The Hero's Journey
We all love heroes. And not surprisingly there have been countless stories written about the journey that transforms a young man into a hero. We can talk more about that in a later post. But for now consider this, the hero's journey while different for every individual still shares a lot in common with those of other heroes. So, quick, who am I describing?
- Orphaned boy
- Raised by his Aunt and Uncle in relative isolation
- His Uncle is harder on him than seems necessary
- Boy finally is told by a stranger with magic like abilities that his father was murdered by the villain (the one he must ultimately face and defeat)
- Boy learns he has special powers which he has to learn to control and use through study and practice
- Boy is befriended by and trained by an old, wise wizard
- Boy makes new friends: a boy, a girl, and a hairy giant (the other boy and the girl eventually end up together after much fighting and frustration between the two of them)
- Boy has a trusted sidekick who is not human who often acts as a messenger
- Boy discovers he has an uncommon talent for piloting a flying apparatus
- Boy acquires one of the tools of his trade, a cylindrical object to be held in the hand and used as a weapon; boy uses the weapon in a number of duels
- Boy comes out on top after first confrontation with the villain
- Boy is honored publically in front of all his peers
- As the fight between the forces of good and the forces of dark continue to rage boy finds himself continuously in the center of things
- As the fight wears on the boy becomes more mopey
- Boy finally discovers that he has a very intense personal connection to the villain
- Boy also learns that his old wizard mentor also helped teach the villain when he was a boy
- Boy's mentor is killed in battle, actually, he allows himself to be killed to serve the greater good
- Another of boy's mentors dies leaving him feeling alone
- One of boy's other allies who has always been slightly more timid than him and living in his shadow wins one of the key victories in the final battle
- Boy gives himself up to his enemies during the final battle in order to ultimately win
Think you know? If you said Harry Potter, okay. If you said Luke Skywalker, okay. If you said both, congratulations!
Here's to the heroes!
