Boy, do I love archetypes. How does anyone write stories without them? Answer: they don’t (at least not good ones).
In case anyone is unfamiliar, an archetype is simply the framework for a character’s behaviors and beliefs. There are twelve major archetypes in literature as established by Carl Jung. He was a pretty interesting guy, and you can read more about him here if you’re interested in psychology. But for now, I’m going to stick to his connection to literature.
Now, you may have been told that archetypes are tired or that you need to have a fresh take on everything you write, which is true to an extent. But archetypes exist for a reason, and there’s no good reason to steer clear of them. They can help you develop more depth and background in your characters, giving them a more solid foundation than if you simply threw some ideas on the page without checking to see if they flow. The fact is, readers enjoy having their expectations met. And archetypes are one of the first building blocks of that process.
Have you ever read/watched/listened to a story where the characters made decisions that didn’t seem to fit their personality? For me, Jaime Lannister in the HBO adaptation of Game of Thrones comes to mind. By the end of his arc, he was making decisions that were totally out of character. As a result, many viewers found his conclusion upsetting and nonsensical. No author wants to hear that about their characters, am I right?
That being said, some authors (they’re called pantsers) talk a lot about how characters create themselves, but that’s not exactly true. Even if your writing style is very fluid and you allow for in-the-moment changes based on inspiration, characters have a finite set of traits that will lead them to make decisions. These personality combinations are so innate (as established by Carl Jung and other psychologists) that it can sometimes feel like the character is acting autonomously, but in truth, they are acting based on a specific code or set of morals that come directly from their archetype.
Don’t fret if you want your characters to feel spontaneous. Archetypes help to give you a basis for your character, but that doesn’t mean they’re already written for you. Just like two real-life people with the same personality type (16 Personalities) can have radically different dispositions and ideas, not every character with the same archetype will be exactly the same. This is where it becomes important for writers to have a fresh take on a classic character type. You don’t want the archetype to be so obvious that you’re readers are bored, but you do want them to be able to fit your character to an archetype should they go looking for one.
The warrior is the classic hero archetype. This character’s main desire is to unseat the antagonistic force in their story, whether the antagonist is a person, a system, a government, etc. The warrior comes equipped with certain strengths (either mental or physical) and generally has a fear of failure. They can also suffer from inflated ego due to whatever strengths they begin with.
The key to making a dimensional warrior character is to remember their weakness. No one wants to read about a hero who is fully equipped to defeat the antagonist from the first moment we meet them. Supply your character with ample weaknesses, both physical and mental/emotional. If your hero is an excellent swordsman, consider giving them a weak position in battle or force them to fight with their non-dominant hand. If your character’s strength is emotional (Luke’s biggest strength is his enduring hope), put them in a position to lose it (say Vader didn’t come back in the end).
In the Disney version of the Greek story, Hercules has a number of weaknesses because of his desire to belong (he is a combination hero and orphan archetype. I’ll talk more about combinations in a dedicated post). Although he has god-like strength, he lacks the invincibility of a god. Aragorn is a terrific warrior, but he’s running away from his true calling. There are many ways to make the hero stand out, but it does take a little more work than some of the other archetypes because this is the most common protagonist. Run your hero by some of your friends and mentors before you nail down their arc.
The child or innocent archetype is the character you could never have an ill feeling toward because they are too pure for this world. This character wants to be good and remains untouched by evil. They are characterized by their kindness, sincerity, and optimism. As a result, they tend to be naive, helpless, and extremely vulnerable.
Sometimes people try to make a protagonist out of this archetype which is where it gets tricky. I never say never, but the innocent tends to be pretty stale for all their goodness. Without George to combat Lennie’s innate innocence, Of Mice and Men would be a very boring, albeit tragic, story. Now, if you want to combine the innocent with another archetype and show how the protagonist/antagonist used to be innocent before the outside world breached the safety of their walls, you can certainly turn them into a bigger player. Otherwise, this archetype is best kept for friends and side characters.
Even in the case of a side character, it’s important to give the innocent a unique quality that endears them to the audience and makes readers feel fiercely protective. Don’t let your innocent be boring just because they don’t have that struggle for good and evil like other archetypes. Dory and Lennie both have mental illnesses which makes their protection feel paramount to the hero as well as the audience. If your innocent is neurotypical, try giving them a unique passion or love. And then consider yanking it away from them.
The Orphan just wants to belong. This is a popular archetype because most people can relate to feeling outcasted at some point or another. Even someone with a reasonable family and a good number of friends can feel a connection to an orphaned character because it’s about the feeling of being unwanted more than anything else. One of the great fears of an orphan archetype is being let down or finding their effort fruitless.
This archetype comes with a wealth of backstory options and can be especially fun to craft because they have so many weaknesses. The key to making a decent orphan character is to remember not to make them stale. Just because someone is an orphan doesn’t mean they have to be benevolent. The orphan can be humble and kind because of their “lost” nature, but they can also become jaded—especially if the belonging they seek is taken away or seemingly impossible to find. It’s important to give this archetype a unique response to their surroundings. Make a character who is boisterous and friendly but secretly harbors a deep-seated fear of abandonment (think Jack in Newsies). Or make them quiet and brooding with enough negative traits that they could easily become a villain if they choose the wrong path.
The creator’s central desire is to bring their vision to life. These characters are eccentrics and out-of-the-box thinkers who see the world in a unique way because of their artistic gifts. Creators can get themselves into trouble because they lack the foresight to see where their artistic endeavors will lead them.
The key to making a good creator character is to focus first on their one true vision and then work your way down into the events of this particular story. What is your creator’s central dream? In Jurassic Park, John Hammond’s dream is to see the dinosaurs he loves so dearly brought back to life. Alan Grant shares his love of dinosaurs and is at first willing to look at the possibility of a dinosaur park, where Ian Malcolm is a skeptic from the beginning. Surround your creator type with people who understand parts of their vision as well as people who want to see it fail. This will give your character more depth and you can let the audience examine the validity of the dream and the pros and cons of reaching it.
The creator can make a stellar villain or anti-hero should you decide to twist the vision into something sinister. In the case of a creator villain, they can either start out with a sinister vision or see their artistic dream become evil as a direct result of the opposition they face throughout the story. It’s a great way to make a sympathetic antagonist.
The caregiver lives to help others. They tend to have softer personalities, though they can be fierce when they need to protect the people they love. Caregivers are selfless, loyal, and compassionate. They feel things deeply and they always put others ahead of themselves. As a result, they are easy to take advantage of and sometimes lose sight of their own needs.
As for unique characters in this archetype, it’s really about playing them off the people around them. Samwise Gamgee is selfless and compassionate, but his particular relationship with Frodo makes him seem all the more real and relatable. His easygoing nature holds through most of the story, but he surprises the audience with his tenacity when he follows Frodo into the river, then again at Osgiliath, and finally at Mount Doom when he takes on Shelob to save his friend and carries him up the mountain. Sam’s strength is uncovered, tested, and developed over the course of the whole story which is what makes him interesting.
Don’t feel like your caregiver has to be a good guy, either. The evil side has caregivers, too. This is especially true when the caregiver in question has a martyr complex because that brings in a whole new level of selfishness and confusion to their protective acts.
The joker, not to be confused with the Batman villain, is a genial character who just wants to have fun. Their main goal is to enjoy life and they want to put a positive spin on whatever they can. But they can serve other purposes, too. The joker often provides insight that the other characters miss, whether for comic reasons or because their light attitude allows them to see things that others miss.
There’s nothing wrong with some comic relief, but a good joker character has moments of depth, too. Genie is incredibly funny, but he also serves as a mentor-type character, giving Aladdin some much-needed advice. Likewise, both Merry and Pippin have moments of extreme bravery or understanding as they delve into the action of The Lord of the Rings. Your joker can have similar qualities, making them valuable friends to have around in times of crisis. Just make sure they have fully rounded desires along with their levity and easygoing natures.
All 12 of these archetypes are classic, but the mentor is like a gold classic; this character never goes out of style. The mentor takes the form of a wise character with a lot of experience under their belt. They are filled with knowledge and, as a result, sometimes struggle over how much they should share with the rest of the world (especially where there’s magic involved). The mentor can come in various forms of willingness to help the main character, but they always have a lot to offer.
The key to making a great mentor is to build them off your main character. Yoda’s early refusal to teach Luke has a huge effect on the rest of his training. The thing Luke needs most to save Vader is hope, but when he first meets Yoda he has a habit of giving up too quickly. The Jedi training Yoda offers is only half the benefit; the real skill he teaches Luke is endurance. When writing your mentor, make sure they have something essential to offer the protagonist beyond physical skills. Craft these two characters to have subtle and obvious give and take, and you’ll get readers invested.
The magician, unlike the mentor, has a penchant for world domination. This doesn’t always mean subjugating other people, but it does mean this character wants to uncover the secrets of the universe. The magician is highly intelligent, observant, and in some stories has literal magic. They suffer from an inflated ego and tend to be power-hungry as a result of their prowess.
Magicians can be off-putting if you’re not careful. The secret here is similar to villains. You want to give them a few redeeming qualities to balance their ego-centric qualities. It’s also important to focus on their interpersonal relationships. Loki’s relationship with Thor in Ragnarok does a lot for his character arc. He’s not just the God of Mischief anymore; he’s finally a good brother. Make sure you put a lot of thought into how this character interacts with the world around them and balance them with another character who can call them on their bullshit when necessary.
The ruler can be benevolent or evil (or somewhere in the middle), depending on their role in your story. The nice guy ruler rarely starts in power and when they do, they don’t stay there for long. Benevolent kings are killed off early or we spend most of the story waiting for the right person to ascend. More often we see an evil dictator in power and the plot revolves around defeating them. This is because power tends to corrupt people and there’s not really a good reason to tell a story about a good king who did his job and everyone was happy.
When trying to make a unique ruler, I recommend writing down their core goal as well as their limits. If your ruler is evil, is there anything they won’t do? Tywin Lannister is a great example because he’s pretty much despicable in every way until we see him interact with Arya Stark. Of course, he doesn’t know who she is, but he’s a chill guy when he doesn’t think it interferes with his plans. Interactions like this offer depth to characters who otherwise fall prey to boring cliches. If you really want to make a unique ruler, find a way to make their ousting (in the case of a good guy) especially heinous. In the case of an evil ruler, give them just enough redeeming qualities that the audience accidentally roots for them sometimes—or at least respect their position.
The rebel archetype is independent—sometimes to a fault. This character sees the flaws in the system and has an innate desire to break the rules as a result. Maybe they break the rules because they had an absentee or overbearing caregiver. Maybe they believe/see that freedom has been taken away by a governing agency and they want to restore free will. Whatever the reason, this archetype is very defiant and finds it difficult to trust others.
The important thing to remember here is that no one is a rule breaker just for the hell of it. When writing this archetype the first thing you should do is write them a code: what line is this character unwilling to cross? Are they protective of children? Sensitive to true love? The individual’s code will likely be different than polite society, so don’t be afraid to play with that.
This archetype comes with a lot of freedom because it is easy for these characters to take on villainous traits. Let your rebel make mistakes. Let them be right sometimes even though other characters criticize them for breaking the rules. Make things muddy so the audience has to decide who is more right. In my opinion, the rebel is one of the easiest archetypes to make your own because there is so much room for personalization.
The lover’s primary goal is, you guessed it, to find love. They seek meaningful relationships from family, friends, and lovers. This archetype comes with a lot of emotional intelligence and dedication. They will fight to the last breath for those they love, often culminating in a great act of sacrifice. As a result, they tend to suffer from tunnel vision and they bruise easily (emotionally, that is).
My best advice for the lover is to remember to give them a personality outside the object of their affection. Peeta has spent years in love with Katniss, but he does have goals and wants outside of her. And he’s only willing to put up with so much of her B. S. before he stands up for himself. Give your lover a backbone and remember to flesh them out as a fully realized individual instead of making them entirely dependent on the love interest. Pining lovers bore easily.
The seductress is one of the most misunderstood and misused archetypes. This person is characterized by oozing charisma and generally has a total disregard for morality. This can be a strength and a hindrance. The seductress often has an underlying desire to take back power or love that was stolen from them.
The biggest problem you’ll face with this archetype is a cliched backstory. It makes a lot of sense for the seductress to be a prostitute or a slave, but you need to be careful to give them their own identity. In Hercules, Meg is indebted to Hades and therefore has to do his bidding. But the story doesn’t write her off as some slut who uses her body to get what she wants (bodies can definitely be tools, but there’s always more to the story). Meg is a character who we know loved somebody deeply in the past. She also shows a distaste for Hades and often tries to do the right thing in spite of owing her soul to the god of death. The seductress backstory doesn’t have to be tragic—maybe he/she acts as a temptress for a different reason. Just be sure to give us that reason.
Archetypes aren’t there to box you in. They exist because they’re relatable, and it’s a great starting point in character development. The basic guidelines for these archetypes won’t make fully fleshed out characters, but they will give you enough direction to design characters that your readers want to get to know. I highly recommend going through your main character list and figuring out their archetype before you start writing. It’s a lot harder to go back and fix a nonsensical character than it is to just set them in the right direction in the first place.
That’s it for now. See you next time!
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