Archetypes Discussion by Cecilia Anderson

Archetype Discussion

cecander — 2024-09-29 17:38:35 UTC

An archetype is "a recurrent symbol or character quality in literature, art, or mythology." Some common examples include the hero, villain, mentor, and ally or friend. Look at this list of categorized archetypes, choose 5 (avoid the ones I've already listed if you can (I want you to get creative)) and relate them to a character from any form of modern media (book, series, movie, musical, etc.). In one to two sentences, tell me why you believe they correspond with that archetype.

Fallen hero

2024-09-29 18:47:15 UTC

An interesting motif that is somewhat uncommon is the motif of a “good” character that becomes an antagonist or villain for any reason. A well known example of this is Lucifer, the fallen angel in Abrahamic religion that is also known as Satan. I want to talk about my favorite story though, so I’ll choose Phosphophyllite from the manga Land of the Lustrous. Phos begins the story as a naive character that only wants a place to fit in. Due to their physical weakness, they lack the abilities needed to take on any significant roles in society. Eventually, phos lost a part of themself, and they gained new power from it. This power caused them to be appreciated more by the others. After this, phos continued breaking themself until doing so cost the life of someone that they held dear. Regretting this, phos became obsessed with fixing the issue that they now had the strength do deal with, but their obsession led them to do extreme acts that split their community and turned many against them. Near the end of the series, Phos is a bitter and violent version of who they once were, and it all began with them simply wanting somewhere to belong. I really didn’t do the story justice. You should read it yourself.

The Martyr

2024-09-29 20:18:45 UTC

A character I believe fits the “Martyr” archetype is Anthony Lockwood from Lockwood & Co. (specifically the TV. Show, but the book works too!). I think he fits this archetype for multiple reasons, but specifically the scene where he’s trapped at Winkman’s. He says “Do what you want with me. I don’t care.” when he is trying to make a deal with Winkman to let Lucy leave safely.

The Antihero

2024-09-30 00:16:59 UTC

Perhaps on of my favorite archetypes is a hero/ protagonist who despite having good intentions, does them with a morality that is more gray than black or white. They pursue a goal that is considered noble by society, but in ways that seem more akin to what a villain might do. They get their way through violence, or other more frowned upon methods to achieve their goals. One such character is Alejandro Gillick from Sicario by Denis Villeneuve. Alejandro used to be a sicario for a cartel, but when that led to his family being killed by them, he vowed to kill the members who wronged him. Alejandro’s goal is to tak down the cartel so that what happened to him won’t happen again. However, he does this through methods in a similar manner of the cartel: killing those members. He goes so far as to find the leader of the cartel, and kills his family in front of them before killing them as well. Antihero’s are a great archetype because of the complexity they bring. To what point does one trying to achieve a noble goal become a villain through the methods they wield to achieve it? To what extent can they push the moral boundaries before what they do is considered villainous despite their noble goals? That is what makes the antihero one of my favorite archetypes.