{{Short description|Haitian mythological figure}} {{More citations needed|date=August 2017}} '''Ti Malice''' is a trickster character and nemesis of Tonton (Uncle) '''Bouki''' in Haitian folklore. While Ti Malice is smart and guileful, Uncle Bouki is hardworking but is also very greedy.<ref>{{cite web|title=Haiti Literature - Haitian folktales|url=http://www.teachingforchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Haiti_Literature.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.teachingforchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Haiti_Literature.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|website=Teaching for Change|accessdate=13 December 2015}}</ref> It is the manipulation of this greed that allows Ti Malice to often get the best of Uncle Bouki. These characters are said to be a split of Anansi, the trickster character of the Ashanti of Ghana.
Bouki and Malice have their origins in African oral traditions. In Senegal and neighbouring countries, these two characters appear in animal form. Bouki is represented as a hyena, which is called "Bouki" in the Fulani and Wolof languages, while Malice is a hare called "Leuk" in Senegal. From there, character traits develop that identify the two companions. Bouki, the hungry and skinny hyena and Leuk, the hare with a mischievous character and legendary cunning.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Le bestiaire africain de la diaspora : " retour au peuple " |url=https://vuesdumonde.forumactif.com/t5798-le-bestiaire-africain-de-la-diaspora-retour-au-peuple |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=vuesdumonde.forumactif.com |language=fr}}</ref>
Two equivalent figures, also a hyena known as Bouki and a hare (called Lapin), are known to exist in Louisiana folktales.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gaudet |first1=Marcia |title=Bouki, the Hyena, in Louisiana and African Tales |journal=The Journal of American Folklore |date=1992 |volume=105 |issue=415 |pages=66–72 |doi=10.2307/542000 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/542000 |access-date=24 August 2024 |issn=0021-8715|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.jstor.org/stable/3043924 Jacques Stephen-Alexis retelling of Bouki and Malice] Category:Haitian mythology Category:Storytelling Category:Trickster gods
{{Folklore-stub}} Category:Caribbean legendary creatures Category:Hyenas in culture