Story Structure

A Hero’s Journey

In this blog post I will be writing about the Hero’s Journey, I will be comparing each stage to a film of my choice and also to the story in my own game.

Unusual Birth: Majority of the time there is strange situations when there is a birth of a hero. Some of the times a hero is born of a royal decent, other times the hero is born to a demi-god status through parents who are gods. Then other times the hero can be endangered at the time of birth which then needs to be disguised or hidden.

An example of an unusual birth in Hercules could be from Hercules at the start of the film where Hercules is born, he is born of god decent so is a demi-god status, he possesses the power of super strength which makes him an outcast in his town, it makes things very awkward as he breaks most things, the towns people even come up with a nickname for him which is “Jerkules.”

Another example of an unusual birth that is in my story could be when your character returns home from his operation where he had to have two amputations which removed his right forearm and the bottom half of his left leg, they were replaced with mechanical replacements, the people treat him as an outcast as they see mechanical replacements as “inhuman.”

Call of Adventure: Hero’s can normally begin their journey in a number of different ways, sometimes it has to be a traumatic experience which leads the hero needing or wanting to leave home. When the hero is about to leave, the hero may refuse on the first chance, but only to be either tricked, forced or convinced to leave home later.

An example of a call of adventure from Hercules could be where Amphitrion, Hercules’ adopted father give him the medallion of the gods, he also says that they found it around Hercules’ neck when they found him years and years ago. This prompts Hercules to go to the temple of Zeus where he receives guidance. At the temple, the statue of Zeus then come to life, he then tells Hercules that he is his son and to return he must prove himself a hero on earth first.

An example of a call of adventure in my story could be when your character realises he cannot stay where he lives and decides that the only solution is to leave and start a new life somewhere else, he decides to start a new life in the royal end of the city, he is then stopped by a friend that tries to convince him to stay, but to no avail and leaves anyway.

Supernatural Helper: In some hero stories the hero is normally helped out by someone who is usually older and wiser, sometimes they might even possess magical or mystical powers. This kind of person would transfer as a mentor or a guide as the hero would then embark and travel into a new world and face new challenges.

An example of a supernatural helper in Hercules could be the character Philoctetes (Phil). He is the trainer of hero’s and trained some of the most famous such as Achilles. He takes on a young Hercules and trains him up to become an strong and powerful hero, at first it proves difficult, but towards the end he ends up becoming what is father wants him to become.

An example of a supernatural helper in my story could be the person your character meets during his time moving into the royal end of the city, he help you find your way from bring someone who isn’t very well known, to someone who’s name is known by most of the people in the city.

Talisman or Special Weapon: This is where a hero has a special kind of weapon or protective device that will aid the hero in some way or another further on in the story. The person who is your characters supernatural helper may even be the one that gives you this weapon. Other ways the special weapon or talisman could even be a state of mind, knowing the fact that you could achieve your goals.

An example of this in Hercules would be when Hercules has his first real battle after he finishes training with Philoctetes, he faces a centaur called Nessus who has Meg trapped with him, after Hercules frees her he has a sense of accomplishment knowing that he can become a hero and can defeat enemies.

An example of this in my story could be when your character begins his life in the royal end of the city, making a name for him. After completing various jobs around the city his name is known to most people living there and this is his sense of accomplishment knowing that he has made his way into the city.

Crossing the Threshold: In many hero movies there is a time where he or she must leave their familiar place, home or their safe place when they were a child and then enter a new world with new challenges that you must face.

An example of this in Hercules would be when Hercules is told by his father that he must leave his home and travel to somewhere he has never been before and meet someone called Philoctetes and that he is a trainer of hero’s, he must meet Phil and train to become a hero. This is similar because Hercules must leave his comfort zone and move somewhere where he has never been before.

An example of crossing the threshold in my story could be when your character has to leave his home in the poorer part of the city and must travel to the royal end of the city where he must start a new life, new friends, new everything.

Trials: A hero must succeed in a series of certain trials; this would build up his or her strength, their moral and their character. Commonly a trial could involve your hero having to explore in some form of underworld, during this time the hero might suffer some injury that might not be healed.

An example of trials in Hercules could be when he faces 2 trials, the first one could be when Hercules has to face the Hydra, this is the first real test for Hercules and proves to be increasingly difficult as once one head is cut, two more grow back, Hercules eventually overcomes this monster. The second trial is where Hercules has to face the Cyclops; Hercules surrenders his heroic powers in order to save Meg, so a powerless Hercules is left to face the Cyclops on his own.

An example of trials in my game could be when your character has to overcome the boss of the royal end of the city; your character must stop the plan to destroy the poorer end of the city and save the lives of the friends that turned their back on him after his operation.

Achievements of Goals: After success in completing the trials, this is where the hero achieves his or her main goal of their journey; this could be a variety of thing such as collecting some hidden treasure or taking down a facility.

An example of this in Hercules could be when Hercules finally stops Hades plan to take over Olympus, he fights off the titans that Hades released and frees the other gods and hold Hades accountable for his errors.

An example of this in my story could be when your character stops the plan to destroy the poorer part of the city and saves the lives of his once friends who turned their backs on his during the start of the story.

Recognition with Father Figure: If a storyline has either conflict or a division with the father that’s part of the story, you could heal or find a resolution, this might occur as part of the hero’s journey.

An example of this in Hercules would be when Hercules returns to the temple of Zeus after defeating the Hydra amongst other monster and becomes a well known celebrity, he confronts Zeus about joining him in Olympus, but Zeus declines his request and says he isn’t a true hero at that point.

Return Home: sometimes in hero stories the hero could either willingly or unwillingly cross the threshold again in the attempt to return to his home. He would then bring a variety of new things back; this might include wisdom and more of an understanding for the world as they might have viewed something’s in different perspectives.

An example of this in Hercules is when Hercules finally earns the “Hero” status and is let back into Olympus, however, Hercules has the choice of either returning to Olympus and rejoining his mother and father and keep his god like powers or stay on earth with Meg but would suffer the loss of his powers.

An example of this in my story would be when your character comes to the end of the game and united the two cities as one city, he remains classed as one of the poorer citizens even though nearly all of them tried and succeeded in exiling him from the town.