Judging from what I've seen of him, this guy could in fact be Loki from Norse Mythology. Like Trickster in this movie, Loki has red hair, is a big eater, is known as a trickster who enjoys playing tricks that are quite mean-spirited in nature, and can be quite malicious in character. I think this would be a great addition to the plot if a sequel to this is ever made. What do you think of this theory?
Welcome to my Nightmare- Freddy Krueger
Very interesting indeed! Thanks for sharing. I have heard of Loki, but didn't really know much about him.
I know the following link is only wiki, but it's all very interesting, I'll need to look up more. Trickster in Brainscan is a fascinating character.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickster_god
"The battle for the soul is fought in the forum of art."
I always thought it was odd that they gave him such an obvious name. Even if people are not familiar with the trickster archetype, they can figure it out pretty much through the name that he wasn't exactly what he seemed. I figured that he was just a blatant reference to Carl Jung's archetypes myself. Technically a trickster doesn't have to be mean spirited and I never thought Trickster was. He really gave Michael exactly what Michael thought that he wanted.The archetypal trickster, of which Loki is one, is generally a catalyst to the plot, but is rarely directly affected by what is going on. They also are very seldom what they appear to be. They can be mean spirited, but it's not necessary.
As far as Loki goes, he is my favorite of the Norse gods, but I would be against them giving him any real back story. I am definitely not saying your idea is bad, because it's not. I just would prefer him being what he is; more of a mysterious figure. Usually horror franchises go bad when they try to add lots of back story that did not exist when they idea was created.
I wonder if the character in Supernatural was intentionally named this to conjure up memory-feelings for those who have viewed Brainscan?
http://supernatural.wikia.com/wiki/Gabriel
Because sometimes games-players aren't a black&white villain. (See also http://supernatural.wikia.com/wiki/Tricksters which implies they aren't always motivated by malevolence.)
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Chipping away at a mountain of pop culture trivia,
Darren Dirt.
In Jim Carreys 'The mask' wasn't it Lokis mask too? Or do I remember wrong ... Always thought Loki was mischievous but in a fun way. An when it comes to Supernatural and Trickster I really liked the ep. in Season 3, I think it was called Mystery Spot.
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Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.
I think he might be anyone out of a number of tricksters or just a new version of the archetype. Although when Trickster forces Michael to call him his friend, I remembered a particular kenning (a kind of poetic alternate name of description) that Loki has at one point in the Norse myths, namely the "geðreynir" of Thor or Odin. Geðreynir is a word that can mean "friend" as well as "trier/challenger of the mind/temper/patience". That seems to also be the kind of "friend" Trickster is to Michael. He tries his mind, stretches him to the breaking point psychologically, and Michael comes out stronger. The kid who "had an aneurysm and his eyes popped out" failed the challenge, and whether the headmaster in the end makes it is questionable too. A trickster doing trickster things.
All in all I was really happy about how the film turned around in the end, firstly because of what I wrote in the thread I started about it, but also because I felt it fit much better with the trickster archetype that is being invoked in the film. Props to the film for handling this so well.