OPWA: Episode Five

Overpriced Writing Advice
Where you can learn the stuff I paid thousands of dollars to have taught to me, for free.

Archetypes
(Or "8 1/2 Character Roles To Boost Your Story")

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Having trouble wrangling your massive cast of characters? Do some of them feel aimless despite how cool and awesome they are? Do you wish you could easily define their roles and just get on with your life already?

Then look no further than character archetypes!

…

Okay, I’m sort of trolling you here. Truth is, it’s not exactly that easy. There are a few different approaches to archetypes, including (but not limited to) Carl Jung’s twelve, Joseph Campbell’s eight, Christopher Vogler’s six, and Michael Hauge’s four. It can be a little intimidating picking the right school of thought that will work for you, but all of these guys have valid approaches that can help a person organize their story. Me? I used K.M. Weiland’s archetype ideas, which were in turn based off of the story structure book, Dramatica (by Melanie Anne Phillips and Chris Huntley).

Weiland describes 8 (and 1/2) character archetypes that could give your story oomph and direction. Before we get our hands dirty, just remember this:

Whenever and wherever you can simplify your story, do so.

That means if you can somehow logically combine two characters into one (or eliminate the need for those characters entirely) then do so! Not every story will need eight characters to crowd its stage, and the simpler your plot, the more likely you are to connect with your audience. I mean, sure. If you're aspiring to write some convoluted intellectual masterpiece, then more power to you. But 1) don't get your hopes up on pinging the top of the best seller lists/feature box any time soon; and 2) if you're really that good, then why are you reading my writing advice? Go write your art, o' great and powerful wordsmith!

With that out of the way, let me give a rundown of the archetypes Weiland covers below. Afterwards, I'll provide a working example from one of my own fanfics. The following can be seen on Weiland’s blog, and aside from some occasional re-wording and elaboration, I’m more or less just saying what she says. (Honestly, this will be true for most of my advice in this series. Let’s face it. Not everyone can be groundbreakers in narrative theory. All I can aspire to is making it easier for you guys to understand. Or more accessible. One of the two.)

The 8 1/2 Character Archetypes

Protagonist - Primarily drives the main plot. Is most affected by the antagonist. Inner journey manifests the story’s theme.

Antagonist - Directly opposed to the protagonist (even if this isn’t immediately apparent in the beginning. Think Disney’s Frozen.) Primary obstacle to your protagonist’s goal. Shares important similarities with the protagonist. NOTE: It’s true that some Hero and Villain pairs seem very much like opposites, but if you look closely, you’ll see key aspects of their personalities are actually the same. Batman and the Joker are a good example. Outwardly they are opposites, but they share similar qualities that make each other the perfect opponents.

Sidekick - Loyal to the protagonist. Aligned with the protagonist’s goals (though they don’t necessarily have to be one and the same.) Manages to differentiate themselves from the protagonist in key ways.

Guardian - In Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, this would be the same as the Mentor. They are a teacher/helper to the protagonist. Guards the protagonist in their quest. Guides the protagonist down the right path, and is the standard that the protagonist will be measured against. Supports or opposes the protagonist depending on both of the characters moral alignments.

Skeptic - If the antagonist is the opposite of the protagonist, than the skeptic is the opposite of the sidekick. This individual allows the author to draw sharp contrasts in the story’s overarching theme. The skeptic is often still on the protagonist’s side, but he doubts the protagonist’s choices and is generally more pessimistic about things. Oftentimes they are a voice of caution.

Contagonist - This one can be a bit tricky as I think some people confuse this to mean some character who is evil or directly oppositional to the protagonist. In reality, the contagonist is simply someone who tempts or deludes the protagonist to taking the wrong path. They are the opposite of the Guardian because they are leading the main character astray. Thing is? They may or may not realize they are doing that. They are often still on the protagonist’s side, but they hinder more than help because they confuse and misguide.

Reason - Pretty straightforward. The Reason is there to provide some much needed logic to the story. Obviously, they have to be fundamentally logical in their personality and thinking. They act in logical ways independent of the protagonist. Their logic influences the protagonist (for better OR worse.) They are the opposite of the Emotion, who I describe below.

Emotion - The opposite of Reason, they act entirely based off of their feelings. They don’t have to be idiots, but their decisions are driven by emotions, not logic. They can be both positive or negative in their emotions. They are emotional in ways independent of the protagonist. Their emotions influence the protagonist (for better OR worse.)

Love Interest - This is the 1/2 that Weiland was referring to. It makes sense as not all stories need a love interest. But if you DO have a love interest, you should consider these things: They are someone the protagonist falls in love with, and possibly the other way around. They act as a catalyst for the protagonist’s inner and outer journeys. Supports or resists the protagonist depending on the protagonist’s commitment to their goal.

Pony Fiction Example:

For my mature FlutterDash fic, What They Expect to Give, I wrote down what everyone’s archetypal roles are. I give a justification for each, but for the most part, the best way you’ll see these illustrated is by reading my story. (c wat i did thar? Pro tip: don't be ashamed to find excuses to bring up your writing. It doesn't matter if you're "just a fanfic author". People won't read your crap unless they know it exists. That's why indie authors, like me, talk about their work every chance they get. Free publicity, baby.)

Protagonist: Rainbow Dash - I’ve already explained in the last episode why RD is my protagonist, but lemme just reiterate that she is the primary force driving my plot forward, and her character arc embodies the story’s main theme.

Love Interest: Fluttershy - Aside from the obvious reasons, Fluttershy is the love interest in my story because she catalyzes Rainbow’s inner and outer journeys. She also supports Rainbow in her goals, and returns her romantic feelings.

Sidekick: Sassaflash - A background pony that I built up (and made an EqG version of)  for the purposes of my story. Her function as RD’s sidekick is to heavily support Rainbow’s endeavors. They share a lot of things in common, but they have key differences. Whereas Rainbow’s approach to life is, “The destination is everything,” Sassaflash’s attitude is, “It’s not about the destination, but the road getting there.” She’s very much about squeezing enjoyment out of life and not being too caught up in small details and absolutes. Because of this, she’s more carefree and outgoing than Rainbow Dash is.

Skeptic: Applejack - If you care about reading my work at some point, then some of this is spoilers, but here’s what I can give you without the SP tags: AJ and RD drift apart since graduating high school, both because of being busy, but also because of diverging values. Rainbow Dash is very self-centered in her goals. Applejack is more self-sacrificing. This difference in outlook naturally leads to them clashing. In addition to this, Applejack is RD’s rival in love. She also harbors feelings for Fluttershy, but it’s common knowledge in the group that FS likes RD, so she feels unable to act on her feelings. The pent-up frustration makes it so that she can’t help but criticize Rainbow, even when she tries to stay in touch with her better nature.

Guardian: Sunset Shimmer - Sunset is Rainbow Dash’s roommate in What They Expect to Give, placing her in a prime position to observe Rainbow and speak to her on a regular basis. Sunset is also a former student of Princess Celestia’s who has gone through quite a bit of transformative experiences that have taught her big life lessons. This is knowledge she can pass on to Rainbow in one form or another (and she tries...believe me, she tries.) I try to suggest in my story that Sunset might be more mentally mature than the others simply because of how (my headcanon of) pony society works (namely that it appears a pony need only be in their adolescent years before they strike out on their own and handle big responsibilities.) In addition, she has the added resources of Princess Twilight and Princess Celestia to call on for tips on how to better advise her friends. Like Sassaflash, she supports Rainbow Dash’s efforts, but she also actively guards her from threats.

Reason: Twilight Sparkle - Obvious choice, right? But seriously, Sci-Twi was practically the only person who deserved this role. If I need to explain that to you, I just… I dunno if I can help you. Like, at all.

Emotion: Rarity - I felt this was a pretty obvious choice too. I mean, she has her own fainting couch, and she practically freaks out over bad color coordination.

Antagonist: Rainbow Blaze - I talk more about why Blaze is the antagonist in OPWA’s fourth episode, but here’s the reasons as it pertains to this episode: He is the main obstacle to Rainbow’s success, he is directly opposed to Rainbow, he has a meaningful connection with Rainbow (he’s her father), and they’re both athletically-driven hotheads who care more about the ends than the means.

Contagonist: Pinkie Pie - I really, really had to think about this one, but I ended up deciding on Pinkie being Rainbow’s contagonist. At first I wasn’t sure if this was a good idea, but after tooling around with her subplot and trying to find supporting context from the show's canon, I decided she was the best for this role. Pinkie Pie is into parties. She likes laughing and having fun. In many ways, this can be as much about distraction as it can be about catharsis. When laughter is taken to an extreme, it becomes a hinderance in our lives. We goof off, we lose focus, we hide from our problems instead of fixing them. When things get bad for Rainbow, Pinkie Pie will be there to cheer her up with partying and pranks and all those things that makes Pinkie who she is… The trouble with that is, I’ve already established in episode four that Rainbow’s conflict resolution is focusing on her schoolwork. Encouraging the protagonist to screw around in this case is definitely leading them astray from this path.

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And that's it for this episode! Next, I think I'll talk about story structure, and how you can get your plot summarized in seven story beats.

Comments

[ScreamingDoom]

Interesting.

I honestly never put much stock in character archetypes myself. In the words of the website you cite, they always felt frustratingly vague or claustrophobically constrained. After reading the article, I could identify the roles at various points in my story, so maybe my stubborn refusal of the technique was ill-conceived.

Thanks for the link to that website, by the way! It's one I've not seen before.

[Nines]

3934512

I used to hate Joseph Campbell and his ilk for their attempts at defining story structure and character archetypes. After I graduated college, I did a 180. It's true I'm still not that into Campbell's ideas, but his work allowed for others to put forth their narrative theories, some of which I find very useful. I don't like to pigeonhole myself into making my characters follow some rigid blueprint. But the archetypes are a good guideline, and they give my story a lot of focus.

If you liked that site, then you should really check out the Web archives for this old writing site called Genreality. I learned about it when one of my favorite fantasy writers wrote some posts for it. Several published authors all pitch in with their thoughts on writing, particularly genres like fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. I wish the site was still up, but at least it was preserved somehow! When it was active, it was like my favorite thing ever.

Edit: here's the full url. Apparently the forum code has trouble processing this one as a hyperlink.

https://web.archive.org/web/20090219204908/http://genreality.net/

[ScreamingDoom]

3934949

I used to hate Joseph Campbell and his ilk for their attempts at defining story structure and character archetypes.

I hear ya on that.

Thanks for the link! I'll give it a looksee.