One who tricks; a deceiver; a tricker; a cheat.
(Coyote, Raven, Rabbit, Spider): common figure in Native American folklore and mythology; culture hero who renders the capricious understandable; equivocal figure as intelligent and creative and bringer of good to human kind and also morally degenerate and foolish; teaches by bad example: how not to behave Wakan takan: Sioux term for Supreme Being or collective term for supreme beings
A common character in myths and folktales. Sometimes the trickster functions as an adversary of the hero and his quest, though his challenges are usually in the nature of pranks rather than the violent and truly threatening challenges posed by such characters as devils, monsters, witches, and giants. Indeed, the trickster may turn out, as in many of the tales in which Raven is a character, to be a helper, the tricks really an oblique form of guidance or protection.
(trick•ster) n. – a figure in myth or folklore, often an animal, that deceives people as a joke or form of entertainment. - - - X - Y - Z
A common Native American legendary figure, usually male, but occasionally female or disguised in female form, and notorious for exaggerated biological drives and well-endowed physique. Partly divine, partly human, and partly animal, he is an often amoral and a comic troublemaker. Because stories about Trickster often represent him as transgressing cultural mores, they serve to explain and investigate the origins and values of those mores.
Usually depicted as an animal, the "trickster" is a recurring figure in human cultures. Characterized by paradox, duality, cleverness, shape-shifting, duplicity, and a knack for survival, trickster figures seem to be universally appealing in their ability to assert their individuality and shatter boundaries and taboos. From traditional African American folktales about Brer Rabbit, Brer Tortoise, and the Signifying Monkey to Native American fables about Coyote, Raven, and Iktomi the Spider, trickster tales have served as powerful cultural expressions of ethnic identity.
someone who plays practical jokes on others
a mischevous supernatural being found in the folklore of many primitive people; sometimes distinguished by prodigious biological drives and exaggerated bodily parts
a mischievous or roguish figure in myth or folklore who typically makes up for physical weakness with cunning and subversive humor
an ambivalent figure, as Loge for the ancient Germans
a subversive, paradoxical fantasy figure who does what we cannot or dare not by moving between social spaces, roles, and categories that the culture has deemed oppositional
a human or animal character of a folktale who constantly tries to outsmart or outwit other characters but does not always succeed and is sometimes the loser, not the winner. Examples include Brer Rabbit, known as Compére Lapin in Cajun and Creole tales.
Cunning character of tribal folk narratives (particularly those of African-Americans and Native Americans) who breaks cultural codes of behavior; often a culture hero.
Within Native American spirituality, a trickster is a mythical hero who teaches culture, proper behavior and provides sustenance to the tribe.
In mythology, and in the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit, human, or anthropomorphic animal who plays pranks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and norms of behaviour.