The Trickster

In every mythology around the world, one element is the same in every mythology, no matter if the mythology is as different as Viking mythology is from Chinese mythology. This element is character of the Trickster. Just what the hell is a Trickster? the answer is simple, yet complex at the same time, for a Trickster is a character, usually some form of deity or demigod, who feels it is their duty to keep balance in the world by knocking the high and mighty down a notch. Their favorite form of keeping the balance is by pulling a deadly prank, generally with some kind of connection to the victim's hubris, for example an arrogant miser might be beaten to death by bags of money come to life. Below is a list of some of the more famous Tricksters in mythology, along with a brief description of who they are.

Loki: The Trickster god of Norse mythology is a unique twist on the Trickster due to Loki being a purely evil entity. Some of his many pranks and crimes include the murder of the God Baldur via a misletoe dart, the cropping of Sif's hair, and the actual endangerment of the Aesir God's lives because of his theft of the Apples of Idunn.

Loki as portrayed in an Icelandic manuscript in the 18th century:

Another, and in my opinion a shit load more sinister, depiction of Loki is from the game Age of Mythology:

Coyote: Throughout most of the Continental United States, the Trickster Coyote is present in a great deal of the indigenous mythologies, with particular emphasis in the Southwestern States. Generally, he is more of a light-hearted trickster, but in some mythologies Coyote can be just as purely evil as Loki. Coyote is generally said to have brought fore down to earth from the skies for humanity to use, invented the tomahawk after a night of drinking, and taught mankind how to make leather. In his more evil guise, Coyote has caused diseases to run rampant, flooded the world, and just ran around murdering people. Below is an interesting picture of Coyote:

Anansi: Possibly one of the most famous tricksters in the world is the West African Trickster Anansi. Anansi is generally a spider, although in some tales he is a man, or a man-spider hybrid, but always has the same overlying flaw: extreme laziness. One famous tale of Anansi is the gathering of stories, where Anansi uses his extreme intelligence to trap three impossible to trap creatures and delivered them to the Sky-God, who gave all stories to Anansi. Below is an image of the Spider-God himself:

Raven: Another Trickster found in a multitude of Native American mythologies is Raven, who, like Coyote, is either portrayed as either good or completely evil. To the Inuit, Raven is a helpful being who discovered Man emerging from a plant pod and then proceeded to teach him how to survive. Most Pacific Northwest mythologies portray Raven in this light, but the Haida in Canada claim that Raven sends disease and impotence among them to appeal to his sadistic humor. Below is an image of Raven:

Eshu: Another Trickster from West Africa, Eshu has been mostly overshadowed by Anansi and is mainly present in Togo, Nigeria, and Benin. Eshu is mostly recorded in Yoruba mythology as wearing a hat that is white on one side, and then black on the other. He would then walk down the middle of a road and people on one side would claim that is hat was white, while others said that it was black. The arguments turned into all out fighting and Eshu would either break out laughing and claim that  "Bringing strife is my greatest joy!" or he would scold the fighters about fighting over something as trivial as a hat color. Below is an image of Eshu:

Maui: The last Trickster i will mention here is Maui-Of-A-Thousand-Tricks, the Trickster hero of Polynesia. His many exploits include fishing up the Islands of the South Seas, stealing fire from a dragon with a million eyes, and slowing down the sun by lassoing it in a lasso of hair. This ordeal so weakened the sun that it now crawls across the sky instead of racing like it used to. Below is an image of Maui: