On his website, tatsbox.com, Bryan Davis presents an outline of characteristics of the Archetypal Hero with illustrations from Star Wars, Braveheart, The Lion King, and other stories.
From http://tatsbox.com/hero/
“Hero: The Hero Archetype in Literature, Religion, and Popular Culture”
The archetypal hero appears in all religions, mythologies, and epics of the world. He is an expression of our personal and collective unconscious, as theorized by Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell (see below). All archetypal heroes share certain karacteristics. This fact has only come to light this century, after people like Joseph Campbell began comparing mythologies of the world. Click ona link to see how the heroes above fit the traits of a hero.
- Unusual circumstances of birth; sometimes in danger or born into royalty
- Leaves family or land and lives with others
- An event, sometimes traumatic, leads to adventure or quest
- Hero has a special weapon only he can wield
- Hero always has supernatural help
- The Hero must prove himself many times while on adventure
- The Journey and the Unhealable Wound
- Hero experiences atonement with the father
- When the hero dies, he is rewarded spiritually
Check out other powerful hero resources at TheHeroPlace, including Hero Tools (such as StoryCraft Hero-Story Writing Software) and Hero Organizations (such as the Gallery of Heroes) as well as other Hero Wisdom (such as that of script-writing coach Skip Press). Also, search or submit to hero databases (such as hero-story databases) from around the Internet in the Your Heroes section of TheHeroPlace.
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