Archetypical Characters

Archetypical Characters – The Backbone of Sci Fi and Fantasy.

In my last couple of essays I discussed the importance of well developed, individual characters. Without real, unique and believable characters, your story will feel flat every time. However, in this essay I want to talk a little about archetypical characters -– the characters who some consider cliché, but who have turned up throughout fantastical writings since ancient times.

There is no genre in writing that goes back as far as fantasy -– at least as far as written records go. Ancient writers may have written more mundane stories about regular people who lived in regular times. They may have written mysteries and true crime stories as well, but what we have in record is mythology -- ancient fantasy.

The oldest recorded story that I have knowledge of is the story of Gilgamesh. He was two archetypical characters in one. He was both a King -— but in this case, the lord who cares more for himself than his people -- and the strong man or warrior. Throughout the tale, his journey is to discover who he is and become a more suitable King to his people.

Here is a partial list of the major archetypes as I see them. There are lots of other opinions out there in the world, just look up archetypes in Google, you’ll get a ton of fascinating information.

The archetypes: Remember, there is always a little blending between types. The warrior king, for example. Or the reluctant advisor…

The Reluctant Hero This fellow or lady never wanted to do anything but live an ordinary life. They have no special powers, but Fate seems to have marked them for greatness. Frodo in LOTR, Bilbo from The Hobbit, Han Solo from Star Wars (even though he has a touch of warrior), and Spiderman.

The King or Queen– (or Captain, or Chief) A leader. A man or woman with massive responsibilities for other people. They have to do what is best for their people, every bit of who they are is focused on that, sometimes to the detriment of their person, the mission, even their people. Theirs is a constant balancing act. For examples of this archetype, look to all the Star Trek Captains, King Arthur in later years, Aragorn as well once he got over not wanting to be King, and Lord Elrond in LOTR.

The Boy (or Girl) King – This archetype is best shown by the young Arthur. They either don’t know that they have the power and are fated to fulfill a task or they don’t want to. Over the course of trials, they realize that theirs is the burden to be taken up -- that their fate is to see to the good of the world. They don’t all have to be literal Kings or Queens, just people who come to a position of power. Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, Shea Ohmsford in Sword of Shannara, and in a lot of ways Cmdr. Jeffrey Sinclair from Babylon 5 is this archetype as well.

The Warrior – This is usually the strong man or woman with the heart of gold, but sometimes their heart is a little more brass or lead. They fight for the underdog, they right the wrongs, and they never give up until they die. An example is Boromir from LOTR -— actually, he is a brilliant example because he was led so far astray by the ring and still managed to fight his way back and die fighting for the good guys. He regained redemption in death. Actually, warriors are usually about finding redemption. They fight with their bodies to find peace for their souls. Other examples are: Xena, He-Man, and Lancelot. Batman is also an archetypical warrior.

The Wise Advisor – Also included here are shaman, wizards, witches, fairy godmothers and other wise advisor types. Think Kosh in Babylon 5 or Obi Wan Kenobi from Star Wars for you Sci Fi types. They are the ones with the knowledge to assist the quest on its way. However, they prefer to speak in images and riddles because what fun is a story where the hero or heroine gets all the answers?

The Stalwart Companion – This fellow or lady will never let you down. They are there to be a support, a source of inspiration and wisdom… all that good stuff. Look to Sam in LOTR, Cara in the Sword of Truth books, Flick in the Sword of Shannara, Spindle in Duncton Quest, and Lenier or Vir on Babylon 5 as examples.

The Unstoppable Evil – Or should I say, the almost unstoppable evil? This is so huge, so terrible, so hard to fight that it is capable of destroying everything that the heroes or heroines hold dear. The Borg in Star Trek, Sauron in LOTR, the Empire in Star Wars, the Shadows in Babylon 5. It will take everything that your characters have to defeat this foe. Otherwise, who cares? Right?

The Minion - Evil, but not nearly as evil as the Big Kahuna. He/she is the agent who deals with the people for the most part, taking the really bad guy’s orders out into the lands. Saruman in LOTR, the Skull Bearers in Sword of Shannara, Mr. Morden in Babylon 5 are excellent examples of minions.

Okay, that’s a few of them... There are sixteen or so.

Why archetypes? They are used in writing from Mythology to modern Fantasy and Sci Fi because there is an alchemy within the psychology, the motivations, and the romance of each of these characters that touches something deep inside us. Something about them speaks to the human condition and thus to us about how we fit into the world. Archetypes are the language of our unconscious mind, and the characters of our dreams. They reach beyond the normal, the mundane and the rational to the part of us that remembers magic.

Archetypes as Clichés- You might ask, “Aren’t these character constructions just clichés? Aren’t clichés supposed to be a bad thing?” My answer is both yes and no.

Yes, on their own they are cliché. They’ve been used since man chipped cuneiform into stone tablets and probably before, but the answer is also no. Archetypes avoid being clichés because they are merely a framework for you to build your unique character upon. You take the wise advisor or the reluctant hero and turn him or her into a person. That’s your job as the writer – taking these imagination grabbing ideas about who and what people are and can be, and then turning them into someone we have never met before.

So, in closing, your prompt is to choose two archetypes and turn them into people. If you already have a novel or short story that you are working on, choose two characters, decide what archetype they are and then see how they fit the frame work.

Also, when you read, look for the archetypes and spend some time thinking about what it is about that archetypical character that makes the story that much more compelling. Or, what is it about the characters that are missing? Why don’t they compel you?

Happy reading and writing.