What are some archetypes (e.g. common character types) of fantasy fiction?
The Fantasy genre, for the most part, cites all the archetypes suggested by Vogler – The Hero, The Shadow, The Herald, The Mentor, The Shapeshifter, The Trickster, and The Threshold Guardian.
In most fantasy stories, one could find each of the character archetypes, some being represented in individual characters, multiple in one character, or one archetype in multiple characters, though the former is the most common.
To show this, I will look at 3 of the most popular contempory texts of the general fantasy genre: J.K . Rowling’s Harry Potter, J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, and George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice series (A Game of Thrones).
In the first text, Harry Potter, obviously, the “Hero” or protagonist character is played by Harry, he is the main character of the story, whom the reader’s relate to and root for throughout. “[They] embody our most aspirational values and put higher duty and the welfare of others before their own, even to extreme forms of self-sacrifice.” This is true of Harry, he is selfless to the point of recklessness, noble and brave – perhaps unrealistically so, but that’s what makes a great hero in the eyes of the audience.
The “Shadow” Character is portrayed by Lord Voldemort, who is basically the complete opposite of Harry, despite the inner turmoil Harry faces upon realizing there are similiarities between himself and Tom Riddle. All Harry’s major moves and turning points are fuelled by Voldemort – it is essential to the story of the hero that there is a Shadow character, whether it be a physical threat, or an internal emotional one.
The “Herald” is the character which brings the news which incites the first turning point of the story, the incident of change which then triggers the events which unfold thereafter. In the Potter series, the initial Herald is the character of Rubeus Hagrid, who coins the line “yer a wizard ‘Arry” in the first book. Throughout the story, Hagrid also gives the trio news and points them in the right direction, think his classic line “I shouldn’t’ve told yer that, I really shouldn’t’ve told yer that.” For example he tells them about Fluffy and the trap door, as well as his other actions being crucial to the plot’s advance.
In the first text, Harry Potter, obviously, the “Hero” or protagonist character is played by Harry, he is the main character of the story, whom the reader’s relate to and root for throughout. “[They] embody our most aspirational values and put higher duty and the welfare of others before their own, even to extreme forms of self-sacrifice.” This is true of Harry, he is selfless to the point of recklessness, noble and brave – perhaps unrealistically so, but that’s what makes a great hero in the eyes of the audience.
The “Shadow” Character is portrayed by Lord Voldemort, who is basically the complete opposite of Harry, despite the inner turmoil Harry faces upon realizing there are similiarities between himself and Tom Riddle. All Harry’s major moves and turning points are fuelled by Voldemort – it is essential to the story of the hero that there is a Shadow character, whether it be a physical threat, or an internal emotional one.
The “Herald” is the character which brings the news which incites the first turning point of the story, the incident of change which then triggers the events which unfold thereafter. In the Potter series, the initial Herald is the character of Rubeus Hagrid, who coins the line “yer a wizard ‘Arry” in the first book. Throughout the story, Hagrid also gives the trio news and points them in the right direction, think his classic line “I shouldn’t’ve told yer that, I really shouldn’t’ve told yer that.” For example he tells them about Fluffy and the trap door, as well as his other actions being crucial to the plot’s advance.
The “Mentor” character, obviously is Dumbledore, nobody could doubt that, to the point I really don’t think I need say more.
There are multiple “Threshold Guardians” throughout the story – things that stand in the way of the Hero facing a challenge or the Shadow – The first example would be of Fluffy and the trapdoor as I previously mentioned.
The “Shapeshifter” is “represents uncertainty and change, reminding us that not all is as it seems. They may be a character who keeps changing sides or whose allegiance is uncertain.” – and I would say there are 3 major Shapeshifters in the story. The first being Remus Lupin, because he is a warewolf, literally a Shapeshifting enity, secondly, Siris Black, because he is an animagus (though there are other animagi in the story such as Prof. Mcgonagall) and also because he is firstly portrayed as a killer and as evil, but turns out to be Harry’s kind Godfather. And lastly, the major Shapeshifting character, whom is not a physical shifter, would be Severus Snape. Because he is never quite what he appears, and the audience is never quite sure until his demise where is alliance truly lies, though it ends up being with Harry all along.
The “Trickster” provides comic relief, and entertainment throughout to lighten the darker passages or themes of a story. There are several Trickster characters, the most predominant being Ron Weasely, as well as more obviously and less often presented, perhaps because they are just too ridiculous to be constantly involved, are Ron’s older brothers Fred and George.
For Lord of the Rings, the Hero character is played by Frodo, The Shadow by the Ring and Sauron. The Mentor is Gandalf, as well as the Herald. The Tricksters are Merry and Pipin of course, and the Shapeshifter is Gollum/Smeagol, and while there are many Threshold Guardians, I would say the Balrog would be one of the more main ones (“You shall not pass!” monster.)
There are multiple “Threshold Guardians” throughout the story – things that stand in the way of the Hero facing a challenge or the Shadow – The first example would be of Fluffy and the trapdoor as I previously mentioned.
The “Shapeshifter” is “represents uncertainty and change, reminding us that not all is as it seems. They may be a character who keeps changing sides or whose allegiance is uncertain.” – and I would say there are 3 major Shapeshifters in the story. The first being Remus Lupin, because he is a warewolf, literally a Shapeshifting enity, secondly, Siris Black, because he is an animagus (though there are other animagi in the story such as Prof. Mcgonagall) and also because he is firstly portrayed as a killer and as evil, but turns out to be Harry’s kind Godfather. And lastly, the major Shapeshifting character, whom is not a physical shifter, would be Severus Snape. Because he is never quite what he appears, and the audience is never quite sure until his demise where is alliance truly lies, though it ends up being with Harry all along.
The “Trickster” provides comic relief, and entertainment throughout to lighten the darker passages or themes of a story. There are several Trickster characters, the most predominant being Ron Weasely, as well as more obviously and less often presented, perhaps because they are just too ridiculous to be constantly involved, are Ron’s older brothers Fred and George.
For Lord of the Rings, the Hero character is played by Frodo, The Shadow by the Ring and Sauron. The Mentor is Gandalf, as well as the Herald. The Tricksters are Merry and Pipin of course, and the Shapeshifter is Gollum/Smeagol, and while there are many Threshold Guardians, I would say the Balrog would be one of the more main ones (“You shall not pass!” monster.)
In Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice, things become a little harder, due the shifting point of view, etc. Each character is the Hero of their own story, even if they are the Shadow of another’s. For Example, Cercei Lanister (as well as basically her whole family) is the Shadow of say, Catlyn Stark’s story (and Rob’s. And the rest of the characters competing for the Iron Throne.)
Again, it’s hard to place a Herald, but one could say that the ravens are the Herald(s) because they are used in the same way courier pigeons have been in the past, and most news which is brought from external sources outside of the POV character’s environment come from the ravens baring letters/notes.
Each character has his or her own mentor, though more often than not it isn’t obvious. An example would be Arya’s teacher-student relationship in book 1 with Syrio Forel, her dancing master, and Sansa’s with her Septa, and later her idealistic view of Cercei to an extent for while. Jon with his father, and later at the Wall with Joer Mormont. Bran with maester Luwin and his father. The adult characters are much harder to interoperate, but each is changed by a relationship with another character – Tyrion and Bron, as well as Shae; Dany and Drogo; Eddard and Robert, as well as Petyr and Varys; Davos and Stannis; Brianne and Catelyn; Cercei and Jamie, etc, etc.
Each character has his or her own mentor, though more often than not it isn’t obvious. An example would be Arya’s teacher-student relationship in book 1 with Syrio Forel, her dancing master, and Sansa’s with her Septa, and later her idealistic view of Cercei to an extent for while. Jon with his father, and later at the Wall with Joer Mormont. Bran with maester Luwin and his father. The adult characters are much harder to interoperate, but each is changed by a relationship with another character – Tyrion and Bron, as well as Shae; Dany and Drogo; Eddard and Robert, as well as Petyr and Varys; Davos and Stannis; Brianne and Catelyn; Cercei and Jamie, etc, etc.
There are many Tricksters throughout, but the major character would be Tyrion and his wit. There are multiple Shapeshifters too, such as Petyr/”Littlefinger” who’s alliance lies never where it quite appears to.
Each character has their Threshold Guardians, like Dany’s being the Dothraki sea she must cross to get home.
Each character has their Threshold Guardians, like Dany’s being the Dothraki sea she must cross to get home.
While not all Archetypes are always present or immediately apparent, they play a huge role in the fantasy genre, as illustrated above.
References:
References:
Martin, George R.R. (1996). A Game of Thrones.
Bantam Books: New York.
Rowling, J.K. (1997). Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone.
Bloomsbury: London.
Tolken, J.R.R. (1954). The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
Unwin Paperbacks: London.
Vogler’s Archetypes (n.d).
http://changingminds.org/disciplines/storytelling/characters/vogler_archetypes.htm
Bantam Books: New York.
Rowling, J.K. (1997). Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone.
Bloomsbury: London.
Tolken, J.R.R. (1954). The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
Unwin Paperbacks: London.
Vogler’s Archetypes (n.d).
http://changingminds.org/disciplines/storytelling/characters/vogler_archetypes.htm
I like your post on the different archetypes. I knew there were some of those obvious roles that we see in different fantasy films/novels, but I never really knew how broad these characters could be. Very informative entry!
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