The bad boy: James Dean is a good example of this one. He's the kind of guy with a rebellion spirit, a different way of looking at things. As the cite likes to put it: a crushed idealist.
The chief: Born to lead, ultimate hero, tough, decisive, strong, and takes everything onto his shoulders.
The best friend: He's the sidekick, the either extremely silly one or the nice one who's always by the hero's side in times of hardship. Tom Hanks is a great example for this one.
The charmer: The more sexually oriented guy, smooth, sexy, confident in what he does, doesn't know commitment, but can change.
The lost soul: Some could say the emo or goth character. Mysterious, secretive, brooding, regretful. An outcast, a loner. Usually a cop from the old black and white films.
The professor: The confidant of the hero, older, wiser, introverted, and surefooted. Logical and left-brained.
The Swashbuckler: He's the kid from Hot Rod, he's the daring and the adventurer. He turns dreams to reality. He's into the action, reckless, hyper, whatever you say he can't do he'll do!
and
The Warrior: Our knight in shining armor, the reluctant hero with a past of his own to conquer. Protective, relentless, determined, and strong.
All of these archetypes are what you use to guide your character to originality, but don't use them as a cookie cutter template. Use their types to morph and twist them like playdough until you've got something completely new.
Now here's your challenge:
Do a character for all eight of these archetypes, but change each one so that they're still the type of character, but you can't recognize them as such right away. You can use other types to mash together, or you could create your own. Go for it! See what you can do!
We've got:
The bad boy: James Dean is a good example of this one. He's the kind of guy with a rebellion spirit, a different way of looking at things. As the cite likes to put it: a crushed idealist.
The chief: Born to lead, ultimate hero, tough, decisive, strong, and takes everything onto his shoulders.
The best friend: He's the sidekick, the either extremely silly one or the nice one who's always by the hero's side in times of hardship. Tom Hanks is a great example for this one.
The charmer: The more sexually oriented guy, smooth, sexy, confident in what he does, doesn't know commitment, but can change.
The lost soul: Some could say the emo or goth character. Mysterious, secretive, brooding, regretful. An outcast, a loner. Usually a cop from the old black and white films.
The professor: The confidant of the hero, older, wiser, introverted, and surefooted. Logical and left-brained.
The Swashbuckler: He's the kid from Hot Rod, he's the daring and the adventurer. He turns dreams to reality. He's into the action, reckless, hyper, whatever you say he can't do he'll do!
and
The Warrior: Our knight in shining armor, the reluctant hero with a past of his own to conquer. Protective, relentless, determined, and strong.
All of these archetypes are what you use to guide your character to originality, but don't use them as a cookie cutter template. Use their types to morph and twist them like playdough until you've got something completely new.
Now here's your challenge:
Do a character for all eight of these archetypes, but change each one so that they're still the type of character, but you can't recognize them as such right away. You can use other types to mash together, or you could create your own. Go for it! See what you can do!