This week, over at the Fantasy Review Barn, Nathan is taking us travelling once again through the tropes of fantasy.  This week the topic for discussion is:

TRICKSTERS

A great prank is always amusing.  Many an adventure start with a well placed trick.  They are even more amusing when performed by those with god like powers.

1. Gods: Loki – I guess this is the most obvious choice but it’s also the first that sprung to mind.  The Gospel of Loki by Joanne Harris
2. Fae: Puck – Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream ‘Now, when thou wakest, with thine own fool’s eyes peep.’
3. Animal: Coyote: thinking of two series for this one, Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson books and Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles.
4. Vampire: Greyfriar from the Vampire Empire books by Clay and Susan Griffiths.  Greyfriar disguises himself as a human!
5. Magician: The Weasley twins from Rowling’s Harry Potter series.  Pair of pranksters.
6. Human: again, two for this one: Locke Lamora from Lynch’s Gentlemen Bastard series and the Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride by William Goldman.  Pirates – you just can’t trust ’em.
7. Shape Shifters: Kitsume called Suzume – from M L Brennan’s Generation V – Suzume is actually a fox who can shift into a human form.  She has a great sense of humour and is always pulling tricks!

I leave you with a little rhyme from a fairytale character trickster:

“Tomorrow I brew, today I bake,
And then the child away I’ll take;
For little deems my royal dame
That Rumpelstiltzkin is my name!”