Archetypes Flashcards
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.
The Quest
The nearly superhuman feats the hero must perform in order to complete the Quest
the Task
send the hero in search of some knowledge that will restore his kingdom. The journey includes a series of trials and tribulations the hero / heroine face along the way.
Usually, he / she descends into a real or psychological hell and is forced to discover the blackest truths, quite often concerning his / her own faults. Once the hero / heroine is at this lowest level, he / she must accept personal responsibility to return to the world of the living.
The Journey
Usually refers to a moment, usually psychological, in which an individual comes into maturity. She / he gains a new awareness into the nature of circumstances and problems and understands his or her responsibility for trying to solve the dilemma. Typically, a hero / heroine receives a calling, a message, or signal that he or she must make sacrifices and become responsible for “getting involved” in the problem. Often a hero / heroine will deny and question the calling and ultimately, in the Initiation, will accept responsibility.
The Initiation
The actual ceremonies an initiate must undergo that mark her / his rite of passage into another state. The character’s role in society has been clearly defined.
The Ritual
Not to be confused with The Initiation, this archetype describes a descent in action from a higher to a lower state of being, an experience which might involve defilement, moral imperfection, and / or loss of innocence. This fall is often accompanied by expulsion from a kind of paradise as a penalty for disobedience.
The Fall
Forces that represent good and evil battle against each other. Typically, good ultimately triumphs over evil despite great odds.
Good vs Evil
The most common of all situational archetypes grows out of the parallel between the cycle of nature and the cycle of life. It refers to situations in which someone or something, concrete and or abstract dies, yet is accompanied by some sign of birth or rebirth.
Death and Rebirth
This wound, physical or psychological, cannot be healed fully. This would also indicate a loss of innocence and purity. Often these wounds’ pains drive the sufferer to desperate measures of madness.
The Unhealable Wound
Sometimes connected with the Task, the magical weapon refers to a skilled individual hero’s ability to use a piece of technology in order to combat evil, continue a journey, or to prove his or her identity as a chosen individual.
The Magical Weapon
Gods intervene in the hero’s adventures
Gods may help or harm the hero
Intervention of the Gods
In its Greek origin, the hero/heroine represented any character that was half god and half human.
Later hero and heroine came to refer to characters that, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self-sacrifice.
Began as exemplifying courage/prowess later shifted to demonstrate good morality.
The hero
Also called the Old Man or Wise Old man or Woman.
This type of character is typically represented as a kind and wise, older father-type figure who uses personal knowledge of people and the world to help tell stories and offer guidance.
The wise old man is often seen to be in some way “foreign,” that is, from a different culture, nation, or occasionally, even a different time, than those he advises.
The Mentor
s that part of ourselves that protects emotional boundaries and asserts our needs in the world.
Stands where the King tells it to stand.
The King initiates it, gives it a cause, a mission – as a general gives the soldier his mission.
The Warrior serves the King and follows the King’s instructions to the letter.
Key words to describe the Warrior are duty, honor, loyalty, discipline, boundaries.
The Warrior’s tool is the sword (or any equivalent weapon of protection and assertion, including, in martial arts, the human body).
The Warrior
These are loyal companions to the hero
The Hunting Group (do not have to literally be hunters) is willing to endure hardship and danger to stay together.
The Hunting Group can be comprised of any gender.
The Hunting Group of Companions
The Goddess/ Great Mother archetype is one seen in many different mythologies.
The mother archetype is typically seen as both nurturing and caring, as well as volatile and temperamental.
The mother archetype is a celebration of the uniquely female act of creation and is one of the oldest celebrated symbols in human existence.
The Mother
a common archetype seen across all cultures and countries.
This archetype is usually represented by a human or a god who is considered an innocent without corruption.
These characters generally represent hope, and provide wisdom which stems from their innocence.
The Child/Innocent
embodies the energy of mischief and the desire for change.
Tricksters cut big egos down to size and, most importantly, provide comic relief that eases tension and brings the Hero (and the audience) down to earth.
They also work to make fun of/highlight hypocrisy.
Still, the Trickster’s loyalty and motives can be in doubt. Is the Trickster an ally? An agent of the Shadow? Or an independent agent working to some private agenda?
This character is so dedicated to laughing at the “status quo” and mocking everything around him that his true motives can remain in doubt.
The Trickster
The role of the herald is to announce the challenge which begins the hero on his story journey.
The herald is the person or piece of information which upsets the sleepy equilibrium in which the hero has lived and starts the adventure.
The herald need not be a person. It can be an event or force: the start of a war, a drought or famine, or even an ad in a newspaper.
The Herald
changes role or personality, often in significant ways, and is hard to understand. That very changeability is the essence of this archetype. The Shapeshifter is a dangerous character and differs from the Trickster because the Shapeshifter is not a comic character.
The shapeshifter’s alliances and loyalty are uncertain, and the sincerity of his/her claims is often questionable.
The shapeshifter is often a person of the opposite sex, often the hero’s romantic interest, but can be the same gender.
The Shapeshifter
is a negative figure, representing things we don’t like and would like to eliminate.
The shadow is the worthy opponent with whom the hero must struggle. In a conflict between hero and villain, the fight is to the end; one or the other must be destroyed or rendered impotent.
While the shadow is a negative force in the story, it’s important to remember that no man is a villain in his own eyes. In fact, the shadow frequently sees himself as a hero, and the story’s hero as his villain.
Many modern novels, comics, movies, etc have taken to using this idea to entertain a new slant on an old story.
the shadow
The Maiden archetype represents purity, innocence, and, in all likelihood, naivete.
The Maiden acts from her heart. She is not limited by the opinions, beliefs, and needs of others.
The Maiden represents possibilities and carries within her the seed of possibility.
the maiden
often the all-powerful omniscient figure responsible for the condition of the world.
In many works his/her/its motivations are unclear, and the answers given (when given) are cryptic riddles at best.
the creator
magery occurs in multiple branches of mythology.
They are typically physical representations of the duality of nature.
Quite often they are in either direct opposition or total accord with each other, little middle ground.
They can be literal twins or figurative.
the twins
