Archetypes: An
Introduction
Feraco
SDAIE
27 September 2013
A Definition
 The original pattern/model of
which all things of the same type
are representations or copies
 A prototype or perfect example
 According to C.G. Jung, it’s an
inherited idea or mode of thought
derived from racial experience; it’s
present in each individual’s
unconscious mind
The Best Places to Look
 If I ask you about archetypes, look
at:
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Images
Themes/Ideas
Symbols
Character Types
Plot Patterns
 You can find them in:
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Myths/Folklore/Fantasies
Literature
Dreams
Religion
Booker’s Seven Stories I
 Christopher Booker, a British literary
critic, argues that humans have only
produced seven basic plots
 Tragedy
 Hero with a fatal flaw meets tragic end (lots
of Shakespeare)
 Comedy
 Not necessary the laugh-out-loud kind; this
refers more to a story with a happy ending,
typically featuring romantic fulfillment (lots
of Austen)
 Overcoming the Monster
 With the odds stacked against you, you battle
a horrifying, destructive enemy
 “Its psychological appeal is obvious and
eternal” (think Jaws)
Booker’s Seven Stories II
 Voyage and Return
 The character leaves, encounters the new/unusual,
and returns home as a new/reborn individual (The
Odyssey, Alice in Wonderland)
 Quest
 Similar to Voyage and Return, except that the Quest
features an intentional journey centered around a
specific goal (The Lord of the Rings)
 Both Voyage and Return and Quest narratives can
feature symbolic “journeys” as well
 Rags to Riches
 A character begins with nothing, only to overcome
his/her disadvantages through ingenuity or virtue
 The riches in question can be literal or symbolic
(Cinderella)
 Rebirth
 A central character suddenly finds a new reason for
living (A Christmas Carol)
Matt Haig on Booker’s Case
Every story has been told...Authors are, if you
excuse the analogy, like fashion designers dressing
and re-dressing a body that will always have two
arms and two legs and a head.
Shakespeare, for instance, never bothered
himself with inventing plots. The story of Hamlet
had already been told several times before. Same
with King Lear and Macbeth and every other
Shakespeare work you can think of.
That does not mean a novel or a play or a film
can't be truly original. Of course it can. It's just
originality doesn't come through plot. It comes
from style and voice and the imagination that
brings language and characters and settings to
life.
Personally, I don't get too bothered about
whether or not a plot is considered 'original' or
'unoriginal'. All stories are, to some degree, cover
versions. It's how you carry these universal plots
into the present age that's the challenge for every
writer.
Jung’s Archetypes
 Jung recognized patterns in stories and
mythologies that recurred regardless of
the storyteller’s culture or historical
period.
 He hypothesized that part of the human
mind contained a collective
unconscious shared by all members of
the human species – a sort of universal,
primal memory.
 Jung’s work inspired Joseph Campbell,
whose The Hero With a Thousand Faces
refined the original hypotheses,
highlighted the patterns we either
respond to or seek out (even
unconsciously), and helped define the
concept of heroism in the modern age.
Twelve Heroic Archetypes
 Hero as Warrior
 A god-like or impressive individual faces
physical challenges and external enemies
 Hero as Lover
 A pure love motivates the individual to
complete the quest
 Hero as Scapegoat/Martyr
 Hero suffers for the sake of others
 Transcendent Hero
 Common to tragedy
 A fatal flaw brings about his/her downfall,
but not before he/she reaches a
transforming realization (wisdom)
Twelve Heroic Archetypes
 Romantic/Gothic Hero
 Hero with a decidedly darker side
 Proto-Feminist Hero
 Self-explanatory, no?
 Apocalyptic Hero
 Faces either the end of society or the
end of the world
 Anti-Hero
 Typically prone to failure, blindness,
or alienation
 Sometimes humorous or dark
Twelve Heroic Archetypes
 Defiant Anti-Hero
 Opposes societal values, particularly
concepts of heroism/goodness/virtue
 Unbalanced Hero
 Protagonist who has (or pretends to have)
mental or emotional deficiencies
 The Denied Hero/The Other
 A protagonist whose status as an outsider
makes heroic action possible
 The Superhero
 Exaggerates the normal possibilities of man
 Frequently of divine or supernatural origin
 Someone who does not quite belong, yet is
needed by society
Heroic Journey Traits
 The hero must go on a journey, learn a lesson,
change in some way, and return home
 The hero is born and raised in a rural setting,
somewhat at a remove from civilizations and
greater society
 The hero has mysterious origins, or his parents
are lost at a young age, leaving him to be
raised by relatives, a wise guardian, or even
animals
 The hero is special/unique; he may represent or
embody his entire culture or nation
 The hero is naïve, inexperienced, or reluctant
 The hero encounters monsters – or monstrous
men
Heroic Journey Traits
 The hero has a mentor – sometimes strange,
usually wise, and not always human
 The hero also often receives help from divine
or supernatural forces, and enjoys the
company of a guide or guides
 The hero yearns for a beautiful woman –
sometimes from afar, and at other times in
close proximity
 She can serve as a guide or an inspiration
 The hero often crosses a body of water, travels
across a great plain or pass, or traverses a
bridge – all of which serve to unequivocally
separate him from his past
 The hero struggles for something valuable and
important
Heroic Journey Traits
 The hero goes through a rite of passage or
initiation, an event that marks a change to a
more mature understanding of the world
 The hero undergoes some type of
ritual/ceremony after his initiation
 The hero has a loyal band of companions (to
whom he can give stirring speeches)
 The hero engages in tests or contests of
strength, skill, and will – physical and mental
challenges that force him to draw on his
endurance and resourcefulness while allowing
him to show pride in his excellence
 The hero suffers an “unhealable” wound; this is
sometimes an emotional or spiritual wound
from which the hero never completely recovers
 The hero returns to the land of his birth in
disguise or as an unknown
Character Archetypes
 The Hero
 A protagonist whose life consists of a series
of adventures.
 The circumstances of his birth are often
unusual, and he’s often tended to by
surrogate figures (guardians, relatives,
animals) while growing up.
 He will often need to leave his kingdom on
an adventure while young, only to return to it
upon reaching manhood.
 Common characteristics include strength
and integrity.
 The hero will endure hardship, even risking
his life for the collective good, and leaves the
familiar to enter an unfamiliar and
challenging world (or to walk an unfamiliar
and challenging road).
Character Archetypes
 Young Man from the
Provinces
 The hero returns to his
home or a place
connected to his
heritage; he’s now a
stranger whose outsider
status allows him to see
new problems and new
solutions
 The Initiates
 Young heroes or heroines
who must go through
some training and
ceremony before
undertaking their quest
Character Archetypes
 Mentor
 An older, wiser teacher to
the initiates who often
acts as a paternal figure.
He gives the heroes gifts
(weapons, food,
information, magic) and
serves as a role model or
heroic conscience
 The Mentor must now
teach the hero the skills
necessary for surviving
the quest ahead
Character Archetypes
 The Threshold
Guardian
 Tests the hero’s courage
and worthiness to begin
the journey
 Hunting Group of
Companions
 These are loyal
companions willing to
face hardship and ordeal
in order to stay together
 Similar to the Loyal
Retainers, whose duties
are to reflect the power
and nobility of the hero
Character Archetypes
 The Friendly Beast
 An animal companion
showing that nature is on
the hero’s side
 The Devil Figure
 This character is evil
incarnate
 The Evil Figure with the
Ultimately Good Heart
 A devil figure, but one with
the potential for
redemption or goodness
 This person is usually
saved by the hero’s love
Other Character Archetypes
 The Conflicted Father
 In this relationship, the tension is built due to
separation from childhood or some other source
when the two meet as men
 The Shadow
 A worthy opponent with whom the hero must struggle
in a fight to the end, and who must be destroyed or
neutralized
 The Shadow can represent the darker side of the
hero’s own psyche
 The Creature of Nightmares
 A monster usually summoned from the deepest,
darkest part of the human psyche to threaten the lives
of the hero and his followers
 Oftentimes it is a perversion or desecration of the
human body
 The Scapegoat
 An animal – or, more frequently, a human – whose
death in a public ceremony is supposed to remove
some degree of sin from a community
 They are often more powerful in death than in life
Other Character Archetypes
 The Outcast
 A character banished from a social group for
some real or imagined crime against his
fellow man, usually destined to wander from
place to place
 The Platonic Ideal
 A woman who is a source of inspiration to
the hero, who has an intellectual rather than
physical attraction to her
 Damsel in Distress
 A vulnerable woman who needs to be
rescued by the hero; she is often used as bait
in a trap
 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
Other Character Archetypes
 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 (i.e. witches,
vampires, etc.)
 White Goddess
 Good, beautiful maiden, usually blond in Western
myth, and may make an ideal marriage partner; often
has religious or intellectual overtones
 The Unfaithful Wife
 A woman married to a man she sees as dull or distant
and is attracted to more virile or interesting men
 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
 Tomorrow, we’ll cover archetypal journeys and
symbols.