Archetypal Characters

A collection of articles on the eight basic character archetypes found in complete stories. While a quick read for the audience, these character types can often come off bland and uninteresting. The final article explains techniques for breaking out of the archetype into the realm of ultimate creativity.

1. Archetypes and the Hero’s Journey

An examination of the usefulness and accuracy of Archetypal Characters as proposed by the paradigm of the mono-myth. While on the surface they may seem insightful, ultimately they provide little to no value in the structuring of a complete story.

2. Archetypes That Make Sense

Moving away from the paradigm of the Hero’s Journey, this article examines the eight basic character archetypes that can be found in many stories. These archetypes are the fast food of screenwriters and writers in general — namely, quick and easy to get, but lacking in any meaningful substance.

3. Character Motivation Defined

Archetypal Characters are a wonderful starting point when first starting out in structuring a meaningful screenplay or story. Great authors, however, break free of these standards and create complex characters that more closely resemble the people in our lives.