In the study of mythology and religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit or human who breaks the rules of the gods or nature, sometimes maliciously (for example, Loki) but usually with ultimately positive effects. Often, the rule-breaking takes the form of tricks (eg. Eris) or thievery. Tricksters can be cunning or foolish or both; they are often very funny even when they are considered sacred and are performing important cultural tasks. Animals associated with tricksters include coyotes, ravens, and foxes.

In many cultures, particularly American Indian, the trickster and the culture hero are combined. To illustrate, Prometheus, in Greek mythology, stole fire from the gods to give it to humans. He is more of a culture hero than a trickster. In many North American Indian mythologies, the coyote spirit stole fire from the gods (or stars or sun) and is more of a trickster than a culture hero. This is primarily because of other stories involving the coyote spirit; Prometheus was an intellectual Titan, whereas a coyote is usually seen as a jokester and prankster.

The Trickster is an example of a Jungian Archetype. The European Tarot, which is often claimed to be a combination of the archetypes from all human mythologies, represents the Trickster as the Fool card. Typically tricky, the Fool is numbered both higher and lower than all the other Major Arcana. The Fool survives in modern playing cards as the Joker.

Tricksters

• Abenaki mythology
  • Azeban
• Akan mythology
  • Kwaku Ananse
• American mythology
  • Brer Rabbit
• Ashanti mythology
  • Ananse
• Australian Aboriginal mythology
  • Bamapana
• Basque mythology
  • San Martin Txiki
• Biblical tradition
  • Jacob
• Brazilian Folklore
  • Saci-Pererê
• Celtic mythology
  • Fairy
  • Puck
• Chinese mythology
  • Sun Wukong (the Monkey King)
• Chippewa mythology
  • Nanabozho
• Crow mythology
  • Awakkule
  • Mannegishi
• French folklore
  • Reynard the Fox
• Fijian mythology
  • Ndauthina
• Greek mythology
  • Eris
  • Prometheus
  • Hephaestos
  • Hermes Trismegistus
• Haida mythology
  • Nankil'slas (Raven spirit)
  • (Coyote)
• Hawaiian mythology
  • Kappa
  • Maui
• Hopi and Zuni mythology
  • Kokopelli
• Inuit mythology
  • Amaguq
• Japanese mythology
  • Kitsune
  • Susanowo
• !Kung mythology
  • Mantis
• Lakota mythology
  • Iktomi
• Navajo mythology
  • Tonenili
• Nootka mythology
  • Chulyen
  • Guguyni
• Norse mythology
  • Loki
• Northwest Caucasian mythology
  • Sosruko
• Ojibwe mythology
  • Nanabush
• Polynesian mythology
  • Iwa
  • Kaulu
  • Maui
  • Ono
  • Pekoi
• Ute mythology
  • Cin-an-ev
• Vodun
  • Ti Malice
• Yoruba mythology
  • Eshu
• Modern day
  • Bugs Bunny
  • Censored page's Jerry Cornelius (a Harlequin-like character)
  • Hoki the Jokester and Agi Hammerthief in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels
  • Superman's implike tormentor Mr. Mxyzptlk
  • Q from Star Trek.
  • Captain Jack Sparrow from "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"
  • Jackalope