Flex Mentallo

The archetypes are not characters, but manifestations of characteristics. In fiction, characters take on different characteristics because of what happens to them along the way. The pure hero is dull indeed! As is the unambiguous villain. Critics of Jung's theories point out that there is no scientific way to demonstrate that the collective unconscious even exists, let alone the archetypes (- a term coined long before he adopted it, incidentally). This remains problematical.

At the end of all journeys lies redemption, and - sometimes - transformation.

The hero needs the help of friends, and sometimes strangers. Sometimes she must be rescued from herself.

Few villains are completely irredeemable, and sometimes are won over to good.

Heroes are always flawed. And sometimes, they fail.

The realms of dream and fantasy, of storytelling and movie making are tightly interwoven.

I like your sig line.

Wonderful Pat! Who really knows how many such titles were published in the UK. Collecting over her as far less developed than in the States at the time. just finding some of these will take a lifetime. Good hunting!

ALLIES Characters who help the hero through the change. Sidekicks, buddies, girlfriends who advise the hero through the transitions of life.

TRICKSTERS Clowns and mischief-makers, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy. Our own mischievous subconscious, urging us to change. So many of Batman's enemies are tricksters - The Riddler, The Penguin, and of course, Loki himself, aka The Joker

SHAPESHIFTERS In stories, creatures like vampires or werewolves who change shape. In life, the shapeshifter represents change. The way other people (or our perceptions of them) keep changing. The opposite sex, the way people can be two-faced.

THRESHOLD GUARDIANS The forces that stand in the way at important turning points, including jealous enemies, professional gatekeepers, or your own fears and doubts. Commissioner Gordon represents Law and Order, which in his methods Batman is often at odds. So The Law is the force that stands in the way - and it is sometimes unclear whether Batman seeks Justice, or Vengeance!

HERALD One who brings the Call to Adventure. Could be a person or an event. In Batman's case as everyone knows the Herald is an event - the death of his parents.

MENTORS The hero’s guide or guiding principles. Yoda, Merlin, a great coach or teacher.

SHADOWS Villains and enemies, perhaps the enemy within. The dark side of the Force, the repressed possibilities of the hero, his or her potential for evil. Can be other kinds of repression, such as repressed grief, anger, frustration or creativity that is dangerous if it doesn’t have an outlet. If not for the word balloons, would we not imagine that Batman is the villain of the piece? Arguably, his greatest enemy is himself, while those who serve as villains are actually tricksters or shapeshifters. Indeed he is himself a shapeshifter. Bruce Wayne becomes most truly himself as The Batman. His banal civilian persona is a cover.

Of the manifestation of archetypes in comics the most obvious example I can think of is the pantheon of supporting characters in Batman. HEROES Central figures in stories. Everyone is the hero of his or her own myth. Batman begins in darkness, born of great suffering. He is a paladin of darkness, with all the ambiguity darkness conveys. He is the darkness within us, struggling towards redemption.His journey is a painful one, as is ours.

ALLIES Characters who help the hero through the change. Sidekicks, buddies, girlfriends who advise the hero through the transitions of life.

TRICKSTERS Clowns and mischief-makers, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy. Our own mischievous subconscious, urging us to change.

SHAPESHIFTERS In stories, creatures like vampires or werewolves who change shape. In life, the shapeshifter represents change. The way other people (or our perceptions of them) keep changing. The opposite sex, the way people can be two-faced.

THRESHOLD GUARDIANS The forces that stand in the way at important turning points, including jealous enemies, professional gatekeepers, or your own fears and doubts.

HERALD One who brings the Call to Adventure. Could be a person or an event.

MENTORS The hero’s guide or guiding principles. Yoda, Merlin, a great coach or teacher.

SHADOWS Villains and enemies, perhaps the enemy within. The dark side of the Force, the repressed possibilities of the hero, his or her potential for evil. Can be other kinds of repression, such as repressed grief, anger, frustration or creativity that is dangerous if it doesn’t have an outlet.

HEROES Central figures in stories. Everyone is the hero of his or her own myth.

THE ARCHETYPES C.K.G Jung, the great psychoanalyst, posited the existence of the "collective unconscious". And the archetypes which populate it, all of which are manifest in the imagery of popular culture. It's a long time since I studied Jung. But what we all know and think we are familiar with are the archetypes he identified. I will list those in a second. He said that people largely misunderstood what he meant by archetypes. He used the analogy of a crystal dissolved in a solvent. The structure is hidden in the liquid as a potentiality, out of which crystalline structure may form. The archetype is the potentiality, not the form it takes. There are only a small number of archetypes, but the forms they manifest are quite literally infinite. And our super heroines, heroes, yes and villains, are iterations of these archetypes. As are Archie and Lois Lane. And even Daffy Duck. Archetypes form the foundation on which each individual builds his own experience of life, colouring them with his unique culture, personality and life events. They are recurring patterns of human behavior, symbolized by standard types of characters in movies and stories. Here are some examples.