Among students of myth like Carl Jung, Mircea Eliade, Theodore Gaster, and Heinrich Zimmer, the
work of a man named Joseph Campbell has particular relevance for our quest. He hammered out a mighty
link of the chain, a set of observations known as The Hero’s Journey.
In books like The Hero with a Thousand Faces, The Power of Myth, and The Inner Reaches of Outer Space, Campbell
reported on the synthesis he found while comparing the myths and legends of many cultures. The Hero’s
Journey was his all-embracing metaphor for the deep inner journey of transformation that heroes in every
time and place seem to share, a path that leads them through great movements of separation, descent,
ordeal, and return.
In reaction to Campbell’s work, a man named George Lucas composed what many have called a myth for
our times - the Star War series, in which young heroes of a highly technological civilization confront the
same demons, trials, and wonders as the heroes of old. ...
The Stages of the Hero's Journey
All stories consist of common structural elements of Stages found universally in myths, fairy tales, dreams,
and movies. These twelve Stages compose the Hero's Journey. What follows is a simple overview of each
Stage, illustrating basic characteristics and functions. Use it as a quick-reference guide as you explore the
genre and movie analyses. Since it cannot provide all of Christopher Vogler's insights upon which it was
based, I recommend you refer to his book, The Writer's Journey, for a much more thorough evaluation.
The paradigm that follows illustrates the "traditional" Hero's Journey as seen in the majority of stories. As
you explore the film and genre analyses that follow, you'll find that the Hero's Journey provides a flexible
and adaptable model with the potential for an infinite variety of shapes and progressions of Stages. The
Journey's Stages may be avoided, repeated, or shifted about depending upon the needs of the individual
story.
The Character ARC
The symbolism of the Journey's Stages (“Crossing the Threshold,” “Approach the Inmost Cave,” “Return
with the Elixir”) can easily mislead us into seeing the paradigm as representing a purely physical journey.
Indeed the Hero takes a physical, active part on the Journey to solve a problem or achieve a goal. But the
Hero's Journey is as important an emotional or psychological journey as it is physical. A character's
actions and decisions in response to the Journey's Stages can reveal the Character Arc, or phases of growth
that a character experiences during the course of the story. The following illustrates the Character Arc
using the icons representing the Journey's Stages for reference.
