The original Trickster is the practical joker and con man whose favorite occupation is damaging enemies like the Flash with items such as explosive teddy bears.His alter ego is "James Jesse", a stage name to replace his true identity, "Giovanni Giuseppe". He was a circus acrobat who decided to become a criminal just like his "reverse namesake" Jesse James. He created shoes that allowed him to walk on air to first help him in the trapeze shows his family was in, as every member of his family was a trapeze expert and his father wanted him to be one also, and other dangerous gag gadgets for his crimes. He clashed with the Flash (Barry Allen) many times. In his first appearance, his Harlequin costume causes the Flash to guess he is in a circus, and he captures the Trickster after pogo-sticking to the trapeze.After Barry Allen's death, the Trickster relocated from Central City to Hollywood, where he spent some time working in special effects. He attempted to steal Dan Cassidy's innovative Blue Devil suit, but was defeated. When Cassidy later became trapped in the suit, Jesse befriended him and relied on Cassidy to help with his sporadic efforts to give up supervillainy. In the miniseries Underworld Unleashed Neron tried to create Hell on Earth. When James Jesse tricked his way into Neron's domain it was only to find himself an expected visitor. Neron made vague promises to Jesse, and seemed to keep Jesse in his confidences. However, once Jesse realized he was in Hell and Neron was the Devil incarnate, Trickster realized it was up to him to beat the Devil. He managed to trick Neron and defeat him with Captain Marvel's help. Upon finding himself back on Earth, Trickster lamented the fact that he had engineered "the greatest sting of all time" and no one had witnessed it... and promptly decided he'd better work the side of the angels, because he didn't dare go to Hell.He began using his con-artist skills for good, and collecting the weapons of incarcerated supervillains because such things were too dangerous to be left lying around and could fall into the wrong hands.