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Wile E. Coyote with the Roadrunner in To Beep or Not to Beep
The coyote is a popular figure in folklore and popular culture. References may invoke either the animal coyote (a wild canine native to North America), or the mythological figure Coyote, common to many myths of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Traits commonly described include inventiveness, mischievousness, and evasiveness.
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In folklore
Coyote is a mythological figure common to many Native American cultures, based on the coyote animal. This character is usually male and is generally anthropomorphic. The myths and legends which include Coyote vary widely from culture to culture. He can play the role of trickster or culture hero (or both), and also often appears in creation myths and just-so stories.
In literature
- In The Book of Sorrows by Walter Wangerin, Jr., sequel to the award-winning The Book of the Dun Cow, the coyote Ferric is a skinny, scared creature struggling to feed his wife Rachael and their three pups, and to protect them from the cruel, wild world outside the den. As he travels far from home looking for food in the barren winter, he accidentally sets in motion a chain of events that bring Heaven and Hell crashing down upon him, and on every living thing in the land.
- In Buffalo Gals by Ursula Le Guin, Coyote the trickster and creator is a central character.
- In Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore, Coyote the trickster appears as the companion of the protagonist, Samuel Hunter, a Crow Indian insurance salesman. A number of traditional Crow stories about Coyote are used as vignettes in the narrative.
- In Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King, Coyote again appears as the trickster
- In The Nagasaki Vector by L. Neil Smith, a cyborg Coyote ("Náhuatl") is introduced as a "Private Nose", a Private Detective who specializes in scent tracking.
- In New Coyote by Michael Bergey, Coyote appears as the main character.
- In Sky Coyote by Kage Baker, the role of "Sky Coyote" is taken on by the cyborg Joseph in order to convince a Chumash community in California to evacuate before Europeans could wipe them out in 1700.
- In Summerland by Michael Chabon, Coyote is the primary antagonist, who tries to destroy the world by attempting to poison the colossal invisible tree that makes up the universe. His goal is to destroy "Mr. Wood", the creator of the universe, along with everything else, except for himself. His reasoning for this is so that he can go from his "Changer" (trickster) status, to Maker status and make a universe all of his own.
In comics, manga, and cartoons
- Wile E. Coyote is a Warner Brothers cartoon coyote who is endlessly trying to catch and eat an extremely fast Road Runner with his tricks, many of which involve technology or Rube Goldberg machines. His efforts are always futile, and he usually harms himself in the effort. It is likely that the stereotype of Coyote-as-trickster helped form the basis of this protagonist. The cartoon character Wile E. Coyote has a comically exaggerated nose, tail and ears, inspired by the appearance of the real animal. (Many of the other Warner Brothers cartoon characters also share some qualities with the trickster Coyote, especially Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny.) In the cartoon series Tiny Toon Adventures, Calamity Coyote is a student of Wile and possibly more intelligent and adept than Wile in his gadgetry, but still is susceptible to self-injury from his attempts to chase down fellow student Little Beeper, also a roadrunner.
- In the Disney cartoon show Gargoyles, Coyote is the name of a series of robots of human level intelligence created by Xanatos and having his personality. Also, the mythical Coyote the trickster makes an appearance in the episode "Cloud Fathers", and is portrayed as one of Oberon's children.
- Bent-Tail and Bent-Tail Jr. are two coyotes who have appeared in some animated Disney shorts.[1]
- Antoine D'Coolette from the Sonic the Hedgehog (comic series) is a coyote. He is portrayed as a coward with good intentions, whereas his evil counterpart "Patch" is known for being cunning, deceptive, and cruel.
- Tommy the Coyote is a character in the animated television series Father of the Pride. He is voiced by David Spade.
- In the animated movie Barnyard: The Original Party Animals, a pack of coyotes are the main antagonists. The pack is lead by a villainous coyote named Dag, who is voiced by David Koechner.
- The Coyote comic series Features a lead hero/trickster character similar to both mythical versions of the Coyote, as well as a modern interpretation of a half man, half coyote, hero.
- In the webcomic Gunnerkrigg Court, Coyote is a character similar to the trickster deity common to many Native American cultures' mythology.
In motion pictures and television
- The Simpsons, Episode 3F24 ("El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer") - A coyote voiced by music legend Johnny Cash plays the role of Homer Simpson's Spirit Guide. Homer refers to his Spirit Guide as the "Space Coyote." When Space Coyote instinctually starts gnawing on Homer's leg he quickly stops and apologizes by saying, "Sorry. I am a coyote."
- In the movie Coyote Ugly, Lil, the bar owner, explains that she named her bar after the slang term "coyote ugly", which refers to the feeling of waking up after a one night stand and discovering that you are beside someone who is so physically repulsive that you would gladly gnaw off any of your limbs that he or she is sleeping on just so you can get away without being discovered. Many wild animals, including coyotes, will gnaw off limbs in order to escape traps.
In slang
- In the Southwest United States, a "coyote" is a person paid to smuggle illegal immigrants across the border between Mexico and the United States. See also Human smuggling.
- When used as an adjective 'coyote' may be synonymous with 'thief' or 'liar'.
In sports and games
- The San Antonio Spurs NBA basketball team has used a coyote as its mascot since 1983. The character was created by Tim Derk.
- The Phoenix NHL ice hockey team is the Phoenix Coyotes.
- The Coyote is the mascot of several college and university athletic teams, including those of the University of South Dakota, California State University, San Bernardino, and The College of Idaho.
- In White Wolf, Inc.'s roleplaying game Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Coyote is a Totem for the Garou (werewolves) and even more so for the Nuwisha (were-coyotes).
