Film Study resource- Heroic Archetypes. Used with film "Shrek".

1. Archetypes
Why do we need stories?

2. Why do we need stories?
 To explain natural phenomenon such as great floods
and the creation of the world
 To answer such questions such as why we are born
and why we die
 To help us escape reality by entering a world where
the good guy wins, the forces of evil are defeated,
and love conquers all
 To help define the roles of good and evil such as the
hero and the villain so that we might recognize them
in reality

3. What is an “archetype”?
 Original pattern or model of which
all things of the same type are
representations.
 A perfect example
 Recurring patterns of situations,
characters, or symbols existing
universally and instinctively in the
collective unconscious.
Carl G. Jung

4. What characteristics do
archetypes share?
 Not individual but the part we share with all humanity.
 Connect us to our past and connect our past to a common
source
 Not directly knowable but instead express themselves in
forms.
 Universal
 Cannot be explained by interaction among cultures—
geography and history often made this impossible.
 Recurrent, appearing in slightly altered forms to relate
present day situations to the past for meaning

5.  Character Archetypes
 Situational Archetypes
 Symbolic Archetypes
Three types of archetypes

6. Character Archetypes

7. Character Archetypes
THE HERO— mother is
sometimes a virgin;
circumstances of birth are
unusual; some attempt is
made at birth to kill him;
raised by foster parents,
returns to his kingdom to
right wrongs; marries a
princess; becomes king;
meets a mysterious death;
body is sometimes burned or
missing rather than buried

8. Character Archetypes
YOUNG ONE FROM
THE PROVINCES—
hero is taken away as a
young man and raised by
strangers; when he returns
home, he can view
problems objectively and
can solve them easier

9. Character Archetypes
THE INITIATE—
young heroes or
heroines who go
through training;
usually innocent
and may wear
white

10. Character Archetypes
MENTOR—teacher
or counselor to the
initiate; often are
father or mother
figures to the hero or
heroine

11. Character Archetypes
PARENT/CHILD
CONFLICT—
father and son are
separated and do
not meet until the
son is an adult; often
the mentor is more
loved and respected
than the parent

12. Character Archetypes
The Herald—
Heralds act to signal
change and invite the
character to answer the call
to adventure. Their job is
to motivate the hero into
action, despite the hero’s
frequent desire to maintain
the status quo. Heralds can
be people, objects or acts
of nature.

13. Character Archetypes
Threshold Guardians—
The Threshold Guardian's
job is to ensure the
protagonist is worthy of
passing the threshold, and
thus they act as part of the
tests the protagonist must
face in the journey. They
can also be inanimate
objects or forces of nature

14. Character Archetypes
HUNTING GROUP OF
COMPANIONS—
loyal companions
willing to face any
number of dangers to be
together

15. Character Archetypes
LOYAL RETAINERS-
somewhat like servants
to the hero who are
heroic themselves; their
duty is to protect the
hero and reflect the
honor and nobility of the
hero

16. Character Archetypes
FRIENDLY BEASTS –
These creatures aid or
serve the hero/heroine
and symbolize how
nature is on the side of
the hero/heroine

17. Character Archetypes
DEVIL FIGURE—
evil incarnate; offers
worldly goods,
fame, or knowledge
to the hero in
exchange for
possession of the
soul

18. Character Archetypes
CREATURE OF
NIGHTMARE—
animal or creature
disfigured or
mutated; monsters
who are the
antagonists in the
story

19. Character Archetypes
EVIL FIGURE WITH
GOOD HEART—
redeemable evil figure
saved by the nobility or
love of the hero.

20. Character Archetypes
SCAPEGOAT—
animal or human
who is unjustly held
responsible for
others’ sins;
sacrificed but they
often become more
powerful force dead
than alive

21. Character Archetypes
OUTCAST—figure
banished from a social
group for some crime
against his fellow man
(could be falsely
accused of a crime or
could choose to banish
himself from guilt), or
for a questionable past

22. Character Archetypes
EARTHMOTHER—
offers spiritual and
emotional nourishment
to those she meets;
shown in earth colors
and has large breasts
and hips symbolic of
her childbearing
capabilities

23. Character Archetypes
TEMPTRESS—
sensuous beauty;
tries to bring about
the hero’s downfall
because he is
physically attracted
to her

24. Character Archetypes
PLATONIC
IDEAL— female
figure who provides
intellectual
stimulation for the
hero; he is not
physically attracted
to her

25. Character Archetypes
THE UNFAITHFUL
WIFE— a married
woman who finds her
husband dull or
unattractive seeks a
more virile or interesting
man. Archetypically, the
woman is the center of
the family and is
responsible for keeping it
together.

26. Character Archetypes
DAMSAL IN
DISTRESS— The
vulnerable woman must
be rescued by the hero.
She is often a trap by the
devil figure or the
temptress to ensure the
unsuspecting hero
cannot finish the journey.

27. Character Archetypes
STAR-CROSSED
LOVERS— two
lovers forbidden to
be together because
of the rules of
society or family;
often ends tragically

28. Situational Archetypes

29. Situational Archetypes
 THE QUEST—search for
someone or some object,
which when it is found and
brought back will restore life
to a wasted land, and the
desolation of which is
mirrored by a leader’s illness
and disability.
 THE TASK—to save the
kingdom, to win the fair lady,
the hero performs some
superhuman deed to identify
himself so that he may assume
his rightful position

30. Situational Archetypes
 THE JOURNEY—the hero goes in
search of some truth or information
to restore life to the kingdom; he
must descend into a real or
psychological hell and is forced to
discover the blackest truths about
himself (usually his faults); he must
then decide to return to the world of
the living; this could also appear as
a group of isolated people (trapped
on a boat, bus, island) to represent
society

31. Situational Archetypes
 THE INITIATION— the
awakening of a teenager or an
initiation into adult life; the
adolescent comes into his/her
maturity with new awareness
and problems along with a
new hope for the community
 THE RITUAL— actual
ceremony that marks a new
stage (rite of passage) in life
(weddings, funerals,
coronations)

32. Situational Archetypes
THE MAGIC
WEAPON— The
weapon the hero needs in
order to complete the
quest; represents the
extraordinary quality of
the hero because no one
else can wield the
weapon or use it to its
full potential. It is
usually given by a
mentor figure and can
only be used by the hero.

33. Situational Archetypes
THE FALL—descent
from a higher to a
lower state of being;
characters experience
a loss of innocence
and often experience
an expulsion from a
kind of paradise as a
penalty for their
disobedience and
moral transgression

34. Situational Archetypes
THE UNHEALABLE
WOUND— a wound
that is either physical or
psychological; it cannot
be healed fully; indicates
a loss of innocence;
always aches and may
drive the sufferer to
desperate measures

35. Situational Archetypes
DEATH AND
REBIRTH— deals
with the similarities
between the cycle of
nature and life;
morning and
springtime represent
birth, youth, or
rebirth; evening and
winter suggest old age
or death

36. Situational Archetypes
NATURE vs.
MECHANISTIC
WORLD — that which
is natural, or part of the
natural order is good.
Technology which
separates people from
nature, or the natural
world, is bad.

37. Situational Archetypes
BATTLE BETWEEN
GOOD AND EVIL—
good triumphs over the
opposing force of evil
despite great odds,
keeping mankind
hopeful (optimism)

38. Symbolic Archetypes

39. Symbolic Archetypes
LIGHT VS.
DARKNESS— light
suggests hope, renewal,
or intellectual
illumination; darkness
suggests the unknown,
ignorance, or despair.

40. Symbolic Archetypes
INNATE WISDOM VS
EDUCATED
STUPIDITY—
Uneducated characters
can often be wise
using their common
sense while some very
educated characters
have no common
sense

41. Symbolic Archetypes
SUPERNATURAL
INTERVENTION
— the gods or
special forces most
often intervene on
the side of the hero
to assist him in his
quest

42. Symbolic Archetypes
FIRE VS. ICE— fire, a
positive archetype,
can represent
knowledge, light, life,
and rebirth while ice
can represent
ignorance, darkness,
sterility, and death

43. Symbolic Archetypes
HAVEN VS.
WILDERNESS— for
the hero, places of
safety are required for
time to regain health
and resources; these
hideouts are often in
unusual places

44. Symbolic Archetypes
WATER vs. DESERT—
Because water is necessary
to life and growth, it
commonly appears as a birth
symbol, as baptism
symbolizes a spiritual birth.
Rain, rivers, oceans, etc.
also function the same way.
The desert suggests the
opposite.

45. Symbolic Archetypes
HEAVEN VS.
HELL— gods live in
the skies or
mountaintops; evil
forces live in the
bowels of the earth