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Archetypes and Heroes: Fast and Furious

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Title: Archetypes and Heroes: Fast and Furious

1
Archetypes and Heroes Fast and Furious

2
To Summarize Everything

Since we started the week, weve covered
archetypal basics and studied the plot aspects
of a heros journey
Today, well be focused on characters and
symbolism
Youll need your partner for this part of the
days activities!
Watch the examples then find your own

3
Character Archetypes

The Hero
A protagonist whose life consists of a series of
adventures.
The circumstances of his birth are often unusual,
and hes often tended to by surrogate figures
(guardians, relatives, animals) while growing up.
He will often need to leave his kingdom on an
adventure while young, only to return to it upon
reaching manhood.
Common characteristics include strength and
integrity.
The hero will endure hardship, even risking his
life for the collective good, and leaves the
familiar to enter an unfamiliar and challenging
world (or to walk an unfamiliar and challenging
road).

4
Character Archetypes

Young Man from the Provinces
The hero returns to his home or a place connected
to his heritage hes now a stranger whose
outsider status allows him to see new problems
and new solutions
The Initiates
Young heroes or heroines who must go through some
training and ceremony before undertaking their
quest

5
Character Archetypes

Mentor
An older, wiser teacher to the initiates who
often acts as a paternal figure. He gives the
heroes gifts (weapons, food, information, magic)
and serves as a role model or heroic conscience
Mentor-Pupil Relationship
The Mentor must now teach the hero the skills
necessary for surviving the quest ahead

6
Character Archetypes

The Threshold Guardian
Tests the heros courage and worthiness to begin
the journey
Hunting Group of Companions
These are loyal companions willing to face
hardship and ordeal in order to stay together
Similar to the Loyal Retainers, whose duties are
to reflect the power and nobility of the hero

7
Character Archetypes

The Friendly Beast
An animal companion showing that nature is on the
heros side
The Devil Figure
This character is evil incarnate
The Evil Figure with the Ultimately Good Heart
A devil figure, but one with the potential for
redemption or goodness. This person is usually
saved by the heros love

8
Other Character Archetypes

Father-Son Conflict
In this relationship, the tension is built due to
separation from childhood or some other source
when the two meet as men
The Shadow
A worthy opponent with whom the hero must
struggle in a fight to the end, and who must be
destroyed or neutralized
The Shadow can represent the darker side of the
heros own psyche
The Creature of Nightmares
A monster usually summoned from the deepest,
darkest part of the human psyche to threaten the
lives of the hero and his followers
Oftentimes it is a perversion or desecration of
the human body
The Scapegoat
An animal or, more frequently, a human whose
death in a public ceremony is supposed to remove
some degree of sin from a community
They are often more powerful in death than in life

9
Other Character Archetypes

The Outcast
A character banished from a social group for some
real or imagined crime against his fellow man,
usually destined to wander from place to place
The Platonic Ideal
A woman who is a source of inspiration to the
hero, who has an intellectual rather than
physical attraction to her
Damsel in Distress
A vulnerable woman who needs to be rescued by the
hero she is often used as bait in a trap
The Earth Mother
Symbolic of fruition, abundance, and fertility,
this character traditionally offers spiritual and
emotional nourishment to those with whom she
comes in contact

10
Other Character Archetypes

The Temptress or Black Goddess
Characterized by sensuous beauty, this woman is
one to whom the protagonist is physically
attracted and who ultimately brings about his
downfall (i.e. witches, vampires, etc.)
White Goddess
Good, beautiful maiden, usually blond in Western
myth, and may make an ideal marriage partner
often has religious or intellectual overtones
The Unfaithful Wife
A woman married to a man she sees as dull or
distant and is attracted to more virile or
interesting men
Star-Crossed Lovers
Two characters engaged in a love affair fated to
end tragically for one or both due to the
disapproval of society, friends, family, or some
tragic situation

11
Symbolic Archetypes

Light vs. Darkness
Light usually suggests hope, renewal, or
intellectual illumination darkness implies the
unknown, ignorance, or despair
Innate Wisdom vs. Educated Stupidity
Some characters exhibit wisdom and understanding
of situations instinctively as opposed to those
supposedly in charge
Loyal retainers often exhibit this wisdom as they
accompany the hero on the journey
Supernatural Intervention
Spiritual being intervene on the heros behalf
and sometimes against him

12
Symbolic Archetypes

Fire and Ice
Fire represents knowledge, light, life, and
rebirth, while ice represents ignorance,
darkness, sterility, and death (think desert)
Nature vs. Mechanistic World
Nature is good technology is evil. Enough said.
The Threshold
Gateway to a new world which the hero must enter
to change and grow
The Underworld
A place of death or metaphorically an encounter
with the dark side of the self
Entering an underworld is a form of facing ones
fear of death

13
Symbolic Archetypes

Haven vs. Wilderness
Places of safety contrast sharply against a
dangerous wilderness
Heroes are also often sheltered for a time to
regain health and resources
Water vs. Desert
Because water is necessary for life and growth,
it commonly appears as a birth symbol (i.e.,
baptism represents spiritual birth) and sign of
purification.
This goes for water in its many forms rain,
oceans, rivers, etc.
The desert, by virtue of its barrenness, suggests
the opposite death, infertility, hopelessness,
degeneration, and loss
Heaven vs. Hell
Both represent places (above the stars and
beneath the world) that ancient Man could not
explore traditionally, humans tend to associate
the parts of the universe that seem off-limits to
them with the dwelling places of the gods or
natural forces they believe govern their world
The gods live in the skies and atop impossibly
high mountains demons lurk in the shadows of the
worlds bowels

14
Symbolic Archetypes

The Crossroads
A place or time of decision when a realization is
made and change or penance results
The Maze
A puzzling dilemma or great source of
uncertainty/confusion, search for a dangerous
monster (inside or outside), or a journey into
the heart of darkness
The Castle
A stronghold of safety a fortress that may be
enchantedor bewitched. Often contains treasure,
warriors, or princesses
The Tower
A stronghold of evil that often represents the
isolation of the self
The Magic Weapon
The weapon the hero needs in order to complete
his quest

15
Symbolic Archetypes

The Whirlpool
Symbolizes the destructive power of nature or
fate
Fog
Symbolizes uncertainty
Numbers
3, for example, represents light, spiritual
awareness, unity (ex. Holy Trinity), and
masculinity embodied
4 is associated with the life cycle, four
seasons, earth, nature/elements, and femininity
embodied
7 is the most potent of all symbolic numbers it
signifies the union of 3 and 4, the completion of
a cycle, and the attainment of perfect order
(also a religious symbol)