1. Situational and Symbolic Archetypes, 1

2. Situational Archetypes
Situational archetypes are situations that appear over and over in movies, literature, and stories of all kinds.
Almost every story is based on a version of the archetypal hero’s quest and contains other situational and symbolic archetypes, as well. 2

3. Good vs. Evil A battle between primal forces
Humans show eternal optimism in the continual portrayal of good triumphing over evil despite great odds. 3

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7. The Ultimate Battle of Good vs. Evil

8. The Hero’s Quest
The search for someone or something which, when found and brought back, will save the kingdom.
The quest is described by a set of events the hero experiences. 8

9. The Hero’s Quest The Call - the hero gets a call to action
The Herald - the person or event who delivers the call
The Task - the thing the hero must accomplish on the quest
The Crossing Over - the hero enters “wierdy world”
The Tests - problems the hero must solve
The Trials - things the hero must put up with
The Ultimate Battle - the hero faces the enemy
The Reemergence - now exiting “wierdy world”
The Return Home - duh.
The Gifts - the “payment” for completing the quest
The Transformation - the hero is changed for the better 9

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15. Every hero has a special skill or weapon only he can wield.
The Magic Weapon
Every hero has a special skill or weapon only he can wield. 15

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19. The Unhealable Wound
Almost every hero has a weakness or wound inflicted or taken advantage of by his greatest enemy.
The wound never goes away and often bothers the hero when his enemy is near. 19

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24. The Fall
This archetype describes a descent from a higher to a lower state of being.
The experience involves defilement and/or a loss of innocence.
Often, fallen characters are expelled from their society or paradise as a penalty for disobedience and moral transgression. 24

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29. Natural vs. Mechanistic World
Nature is good.
Technology or society is evil. 29

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32. Supernatural Intervention
The gods intervene on behalf of the hero or sometimes against him. 32

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37. Symbolic Archetypes
Symbolic archetypes usually appear in pairs because the primitive mind tended to think in terms of polarities (opposites) rather than make fine distinctions.
Symbolic archetypes often appear in dreams and can be interpreted.
Symbolic archetypes can tap a deep level of meaning and truth in movies and literature. 37

38. Light suggests hope, renewal, goodness, or intellectual illumination.
Light vs. Darkness
Light suggests hope, renewal, goodness, or intellectual illumination.
Darkness suggests the unknown, ignorance, evil, and despair. 38

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45. Water vs. Desert
Because water is necessary for life and growth, it commonly appears as a birth or rebirth symbol.
A barren desert setting suggests death and despair. 45

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50. Fire vs. Ice Fire represents knowledge, light, life, and rebirth.
Ice represents ignorance, darkness,
sterility,
and death. 50

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53. Heaven/ Hell
Places that have been generally inaccessible to humankind have been deemed the dwelling places of the primordial forces that govern the world.
The skies and mountain tops generally house benevolent forces.
The bowels of the earth contain evil forces. 53

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57. Other Paired Opposites
Yin and Yang
Male and Female
The Sun and Moon 57

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60. Colors Colors can hold symbolic significance.
White - innocence, purity (Death?)
Black - evil, death, the unknown
Red - passion, anger, love
Blue - peace, solace, sadness
Green - growth
Yellow - happiness 60

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70. Case in Point – Lightsabers

71. Keep looking!
Now that you are armed with the knowledge of character, situational, and symbolic archetypes, look for them everywhere! You won’t be disappointed.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be looking at various stories and pieces of literature and analyzing them for these patterns. 71