Abstract. – Since the end of the 19th century, many interpretations of the trickster’s role and function have been developed. In the present article, prominent interpretations of the trickster are briefly summarized and subsequently applied to an exemplary trickster: the fox in the oral traditions of the southern Central Andes. The considered interpretations of the role and function of the trickster turn out to be somewhat problematic. For this reason the article proposes an alternative interpretation of the trickster, mainly founded on current research in cognitive anthropology. [Southern Central Andes, Quechua, Aymara, Chipaya, trickster, Andean oral traditions, cognitive anthropology]