Character Archetypes
Definition: an archetype is a familiar or recognisable event. In terms of writing, these are used in storytelling. I have been asked in this exercise to explore character archetypes, and research to learn more about them.
So, I’ve already learned that:
Protagonist: the main character
Antagonist: the character directly opposed to the protagonist.
Shapeshifter: a character with constantly changing morals or ‘sides’, we don’t know what their intentions truly are.
So I believe that a character archetype is basically a recognisable role, or ‘type’ of character that aids the telling of the story. Such as:
The hero
The victim
The villain
The comic relief
The sidekick
The mentor
The narrator
The target - i.e. someone to find
The villain sidekick
The love interest
Having looked up some character archetypes, I’ve found there is a huge range to choose from and they can vary depending on culture types and writing styles. There are some articles that state there are ‘12 main archetypes’ for characters but they all tend to vary somewhat. Also, the types can be doubled up to serve more than one purpose in a story. Some character archetypes i've discovered include:
- Caregiver - a parental figure or just generally someone who cares for the protagonist.
- Creator - an artist, an engineer, an inventor etc.
- Innocent - a hopeful, loving, naive character.
- Magician - can be good or evil
- Orphan
- Rebel
- Ruler
- Leader - doesn’t have to be the protagonist
- Jester - the comic relief
- Bully - a type of villain perhaps
- Seducer/tempter
- Warrior
This exercise has also asked me to identify examples from an existing story’s characters, so I’ve chosen to look at The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.
The Protagonist/Victim - Susie Salmon. A 14 year old girl telling the story of her ‘life after death’.
The Villain - Mr. Harvey. Susie’s rapist and murderer, guilty of repeating this crime to multiple victims.
The Mentor - Franny. A counsellor, also dead, who initially guides Susie in her heaven.
The Innocent - Buckley Salmon. Susie’s little brother, only 4 when Susie died. He is too young to really understand but develops his own perspective of her disappearance, and tunes in to the fact that Susie is in the ‘in between’ of life and death.
The Caregiver/Hero - Jack Salmon, Susie’s father, who fights to prove the circumstances of Susie’s death.
The Caregiver/Rebel - Abigail Salmon, Susie’s mother. She eventually has an affair and abandons the family after Susie’s death.
The Antagonist/Hero - Lindsey Salmon. As Susie’s sister, she’s not the enemy but lives a life completely opposite to Susie’s. She also helps in identifying Susie’s killer.
The Warrior/Seducer - Detective Fenerman. He fails to solve the mystery of Susie’s death, and has an affair with her mother, Abigail Salmon.
The Jester/Hero - Grandma Lynn. Mother of Abigail Salmon. A straight-talking, heavy drinking, ostentatious woman that comes to the family’s aid after Susie’s death. She also identified the murderer at Susie’s funeral.
The Love Interest - Ray Singh. Susie’s first experience with romance, and her first kiss.
There are so many more characters as part of this story but these are the ones I could really identify that play important roles in the novel. Some of them were difficult to really place into a category, but it’s clear to see how writers can give a character depth as well as value by using multiple archetypes within a role.
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