Trickster

### Other Names

Trickster Gods, Divine Tricksters, Divine Clowns, Violators of Social Order, Those Who Rebeled Against the Heavens' Will

## Physiological Information

### Abilities

* Lie Manipulation
* Illusion Manipulation
* Reality Warping

## Sociocultural Information

### Affiliations

Themselves
Respective Pantheon
Human (Guardians, Mostly)
Protectors of Mankind

### Status

**Identity**: Secret (Formerly) / Public
**Status**: Extant

## Origins

### Summary

Mischievous deities with powerful reality-warping abilities. They are known in myths for disrupting natural order and disobeying conventional behavior.

### Famous Members

Eris, Hermes, Prometheus, Loki, Odin, Veles, Set, Krishna, Hanuman, Anansi, Sun Wukong, Huehuecoyotl...

**Tricksters** (道化師神) are a type of mischievous deities with powerful reality-warping abilities. They are commonly featured in many cultures and mythologies, being famous for creating chaos, mischief, and mayhem.

## Overview: **Tricksters**

In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a **trickster** is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwise disobey normal rules and defy conventional behavior.

## Summary

Tricksters are a special type of deities, one born with powerful reality-warping abilities and are general disregard to the rules. They are considered "boundary-crosser", as they cross and often break both physical and societal rules. They "violate" principles of social and natural order, playfully disrupting normal life and then re-establishing it on a new basis.

Often possessing a great deal of secret knowledge, Tricksters have the reputation of being either cunning or foolish or both. They openly question, disrupt, or mock authority, though many of them are known for possessing immense authority within their respective pantheon. Some examples include Hermes from Classical mythology and Odin from Norse mythology.

Many cultures have tales of the Trickster using their cunning mind to get food, steal precious possessions, or simply cause mischief. These tales are often used to teach about the natural order or the social rules within their cultures.

Some cultures even combine the Trickster with the Hero archetype, an entity who used their trickery to fool the gods and help mankind. For example, the Greeks believed Prometheus tricked Zeus into choosing animal fat and bones as sacrifices, allowing humans to keep the good meat for themselves.

## Characteristics

Tricksters are divinities who represent and are associated with deception, lies, fraud, mischief, illusions, magic, and - of course - trickery. They are common in mythology and are feared due to their chaotic and unpredictable nature. They break the rules of the gods or nature, sometimes maliciously but usually - albeit unintentionally - with ultimately positive effects. However, they are also punishers of the mighty, the bane of hubris whose duty is to remind the powerful that they aren't almighty.

Because of their chaotic nature and their affinity toward back-stabbing, most Tricksters don't get along well with each other, despite what popular media may portray them. And because of the differences between the cultures they belong two, one Trickster's definition of "tricks" may greatly differ from other Tricksters' definitions. For example, one Trickster believes that karmic punishment is reserved only to those who deserve it, while another believes in pulling tricks on everyone indiscriminately.

## Abilities

* **Charmspeak**: Tricksters are capable of charmspeaking, allowing them to manipulate others into following their orders and participating in their tricks. Despite this, almost no Trickster ever uses it directly on their victim, and the mere suggestion of it can be considered disrespectful to their code of honor.
* **Lie Manipulation**: Tricksters can manipulate or induce lies, forcing others to cover up the truth. They can also manipulate deception and all forms of it. According to Loki, due to his nature as a Trickster, sometimes telling the truth is a *physically impossible* task for him to do, as his nature as a [God of Lies] would prevent that.
	+ **Memory Implantation**: Tricksters can implant false and/or non-existing memories into the mind of others.
	+ **Psychic Falsification**: Tricksters can alter information received by, and disguise psychic presences from other psychics. While it isn't an absolute defense, only God-Tier psychics are capable of breaking through a Trickster's mental defenses.
	+ **Precognitive Diversion**: Tricksters can divert the precognitive abilities of others, though this is an extremely difficult power to trigger and seems to only manifest in extremely dire situations.
* **Illusion Manipulation**: Tricksters often possess a purview over illusions, as they are "tricks of the mind". They can create, shape, and manipulate illusions of a near-perfect level, to the point where only other Tricksters or Trickster-like entities are capable of recognizing it. In addition, they are also immune to almost all kinds of illusions, except for those of celestial/infernal origins.
* **Reality Warping**: Tricksters' most infamous power. Almost all Tricksters are known for their reality-warping powers, capable of materializing things into existence and dematerializing them just as fast. Despite this, however, they are still inferior to that of Creator Gods or Demiurges.

## Weaknesses

* **Wooden Stake**: A stake of wood dipped in the blood of a Trickster's victim is an effective way to kill them. For example, Reynard the Fox was killed after being stabbed repeatedly in the heart by a stake dipped in the blood of the woman he raped and killed.

## Trivia

* While most of them are deities, many Tricksters are actually immortal half-gods.