Entry #2: The Hero's Journey

Joseph Campbell is well-known for his theory of the "monomyth". A theory that claimed that all stories' hero revolves around a certain pattern. This pattern is known as "The Hero's Journey" or "The Hero With a Thousand Faces".


Here is a comprehensive walkthrough of the cycle, detailing its use in "The Matrix", "Star Wars", and "Harry Potter".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB_Q1gFsvIw\

It's important to note that not all of these steps must be followed, nor do they have to be in a particular order. The "Special World" or "Other World" can be entirely metaphorical. The Inheritance Cycle series, by Christopher Paolini, and one of my personal favorites, is an example of a figurative "Other World".

(Some minor spoilers for Eragon)
The story begins with a young man named Eragon who lives his life as a simple farmer in an ordinary world. Due to outlandish circumstance, he happens upon a mysterious "stone" that hatches to reveal a newborn dragon. A species known to be nearly extinct. He accepts the call to responsibility, and raises the dragon in secret, only to accidentally attract the attention of some menacing figures who call themselves the "Ra'zac" who are acting upon the evil King's orders. Eragon, at first refuses the call to act until the Ra'zac burn his home and kill his father-figure in suspicion of Eragon. He turns to the only man in the village that knows anything about dragons, Brom. In doing so, he meets the mentor that helps him cross the threshold of peace into war by taking him to the rebels known as the Varden.

I could continue, but I'm sure you understand by this point.
Many people already know of this practice of testing the "Hero's Journey" formula by plugging in various other stories, yet it is still quite fun to Dig Deeper into the formulation of your favorite stories. In doing so, you might notice that Luke Skywalker, Frodo Baggins, and Eragon, all begin as simple men who work in a field, that, by the request of a wise and powerful white-haired mentor, who then go on a quest to overthrow an evil ruler with a strong liking to the colors black and red, eventually receiving a blue, magic sword that puts them above others.

This is not exclusive to books or movies, as well. This same logic could be applied to video games.


Let us choose Samus Aran of the Metroid series, a character and setting vastly different from what one might consider when thinking about a "myth":

A young girl is with her parents on an alien world, when suddenly, they are attacked by a faction known as the Space Pirates.

She is overwhelmed by a wish to fight these invaders, but must refuse until she is strong enough.

She is taken in by the only survivors of the attack; a wise race of alien mentors known as the Chozo

The Chozo train her to be a great warrior, a skill she uses in the Galactic Federation before becoming an independent bounty-hunter.

She is finally in a position to strike back against the Space Pirates that had attacked her.

She is given "supernatural help" by way of ancient Chozo technology stolen and stored by the Space Pirates.

She encounters the very creature that personally killed her parents, Ridley, and defeats him.

Fully armed with ancient and new technology, she faces the commander of the Space Pirates, Mother Brain, and destroys her.

Samus narrowly escapes the detonating planet and returns to a more quiet life traveling the stars until she is needed again.


I could have even stretched the formula over the entire Metroid series, instead of only the first game. That is how powerful this formula can be.

Personally, I find this exercise not only tremendously entertaining, but also good practice for analyzing material, or writing it yourself. If one wishes, they could attempt to write a story that deliberately straddles this formula, for the sake of a consistent theme, or one could avoid the pattern altogether, and create a story that breaks the formula. One way or the other, it is a very helpful tool for writing fiction.