Archetypes
The Threshold: Gateway to a new world which the hero must enter to change and grow.
Example: Alice in Wonderland.
White Goddess: Good, beautiful maiden, usually blond, may make an ideal marriage partner; often has religious or intellectual overtones.
Example: Aphrodite
Friendly Beast: An animal companion showing that nature is on the side of the hero.
Example: Beast from beauty and the beast.
The Unfaithful Wife: A woman married to a man she sees as dull or distant and is attracted to more virile or interesting men.
Example: Daisy from the Great Gatsby
The Devil Figure: This character is evil incarnate.
Example: Hades from Hercules
The Platonic Ideal: A woman who is a source of inspiration to the hero, who has an intellectual rather than physical attraction to her
Example: Hazel grace from The fault in our stars, is bald, and has cancer, however Gus still loved her.
Mentor - Pupil Relationship: In this relationship, the Mentor teaches the Hero/pupil the necessary skills for surviving the quest.
Example: Hercules learns his skills to become a hero from Phil.
Colors: Red: blood, sacrifice, passion, disorder Green: growth, hope, fertility Blue: highly positive, security, tranquility, spiritual purity Black: darkness, chaos, mystery, the unknown, death, wisdom, evil, melancholy White: light, purity, innocence, timelessness (negatives: death, horror, supernatural) Yellow: enlightenment, wisdom
Example: In Alice of Wonderland, there was the Red Queen and, her sister, the White Queen. While the Red was mean and heartless, The white queen was pure and kind.
Mentor: The Mentor is an older, wiser teacher to the initiates. He often serves as a father or mother figure. He gives the hero gifts (weapons, food, magic, information), serves as a role model or as hero's conscience.
Example: In Hercules, Phil provides Hercules with his weapons, and training.
The Initiates: The Initiates are young heroes or heroines who must go through some training and ceremony before undertaking their quest.
Example: In Hercules, he did a ton of training in order to become a hero
The Task: The nearly superhuman feat(s) the Hero must perform in order to accomplish his quest.
Example: In Moana, Maui is faced with a giant lava monster who he must slay using his shape shifting powers to defeat.
The Ritual: The actual ceremonies the Initiate experiences that will mark his rite of passage into another state. A clear sign of the character's role in his society
Example: In Moana, The ocean chose Moana, so she knew she had to restore the heart.
The Fall: The descent from a higher to a lower state of being usually as a punishment for transgression. It also involves the loss of innocence.
Example: In Moana, when Maui's hook cracks, he fears it breaking, saying without his hook, he is nothing.
Fog: Symbolizes uncertainty.
Example: In a movie called "The Mist" Everyone is scared to go into the fog because they believe there are monsters in it.
The Underworld: A place of death or metaphorically an encounter with the dark side of the self. Entering an underworld is a form of facing a fear of death.
Example: The underworld in Hercules/ Where Hades lived.
Haven vs. Wilderness: Places of safety contrast sharply against a dangerous wilderness. Heroes are often sheltered for a time to regain health and resources
Example: The walking dead, the town of civilization VS the outside world.
The Whirlpool: Symbolizes the destructive power of nature or fate.
Example: The whirlpool in Pirates of the Caribbean.
The Temptress or Black Goddess: Characterized by sensuous beauty, this woman is one to whom the protagonist is physically attracted and who ultimately brings about his downfall. May appear as a witch or vampire.
Example: Tia Dalma from Pirates of the Caribbean.
Father - Son Conflict: In this relationship, the tension is built due to separation from childhood or some other source when the two meet as men.
Example: When Hercules finds out his father is Zeus her meets him to ask how he can become a god.
The Initiation: The adolescent comes into his maturity with new awareness and problems.
Example: When Simba discovers Scar was the one who killed his father, and is now ruling the kingdom, he knew he had to return to the Pride rock to restore order.
The Journey: The journey sends the Hero in search of some truth that will help save his kingdom.
Example: When Simba leaves in lion king, he matures and later returns to the kingdom, ruling over Scar (Who made the Pride land miserable)
Innate Wisdom vs. Educated Stupidity: Some characters exhibit wisdom and understanding of situations instinctively as opposed to those supposedly in charge. Loyal retainers often exhibit this wisdom as they accompany the hero on the journey.
Example:Applies in scary movies for the ones who go to investigate after hearing a noise, while another character decides to leave it alone.
Supernatural Intervention: Spiritual beings intervene on the side of the hero or sometimes against him.
Example:In Beyond two souls, she had a brother who died at birth, who was her twin, and his spirit was attached to her.
The Threshold Guardian: Tests the hero's courage and worthiness to begin the journey.
Example:In Hercules, whenever he kills the Hydra, and saves the town.
Hunting Group of Companions: These are loyal companions willing to face hardship and ordeal in order to stay together.
Example:In the Movie "7" All the characters stick together, being the last source of humanity left.
The Unhealable Wound: Either a physical or psychological wound that cannot be fully healed. The wound symbolizes a loss of innocence.
Example:In the lion king, the marking on Scar's eye.
The Scapegoat: An animal, or more usually a human, whose death in a public ceremony expiates some taint or sin of a community. They are often more powerful in death than in life.
Example:the story of the "Bunny man" who was an escaped convict/ serial killer supposedly killed himself and now haunts the area he died at.
Death and Rebirth: The most common of all situational archetypes, this motif grows out of a parallel between the cycle of nature and the cycle of life. Thus morning and springtime represent birth, youth, or rebirth, while evening and winter suggest old age or death.
Example: In a show Naruto, a bunch of main characters die in the Great War, and afterwards they are resurrected.
Light vs. Darkness: Light usually suggests hope, renewal, or intellectual illumination; darkness implies the unknown, ignorance, or despair.
Example: In lord of the rings, its Light VS Darkness for the dark who wants the ring for evil.
Battle between Good and Evil: Obviously, a battle between two primal forces. Mankind shows eternal optimism in the continual portrayal of good triumphing over evil despite great odds.
Example: In the Movie Thor The Dark world, Loki, who was always out to get his brother, ended up helping him in the end, due to the rage of his lost mother.
Nature vs. Mechanistic: World Nature is good while technology is evil.
Example: In the movie Avatar, the people lived in primitive peace with nature, and the military who used technology to destroy their home are evil.
The Hero: The Hero is a protagonist whose life is a series of well-marked adventures. The circumstances of his birth are unusual, and he is raised by a guardian. He will have to leave his kingdom, only to return to it upon reaching manhood. Characterized by courage, strength, and honor, the hero will endure hardship, even risk his life for the good of all. Leaves the familiar to enter an unfamiliar and challenging world.
Example: In the movie Hercules, He was born a God, and became a hero to the mortals, as a Demigod.
The Quest: What the Hero must accomplish in order to bring fertility back to the wasteland, usually a search for some talisman, which will restore peace, order, and normalcy to a troubled land.
Example: In the movie Moana, Maui and Moana must restore the heart of Heart of Tafiti in order to bring life back to their island.
The Magic Weapon: The weapon the hero needs in order to complete his quest.
Example: King Arthur's sword in the legend of Camelot.
The Outcast: A character banished from a social group for some real or imagined crime against his fellow man, usually destined to wander form place to place.
Example: Lenny and George from of Mice and Men
The Evil Figure with Ultimately Good Heart: A devil figure with the potential to be good. This person is usually saved by the love of the hero.
Example: Loki from Marvel's Thor
The Maze: A puzzling dilemma or great uncertainty, search for the dangerous monster inside of oneself, or a journey into the heart of darkness.
Example: Maze runner
Damsel in Distress: A vulnerable woman who needs to be rescued by the hero. She is often used as a trap to ensnare the unsuspecting hero.
Example: Meg from Hercules
Loyal Retainers: The Retainer's duty is to reflect the nobility and power of the hero.
Example: Merlin, who helped raise King Arthur.
Numbers: 3—light, spiritual awareness, unity (holy trinity), male principle. 4—associated with the circle, life cycle, four seasons, female principle, earth, nature, elements. 7—the most potent of all symbolic numbers signifying the union of three and four, the completion of a cycle, perfect order, perfect number, religious symbol.
Example: Most people say 7 is their lucky number for a reason, and that being it is known as the most common "Lucky number"
Heaven vs. Hell Man has traditionally associated parts of the universe not accessible to him with the dwelling places of the primordial forces that govern his world. The skies and mountaintops house his gods, the bowels of the earth contain diabolic forces.
Example: Mythology, Hades VS Zeus.
The Shadow: A worthy opponent with whom the hero must struggle in a fight to the end. Must be destroyed or neutralized. Psychologically can represent the darker side of the hero's own psyche.
Example: Paranormal activity, the demon/dark spirit in the home.
Young Man from the Provinces: The Hero returns to his home and heritage where he is a stranger who can see new problems and new solutions.
Example: Simba returning to Pride rock in the Lion king.
The Creature of Nightmare: A monster usually summoned from the deepest, darkest part of the human psyche to threaten the lives of the hero/heroine. Often it is a perversion or desecration of the human body.
Example: Split, the "Beast" the crazy guy turns into in the end.
Water vs. Desert: Because Water is necessary to life and growth, it commonly appears as a birth symbol, as baptism symbolizes a spiritual birth. Rain, rivers, oceans, etc. also function the same way. The Desert suggests the opposite.
Example: Star wars, in the desert seems dry and lifeless, but in the civilized areas there is water/food/people/ and safety.
The Earth Mother: Symbolic of fruition, abundance, and fertility, this character traditionally offers spiritual and emotional nourishment to those with whom she comes in contact. Often depicted in earth colors, has large breasts and hips symbolic of her childbearing capacities.
Example: Te Fiti from Moana
The Castle: A strong place of safety which holds treasure or princess, may be enchanted or bewitched
Example: The Castle in Elsa made in Frozen.
The Crossroads: A place or time of decision when a realization is made and change or penance results.
Example: The ending of Beyond two souls, Jodie must choose to stay in the world she is living, or reside in the afterlife.
Star-Crossed Lovers: Two characters engaged in a love affair fated to end tragically for one or both due to the disapproval of society, friends, family, or some tragic situation.
Example: The fault in our stars
Fire and Ice: Fire represents knowledge, light, life, and rebirth, while ice, like the desert, represents ignorance, darkness, sterility, and death.
Example: The jungle book, Fire was seen as good to the humans, but bad to the animals.
The Tower: A strong place of evil, represents the isolation of self.
Example: The tower Rapunzel lived in, and her evil mother.
