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As a rule, there are twelve primary character types that symbolize basic human motivations and represent literary archetypes. Here is a list of these example literary archetypes and their general descriptions: Lover: character guided by emotion and passion of the heart. Hero: protagonist that rises to a challenge.
Archetypal characters are successful in literature because they reflect real human truths that exist in every one of us. Let’s look at what archetypes are, some of the common archetypes that will populate your work, and how to subvert archetypes in bold new ways.
- The Lover. The romantic lead who’s guided by the heart. Strengths: humanism, passion, conviction. Weaknesses: naivete, irrationality. Lover Archetype Examples: Romeo and Juliet (Romeo and Juliet), Noah Calhoun (The Notebook), Scarlett O’Hara (Gone With the Wind), Belle (Beauty and the Beast)
- The Hero. The protagonist who rises to meet a challenge and saves the day. Strengths: courage, perseverance, honor. Weaknesses: overconfidence, hubris. Hero Archetype Examples: Achilles (The Iliad), Luke Skywalker (Star Wars), Wonder Woman (Wonder Woman), Harry Potter (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)
- The Magician. A powerful figure who has harnessed the ways of the universe to achieve key goals. Strengths: omniscience, omnipotence, discipline. Weaknesses: corruptibility, arrogance.
- The Outlaw. The rebel who won’t abide by society’s demands. Strengths: independent thinking, virtue, owes no favors. Weaknesses: self-involved, potentially criminal.
In literature, an archetype (AHR-kih-typuh) is a character, situation, emotion, symbol, or event that is recurrent throughout different stories from many cultures. Because of the frequency with which these are seen, they’re considered universal symbols.
- Warrior Archetype. This is one of the best archetype examples. Actually, it is a character type of archetype that has resided in the mind of human beings since time immemorial and has become a reason of the argument that man is by nature at war with other men.
- Child Archetype. This archetype not only presents the child as a character but also as a child storyline. A child shows up in the story having lost innocence and gained maturity or has gone from rags to riches.
- Orphan Archetype. This is the subcategory of the child archetype in which an orphan shows his survival skills, empathy, and perseverance in difficult situations after the demise of his/her parents.
- Mentor/Guide Archetype. Such type of archetype character appears in the stories to convince the readers about the significance of the old people who have experience as well as insight into worldly affairs.
Aug 8, 2018 · Discover the history and logic behind the 12 common character archetypes — and how you can harness their power to write better characters.
Apr 10, 2023 · Don’t shake your head ‘no.’. Yes, you have! Writers steal answers all the time. We take plot structures from other stories, steal themes, and create characters out of well-used models. These character models are called archetypes. In this article, we are going to cover twenty-nine character archetypes.
