Trickster myths are by far my favorite myths so far!
In the myth “The Story of Nanni”, Nanni uses disguises and tricks (covering himself in gum and rolling around on the ground) to steal beans from the farmers children while he is away. The children think that he is just playing a game with them and don’t realize that he is letting the beans stick to his body and then taking them home to feed his own family. The farmer eventually catches on and ends up getting his hands cut off and returns home with no food. His family decides to leave him, so he continues his shapeshifting by putting on disguises and running ahead of his family. His hope was to convince his family that they had nowhere to go and should return to him. His tricks were successful and his family came home, under the conditions that Nanni made them promise to follow before he would let them back in. This is the perfect example of the shapeshifting characteristic. It also shows that Nanni was bricoleur, using his surroundings to help carry out his tricks.
In the Native American myths, Coyote embodies almost all of the characteristics of a trickster. He is an expert deceiver and trickster, though he doesn’t have any concept of limitations and normally sees his tricks through to the end, even if he ends up getting caught in his own traps. His excitement often causes him to go from the hunter to the prey and back again.
The modern day trickster that I am considering for my analysis is Dr. Harrison Wells from The Flash. SPOILER ALERT. He is a scientist that does not act within the bounds of time and space. He is a genius, but at times becomes so confident in his intelligence that he doesn’t realize his plans are failing. He goes through waves of doing good things for people, unless it conflicts with his personal agenda, and then he is willing to sacrifice anyone to get what he wants. He has a very obvious God complex, and delights in taking all matters into his own hands. He doesn’t think he really has any enemies because he thinks everyone around him is too unintelligent to stop him from doing what he wants. Also, he is from the future and can run at speeds of over mach 2.
Hum 115: World Mythology 
Good job on explaining Nanni. Nanni is also a good example of a character that mocks the gods. He is a shapeshifter but he had his hands cut off. With his hands cut off he should have died. Only immortal beings can live without their hands. When Nanni tricks his family he is a situation invertor and taking control of the family by making them follow his rules to come back home is a true sign of treachery and trickery. I know nothing about your character and look forward to your analysis of him. If a person can run mach 2 they must have a huge appetite. I wonder if your character cheats and tricks people for food?
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