Brooke Green
9/22/08

CO 122: Analytic and Persuasive Writing
Annotated Bibliography # 3
Prof. Kathleen Robinson
Fall 2008


Vogler, Christopher. “Book One: Threshold Guardian, Herald, Shapeshifter, Shadow, Ally, and Trickster. The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007. 49-80.

Summary:

Threshold Guardian:

The threshold guardians pretty much do what their titles suggest; they usually are at the beginning of each new obstacle that the Hero will face. They are not the main villains and can even be presented as allies, but there is some kind of link between the threshold guardians and the villain. These threshold guardians can be a symbol for our inner demons that we face, and are placed at these thresholds to test the Heroes abilities and test the hero before he continues on his journey. The ultimate reason for them is to present resistance to the hero, so that the hero may learn from them and grow.

Herald:

Heralds are placed in stories to forewarn the hero and the reader of coming obstacles and big change. They are looked at as messengers and motivation to make the hero change in a big way. Threshold guardians are the calling to an adventure that needs to be faced, and may be an actual person or simply a force, but they can change the entire mood and setting of the story. They can be good, bad, or simply neutral, and even sometimes the villain himself.

Shapshifter:

The shapeshifter is a character that is constantly changing as soon as you think you have them figured out, they surprise you, and they are the most flexible of all the archetypes. This makes them hard for the reader to identify most of the time, and lead the reader and hero in one direction and then flip to another direction. The reader often does not know what to think about the shapeshifter character and questions their allegiance to the hero. Most of the time the shapeshifter is of the opposite sex and plays the romantic role, but can also be the same sex and play the role of a friend. They also represent the male and female elements of our unconscious minds, and as Carl Jung calls it, the animus and anima. But overall they are the presence of doubt and add an element of suspense into the story.

Shadow:

This archetype gives off the evil energy, and takes shape in villains, antagonists, and enemies. They are based on the characteristics we dislike about ourselves, or even the secrets we are keeping from everyone. They threaten to destroy the hero and face them with their biggest conflict of the story, but also are placed in order to bring the best out in the hero and help them realize their potential for greatness. There are both internal and external shadows and both must be destroyed or disabled so that they hero can learn from whatever was being suppressed and keep on journeying down the path.

Ally:

The ally is both a necessary and important character for the hero to have. They act as comic relief to the story, a partner to help defeat obstacles, or just someone to lean on when things are getting tough. The allies do not even have to be human, in a lot of cases allies can be animals, or even ghost, and internal allies like dreams.

Trickster:

The trickster archetype can be used to add comedy to the story and to cut other characters down and reduce their standings. Most of the time they are harmless but annoying, but they can be very harmful to the hero in certain stories.

Reaction:

I like that we are exploring in more depth other archetypes other than the hero, but characters that directly affect the hero. These characters are very versatile and can take the shape of pretty much anything, or even embody one sole character. I found them very interesting, especially the shadow and the shapeshifter. I like the shadow because it is thought of as such a dark thing but in the end it bring out the best in the hero and helps him achieve his greatest goal. I like the shapeshifter because it can be so many different things, and therefore it is a lot harder to pin down and find in the story. But most of all both of these add the exciting elements that make up a story and without them I feel the story would not be complete, nor would the hero be able to go on his journey without them.

Questions:

1. Which out of these archetypes do you think is the most important to have in a story? Least important?

2. If all of these archetypes did embody one character what would happen to the story? Is this even possible?

3. Are the shadow and the villain essentially the same thing? What are the difference?