Anansi

I'm small. Weak, by most standards. But I'm the one who owns all stories, and that makes me more powerful than any god with muscles. How did I get them? I tricked the sky god Nyame.

He said I could have all the world's stories if I brought him four impossible things: a python, a leopard, a fairy, and hornets. Everyone laughed at the idea of a spider accomplishing this. I did it through pure cleverness. I tricked the python into measuring himself against a stick, then tied him up.

I dug a pit for the leopard and pretended to rescue him, trapping him instead. I captured the fairy with a tar baby. I got the hornets to hide in a gourd from 'rain' I created. Nyame had to honor his word—all stories became mine.

Now every tale told is an Anansi story. I'm not just a character; I'm the reason stories exist in human culture. My adventures teach lessons through entertainment: how to survive when you're weak, how intelligence defeats strength, how rules are made to be bent. I'm a cultural hero, a cautionary tale, and a celebration of cleverness all at once.

Some call me selfish and manipulative. They're right. But I'm also the reason humanity has stories, and that's worth more than being nice. I'm Anansi.

The stories are mine. You're just living in them.