The Hero's Journey

[Sir Basil]

Great guide!

I have actually read Campbell's "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" a few months ago and found it not only a truly fascinating read, but also a very inspiring guide of sorts. Not only for the Heroes Journey, but the aspect of the Monomyth which actually got me into reading old Saga Literature from various cultures.

Can only recommend it for anyone, who wishes to explore the nature of stories from various cultures further.

Viking saga literature is what I study at university ! I'm glad there are other people on Iwaku who are so excited about this literature. :)

 

[DBZ7]

Wait so why are you using Griffith, the most amoral character of Berserk and the absolute villain of the story, as the image model for your hero analogy?

 

[Sir Basil]

Wait so why are you using Griffith, the most amoral character of Berserk and the absolute villain of the story, as the image model for your hero analogy?

As I discussed in my guide, the Hero's Journey has very little to do with a conventional set of "morals", and more to do with a journey of the self, and/or circumstance. There's also the notion of a "heroic code" -- which again, doesn't have morality ascribed to it. Only in our modern ideas of "heroes" do we attach morality to the equation: but morality has truthfully very little to do with the notion of the hero.

That being said, I think that, dependent on how one views Griffith's actions he is both an inversion of the standard Hero's Journey, as well a character that follows it; he certainly follows some of the categories I discuss in the "Villain's Journey" section of this guide as well. Griffith also "looks" like the traditional "knight in shining armor" archetype, despite his later subversion of the trope. This makes him a good canidate to be the "mascot" for this guide.

 

[RiverNotch]

As I discussed in my guide, the Hero's Journey has very little to do with a conventional set of "morals", and more to do with a journey of the self, and/or circumstance. There's also the notion of a "heroic code" -- which again, doesn't have morality ascribed to it. Only in our modern ideas of "heroes" do we attach morality to the equation: but morality has truthfully very little to do with the notion of the hero.

That being said, I think that, dependent on how one views Griffith's actions he is both an inversion of the standard Hero's Journey, as well a character that follows it; he certainly follows some of the categories I discuss in the "Villain's Journey" section of this guide as well. Griffith also "looks" like the traditional "knight in shining armor" archetype, despite his later subversion of the trope. This makes him a good canidate to be the "mascot" for this guide.

You shoulda gone the classy route and used classical art. ;)