I read a critique of a book that compared the characters to the relative popularity/interest level in Loki and Thor, saying that Loki is more interesting because he has conflicts and changing/growing motivations and desires he pursues that come from within, whereas Thor is basically content with his life of drinking, fighting and sex, and only reacts to external threats. I can see their point. At the same time, point one is that there’s nothing wrong with external threats driving an adventure narrative. That’s a valid and often interesting story structure. In fact, it’s arguably necessary for a serialized adventure story. Point two is that basically happy and well-adjusted people can have growth and interesting motivations and reactions… they just happen differently, or more subtly and slowly perhaps.
From what I can tell, the problem with that book’s main character was that she was ultimately not used in an interesting way by the narrative, and nothing super interesting happened for her to react to or grow from. Thor is different ‘cause you can do almost anything with a comic superhero character in general and Thor in particular, as we can see even in the range of tone and subject matter in current Marvel Thor movies. I mean, most stories that care about plot basically need a main character constructed like Thor, while antagonists and secondary characters are more free to have overarching agendas. At the same time, putting that kind of hero into a smaller, more character-driven story is also possible, as a lot of fanfic demonstrates.
Anyway, this makes me wonder what the 'secret’ of making a naturally well-adjusted character like Thor interesting in a smaller story would be. Basically, what if the stuff the main character has to react to is just… not that gripping, or kind of predictable, or even not the point? Does the character have to be dramatic in and of themselves then?
The main 'secret’ is the relationship/relationships developed between the characters, as far as I can tell. The 'main character’ is not the point; the dynamic is the point of interest. That’s not to say I actually think only striving, conflicted characters like Loki are truly interesting. Thor is interesting! You can’t really be 'too boring’ or 'too normal’ for a story to be great; that’s actually ridiculous. Being conflicted and intense as a person is essentially just easier. It’s a shortcut, basically. As a writer, that story writes itself. It’s just… with someone like Thor and without an external source of conflict, I think suddenly you have to have some subtlety and attention to detail, noticing all the tiny things in life that actually matter and make it feel 'real’ and important as you’re living it. You can reveal hidden depths and subtleties in any character, even if they’re just going out to a bar with friends. It’s just… easy to fail, and hard to keep the reader’s attention.
I think a lot of writers also write 'normal’ and well-adjusted characters without being very intentional about it, unlike good fanfic writers, who generally are fixated and obsessed with every tiny detail about Thor. Like, the writer may use broad strokes too much with such a character, or not be good enough at capturing small, mundane moments in an elegant, vivid manner. They may even believe their smaller stakes plot may fool readers into thinking it’s super important. Essentially, the problem is generally the writer not respecting their readers’ intelligence and not being interested enough in their own main character.
“Shh, it’s alright,” the villain said. “You’re doing beautifully and I’m so proud of you. But that’s enough now. It was cruel of them to make you fight me - you could never have won. It’s not your fault.”
The ancient and powerful villain may have had a calm and gentle face as he spoke, but he was furious, not at the hero, but the gods for continually sending kids and teenagers to fight their battles.
We already talked about the Writer’s Journey structure for screenwriting and listed the stages of the journey. As shown in the last article, act one has the following stages:
Ordinary World
Call to Adventure
Refusal of the Call
Meeting the Mentor
Crossing the First Threshold
Act two of the script has the following stages:
Test, Allies, Enemies
Approach the Inmost Cave
Ordeal
Reward
After our hero crosses the First Threshold at the end of act one, he will enter the stage know as Test, Allies, Enemies. The Hero will find his Allies that will share his adventure, be it Han Solo and Chewbacca, or Morpheus group in The Matrix. They will find tests that will show will show the rules of the new world that the hero has entered; each time the hero overcome a test, he/she will grow and be ready to face their next test. Of course, they will also face enemies (Threshold Guardians) who will attempt to stop the hero from reaching the next step.
The hero will Approach the Inmost Cave, that evil fortress, or the dragon’s lair where the object of the quest is hidden. He will face more thresholds, test and enemies in this stage. In Star Wars, this stage happens when the Millennium Falcon enters the Death Star. A similar moment happens in the Matrix, when Neo and Trinity enter the building where Morpheus is being detained. In Aliens, Ripley will enter the Atmosphere Processing Center to rescue Newt.
At this point, the Hero has to face the Ordeal. This is his darkest moment for the hero. Luke is trapped inside the trash compactor. Neo faces off against an Agent on top of the building. Ripley finds the Alien Queen inside the monster’s chambers. All these situations are ordeals that the hero can overcome.
After overcoming the ordeal, our hero received the Reward. This is a major victory for the Hero, a boon that will be beneficial before the final showdown in act three. Luke escapes the Death Star with the Princess. Neo rescues Morpheus from Agent Smith. Ripley saves Newt before the Processing Center explodes.
The Hero has what he was looking for, but he will have to face their final tests in act three of the journey.
References:
Vogler, C. (2007). The writer’s journey: mythic structure for writers. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions.
In my last article, I listed the character archetypes that Joseph Campbell presented in his storytelling theory, the Hero’s Journey. We have our courageous Hero, the foretelling Herald, the wise Mentor, his trusted Allies, the playful Trickster, the challenging Threshold Guardians, the enigmatic Shapeshifter and the evil Shadow.
Now, what is the journey of the hero? Where does he go? What happens on his way? What challenges does the hero face in his journey?
Campbell identified certain patters that appeared in myths and stories shared by different cultures. Out of these patterns or stages, Christopher Vogler created a screenwriting structure called The Writer’s Journey. Like Syd Field’s Screenplay, the Writer’s Journey is a three-act structure. Act one is about 30 pages, act two is 60 pages, and act three should be 30 pages long.
The stages of the Hero’s Journey are the following:
Act One
Ordinary World
Call to Adventure
Refusal of the Call
Meeting the Mentor
Crossing the First Threshold
Act Two
Test, Allies, Enemies
Approach the Inmost Cave
Ordeal
Reward
Act Three
The Road Back
Resurrection
Return with the Elixir
For now, we’re going to focus on Act One. In this act we usually have the following stages to begin the story.
In our story, the Hero begins in the Ordinary World. This is the place, environment or emotional state before the hero starts his journey. This could be the Lars Moisture Farm in Tattooine, Neo’s life as an aimless hacker and a bored company employee, or Ripley drifting in space inside Nostromo’s escape shuttle.
The Hero receives his Call to Adventure, often brought by the Herald. The call can be a cryptic message that says, “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.” Sometimes the call can be a direct request, like the one Burke tells Ripley that the company lost contact with the settlers at LV-426. In the end, the call can be a simple question, “What is the Matrix?”
“But it’s too far away!” Said Luke to Obi-Wan. Neo refuses to escape through the window. Ripley kicks Burke out of her apartment. The Hero refuses the call out of fear, doubt, or even responsibilities that ties him/her down. Of course, an event happens that makes the hero overcome his doubts or objections.
Often times the event in question happens when the Hero meets the wise Mentor. The Mentor guides the Hero to prepare him for his adventure. Sometimes the mentor will give the hero a magical item or talisman. At one point, the Mentor will stay behind to allow the hero to face the unknown.
At this moment, the Hero will cross the first threshold. This is the point of no return that the hero must pass. Luke boards the Millennium Falcon to blast across the Imperial Blockade out of Tattooine. Neo takes the red pill, and Ripley steps inside the Weyland-Yutani installation.
It is by this moment that the first act finishes usually at page 30 of the script. Our hero has left his place of security and will head towards his adventure to find his destiny.
Stay tuned for Structure Act Two!
References:
Vogler, C. (2007). The writer’s journey: mythic structure for writers. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions.
Why Do We Need Heroes? - The Critical Drinker, Dec. 2, 2020 [X]
“See, we’ve been doing this kind of thing for a lot longer than you might think. In fact, ever since us humans have been able to conceive of stuff beyond our own experience, we’re been kind of fascinated by the idea of heroic characters embarking on epic adventures, righting wrongs, and defeating evil enemies. It’s kind of the basis for our whole civilization.
… And I guess this is the real point I’m trying to make here: the heroes we create are a symbol and a reflection of our human potential not human reality they represent the very best of what we can and should strive for they encourage us to reach higher to try harder to go further than we ever thought possible.They push us to see beyond the boundaries and limitations of our everyday lives to dream about what we could be instead of fretting about what we are and perhaps most importantly of all they remind us that there’s still something fundamentally good in all of humanity for all our flaws and our mistakes and our weaknesses
It’s our ability to pick ourselves up to move forward to strive to better ourselves and overcome our limitations. This defined all of our history, it’s what’s driven us to build great cities invent new technologies compose great symphonies and works of art to explore the furthest reaches of our planets and to reach for the stars. The potential that exists inside each and every one of us is as unlimited as our imaginations and the heroes that we create to inspire and motivate and guide us reflect the very best aspects of that boundless potential.”
(I’m not responsible for any typos or grammatical errors, this is the subtitle text captured with https://anthiago.com/transcript/, I added some para breaks to make it easier to read.)
“ah comic books you’ve got to love them especially in the current year whether it’s reimagining bruce wayne as an asian american teenager accompanied by his gay butler alfred or a body positive wonder woman that strikes fear into the hearts of all you can eat buffets everywhere or whatever these two are meant to be the entire industry seems to have spent the past few years self-destructing i mean reinventing itself into something more diverse and inclusive and what could be more diverse than inclusive than a year novel about the gay goth plus-sized daughter of legendary dc superhero starfire struggling to escape the long shadow cast by her famous mother and find her own sense of identity during her turbulent teenage years it’s a good premise really allowing the writer to explore questions of family legacy personal identity societal expectations the real world implications of fame and the complex and often difficult relationship between mothers and their teenage daughters so let’s take a look at this exciting new work shall we
[Music]
it does prompt a few questions though like why does her upper lip project several inches from her face why does one of her hands seem to be suffering from chronic gigantism why does this front cover look like it was drawn by me after several pints of methylated spirits i thought the whole point of ya novels is that they’re intended for well young adults so they’re supposed to look cool edgy sexy and compelling this looks like the kind of thing your weird hippie aunt would get you for christmas when you’re five years old and you’d politely dump in some cupboard and never talk about again is there a reason the author might have chosen to style her main character like this well let’s take a look at her shall we [Laughter] now call me crazy but i do detect a faint resemblance here
the thing is it would be easy enough for me to point and laugh at what’s clearly just another cringe-worthy self-insertion vanity project doomed to fall into the garbage can of history written by an author whose ego probably outstrips her creative ability and commissioned by a struggling publisher desperate to appeal to a woke audience that probably should have allocated its declining resources to something with a better chance of success like burning money i could do all of these things and probably have a good laugh along the way but really the bigger question that comes to mind for me is what exactly are we becoming if this is the new standard for our comic book heroes
See we’ve been doing this kind of thing for a lot longer than you might think in fact ever since us humans have been able to conceive of stuff beyond our own experience we’ve been kind of fascinated by the idea of heroic characters embarking on epic adventures righting wrongs and defeating evil enemies it’s kind of the basis for our whole civilization whether it’s achilles and hector and the iliad or perseus slain medusa or beowulf fighting grendel or saint george killing the dragon you could pick basically any culture on earth at any time period and the chances are you’ll find legends and stories of heroic men and women accomplishing great deeds characters who could best be described as more than human men of destiny men of great skill or superhuman strength that allows them to overcome the most powerful and terrifying enemies imaginable
jump forward a few thousand years and we’re still doing the exact same thing with a new generation of heroes and villains that we’ve created all for ourselves the classical heroes gods and monsters from our ancient legends have been replaced by modern day reinterpretations and instead of storytellers spinning their tails around a campfire now we have comic books movies and tv to satisfy our needs the technology might have changed but the basic motivation hasn’t we still have the same drive and hunger for stories of larger than life heroes and villains the same need to believe in things that are grander and bigger than our own petty existence the same aspiration to be more than we are
and i guess this is the real point i’m trying to make here the heroes we create are a symbol and a reflection of our human potential not human reality they represent the very best of what we can and should strive for they encourage us to reach higher to try harder to go further than we ever thought possible they push us to see beyond the boundaries and limitations of our everyday lives to dream about what we could be instead of fretting about what we are and perhaps most importantly of all they remind us that there’s still something fundamentally good in all of humanity for all our flaws and our mistakes and our weaknesses
it’s our ability to pick ourselves up to move forward to strive to better ourselves and overcome our limitations this defined all of our history it’s what’s driven us to build great cities invent new technologies compose great symphonies and works of art to explore the furthest reaches of our planets and to reach for the stars the potential that exists inside each and every one of us is as unlimited as our imaginations and the heroes that we create to inspire and motivate and guide us reflect the very best aspects of that boundless potential
so i guess it’s kind of sad and disheartening to watch today’s cynical nihilistic mean-spirited attempts to undermine subvert and degrade those same heroes instead of respecting and looking up to them it’s become fashionable to mock and belittle and criticize them as relics of a bygone era or symbols of oppression or discrimination without really understanding what they stood for in the first place people who once looked to our heroes as symbols to aspire to as a motivation to become more than they are now see them as an unflattering reflection of their own weaknesses and failures rather than try to better themselves and their lives through hard work courage and sacrifice they instead find perverted joy in tearing down anything that stands higher than them bringing everyone and everything down to their level instead of the harder but more rewarding task of raising themselves up and the end result of this way of thinking is a small petty envious view of the world the kind of thing that belongs in the minds of small petty envious people who hide their dark intent behind a facade of compassion and fairness the kind of people who hysterically preach acceptance of everything no matter how ridiculous harmful or pathetic
because once you accept everything then there’s no need to strive for anything and instead of the mighty and inspiring heroes we used to look up to well you end up with stuff like this
now ask yourself who exactly do you think is going to be inspired and motivated by this
