coming back for more.

* [[Trickster Twins]]

* [[Turncoat]]

* [[The Unfettered]]

* [[Villainous Harlequin]]

* Most of ''[[The A-Team (TV)|The A-Team]]''.

** Especially [[Crazy Awesome|Murdock]].

** [[The Master]] certainly qualifies as well.

** Also the Celestial Toymaker from the days of the First Doctor

* Uncle Arthur from ''[[Bewitched (TV)|Bewitched]]''.

* Avon from ''[[Blakes 7]]''.

* Rumplestiltskin in ''[[Once Upon a Time (TV)|Once Upon a Time]]''. Very, very much so -- and he's pulled his tricks on ''everyone''.

 

* [[Classical Mythology|Hermes]]

* Prometheus

* Eshu

* Legbara

* [[Aztec Mythology|Tezcatlipoca]]

** Subverted in that he was at the same time an authority figure, and a very important one at that. The only times he was really trickster-ish where mainly when he wanted to annoy his brother, Quetzalcoatl.

* Nasreddin Hodja (in Persian- and Turkic-speaking countries)/Juha (or Joha or Guha or Goha or...) (in Arabic-speaking countries), the [[Useful Notes/Islam|Sufi Muslim]] Trickster.

* Athena, in ''[[The Odyssey (Literature)|The Odyssey]]'', though you wouldn't know it from her more [[The Smart Girl|modern]] portrayals.

** Odysseus himself too.

* [[Puss in Boots (Literature)|Puss in Boots]]