Black Dragon submitted a new blog post:
Mythic Guide to Heroes & Villains — The Hero Archetype and the Hero’s Journey
by Antonio del Drago
This is Part 2 of the Mythic Guide to Heroes & Villains.
The Hero Archetype
An archetype, in simplified terms, is essentially a defining quality or qualities that summarize a character into a label. One of these is “hero.” The hero is an archetype for a character, as is the anti-hero, the villain, the mentor, the side-kick, and so forth.
While it is important for your characters to be original, many writers still elect to utilize these well-known archetypes. These already well-established archetypes have been a part of your reader’s lives for years, and therefore are easy to form a connection with. It is possible to use archetypes and still have a unique story. For instance, both Frodo Baggins and Harry Potter fall into the archetype of a hero with a destiny, and they both exist within a fantasy setting; and yet their stories are vastly different from each other.
The hero archetype is partially defined by a set of common characteristics that will be covered later in this series. One defining quality of the hero archetype is the character's journey.
The Hero's Journey
Heroes often embark on a journey. Sometimes the journey is metaphorical and sometimes it is quite literal. More often than not, this journey follows a specific formula.
First, the hero is...
Continue reading the Original Blog Post.
Mythic Guide to Heroes & Villains — The Hero Archetype and the Hero’s Journey
by Antonio del Drago
This is Part 2 of the Mythic Guide to Heroes & Villains.
The Hero Archetype
An archetype, in simplified terms, is essentially a defining quality or qualities that summarize a character into a label. One of these is “hero.” The hero is an archetype for a character, as is the anti-hero, the villain, the mentor, the side-kick, and so forth.
While it is important for your characters to be original, many writers still elect to utilize these well-known archetypes. These already well-established archetypes have been a part of your reader’s lives for years, and therefore are easy to form a connection with. It is possible to use archetypes and still have a unique story. For instance, both Frodo Baggins and Harry Potter fall into the archetype of a hero with a destiny, and they both exist within a fantasy setting; and yet their stories are vastly different from each other.
The hero archetype is partially defined by a set of common characteristics that will be covered later in this series. One defining quality of the hero archetype is the character's journey.
The Hero's Journey
Heroes often embark on a journey. Sometimes the journey is metaphorical and sometimes it is quite literal. More often than not, this journey follows a specific formula.
First, the hero is...
Continue reading the Original Blog Post.
