To many people, the word trickster conjures images of a prankster or some kind of magician and/or clown. To the followers of different religions, Trickster is a God or spirit. He is seen in many different forms. The Norsemen called him Loki, the Greeks found Trickster in many of their Gods, as did the Romans. In North America Indian tribes, Trickster is usually known as an animal or as a human who can change shape into different animals. He is known as Raven in some Northwest tribes, Hare among the Sioux, Iktomi in the Southwest, Rabbit in the Southeast, Coyote (the most famous of these beings) in some Midwest and Southwest tribes, Winabojo (or Nanabush) among many Northeast tribes, Napi in the Rocky mountain tribes, and many other names depending on the region and tribe. Trickster is a well known character if only for the pranks which make him “Trickster”. This literary definition essentially drives home what Trickster is:
“Trickster: A name referring to a complex character type known for his trickery, buffoonery, and crude behavior, but also as a creator, culture hero, and teacher. The trickster is commonly found in stories throughout native North America and is similar to figures in traditional cultures the world over.”[1]
Though at times these pranks backfire on him, he continues on. Trickster is a character that can be either loved or hated or both depending on the tales you read. Trickster is credited with many things in various different tales. He is said to have given fire to man and to have created man and woman. Trickster in some tales gave the animals their many names; gifted man with various rituals and dances such as the Father dance of the Shoshone tribe:
“The Father Dance was also called the Shuffling Dance, which was first performed by Coyote. After he taught the dance to his prey, they danced around him and shook off disease or illness.”[2]
Trickster is many things depending on what you believe. Modern media has even picked up on Trickster though often times they unknowingly create Trickster in their tales. Movies, television shows, and modern fiction literature cast Trickster either as the Native Americans knew him or in a new form. Though it is not possible to always hold to all of Tricksters characteristics there are at least five characteristics that can in part or in whole, make a character(s) a trickster: shapeshifting, a creator, a dichotomy of good and evil, sexually active, and a prankster.
The first notable characteristic of a trickster is the ability to shapeshift. This is Trickster’s most distinct characteristic and the one which he is also the most well known for. In a number of Native American tales Trickster will change his form, usually an animal but sometimes people, to accomplish his goal. In one tale by the Winnebago tribe Trickster is transformed into a woman and becomes pregnant in an effort to marry the Chief’s son.[3] In some tales it is not the ability to transform but to change job roles that makes Trickster a shapeshifter. Trickster is a prankster but also a warrior, medicine man, God, thief, creator, etc. Trickster becomes something different depending on what he wants done. In this way Trickster is a shapeshifter through his many adventures amongst Gods and humans which brings up his next quality.
Trickster’s role as a creator is also an impressive characteristic. In a number of tales Trickster is the being that did or that helped (depending on the tribal tale in question) create the Earth, Sea, Sky, the World essentially. In addition Trickster is sometimes attributed the distinction of having created or released humanity. In a tale from some Northwest tribes Trickster (in this case Raven) was traveling along when he heard voices coming from a clamshell on the beach. Upon opening it the first humans crawled out. Having released these new beings, Raven taught them how to fish and work wood and how to survive in the world.[4] It is this role which Trickster has always performed though sometimes not in a God-like way. One Native American tale has trickster bringing sunlight into the world by throwing his penis into the sun (or whatever orb dominated the sky in this tale). It is not only the Earth and life that Trickster has had a part in creating. As mentioned earlier, Trickster bestowed different rituals and ideas upon humanity. He is attributed to the giving of (or creating) fire to humanity. Regardless of how and why, Trickster is a mainstay portion of creation to Native American tribes.
Trickster cannot always be considered a good guy. In a number of tales he is partaking in an event for very selfish reasons. That is not to say however that he is entirely bad or evil. Trickster can be a considered in many ways as a God with little inhibition to not do something. Trickster’s bad or dark side is usually in the form of greed. His greed is usually in want for sex or to want a particular person (which goes back to sex). Though sometimes it can be a material substance (delicious food for instance) but only rarely. When Trickster’s dark greedy side is shown he is sometimes seen accompanied by other spirits with which he is partaking in this event. In a Winnebago myth Trickster is working with several other animal spirits to settle somewhere. To the Winnebago however Trickster is not a good spirit and was feared as a result. Trickster is also cast in a good light as well in a number of tales. His role as a creator and benefactor to humanity certainly shows this. One of the tales about the bringing of fire to humanity has Trickster (or Coyote in this tale) stealing it from the Gods using reeds balanced on his head which he thrust into the fire while dancing around the fire pit.[5] Trickster is neither permanently good nor bad; he sometimes ends up doing something good while in pursuit of a selfish (or prankish) role.
Trickster’s greed is often in pursuit of one particular goal: sex. Trickster is perhaps the most sexually active figure (aside from the Greek Gods themselves though it is probably a close call) in ancient religions. While calling Trickster a sex hound would be unfair it would not be too far of a stretch. Some tales have Trickster removing or elongating his penis for sex in ways only possible for a figure of supernatural abilities. These occur not because Native Americans are barbarians as many “civilized” people believed but because their culture viewed sex differently from the way Christians did and do. That is not to say that Trickster was cast as an individual having all this sex for no reason. In a number of tales Trickster is married to or trying to marry the woman (or sometimes man if Trickster has become a woman) in particular. Though this is not always the case due to Trickster’s split between good and evil.
Trickster’s most notable quality gives rise to his title. Trickster is well known for his pranks, tricks and schemes. Humans are often the target of Trickster’s pranks. He often transforms himself to make the prank possible. These pranks, however, often backfire on Trickster in ways which sometimes benefit humanity. In one tale about Trickster (in animal form, possibly Hare) he is dancing about the fire pit with other Spirits and dips his tail in the fire to steal the fire for himself. He immediately starts running about with his tail on fire when it falls off and is found by humans who use the glowing embers to bring fire to their people. The scheme quite obviously backfired on Trickster and was of great importance to humans. Trickster’s methods are varied and he sometimes has help from others, but he wouldn’t be Trickster if he didn’t try.
Modern-day media has carried on Tricksters legacy knowingly and unknowingly. In two movies in particular Trickster can be found in part or in whole though not always as one individual. In the movies Ocean‘s 11, Ocean’s 12, and Ocean’s 13 Trickster is found as group, the Ocean’s 11 gang to be exact. This particular occurrence is a result of the fact that a mortal human cannot possibly imbue all of Trickster’s characteristics. The Ocean’s gang shows the dichotomy of good and evil in all three movies. In Ocean’s 11 the gang shows greed by stealing over $160 million dollars, but their probably doing many people a favor by stealing from a ruthless and powerful casino owner (Terry Benedict played by Andy Garcia) who doesn’t enjoying having his ego bruised. In the following movies the gang continues this dichotomy, though in Ocean’s 12 they were stealing to save their very lives and also get even with a thief who sold them out and in Ocean’s 13 the gang uses their skills to avenge a colleague who was muscled out and almost killed by even greedier casino owner. The Ocean’s gang demonstrates the other four qualities of Trickster collectively.
Danny Ocean (George Cloony) is the creator in a sense. He originated the idea and most of the methods collectively through out the series though he often has help in the pursuit of these ideas and methods usually from fellow thief Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt). The shapeshifter role is demonstrated by all of the gang through out the series but the Malloy twins, Turk and Virgil (played by Scott Caan and Casey Affleck), drive the shapeshifter role home. The Malloy twins are shown throughout the movies as the most durable roleplayers. In Ocean’s 11 the twins are shown in their roles as drivers, waiters, security guards, bickering tourists, EMT’s and SWAT officers.
The prankster role is fulfilled in the schemes undertaken by the gang. The robberies sometimes have a comical or revenge side. The theft of several piece of artwork in Ocean’s 12 from the movie antagonist, the Night Fox, is a form of jest at the Night Fox to get his attention. In Ocean’s 13 part of the money the gang earns from the theft of diamonds and bet rigging at the antagonists casino, The Bank owned by Willie Bank (Al Pacino), which was earmarked to cover a debt to Terry Benedict is instead donated to a charity camp as a method of revenge for Benedict’s attempt to double-cross the gang.
The sexual portion of the Trickster is found in the form of the romantic undertones of the first two movies. Part of Ocean’s plan in Ocean’s 11 is to win back the love of his ex-wife, Tess (Julia Roberts) who had divorced him while he was in prison and was now seeing the movie antagonist, Terry Benedict. In the second movie it was Rusty Ryan’s relationship with a cop, Isabel (Catherine Zeta-Jones), that carried on throughout the movie and also proved to be of more trouble than it was worth a few times.
Another movie which carries on the Trickster spirit is acclaimed series Pirates of the Caribbean. One of the series protagonists meets several of Trickster’s qualities in admirable fashion though not fully. Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is one of the main characters of the series and is a Trickster in many ways. Sparrow’s most notable trait is his conflict of good and evil. Though Sparrow is a pirate and as such used to stealing, killing, blackmailing, double-crossing, and a host of other villainous desires, Sparrow also does good deeds though usually in a bid to fulfill his greed or to further his own goals. In The Curse of the Black Pearl, Sparrow manipulates his fellow protagonist Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) in an effort to amass a grand fortune and get back his ship, the Black Pearl. Turner is motivated to help Sparrow in order to locate the girl he loves, Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightly). Sparrow meets the requirement of a prankster through the manners in which he meets his goals, manipulation and trickery. In Curse of the Black Pearl, Sparrow tricks the cursed pirates into leaving the island and attacking the British warship nearby, giving Sparrow enough time to kill the rival captain and end the curse. Sparrow is later shown to use this manipulation to try and save himself from the wrath of Davy Jones in Dead Man’s Chest when Sparrow manipulates Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan into helping him find the Dean Man’s chest and kill the immortal Davy Jones thereby ending Sparrow’s debt to Jones. Sparrow is also a sex hound. He apparently has had relationships with a number of women on the island of Tortuga though he apparently is hated by these women now. There is also some form of sexual tension between Sparrow and Swann though nothing comes of it. Though Jack Sparrow makes a good case for a Trickster he fails in his effort as a creator and a shapshifter. Though one could argue that Sparrow was a creator in his ideas and methods, it is more that Sparrow was obsessed with a need for his ship and life and so carried out those plans. Though pirates are thieves essentially, Sparrow shows ability for being a pirate and not as a person capable of many other roles out side of plunder.
Tricksters are not only found in movies, Television has allowed Trickster to also be portrayed. The USA network show Burn Notice features several characters who meet Trickster’s characteristics quite well. The premise of Burn Notice revolves around a spy name Michael Weston (Jeffery Donovan). Weston was burned (i.e. fired as a security risk) and marooned in Miami, Florida. With the help of his colleagues Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell) and Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar), Michael works to clear his name and help people. Weston, Sam, and Fiona all meet Trickster’s characteristics in impressive ways.
The good-bad complex is rather clear in the series. Though Weston and his colleagues sometimes resort to underhanded techniques in order to get the job done they are unwilling to actually do bad things to people who don’t deserve it. Though Fiona is noted as a former member of the Irish Republican Army who used to rob banks (among other alluded to jobs) to fund the organization she has apparently put that behind her and now works to help Michael and Sam in their work protecting the little guy.
As shapeshifters the trio work wonders in that role. All three have become an entirely different kind of person in an effort to gain information or advance the goals of their job protecting the client. Weston has taken on the roles of a con artist, art collector, arms dealer, boat repossession man, street thug, hostage negotiator, and drug dealer. Fiona has been shown to act in the character of a bar girl, rich wife, and cop among others. Sam has taken on the roles of a cop, a drunk, a paranoid art dealer along with a few others.
Being creators is a little harder to make the case for. Imparting new skills or ideas to some of their clients is a form of the creation ideal. Weston has been shown to teach some his clients how to defend themselves and he has been shown to give money to those in need of it. One could say that Weston and his colleagues are creators for the list of incredible devices they are able to conjure up in an effort to advance their goals. Weston has demonstrated an ability to create a bug detector using a television; Fiona has demonstrated her ability to make high grade explosives using store bought items and Sam has demonstrated his ability to continually come up with a list of contacts and associates to help the team.
As far as a sex life is considered for this group only two of them show interest in it. Sam’s primary source of income in the series has been shown as rich women whom he sleeps around with. The fact that Sam has been able to actually get with these women is something of a mystery to Fiona and Weston who have both broached the question; “Exactly what do you do for these women?” to which Sam can only grin. Fiona for her part is Weston’s ex-girlfriend and would like to rekindle that relationship. Though it is hampered by the fact that Weston simply wishes to clear his name and return to work as a spy for the U.S. government, though Fiona does make inroads in convincing Michael to give it another chance with her.
As pranksters, the team meets the requirement in their methods of helping people. In one episode where Michael posses as an arms dealer, he manipulates another arms dealer into letting down his guard allowing Michael and the others to destroy the operation leaving only a mirage of clues forcing the arms dealers to leave Miami lest they be destroyed completely . Another time the trio faked a drug dealer’s confession and turned it over to the cartel (though they used the FBI as a conduit for this) in an effort to force the cartel to turn on the dealer and take the heat off of Michael’s client. Another time Michael posed as a street thug and scared the crap out of a group of punks who were coercing money out of street vendors. He did this by drilling holes in the roof of their car and pouring flammable liquids through them while holding a lighter menacingly (though he never intended to actually set them on fire). Fiona and Sam have both partaken in these stunts and others like them. Taken together, the characters of Burn Notice are Tricksters themselves.
Literature is another venue in which Trickster was made inroads into modern society. The most impressive of these books would be Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore. Coyote Blue, unlike many other books, actually features the trickster spirit Coyote as one of the central characters to the plot line. Coyote Blue is more a comedy than a Native American tale, but it carries the Trickster tale into the modern age quite well. The story is central to a Crow Indian named Sam Hunter or Samson Hunts Alone to the Crow. Sam himself is a trickster person, mostly because his benefactor spirit is Coyote (as the story goes). Coyote is introduced as a God who’s methods of getting something done usually involve making some other poor soul very miserable. Coyote certainly lives up to the trickster quality in this book. Although Coyote is a bit of a chain smoking, sarcastic, enigmatic, and probably a little nuts….he’s still a trickster just as Sam is. Sam fits the trickster ideal impressively well, with only one shortfall.
Sam is a shapshifter and he demonstrates throughout the book an ability to mimic a variety of roles. One of the more notable examples of this is towards the end of the book when Sam makes a series of phone calls in an effort to locate a Crow medicine bundle. In the course of the calls he takes on the roles of an Indian artifact collector, a British insurance agent, an Oklahoma insurance agent (complete with accent) and an anthropologist to the amazement of his family standing nearby. Though Sam’s skills as a shapeshifter developed quickly after he met his future business partner Aaron, he would soon be caught in conflict over how to use his strange ability.
Sam does have a bit of a crisis when it comes to right and wrong however. Sam ran away from the Crow reservation after he threw a raciest cop off a dam (though he didn’t realize that the cop survived the fall). Taken in by an unscrupulous insurance salesman Sam learned the art of the con. Though he uses immoral logic and methods in his job he continues to hold to some form of moral stance. It takes the appearance of a girl, Calliope, and the prankish, Indian Trickster god Coyote to bring Sam back to the side of good and give him a real purpose in life.
Sam’s role as a prankster comes about through the various means he uses to save the girl and piece his life back together. Sam’s exploits in the book involve him manipulating an artifact collector into giving him the medicine bundle, stealing a limo from a casino, and attacking a biker gang while nude on horseback and with a spear. Though the last event would probably not be considered a prank or scheme, it would appear rather comedic especially since no one actually died during the course of this event.
Sam’s sex life is pretty straight forward. He is young, good-looking and does enjoy the company of women. In the early part of the book when Sam is still on the Crow reservation he does almost close the deal with a girl however he instead ended up throwing a cop off the dam. Calliope is the centered of Sam’s sex life in the book and it is very active. As is Coyote’s sex life, as he is seen having sex with Sam’s secretary several times and Coyote also apparently has a sexual fetish for couches as he frequently humped one while in form of a coyote.
The aspect of a creator is the only trickster criteria that Sam fails to fulfill truthfully. The opposite is said of Coyote who frequently laments throughout the book about how he created the buffalo, the land, etc. Sam’s place as a creator (if you wanted to try and classify him as such) would be as a father to a daughter born at the end of the book. He also begins telling new stories about Coyote and other beings to the Crow Indian children in his role as a medicine man. Aside from this detail, Sam is a trickster figure.
A Trickster is a group or an individual that carries within them a great capacity to do whatever suits them almost. Whether they should use this power for good or evil is entirely up to their moral state of mind. With the gang of Ocean’s 11 they use their unique abilities to steal, but their targets are those who are ruthless and have wronged others. Captain Jack Sparrow is a pirate and as such he is not exactly on the side of the good guys, but when helping the good guys will advance his agenda and also save him from death he’s all for helping them. Tricksters are found throughout society today, there is nothing supernatural to a modern-day Trickster it is all a matter of skill and will. Within each of us there lies the capacity to become a Trickster; to change form at a moment’s notice, to manipulate and trick others, to create something where there was nothing, to face a conflict of good and evil within ourselves, and of course to have an active sex life. It does not matter if Trickster is a God of myth and legend from millennia ago or a modern-day high tech gang of thieves in a multi-million dollar film, they are all the same kind of person.
References
Dictionary of Native American Mythology by Sam D. Gill and Irene F. Sullivan, Copyright 1992 ABL-CLIO Santa Barbara, California
Encyclopedia of Native American Religions by Arlene Hirshcfelder and Paulette Molin, Copyright 2000 Facts on File, Inc New York City, New York
The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology by Paul Radin, Copyright 1956 Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. London, England
World Myths by Hazelmary Martel, Sarah Quie, John Malem, Marion Wood, and Rupert Matthews, Copyright 2002 McRae Books Florence, Italy
Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore, Copyright 1994 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. New York City, New York
Ocean’s 11 Directed by Steve Soderbergh, Jerry Weintraub Productions, 2001
Ocean’s 12 Directed by Steve Soderbergh, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2004
Ocean’s 13 Directed by Steve Soderbergh, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2007
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl Directed by Gore Verbinski, Walt Disney Pictures, 2003
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest Directed by Gore Verbinski, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, 2006
Burn Notice Created by Matt Nix, Season 1, Fox Television Studios, 2007
[1]Dictionary of Native American Mythology pg 308
2]Encyclopedia of Native American Religions pg 84
3]The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology pg 22-23
4]World Myths pg 130-131
5]World Myths pg 132-133
