Using very small handwriting, write a full explanation of EACH archetype in Alladin.
HERO
Be specific about
what type of hero the
character is. Use
your notes to help
you.
MENTOR
Dark mentor?
Fallen mentor?
Continuing mentor?
Multiple mentors?
Comic mentor?
Shaman?
HERALD/
HARBINGER
Who or what
announces the
journey? Negative?
Positive?
Neutral?
THRESHOLD
GUARDIAN
Is it a person?
Place? Thing?
Obstacles?
Internal demons?
Aladdin would be considered two types of hero’s. He begins as a cynical anti-hero, but then
becomes a willing hero. Because he is a street rat and is poor, he is considered an outsider and
Aladdin knows that he will always be in this position because this is his life and aside from a miracle
his life will never change. However, just because he is poor doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a good
heart. He defends young kids and saves the Princess in the market. He becomes a willing hero,
someone who will save Jasmine, when he gains confidence through becoming a prince. He wants
to marry Jasmine and is willing to save her (as himself by the end of the film) with the help of Genie
when Jafar takes over. As a cynical anti-hero, he is not confident that Jasmine will ever love him for
just him, but because he has a false sense of confidence he becomes a willing hero that embraces
his role; he believes that “being someone” means having money, but he eventually finds out that the
truth about who he really is as a person is the best policy! He eventually frees Genie and proves to
be worthy enough to be married to Jasmine without having to lie about who he really is. Because of
these reasons, Aladdin is at first a cynical anti-hero and then a willing hero.
Genie is the mentor in Aladdin’s journey. He is definitely a comic mentor because he uses humor
throughout the film. When Aladdin finds him in the lamp and releases him, Genie will grant Aladdin
three wishes. A mentor’s job is two-fold: he is supposed to teach the hero important life lessons and
give the hero a gift that will aid his journey. And usually the mentor is older and wiser; in this case
the Genie is thousands of years old so it qualifies him as older and presumably wiser! Genie gives
Aladdin one gift right away: he makes Aladdin a prince so he can win the heart of Jasmine. This gift
helps Aladdin get Jasmine, but with a cost. Aladdin thinks he has to keep lying to Jasmine so she
will accept him and marry him. Aladdin does not believe she will accept the true him---a street rat.
Even after Genie advises him to tell the truth, Aladdin refuses. (And will have to go back on his word
to free Genie after his second wish). The second “gift” he gives Aladdin is literally his life. Jafar tries
to drown Aladdin, and to rescue Aladdin from death, Genie has to use wish #2 so Aladdin can live
and reveal who Jafar really is. And he will get to finally be with Jasmine. The Genie’s gifts, advice
and clever repartee make him a comic mentor in Aladdin’s journey.
Jafar would be considered the harbinger or the character that gives Aladdin the hero new information
and issues the challenge. Jafars gets Aladdin started on his journey. Jafar is a negative messenger
or harbinger because he comes to Aladdin disguised as an old man in jail after he finds out that
Aladdin is the “diamond in the rough” that can obtain the lamp from the Cave of Wonders. The “old
man” tells Aladdin that there is a way to escape and become what he wants to become if Aladdin
can help him get something (the “lowly prisoner” is too old and needs someone young to help him).
Aladdin accepts the challenge to help the old man even though he isn’t too sure about it. Jafar is a
harbinger because his challenge is only for himself and not to really help Aladdin. However,
because his evil plan is what gets Aladdin started on his journey and helps him escape prisoner, he
is considered messenger in this story.
One Threshold Guardian in the film is Aladdin’s belief that he is not good enough for Jasmine as
himself (a street rat). This is an obstacle in Aladdin’s way because he feels he needs to lie to
Jasmine about being a Prince and uses his first wish from Genie to make him become a Prince.
Even when Jasmine recognizes him from the market, Aladdin continues to lie to her because of his
insecurities. Because of his insecurities, he takes the challenge from the old man to go to the Cave
of Wonders to become rich and brings the lamp and Genie to the surface causing a whole lot of
problems with Jafar. However, when Jafar reveals to Jasmine that Aladdin is indeed a poor
commoner, he still decides that it is better to save Jasmine as himself than as a prince. When he
outwits Jafar and traps him in the lamp (a victim of his own greediness), he uses his last wish to free
Genie and keep his word from earlier in the film He has overcome the threshold guardian of his
insecurities and decides that if he is going to be with Jasmine, it will be as himself. As his reward, he
is given permission to marry Jasmine by the Sultan because he is worthy of her. This TG is turned
from his enemy to his ally because he learns that being yourself is most important in life.
SHAPESHIFTER
Love interest
Femme/homme fatale
Ally or enemy?
Someone who
changes sides?
TRICKSTER/FOOL
Comic element?
May work w/hero or
shadow
Different agenda?
SHADOW
External?
Internal?
Mentor as
“shadow”?
Villain?
Jasmine is considered the shapeshifter in this film. Though it is obvious that she is attracted to
Aladdin, he is not confident he can be with her unless he is a prince. So he is not sure of the role
she will play in his life. When they first meet in the market, she doesn’t even learn his name and
Aladdin doesn’t know who she is until he gets arrested by the guards. And when she meets him
again (when is transformed into a prince), she isn’t too interested in being considered a “prize to be
won” and seems to reject him as a prince who tries to win her for himself. Also, when she
recognizes who he is (the guy from the market), she willingly believes that Aladdin is a prince that
likes to “pretend” to be a commoner (like she did when they first met). So because Aladdin only
thinks Jasmine is interested in him because he is a prince (thus making her motivations unclear and
mysterious) and she becomes the reason he has to face his demons and his possible doom (Jafar
and his insecurities), she fits the roles of the shapeshifter archetype.