Archetypal Antagonists for the Crone Arc: Death Blight and Tempter

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Archetypal Antagonists for the Crone Arc: Death Blight and Tempter

As the fifth of six archetypal character arcs in the life cycle, the Crone Arc offers the first great challenge of a character’s Elder years. Fundamentally, it is a story about a character coming to grips with the full magnitude of mortality.

And indeed Death itself is the primary archetypal antagonist within a Crone Arc—or at least seems to be.

As noted in previous posts, the protagonist’s view of the archetypal antagonists evolves right along with her progression through the life arcs. What begins as a decided “me versus them” viewpoint in the earlier arcs becomes increasingly more complex. By the time the character is challenged to decide whether or not she will “fight” that greatest of enemies—Death itself—she will surprise herself with the realization that perhaps Death is no enemy at all.

But this is a realization for the Climax of a Crone Arc, when finally she is able to move into the “Liminal World” of the Mage. Throughout most of her story, the Crone’s antagonistic forces are represented more specifically as a Death Blight and as the subtle Tempter who would lure her away from the Truth.

You may remember the Crone begins her story feeling rather played out. Having just completed her King Arc, in which she nobly sacrificed her temporal power and position (her “life” in its previous guise), she may now be struggling with feeling the best part of her life is over and that she might now perhaps just give in to the somnolent lure of a well-earned retirement. Her primary challenge is that of surrendering to her mortality—to Death—and in so doing resisting the temptation to wage war against Life out of her bitterness that it should be so. Furthermore, she is inspired to begin bringing her story full circle by fostering new Life, via the young of her Kingdom who still desperately require her wisdom and initiatory powers.

The Crone Arc begins to become more symbolic and metaphoric than any of the previous arcs (unless of course you play it out “literally” in speculative fiction of some kind). This is because, ultimately, her journey is an internal one. Her experience of the forces of Death, Life, and Temptation are ultimately all within. These antagonistic forces can, and probably will, be externalized as entities within the plot. But the true power and threat they represent is still something projected onto them from within the Crone herself.

The Crone’s Antagonists: Practical and Thematic

Crone Arcs can be wildly fantastic adventures. But they are just as often quiet stories of internal contemplation, peopled by few supporting characters. Either way, it is useful to remember that the external plot will be driven by a “practical” antagonist—one who creates specific obstacles to the protagonist’s ultimate plot goal. Here, this external antagonistic force is the Death Blight.

Meanwhile, the Tempter may or may not be personified. If he or she is represented by an actual character, this character is often one of the most literal presentations of the Contagonist. The Contagonist is an ultimately antagonistic character, but one who does not start out obviously aligned with the antagonistic force. This character may oppose different facets of the protagonist’s plot goal, or may seem (and indeed may literally be) an ally. The crux of the relationship, however, is that the Contagonist is not aligned with the protagonist’s ultimate thematic Truth and will consciously or unconsciously tempt the protagonist away from that Truth and back into the Lie. (You can think of the Contagonist as a “negative mentor.”)

Often, in a Crone story, the Death Blight and Tempter will seem integrally related, even if they are not in the end. Therefore, it can be easier than in other types of stories to blur the lines between the two, depending on how specifically they are represented in the story (i.e., by other characters).

The Death Blight as Archetypal Antagonist

Not to be too glib, the Crone’s great lesson is that maybe Death isn’t so bad after all. Or, more seriously, that Death and Life are not separate, that indeed they cannot be. To be in love with Life is to accept Death; to live a good life is to surrender to Death. And vice versa, to embrace Death is to embrace Life utterly.

This, however, is the ultimate Truth the Crone finds by the end of her story. What prompts her to take this journey in the story’s beginning is a seeming Death Blight upon the Kingdom. And this face of Death seems anything but Life-affirming.

Although ultimately signifying nothing more than the Crone’s own limited view of Life and Death, the Death Blight may be externally represented in the story in many different ways. It may be represented by limiting aspects of old age, such as illness or controlled living circumstances (e.g., being forced to move to a retirement home, etc.).

It can also be portrayed via unhealthy patterns shown in younger characters. Because the Crone’s most frequent relationship character is often a young Maiden or Hero whom she initiates, the Death Blight may show up in the lifestyle of an unhappy teen embracing some form of “death culture” (such as drugs or other destructive patterns).

The Crone might also face high stakes in the broader world—an actual Death Blight of some kind descending upon the larger setting of her “Kingdom.” It could be she is not the only Elder who is being threatened by tyrannical younger characters and that she is the one to accept the journey into the Crone Arc in defense of the others. Or she may face an evil “spirit” of the land or culture that is poisoning the healthy evolution of younger archetypes.

And, of course, she may face large-scale embodiments of malignant Death, via war or even something fantastical such as a zombie apocalypse.

Regardless, the antagonist she is ultimately facing is not Death in its true nature, but rather an imbalance of Life and Death. This could be because the prevailing culture has embraced Death in some violent way (such as in Nazi Germany), or it could be because the culture has rejected Death and refused, as the Crone is now being asked to do, to confront and embrace Death’s natural and beautiful function.

The Tempter as Archetypal Antagonist

The Tempter may be merely an internal voice within the Crone’s own head—seducing her into the notion that there is power to be had over Death or in resisting it. Most often, however, the Tempter will be an externalized character. This character may be an “ally” of the Crone, urging her to reject her growing understanding of the importance of Death. Or the character may, in fact, be the orchestrator of the Death Blight (or at least someone who thinks they are able to control this malignant force).

Because the Crone is, symbolically, quite a powerful character, this Tempter is often represented by an equally or even more powerful character, such as the aggressive shadow version of the Mage—the Sorcerer. As such, the Tempter is a character who can be used to represent the dark potential in the Crone herself should she he heed his sugared words or tempting example.

In Pixar’s Up, one of the more popular Crone Arcs of the period, we see the Tempter represented by the character of Charles Muntz. The protagonist Carl has idolized this mysteriously vanished explorer all his life, but does not encounter him until his Elder years when he slowly begins to realize Muntz has turned malignant in his rejection of Death and his own mortality and now threatens the beautiful Life of the very rain forest he once championed.

Whether the Tempter is “master” or “servant” to the Death Blight, his primary function is that of trying to unleash and harness the Crone’s own potential for “blighting” the Kingdom.

How the Death Blight and the Tempter Operate in the Conflict and the Climactic Moment

The Death Blight will represent the external conflict and its main problem in some way. It could be this problem literally grapples with questions of Life and Death. But it could also be that the Death Blight’s manifestation is merely a metaphor for the Crone protagonist’s inner evolution into a new and broader perspective about the importance of this final act of her life.

In facing the obstacles created by the Death Blight, the Crone will simultaneously be asked to face her fear of and resentment toward her own mortality.

The Tempter, meanwhile, may be either represented merely by the Crone’s own inner conflict or by a primary relationship character or by an obvious antagonist who is “creating” the circumstance of the Death Blight. What is important in regards to the Tempter is that he or she (or it) does in fact offer a legitimate temptation. The more powerful the Tempter’s argument, the more powerful will be the Crone’s ultimate transformation (or, in a Negative-Arc story, her lack thereof).

Depending on the nature of the story, the Death Blight may not be defeated in the Climactic Moment but instead redeemed or healed. The Blight aspect is removed and what remains is just Death—and Life. The Tempter may be entirely bypassed in this process. If the Tempter was “slave” to the Death Blight, then he will likely be destroyed in its absence. If the Tempter was “master,” causing and wielding the Blight, then he will either be directly defeated or simply stripped of his power through some clever (and surrendered) move on the Crone’s part.

However, it is always possible that little to nothing changes in the outer plot in the Climactic Moment of a Crone story. Because the thematic grappling with Life and Death is ultimately something that happens within the Crone, it is her final internal Truth that matters. Her acceptance, surrender, and inner peace is the final victory in her story, no matter the external trappings of the conflict.

Stay tuned: Next week, we will explore the archetypal antagonists of the Mage: Evil and the Weakness of Humankind.

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