The Summerween Trickster is a mysterious creature who is part of Gravity Falls local legend. He is said to punish children who do not show proper respect to the Summerween spirit.
History[]
The Summerween Trickster first appears spying on Dipper from a nearby bush as he discards rejected "loser candy." At the front door of the Mystery Shack, Dipper offends the Trickster, disguised by a mask and coat, by repeatedly closing the door and refusing to give him the candy he desires, believing that he is overage and telling him to go visit another house. When Mabel willingly opens the door and apologizes, the creature enters and threatens to eat Dipper, Mabel, Grenda, and Candy alive if they are unable to acquire five hundred pieces of candy by the time the last jack-o'-melon burns out. He then demonstrates this by devouring a young child known as Gorney, who tells them to remember him. Then, he crawls over the roof out of sight. Dipper, who anticipated joining Wendy at a Summerween party, has no other choice but to join the others in trick-or-treating. When Dipper refuses to wear a costume and they get only one piece of candy each, however, the Trickster reappears and frightens the gang.
The kids are eventually able to obtain enough pieces of candy, but when Dipper hides the candy by pushing it into a nearby bush as Wendy and Robbie pass by, he later discovers that the candy had fallen into a river. The Summerween Trickster then finally confronts the children, upset to discover that the candy had been lost. He then attempts to devour the children, but is smashed apart by Soos in a pickup truck. Convinced that the monster is done for, they drive away with Soos, only for the pieces of the Trickster to reassemble into an even more hideous and malformed beast.
The gang crash into the Summerween Superstore and hide among the shelves, as the monster begins to search for them furiously. They then use costumes to disguise themselves in order to escape, but when Soos draws sound from an electronic laughing skull, he was devoured. The kids begin to use costume weapons to strike him repeatedly. The monster then grabs the children and reveals its true face and explains that he was made from "loser candy" a every year he plotted to avenge all the candy that had been ignored and discarded by the children of Gravity Falls. Soos (and Gorney) then emerge from the monster, bursting out from its body, and begin to feast on the beast's candy innards. The monster then cries in joy after finally being viewed as savory, if only by Soos.
In "Society of the Blind Eye" when Old Man McGucket's memories are shown, he mentions stealing a hat from a scarecrow, which is likely the Summerween Trickster.
Appearance[]
The Summerween Trickster first appears to be an unusually tall, extremely deep purple monster with twig-like limbs. In this form, he wears a patchwork suit jacket, a yellow mask of a smiling jack-o'-lantern face with one tooth and a shoddy brown hat with a darker brown band similar in style to one often worn by Old Man McGucket. This form is eventually found to be a ruse however, as the Trickster sheds his disguise and reveals himself to be a creature made entirely of discarded and forgotten "Loser candy," such as black licorice or candy corn.
In this form, he can change shape at will, growing extra arms and legs to aid in mobility and changing size as well. His "face" underneath the mask is composed of two mints for eyes, two rolls of a candy similar to Smarty's for eyebrows and a long piece of licorice for the lips of his "mouth", with candy corn for teeth. He was also seen to cry candy corn in place of tears. Dipper states in the real life Journal 3 that he "Can morph his body just like 'Mr. Faceless' from the anime film 'The Cranky Girl Who Did Chores in Spirit Town.' (Mabel has watched that movie eighty two times.)"
Abilities[]
The Summerween Trickster is shown to be incredibly agile and quick, able to move both on two legs and all fours. When moving quadrepedally, his motions are similar to those of a spider. He can also jump extremely high, able to reach the tops of buildings easily, and is incredibly strong, able to lift people with a single hand and tear off car doors with relatively little effort.
Along with all of that, he can also reform if smashed to pieces, regenerate limbs, shape-shift (e.g. change size, grow extra limbs) and swallow an entire human being. As if that was not enough, the Trickster also seems to possess other, more paranormal powers, such as being able to light a jack-o'-melon with a finger tip. His presence also seems to cause strange events such as lights flickering and chilling winds to occur all of a sudden.
Sightings[]
- Intro: "Gravity Falls Main Title Theme"
Season 1
- 112. "Summerween"
Season 2
- 201. "Scary-oke" (pictured)
Games
Trivia[]
- The Summerween Trickster can be seen in the intro in one of the photos, albeit with an orange skin color.
- The Summerween Trickster's second form is a homage to No Face from the film Spirited Away,[3] which was brought up in Journal 3 as 'Mr. Faceless' from the anime movie 'The Cranky Girl Who Did Chores in Spirit Town".
- In the promo for "Summerween," the Trickster is colored a much brighter purple than in the actual episode. His mask and clothes are also noticeably brighter.
- The Trickster is implied to be the cause of death for at least three teenagers: Jeffy Fresh, Byrone, and Rosie,[4] as their gravestones appear in the online game "PinesQuest," with the epitaph saying they had "Ran afoul of a trickster."
- However, considering the fact that "PinesQuest" takes place in a digital version of Gravity Falls created by Gideon Gleeful, this may not be true.
- He seems to be based on Sam from the horror movie Trick 'r Treat. Gorney was wearing a similar outfit to Chip from the same movie.
- The Summerween Trickster is similar to Krampus, a being from German folklore that would punish misbehaving children at Christmas.
- His voice actor, Jeff Bennett, voiced the similar Halloween-themed boogeyman character Candlejack in Freakazoid!.
- He was a poker buddy with Mr. What's-His-Face.
Gallery
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References[]
- ↑ Timeline
- ↑ "Summerween." Zach Paez, Michael Rianda, Alex Hirsch (writers) & John Aoshima (director). Gravity Falls. Disney Channel. October 5, 2012. No. 12, season 1.
- ↑ Tumblr Post ID 33097775227. Tumblr (October 7, 2012). Archived from the original on July 20, 2015.
- ↑ "PinesQuest" by DisneyGames. Published August 16, 2013. Official webpage. (gravestone in the cemetery)