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Now that we’ve covered the the most basic structural foundations, both the Three- and Five-Act structures, we’re going to jump into the deep end with the Hero’s Journey.
As you can see, it can look incredibly dense. I chose this specific graphic because it was the most complete version I could find. There are many, much simpler, versions of the Hero’s Journey one can find, but for the purposes of this article, I wanted something we could really dig into. Mind you, this discussion will become its own series of articles in a few months when I go over each step in depth.
First, a list of the stages of the Hero’s Journey.
Ordinary World:
- Stage 1: Separation (Departure)
- Call to Adventure
- Refusal of the Call
- Supernatural Aid
- Crossing the Threshold
Special World
- Stage 2: Initiation
- Belly of the Whale
- Road of Trials
- Meeting with the Goddess
- Temptation
- Atonement with the Father (Meet the Shadow Self)
- Apotheosis
- The Ultimate Boon (Reward)
- Stage 3: Return
- Refusal to Return
- Magic Flight (The Road Back)
- Rescue from Without
Ordinary World:
- Crossing the Return Threshold (Resurrection)
- Master of Two Worlds
- Freedom to Live
As you can see the Hero’s Journey is separated into three sections: Separation (Departure), Initiation, and Return. These line up exactly with the idea of the Three-Act Structure. They represent the three stages of a journey: leaving home, the path one walks, and returning home.
Ordinary World
We always start in the Ordinary World. This is the world your main character knows and is a place of security. This can be a king or prince’s home land or the farm a boy was raised on. Everything will change for our hero when fate reveals its own plans.
The Call to Adventure
This can come in many different ways: a misdirected message, a random encounter, or a call to arms. The hero is asked to go on an adventure, one that will take them far from home. If you’ve ever played a role-playing game, you’d recognize the moment someone asks you the help them on what seems like a very basic task. Some kind of event will occur that pushes our hero out the door.
Refusal of the Call
Our hero isn’t going to want to go. They will have any number of reasons. They can’t leave home, they aren’t worthy, it’s too dangerous, or they just plain don’t want to get involved. In every case, another domino is going to topple that forces their hand. A friend is going to run off, their home is burned to the ground, a revelation requires they go on the journey, or they get kidnapped. One way or another, the hero is going on the adventure. How that happens will influence their mood for a good part of the story. Supernatural Aid
This is also known as “Meeting the Mentor”.
Along the way, our hero will meet someone or hear the story about someone that will inspire and guide them toward their destiny. At the beginning of your story, the hero doesn’t seem capable, and in a lot of ways, isn’t. This supernatural/mentor influence is going to begin whipping your hero into shape and get them ready for the trials to come. Again, the reason you give the mentor for helping will define the relationship and the emotions of the scenes. Some mentors are gruff while others are nurturing. Have a reason for this and explore it.
Crossing the First Threshold
Up until now, we’ve been traveling through the first act of both the three and five act structures. We’ve introduced out characters and basic setting. Now, the hero will start the journey and enter into land they have never seen before. In Star Wars, that was Luke leaving the farm and heading to space. In Harry Potter, that was heading off with Hagrid and entering the world of magic. They are off to discover their destiny and experience the unexpected. Everything changes for the hero.
Supernatural World
After leaving the Ordinary World, our characters enter the Supernatural World. This is a realm of dangers, new encounters, and drastically different rules. Some of the group may have a limited understanding of how this world works, but the main character must learn as they go. Every step will be fraught with danger and uncertainty where the wrong word could spark a battle.
Belly of the Whale
Upon entering the Supernatural World, the hero may start out stubborn, refusing to accept their inexperience or ask the questions that will help them survive. Either way, they need to admit they are out of their depth and need help. If they don’t, your story risks becoming dull. Where is the fun in someone who blithely overcomes every obstacle without difficulty or somehow survives while making every mistake possible in a hostile environment? I must admit, the bumbling hero works in comedy to a point.
Road of Trials
We’ve come to the fun part. Here is where you throw everything at the hero(es). Enemies attack. Allies step forward. Conflict abounds. In every instance, these trials will build your character up. He’ll grow as a hero and strengthen both mind and body. While they will both fail and succeed, they will always learn.
Meeting with the Goddess
Originally, this was where our hero meets their love interest of the story. While people still enjoy that moment in most tales, you don’t need the damsel in distress in need of rescue. In modern storytelling, this is where the hero finds something worth fighting for. Remember, in the beginning, the hero wanted to refuse the call but circumstances forced their hand. Here is where you give the hero a reason to fight. One they find on their own and is independent of the reason they left home.
Temptation
Like any well-balanced story, once you give them a reason to fight, provide a reason to walk away. In the case of a love interest, a rival one. If it’s a drive to safe a community they found, threaten the communities safety if the hero continues on their quest, but guarantee safety if they walk away. There are any number of ways to push the hero toward surrender and they don’t have to always revolved around the Meeting the Goddess moment. In the movie, Labyrinth, Sarah’s moment of Temptation is when she is entranced by the crystal ball. Her reason to fight is to rescue her brother and defeat the Goblin King, but the ball offers her an earlier desire from the beginning go the movie.
Atonement with the Father
This is also known as “Meeting the Shadow Self.”
While the main character isn’t going to necessarily meet a long lost father figure, they are going to confront a darkness within themselves. This shadow self can be a result of parental frustration, self-hate, past trauma, or general selfishness. The hero will be forced to face their greatest inner flaw.
Apotheosis
Here is where our hero overcomes his shadow shelf. They will resolve and conquer their worst flaw or overcome a deep trauma, and emerge from this inner battle stronger than ever before with a deeper knowledge about themselves and the supernatural world they currently inhabit.
Ultimate Boon
Your hero has come through all the trials, confronted their darkest fears and foibles, and survived it all to learn all the lessons necessary to succeed. This is where they received a reward. Perhaps it’s a magical sword, or a cloak of invisibility, or a power buried deep inside and now available to use. It could very well be the understanding of the conflict that sheds light on everything and allows them to gather all the opposing forces together to fight against the true villain hiding in the shadows. This is also the final victory in the overall battle itself. Occurring separately or all at once, this reward is a game changer for the hero.
Refusal of Return
Once the fighting is over, the hero will be reluctant to leave the world they just spent all this time fighting for and in. They’ve made friends, learned lessons, and adjusted to their live of adventure. Still, the hero must return home. Their work is done and the next adventure awaits back in the world they came from.
Magic Flight
They’ve won the final battle and chosen to return home, but that doesn’t mean the story is over. Perhaps the villain is clinging to life or one of his minions was ruined and is now seeking revenge. Something is going to jump out and try to stop of hero when he is vulnerable and only concerned about returning home.
Rescue from Without
Caught back footed and struggling with this final, desperate foe, the hero will get rescued by an unlikely ally or discover an item long forgotten hidden away in their pocket which turns the tides of battle. This will be final goodbye and coming of terms.
Ordinary World
Crossing the Return Threshold
The hero returns home. Once there, they will have to adjust back into a life without the strangeness of the world they just left. In a lot of ways, the hero who returns is no longer accustomed the the world they left in the beginning. This is a second occurrence of the hero finding themselves in a strange land they struggle to understand.
Master of Two Worlds
The hero learns to straddle the two worlds. They maintain the lessons and strength they earned during their adventure and adapt those assets to improve the world of their origin. They will discover new battles to fight. These battles won’t resemble the kinds they fought previously, but the new skills they possess will translate. Our hero learns to be pro-active wherever they find themselves.
Freedom to Live
This is the happily ever after. They have found balance, acceptance, and peace. More obstacles may lie ahead, but they are reassured in their own ability to face those challenges.
—
That brings us to the end of the Hero’s Journey.
As stated earlier, lining the Hero’s Journey up to the Three-Act Structure is pretty much done for us. Overlaying the Five-Act Structure takes a little more work. The Introduction takes place through Call to Adventure, Refusal of the Call, Supernatural Aid, and Crossing the Threshold. The Rising Action covers Belly of the Whale and Road of Trials. The Climax begins with Meeting with the Goddess, Woman as Temptress, and ends after Atonement with the Father. Falling Action races to the conclusion with Apotheosis, Ultimate Boon, Refusal of Return, Magic Flight, and Rescue from Without. Finally, our Denouement is covered in Master of Two Worlds and Freedom to Live.
One of the issues I always had with learning these different frameworks was an unabating fear that I would begin to produce formulaic writing. I’m sure many others have the same fear. As you read more books and find echoes of the Hero’s Journey, you will find times when some of the steps straddle the transition between acts, and that’s a good thing. The framework is a loose guide to help you along the way as you build your story. You, as the storyteller, will ultimately interpret how these events will occur and present. Some of this will manifest as internal conflict within the hero or external conflict with allies which eventually strengthen bonds. That part is up to you and when you have a template like the Hero’s Journey in front of you, it can allow your mind to focus on the details that bring the story to life.
Still, I want to show you how versatile this structure can be.
Those of you who have seen Rick & Morty will be aware of how off the wall that show can be, but every episode of the series, as well as the episodes of the comedy Community, both by Dan Harmon, were written by using a version of the Hero’s Journey. Below is his version known as the Story Circle.
First, the worlds are relabeled Order and Chaos. Step 1 is YOU, which is our introduction where the author establishes our status quo. There is a reason for its position, which I’ll get to. Next is NEED, which covers the Call to Adventure and Refusal. GO is Supernatural Aid and, as shown, Crossing the Threshold into Chaos followed by entering the Belly of the Whale. Search encompasses the Road of Trials. FIND is Meeting the Goddess and Temptation. TAKE will cover Atonement through Ultimate Boon. RETURN will go from Refusal to Return to Crossing the Return Threshold back into Order. CHANGE will cover Master of Two Worlds and Freedom to Live. Now, I said that Step 1 was in an interesting placement. That’s because Freedom to Live seeps over into YOU, reestablishing the protagonists in their new normal. Go watch a couple episodes of Rick and Morty and you’ll see how Harmon uses the Hero’s Journey and the Story Circle to great effect and always creates a unique story to tell from one episode to the next.
Now, go forth and write something!
