Archetypes Grab Bag Part 2: Mythical Characters

Who are you?  I don't mean philosophically, but how would you describe yourself?  If you were a character in your novel, are you completely unique?  What clique do you fall into?  These are the questions we need to figure out about our characters.

I would fall under the guise of a typical nerd complete with glasses, potbelly, strewn books, pocket protector, and countless references to history, movies or trivia.

The characters I create are anything but nerds, which is why we're going to look at all the various archetypes I have been alluding to lately.

The first three key character archetypes are called many things.  Most commonly though, and depending if you're in public schools or not, they are the Mortal, Devil, and Christ figures.  These three figures are perhaps the oldest archetypes created because they go back to the oldest troubles of mankind.

A Mortal figure is usually in some sort of danger, but he is also the one we identify with, yes, the protagonist.

A Devil figure is usually the one causing the danger, we don't normally identify with the Devil, so they are the antagonist.

The Christ figure is a strange figure, in my opinion.  Ideally, the Christ figure's job is to sacrifice something very important to save the mortal, for example their life and thus the name.  However, the Mortal can also sacrifice something to save people, thus shifting their status from Mortal to Christ.  The Devil may also do this.  Therefore, the Christ figure may not necessarily be a third character and we are now looking at a character trait known as Dynamic.

Dynamic characters are characters who throughout a story change their opinions, ideals, or in some manner or means grow or degrade.  Inversely, Static characters never change.  They are who they are and will forever be.  Ideally, static characters can be a form of archetype, but their entire purpose is to just move the plot, like the red shirt guy in Star Trek.

Moving on, however, some more archetypes to consider.  When we spoke of mythology I provided four god archetypes.  These four archetypes are still prevalent in today's literature.

Trickster: The trickster is very much alive and well in modern literature.  This is your quintessential villain. They lie, cheat, steal, drink, basically any vice you can think of they do it to excess.  In mythological times, these gods (Hermes, Coyote, Loki to name the big three) were used to teach people a lesson through bad behavior.  The trickster was often a shapeshifter character because of his weak ties to the community and the lack of trust his community could put into him. Nowadays, the trickster befriends the hero to trick him, or the trickster manipulates the situation to his whim.  However, his vices always get the better of him, most notably pride. 

Yes, Wile E. Coyote was once a god, some of us
already knew this though.

Earth Spirit (Earth Mother): The life giver and often the one who has, in some sense, set the events of the quest or journey into motion.  Gaea, Mother Earth, and I know i'm missing more than a few of these deities, but their role is generally the same.  These are the spirits which created the world we know.  They are the source of life, and in particular they are usually the ones guiding the hero on their journey.  In mythology, though, these goddesses (and occasionally a god) were sometimes minor gods and sometimes they were pivotal and essential gods.


All Father: Hmm, the All Father.  Odin.  YHWH.  Allah.  Zeus.  The king of the gods in mythology or the king of a kingdom in literature.  He's the one playing puppet master either figuratively or actually.  Ideally, the All Father was an idealistic citizen of a particular society.  In fantasy stories he is either in a state of losing control or he is in a state of becoming evil.  In Greek stories, I think it is important to note that the gods were not benevolent or benign beings, nor were they good or evil (same with the Hindi gods, too, but if I am wrong please correct me) but they were flawed just like humans are flawed.  What later made the gods good or evil in our mindsets were their deeply rooted associations with vices and virtues.  The memes of a culture sort of determined if they were good or bad later.  Thus Odin who would stand tall until the final moments of his time was praised while Zeus would later on become a point of ridicule for being a cruel and philandering father, yet he is not completely hated...interesting food for thought.


Dying God: They dying god is the character which dies and is reborn or recast somehow.  Dionysus, Odin, Baldr, Jesus, and Kali are all ones I can think of and all of these and all of these gods bring about a some massive change to their world with their death and resurrection.  Odin brought back knowledge and divinity, Baldr brought the end of the world, Jesus gives salvation, Kali came back with punishment and torment and the ability to avoid meeting such ends.  Dionysus is a different case.  He was cannibalized during his parties and brought back upon the waves of the sea with the rising sun.  In either case, the death of the god is tragic but it brings about great change.


An archetype which is not officially noted but does appear a lot in mythology and has their representational archetype in literature is the three goddess which make one;  the Moirai (the Fates), the Morrigan, the Wyrd, the Valkyries, the Norns, etc.  Basically, this god motif is a trio of sisters who control the fate, in some sense, of humanity.  Some directly, like the Greek Moirai or the Norns or the Wyrd, but others through choices and situations like the Valkyries and the Morrigan.  Meeting these ladies was usually a sign of your existence on earth coming to an end.

As a note, it is important to understand one of the most essential definitions of mythology.  We commonly use the word "myth" to describe something false or something wrong.  However, a myth is a culturally significant story which attempts to explain the world around us.  A myth is not necessarily false or wrong, in fact many times they can be correct.  Every culture has a flood story but that was considered a joke by scientists of ages until evidence began to turn up, accidentally I might add, that there may have been a world wide myth.  Another fun concept is the flat earth round earth concept.  An early scientist (natural philosopher at the time), Cosmas, ran about declaring that the world was truly flat and the predominant religions at the time (early Christianity for example) were completely false in their ideals of a spherical world.  He created maps and became very vocal on the matter, but the myths of a spherical Earth proved true.  So, do not assume that a myth means false or fake.  That's bad mojo.