Writer's Workshop: The Hero's Journey · 3:39am Oct 25th, 2015
Hey all! You may have heard this term before to describe a story, or perhaps you've only heard that it's really important. The Hero's Journey is one of the most basic story concepts there is. I describe it as a rags-to-riches story, because that's exactly what it is. It's such a fundamental story method that nearly every culture has a story that follows it. Let's dig into what it entails.
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If the Hero's Journey is a rags-to-riches story, then we need to start with the rags. Our Hero starts as a nobody in the middle of nowhere. She's nice and cozy in her familiar lifestyle, and she doesn't really want to go out adventuring. However, something comes to her and calls her to her quest: a message from a kidnapped princess, a group of dwarves with a business proposal, whatever. She refuses at first, but soon, she's forced into action. With the help of the Threshold Guardian, she leaves her safe hometown and ventures into the unknown.
Now, the unfamiliar is tough at first; our Hero frequently runs herself into trouble. But with the help of some new skills and some new friends, she starts to overcome the obstacles before her. There are some crafty Shapeshifters to worry about, and sometimes the Hero's friends steer her wrong, but all in all, things seem to be well in hand.
Then, tragedy strikes. The Antagonist, always two steps ahead, pulls some gambit and causes the Hero to stumble. Maybe she's captured and held prisoner in the Witch's tower, or maybe she falls into an inescapable black pit. Frequently, the Guardian who has always been there to help is captured or killed. The Journey seems impossible now, pointless. But deep in the belly of the whale, the Hero finds something deep inside herself, some true strength she'd never known she'd had before, and uses it to do the impossible, see the invisible, and fight the power of darkness once more!
The Antagonist had thought the Hero was just a pushover at first. But now that she's come back from the brink, the Antagonist realizes just how strong she's become. They fight in a climactic battle, and the Hero overcomes! Now things get weird. With this final victory, the Hero ascends to godhood and returns home to share her powers with the people.
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All right, so you may have noticed I was referencing classic stories throughout that description. That's because the Hero's Journey is, as I said, an extremely well-worn story archetype. If you don't recognize Star Wars, the Hobbit, The Wizard of Oz, or the rest, look no further than FiM itself! The pilot follows the Hero's Journey almost perfectly! Celestia is our Call, sending Twilight off to check on the preparations. She picks up not one, but 5 Threshold Guardians, who all help her acclimate to Ponyville life. There's a forest of trials, which she defeats with the lessons about friendship she's learned. They make it to Night Mare Moon, but she tries to go it alone. All hope seems lost, but she realizes the magic of friendship and ascends to true Hero-dom, manifesting the power of the Elements of Harmony! With this final change, there's another twist to the usual formula: home isn't Canterlot anymore, but Ponyville. So rather than going back to Canterlot for the return to the familiar, she instead "returns" to Ponyville to continue her studies.
Perhaps you can think of other episodes that follow this formula to a greater or lesser extent. (Off the top of my head, look at episodes like "Dragonshy," "Winter Wrap-up," "Dog and Pony Show," and "Cutie Mark Chronicles.") No matter how much or little you crib, there's always this same sort of pattern: a hero who starts weak, leaves a comfortable home, struggles out in the world, gains worldly experience, defeats the Big Bad, and returns home a better person. That's the central concept of the Hero's Journey. It's a journey that turns the character into a hero. It's literally textbook.
Now, I want to stress that not every story is a Hero's Journey, no matter what some people may say. The Hero's Journey is a formula, not the formula, and there's plenty you can do that doesn't follow that specific arc. Consider failures and/or bad ends, like we talked about in "Less Than a Tragedy," or stories where the characters don't grow across the arc. (Remember, the Main Character can change, or they can hold steadfast and change the world instead.) Done poorly, the Hero's Journey is a tired cliche that any reader will catch as a copy-paste of all the stories I mentioned before. But if you do it right, with your own flair and creativity, it can really give your story a sense of direction.
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I don't know anything about LOST, but that's a pretty cool vid!
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Me neither, but I've liked the video ever since it was shown to me by a professor.
You realize I was flashing back to both Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, and to Legally Blonde while reading the article, right?
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Yup, the story of Joseph is about as Hero's Journey as it gets. I... don't know anything about Legally Blonde, though, so I'll take your word for it.
The "Hero's Journey" can be applied to, of all things, Adam Sandler movies.
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See, after Star Wars became one of the most important movies in all of cinema, every marketer ever decided, "Oh, he used the Hero's Journey as a template? Clearly, if a movie uses the Journey, it'll be as popular as Star Wars!" That's why it's as big of a cliche as I said it was.
Oooof course.