The trickster archetype has existed within folklore for generations as an entity of immense knowledge, cunning, and chaos, while usually challenging social norms in the name of progress or learning. When this paradigm is applied to the world of comic book villains, it is apparent that the trickster of folklore is the primary model for creating compelling, convincing rogues who challenge and hone their counterparts into better heroes. An examination of the world’s most popular comic book superheroes, such as Batman, Spider-man, and The Flash, reveals that perhaps the most vital aspect to their success rests with a rich and diverse “rogues gallery” of villains. Generally, these rogues’ galleries are populated with a number of tropes lifted directly …show more content…
A “Goblin Formula” that has the side effect of making him into a violent madman serves to augment his strength, intelligence, and stamina, making him a considerable foe. The Green Goblin zips around on his bat-shaped “goblin-glider” wielding a bag of varied tricks and often projecting elaborate illusions to confuse his foes. Perhaps his most effective employment of trickery, however, comes from the success of his secret life. Like many comic book heroes themselves, the Green Goblin is, by day, a well-mannered billionaire and CEO of a major corporation. It is during this “civilian” life as Norman Osborn that the Green Goblin exhibits many of the characteristics inherent in the trickster, with his mastery of technology, strategy, business, and influence. These all serve to fuel his chaotic behavior by night, when he dresses up like a creature straight out of the cautionary tales of folklore to wreak havoc on the population and Spider-Man. While the influence of folklore motifs in the character of the Green Goblin may be subtler than that his anthropomorphic rogues gallery peers, the arch villains of other superheroes fly their association with the trickster archetype …show more content…
The Flash, the fastest man on earth, is able to tap into the “speed force” to achieve supersonic speeds that sometimes even allow him to distort the physical characteristics of space and time. As is typical with many superheroes, the Flash mythos contains a fair amount of “mirror-opposite” villains, those who employ extreme cold or other methods that can slow down the speed of the flash, or doppelganger villains, whose powers are very similar to the Flash himself and attempt to foil him by going even faster. However, perhaps the most versatile and remarkable villain in the rogues gallery of the Flash comes to us in the form of a character who literally goes by the name of “The
Batman beats the Joker. Spiderman banishes the Green Goblin. For centuries, story tellers have used the basic idea of good beats bad to guide their tales. Stories of blood sucking, human possessions and other tales have been passed down generations and vary between cultures. Among the creators of the famous protagonists is, Bram Stoker, the creator of Dracula.
Archetypes are a common theme in many ancient mythologies across the world, and have become a common characteristic in modern day pop culture. A popular archetype is the Trickster, which has a strong influence in the popular T.V. show Supernatural. The trickster archetype in Supernatural is similar to the tricksters Loki in the Prose Edda and Prometheus in Roman culture because they share similar powers, they experiences a battle of wits with the gods, and the outcomes of the trickster’s deeds lead to their punishment. The trickster in Supernatural is also very similar to the god trickster Loki in the Prose Edda because of their relationship between the other gods.
Many people, no matter their age or background, find the trickster figure to be intriguing. Karl Jung says archetypes surface in cultural and religious literature all over the world because of what he calls the collective unconsciousness, what connects all humans and cultures, so it is not surprising that the trickster is an archetype that surfaces in many stories. Even in our own culture we see depictions of the trickster in characters like Brier Rabbit and Wily Coyote. In this essay I will describe what a trickster is using the information I learned in class and discuss the role of the trickster in Raven and the African and African-American stories we discussed. Even though every trickster is unique to its culture, all tricksters share certain
Trickster figures are found throughout literature, religion, mythology, folklore, film, television, and history. They appear in many cultures and in different forms. There seems to be a sort of fascination with these trickster archetypes, who are usually clever, manipulative, selfish, treacherous, untrustworthy, thievish, deceitful and the list goes on. In film trickster characters are there to cross boundary and in doing so they also create boundaries by show us the flaws in our societies and making us question things. The trickster stories are told to enlighten us of the dangers of extreme situations in society, what people can become given certain situations in their lives and to teach us life lessons. They also serve as comic relief and
In the novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, the quest archetypes are shown when Will goes on a journey to defeat the carnival. Will, Jim and Charles have to kill Mr. Dark and the Dust Witch in order to defeat the carnival and complete their quest.
The Hero: "Often, for undaunted courage, fate spares the man it has not already marked."
The trickster is in all of us. It may seem as though we are far from it, but all of us have a little bit of the archetypal trickster and these similarities display themselves in subtle ways that we disregard them altogether. Tricksters have been a part of our history for a very long time, either handed down from generations to generations, verbally or transcribed to keep records for the future. Archetypes are symbolism of people, and how the majority perceives them, and a trickster archetype derives from that. When studying the trickster archetype, it is important to explore all of the areas that make the trickster, what it is. This includes its characteristics, roles, cultural purpose and evolution.
In American Indian tales, the trickster is someone who is portrayed as mischievous, greedy, self-serving, and thieving. He is stupid and cowardly but also wise, clever, and occasionally heroic. Trickster is also considered to be godlike and sacred to American Indians which is why most of these anecdotes have a moral or lesson for those who hear them. Old Man Coyote is probably the most popular of the trickster characters and the most ill-behaved. In the tale, “Better Luck Next Time,” Coyote is up to no good again when he comes across a turtle in distress. Dialogue between Coyote and Water Turtle displays the Coyote to be liminal and foolish. The author uses dialogue to tell this story in a light-hearted and funny tone to teach the lesson that
In conclusion my expectations were met because we all want to be a certain hero in our everyday lives but sometimes don’t know which one is actually the better and more positive one. Strength, power, intelligence, and authority are the most important things the outlaw hero and official hero will bring even if they are above a certain rule or really beneath it. Outlaws are not always the bad guys, but are not always the good guys either. In this case Batman is the good guy disguised as the bad guy. Official heroes are always the good guys no matter the circumstance. Superman in this case is the good guy disguised as the actual good guy. Being above the law or against it, official heroes and outlaw heroes will always paint the picture that you can be strong, powerful, intelligent, and have the authority you deserve.
“In the world of so-called villains, what we need is not another hero. What we need is to stop the influx of people who dress themselves as menaces and proceed to harm others” (Tugaleva, para 1). In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game”, the antagonist, General Zaroff, paints a picture of villainy. The author, Richard Connell, illustrates the effects that a villain has on a story and how they affect other characters. Throughout the story, Connell uses the methods of characterization to reveal that villainy drives the plot through the development of his antagonist, General Zaroff, the cruel and narcissistic murderer.
“But the life of a superhero is fraught with stress: Saving the city (or planet) from nefarious plots of evil-do-ers; and the hassles of daily life…” (deLusé 187). Superheroes are known to save mankind and defend the Earth, but what most people do not consider is the amount of stress these heroes deal with on a daily basis. The obstacles they must overcome include coping with their alter ego and superhero stress, keeping a secret identity and surpassing the expectations set for them.
The purpose of this paper is to provide the reader with an insight into the Super Hero Series Batman. This crime fighter originally appeared in Detective Comics issue #27 in 1939. It later became a comic book series, a TV series and a movie series. The character Batman is second only to Superman as a Super Hero. Amazingly Batman has no super powers, but he does have a lot of neat crime fighting gadgets. In this paper, we will explore the creation of Batman, his supporting cast of characters both good and bad and the gadgets he used.
The terms "hero" and "villain" are as distinct as the terms "good" and "evil." They are mutually exclusive; the hero is courageous, popular, strong, morally, and willing to save the people at whatever cost, while the villain is despicable, hated, and heinous to his core. However, when we turn away from the archetypal world of comic books, this distinction is no longer as clear. When we look at real human beings we do not see a hero as a hero or a villain as a villain, but rather individuals composed of varying degrees of both extremes. No hero is perfect, and no villain is completely heinous. The most recent film adaptation of the DC Comic series Batman presents this truth of human nature. The Dark Knight Rises effectively communicates the
To conclude, the graphic novel Watchmen presents the non-fantastic representation of a superhero, implying that not all heroes are like Superman. This notion is explored within the novel by mentioning the realistic motives of the characters choosing to become superheroes, by Rorschach’s representation and through the heroic reactions of the New Yorkers to a street crime. These elements all contribute to Watchmen’s uniqueness and complexity as a superhero comic.
...e purpose of this paper, we can assume that Batman and Spider-man have never fought each other before this day. Even if they had and Batman had studied his opponent’s weaknesses, Spider-man’s strategy and fighting style is ever changing and adapting. Finally, Batman, with his strength, intelligence, mental instability, and unlimited resources, seems to mirror one of Spider-man’s most infamous super villains, The Green Goblin, who Spider-man destroyed.