Character Archetypes In Media

6 Typical Story/Character archetypes in media

 

• The Hero – Example: Luke Skywalker

The Hero is the main character of the story, the protagonist and the character we follow throughout the film. They usually follow a  strict journey of self realisation and follow the moral side of the spectrum. These are well, our hero’s. In most films the hero wins the fight against the shadow and brings balance to the universe

• The Shadow – Example: Darth VaderThe shadow refers to a character completely opposite to the hero, in some sense they are their metaphorical shadow, following them about everywhere as their complete opposite. Darth vader is a prime example of this as in the first star wars movie his morals are the polar opposite of the Hero. The shadow is always the antagonist and is meant to be the polar opposite of our hero.

 

• The Mentor – Example: Ben Kenobi
• The mentor is a character that directly or indirectly helps the character, they are usually older men already known by the character. Their wisdom and guidance helps the main character in their battle against the shadow later in the story. One common cliche for film and video games is the mentor dying by the hands of the Shadow, giving the Hero the motivation to defeat the Shadow later on in the media.

 

• Shape Shifter – Example: Lando Calrissian Lando Calrissian is the archetypal shape shifter, originally being an ally of the Hero and his allies, Han Solo (An ally to the hero) trusts him enough to take refuge in his home. This however was a mistake as Lando was in fact a shape shifter and had sold the location of the Hero and his allies to the Shadow. The shape shifter character is a character that subverts the audience by changing sides between ally and enemy or vice versa

 

 

• The threshold guardian – Example: Bridgekeeper from Monty pythonThe threshold guardian is a character that prevents the hero and his Allies from progressing further down their path. This character usually gets no further development and is simply there to face the character with a trial in order to continue their journey. In this example the threshold guardian asks our Hero to answer “questions Three”

 

 

• The Ally – Example: Han SoloThe Ally is the Hero’s loyal companions that follow him throughout the quest. The Hero usually picks up his allies in the 4th or 5th stage of the Hero’s journey. They have some sort of vested interested in aiding the Hero in his journey against the shadow. It is common for one Ally to die at the hands of the shadow fuelling the Hero and their remaining allies to defeat the Shadow.