What Makes The Trickster Archetype

The trickster archetype includes multiple elements which are evident throughout different tales. These characters show their intent to help others, have a negative quality, and contain a humorous element. Throughout tales, tricksters have a motive and often times, that motive helps others. However, the trickster presents a negative quality while doing whatever necessary to achieve their goal. In addition to the two contradicting elements in which make up the trickster archetype, tricksters contain a humorous element that makes either themselves or others look foolish. The short stories “Coyote Steals Fire”, “Master Cat”, and “How Stories Came to Earth” all prove these elements are essential to the trickster persona.
In trickster tales, the

In many trickster tales, these traits are obvious and define the trickster. In these tales, each trickster is similar and displays the same type of negative qualities. For example, in the tale “How Stories Came to Earth”, the trickster, Anansi, has good intentions, but while trying to achieve his goals, he possibly injured creatures, lied, was sneaky, and gave up helpless beings to the sky-god in exchange for stories. These negative traits were specifically highlighted when Anansi dug a hole and covered it with leaves so that the vicious leopard would fall and become stuck. Later in the story, Anansi then went on to act like he was going to help him out of the hole, but instead hit him over the head and knocked him out so that he could deliver the tiger to the sky god. Anansi’s negative quality, in this case, is that he lied to and fooled the tiger. Another example of negative and rude qualities are exhibited in the tale “Coyote Steals Fire”. In this tale, Coyote doesn’t necessarily injure anyone but he lies and during the dice game with Thunder, he distracts him, cheats, and alters the score so that he is always winning. Finally, in the tale “Master Cat”, the cat is constantly lying and threatening people. The cat at one point threatened a group of farm workers and demanded that they lie to the king. In many trickster tales, there is a negative part of the main character's personality. In

This personality trait unites all tricksters into a similar way of accomplishing their goal, because they all find humor in the events that occur in the story. Aku in “How Stories Came to Earth” reveals this quality in multiple ways, such as whenever he pretends to help the leopard out of his pit. He knows that this was his doing but it does not stop him from fooling around with the poor animal by helping the leopard before revealing how he was the one behind the leopard’s struggle. In the second story, the coyote’s end remark proves the humorous element to this particular trickster. “Don’t gamble. It is not what you do best” (Erdos 45). Even after he had accomplished his end goal, coyote still feels the need to rub it in Thunder’s face in a way that makes him look foolish. In the “Master Cat” story, Puss in Boots makes multiple beings look foolish, but also makes himself look so as well. In this tale, he wears boots and a pouch, which incorporates humor into this cat character, but also furthers his cause. All of the different instances in when humor comes to play is a main part of the trickster