Information about List Of Modern Day Tricksters

This List of modern day tricksters attests to both the enduring nature of the mythological figure of the trickster and its continued popularity in a variety of media.

The trickster, in later folklore or modern popular culture, is a clever, mischievous person or creature, who survives in a dangerous world through use of trickery. An archetypical example is the fairy tale of the King who puts suitors for his daughter to the test. No brave and valiant prince or knight succeeds, until a simple peasant arrives. Aided only by his natural wit, he evades danger and triumphs over monsters and villains without fighting. Thus the most unlikely candidate passes the trials and receives the prize. Modern examples of this type are Bugs Bunny and The Tramp (Charlie Chaplin).

Characteristics

Hynes and Doty, in Mythical Trickster Figures (1993) state that every trickster has several of the following six traits:^[1]

1. fundamentally ambiguous and anomalous
2. deceiver and trick-player
3. shape-shifter
4. situation-inverter
5. messenger and imitator of the gods
6. sacred and lewd bricoleur

Modern-day tricksters

• Bellman, the trickster hero in many jokes of a special kind in Sweden
• Brer Rabbit, a slave trickster of African origins.^[2]
• Blackout - Hatted trickster alter ego of american acttor/entertainer Michael Biggins
• Bugs Bunny, a rabbit trickster. similar to Brer Rabbit.^[3]
  • Stone Columbus, from Gerald Vizenor's trickster novel The Heirs of Columbus
  • Maurice Conchis, from John Fowles The Magus
  • Carl Denham, from the 2005 version of King Kong
  • Tyler Durden, ambiguous, a trick-player, situation-inverter, bricoleur from Fight Club, the book by Chuck Palahniuk and the film of the same name.
  • El-ahrairah, the Prince of rabbits or Prince with the Thousand Enemies, and trickster folk hero of the rabbits in Watership Down.
  • Felix the Cat, a "transgressor of boundaries."^[4]
  • Nagi Homura, a character from the My-Hime anime series.
  • Impossible Man, an amoral, childlike, shapeshifting extraterrestrial from the Fantastic Four comics
  • Jack Mary Ann, a minor folk hero popular in local oral traditions in the Wrexham area of Wales.
  • The Joker and The Riddler in Batman comics and movies.
  • Karagiozis, a poor survivor character of Greek folklore. He tries to find ways and make money, often by tricking and fooling others.
  • Andy Larkin, the compulsive prankster from What's With Andy?
  • Timothy Leary, "probably the best example of the 'trickster' archetype that the 20th Century produced" — Paul Krassner^[5]
  • Parker Lewis from the TV series Parker Lewis Can't Lose
  • Light Yagami from Death Note, a manga and anime character.
  • The Mask, who wears a mask imbued with Loki's powers and lack of inhibition
  • Shawn Michaels and Triple H as part of WWE's stable D-Generation X
  • Mister Mxyzptlk, an imp from the fifth dimension featured in the Superman comics
  • Nick Naylor from the film Thank You for Smoking
  • Nyarlathotep in the Cthulhu Mythos is a malevolent Trickster figure in many of the tales that feature him.
  • The Pink Panther
  • Q from the TV series Star Trek
  • Bart Simpson from the animated TV series The Simpsons^[6]
  • Snoopy from the Peanuts comic strip, exploring the absurdity of the world with human and animal guises.
  • Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean films
  • Jack Spicer and Hannibal Roy Bean of Xiaolin Showdown
  • Kusuda Uni, a character from the visual novel Remember11 - the age of infinity.
  • Naruto Uzumaki from the popular anime series Naruto
  • V from the movie V for Vendetta (film) and graphic novel V for Vendetta (comic)
  • Ace Ventura from the movies and
  • Wile E. Coyote, based on Native American trickster, Old Man Coyote.^[7]
  • Wisakejak appears as a Coyote spirit Trickster, alongside Harriet, a Rabbit-shaped Pookah, in the game Ghost Master for PC and Mac.
  • Woody Woodpecker "A less complex version of the Trickster."^[8]
  • The Woodsie Lord (in human form, "Constantine"), from the computer game Thief, is the fabled godhead of the Pagans.
  • David Xanatos from Gargoyles, an amoral businessman.
  • Xelloss (a.k.a: "The Trickster Priest") from the novel, manga, and anime series Slayers.
  • Sacha Baron Cohen from the movie Borat

  Notes

  1. ^ Hynes, William J. and William G. Doty. (1993). Mythical Trickster Figures, (pp. 34-42). Tuscaloosa:The University of Alabama Press.
  2. ^ Emerson College. Characteristics of a Slave Trickster. Retrieved on July 11, 2007
  3. ^ Shaune Heyser, Cathlena Martin (2004)

The Incarnation of a Trickster. Retrieved on July 11, 2007
4. ^ Patricia Vettel Tom. (1996) "Felix the Cat as Modern Trickster" American Art, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Spring, 1996), pp. 64-87. Retrieved on July 11, 2007
5. ^ Krassner, P. (August 13, 2006) The Legacy of Timothy Leary. Retrieved on: September 5, 2007.
6. ^ Grand Valley State University Trickster World Mythology Course (Eng 104). Retrieved on: 2007-07-20.
7. ^ Terri Windling. Wile E. Coyote and Other Sly Trickster Tales. The Endicott Studio. Retrieved on July 11, 2007.
8. ^ Tina Blue. (2001) Traditional Themes and Motifs in Literature. Retrieved on July 11, 2007.