The Trickster

[Muerte]

  Many cultures have their own form, but do we know whom they are?  Let's examine them shall we?  For starters I am going to offer up Native American version of the Trickster, Coyote.

 

Both a creator of order out of chaos and a destroyer of order which represses creative energies, an animal being and a spiritual force, Coyote is contradictory and ambiguous, as can be seen in Barre Toelken's description of the Navajo conception of Coyote: "There is no possible distinction between Ma'i, the  animal we recognize as a coyote in the fields, and Ma'i, the personification of Coyote power in all coyotes, and Ma'i, the character (trickster, creator, and buffoon) in legends and tales, and Mai, the symbolic character of disorder in the myths. Ma'i is not a composite but a complex; a Navajo would see no reason to distinguish separate aspects" (quoted from "Ma'i Joldloshi: Legendary Styles and Navajo Myth" in  American Folk Legend, 1971).

  Who else knows of a Trickster within the world of man?  (Oh and try not to post the most obvious one)

[oldbill4823]

Very low key this question.


There was a great story written about the trickster, 'Anansi Boys'. A fantastic read if you ever get the chance.

[Muerte]

  I wonder if anyone else will catch that,  anyone ever call you a smart-ass before  .

[Countess]

Loki is the obvious one I think of but there is also Hermes of Greek myth, Brer Rabbit a corruption of Ananse myth, Puck, Pooka, & most Celtic fey, as well as Ti Malice & Baron Samedi of Vodun are just a few. I really like this topic Muerte, it's intresting to see the similarities across cultures/continents.

[Raziel]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raven_in_mythology

Ravens too.

[AWBrielle]

Loki is the obvious one I think of but there is also Hermes of Greek myth, Brer Rabbit a corruption of Ananse myth, Puck, Pooka, & most Celtic fey, as well as Ti Malice & Baron Samedi of Vodun are just a few. I really like this topic Muerte, it's intresting to see the similarities across cultures/continents.

Speaking of across cultures / continents, one that screams to me is the Hindu deity, Krishna.

[Muerte]

  Puck   Celtic Folklore

  http://celtopedia.druidcircle.net/index.php?title=Puck_%28mythology%29

  Links people, post'em if you got'em

[Loki]

Yeah the trickster is a recurring archetype. He is the one who taught us to stand on two feet. I guess it deserves a category in Monstropedia.

http://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&search=trickster&ns0=1&fulltext=Search

The fool in the tarot is the trickster.

[Moloch]

May we nominate real people?

If so, then I nominate Raziel & Mr. Kreepy; two sides of the same coin.

[blow_fly]

  Many cultures have their own form, but do we know whom they are?  Let's examine them shall we?  For starters I am going to offer up Native American version of the Trickster, Coyote.

 

Both a creator of order out of chaos and a destroyer of order which represses creative energies, an animal being and a spiritual force, Coyote is contradictory and ambiguous, as can be seen in Barre Toelken's description of the Navajo conception of Coyote: "There is no possible distinction between Ma'i, the  animal we recognize as a coyote in the fields, and Ma'i, the personification of Coyote power in all coyotes, and Ma'i, the character (trickster, creator, and buffoon) in legends and tales, and Mai, the symbolic character of disorder in the myths. Ma'i is not a composite but a complex; a Navajo would see no reason to distinguish separate aspects" (quoted from "Ma'i Joldloshi: Legendary Styles and Navajo Myth" in  American Folk Legend, 1971).

  Who else knows of a Trickster within the world of man?  (Oh and try not to post the most obvious one)

Does Brer Rabbit count as an obvious example?  This protagonist  of children's  tales who often defeats far superior foes though sheer cunning, is actually based on the West African trickster animal Hare who appears in various African folk tales as a sly and manipulative being. He has gradually been transformed by successive generations of African Americans into the character of Brer Rabbit.