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Archetype of the Week: The Trickster |
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Written by Steve
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Friday, 21 May 2010 21:42 |
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The trickster (often called the shapeshifter) archetype is closely related to the fool, but tends to be a more subversive character than the fool. The fool is (whether he knows it or not) is the object of others' laughter; the joke is on the fool. With the trickster, the joke is nearly always on someone else, and it's the trickster who's laughing. The trickster only reveals his true nature once the joke has paid off, and in many cases doesn't even do so then. Andy Kaufman played both roles and offers a good example of the difference between the two: as "the foreign man" (who later became Latka on Taxi), he was the fool; as Tony Clifton, Andy embodied the trickster. In literature, the trickster is often revealed to be something more than he pretends, usually a king or a god.
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