Archetypes & Mythology

3. these individuals serve as teachers or counselors to the hero. Sometimes they work as role models and often serve as a father or mother figure.
7. loyal companions will to face any number of dangers in order to be together.
9. evil incarnate; this character offers worldly goods, fame, or knowledge in exchange for possession of the soul.
10. the actual ceremonies the initiate experiences that will mark his rite of passage into another state
13. the gods most often intervene on the side of the hero to assist him in his quest
16. the hero's "ride or die"; their duty is to protect the hero (sometimes called the sidekick)
17. Usually an ordinary person who is suddenly thrown into a problem or situation that requires a heroic deed.
18. a descent from a higher to a lower state of being. Involves a loss of innocence and often accompanied by an expulsion from a kind of paradise
20. Category of Archetypes featuring plot events that the hero encounters throughout their journey

1. a monster usually summoned from the deepest, darkest parts of the human psyche to threaten the lives of the hero/heroine
2. either physical or psychological and cannot be fully healed; the wound typically aches and drives the sufferer to desperate measures
4. Category of Archetypes featuring places, concepts, or objects that carry the same meaning across different storylines
5. The hero possesses or is given an object used to fight the forces of evil. The item has magical properties or power
6. a transition into adult life; passing of the torch
8. a story structure in which a hero goes on an adventure, is victorious in a decisive crisis, and comes home changed or transformed.
11. the search for someone or something which, when found and brought back, will restore fertility to a wasted land, which is mirrored in a leader's illness and disability
12. A pattern, prototype, perfect example, or model from which all similar things of the same type are copies or imitations.
14. A traditional story about gods, ancestors, or heroes, told to explain the natural world or the customs and beliefs of a society.
15. shows that nature is on the side of the hero
19. to save the kingdom, to win the fair lady, to identify himself so that he may reassume his rightful position, the hero must perform some nearly superhuman deed