The enfant terrible is a character appearing in the tales and myths of many cultures of West and Central Africa, mainly among the traditions of the Bambara and Madinka.
Recognizable by the unusual circumstances surrounding their birth and an extraordinary precocity the enfant terrible are guilty of transgressive behavior, often destructive or suicidal, leaving the societies from which they spawned helpless to stop them.
In oral tales and myths in West Africa, the enfant terrible can be a single character or one of a set of twins.
In Bambara traditions, the enfant terrible carry recognizable attributes of clothing such as shells or bracelets and they are attached to the world of the bush where they are considered protected by spirits.
[1] This paradox is explained by the fact that the enfant terrible are from the non-human or divine world and that their actions, no matter how absurd, must be interpreted as signs of superior knowledge.