This is a summary of the Heroine archetypes from The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes & Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes (see the footnote on that page). The list of Hero archetypes is here.
Also listed are the villainous versions of the Heroine archetypes; these come from the website of one of the authors (again, see the footnote).
Quick Overview
The eight Heroine archetypes presented are as follows:
- The Boss
- Female version of The Chief, decisive but sometimes inflexible, only with all the baggage that comes with the fight for equal opportunity.
- The Seductress
- Femme Fatale whose cynical, manipulative nature stems from a rough childhood.
- The Spunky Kid
- Female version of The Best Friend, roughly; a Plucky Girl who's always ready to roll up her sleeves and get to work.
- The Free Spirit
- The Waif
- The Damsel in Distress who can't fight back against her oppressors but
can endure whatever they throw at her.
- The Damsel in Distress who can't fight back against her oppressors but
- The Librarian
- Female version of The Professor, she's got the etiquette down but needs a class in social skills. Likely Beautiful All Along.
- The Crusader
- Female version of The Warrior - another tenacious protector.
- The Nurturer
- The cheerful caregiver who "nourishes the spirit" and puts everyone else's needs above her own.
Their villainous versions are as follows:
- The Bitch
- Self-centered version of The Boss who "lies, cheats, and steals her way to the top."
- The Black Widow
- Evil version of The Seductress, The Vamp who can charm her way into anything.
- The Backstabber
- Evil version of The Spunky Kid who uses your secrets to get her way.
- The Lunatic
- Insane version of The Free Spirit who is less eccentric and more "unbalanced madwoman."
- The Parasite
- Self-serving version of The Waif who could free herself but chooses to participate in atrocities rather than to give up comfort and security.
- The Schemer
- Evil version of The Librarian who uses "elaborate plans, intricate schemes" to ruin reputations and end lives.
- The Fanatic
- Self-deluded version of The Crusader who "justifies her actions by her intent, and merely shrugs her shoulders at collateral damage."
- The Matriarch
- Deluded version of The Nurturer, a "motherly oppressor" who controls the lives of her loved ones.
Examples:
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Heroes:
The Boss
- Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager.
The Seductress
- Sally Bowls from Cabaret.
- Rue from Princess Tutu.
The Spunky Kid
- Rikku from Final Fantasy X.
- Kaylee from Firefly
The Free Spirit
- Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter.
- The book mentions Lucy from I Love Lucy. Lucy is an impulsive Cloud Cuckoolander whose goals often result in chaos due to her creating Zany Schemes to achieve them. The more straight-laced Ricky says once that "being married to [her] isn't easy, but it sure is a lot of fun."
The Waif
- The book gives us Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. It also mentions Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.
- Madoka Kaname from Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
The Librarian
- Samantha Carter from Stargate: SG-1, despite being more action-y than most.
- The book also notes Diane from Cheers and Scully from The X-Files.
- Belle, from the film of Beauty and the Beast counts as well.
- Adele Mundy from the Republic of Cinnibar series.
- Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is a bookworm whose mentor had to order her to socialize. After finding her True Companions, she becomes much more willing, but still has a lot of trouble due to lack of experience. Her normal course when confronted with a problem involves research and she does not handle things that are not scientifically explainable calmly.
The Crusader
- Battle Angel Alita would fit right in.
- The book mentions Buffy and Xena. Delenn and Ivanova on Babylon 5.
The Nurturer
- Tohru from Fruits Basket may be the quintessential one in this role.
- The book notes Mary Poppins.
- Molly Prewett Weasley from Harry Potter.
- Fluttershy from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is a super-polite Shrinking Violet whose special talent is animal care. She is almost unwaveringly gentle and bears the Element of Kindness.
Villains:
The Bitch
- History has a few queens who fall under this role.
- The Queen in "Snow White" might count, even though her fight is more about being on the top of the beauty ladder.
- Sunset Shimmer from My Little Pony: Equestria Girls is a highschool fantasy version of a given equivalent of a "queen" with a quest for usurping even more power from an actual monarch and who also fits The Schemer mold.
The Black Widow
- The female lead of Double Indemnity.
The Backstabber
- Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender. She doubles as the Bitch, the Schemer, and towards the end, the Fanatic as well.
The Lunatic
The Parasite
- Crops up occasionally in crime dramas.
- One episode of Criminal Minds had a girl who appeared to be an abuse victim of her serial-killing boyfriend, but was later revealed to be the serial killer in charge of the whole mess. This kind of villain doesn't count, since she wants to do the crime and isn't just going along with the perps.
The Schemer
- Lucrezia from Girl Genius.
- Ursula from The Little Mermaid (1989) plots to gain the throne by exploiting Ariel's love for Eric and her inability to share her problem with her father. She maintains an eye on how her plan is going and creates additional sub-schemes to course-correct when Ariel gets too close to achieving her goal.
The Fanatic
- Miko Miyazaki from The Order of the Stick.
- Starlight Glimmer from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is a cult leader who preaches that special talents and other things that vary between ponies cause trouble and division. If someone doesn't fall in line, her tactics vary from brainwashing to messing up the timeline.
The Matriarch
- Akito from Fruits Basket probably falls under this role. The mother from Psycho too, in a fashion.
- Gothel from Tangled kidnaps Rapunzel to use her hair as a youth treatment and pretends to be her mother. Her style bears striking similarities to a real-life Abusive Parent; she scares her "daughter" with horror stories about the outside world and puts her down while claiming she's teasing.
Comparing the Gender Roles
A. Roughly the same thing regardless of gender
- The Chief and The Boss are both goal-oriented leaders who don't usually back down.
- The Boss usually gets a layer of equal rights propaganda thrown in.
- The Professor and The Librarian are both data-oriented introverts who don't know how to connect with other people (and often don't care).
- The Librarian gets a layer of Beautiful All Along, which is something The Professor usually does not get. (Please list exceptions under the Examples section!)
- The Warrior and The Crusader are both tenacious protectors who can easily snap into Determinator mode.
- The Warrior gets nuanced by whether he's willing to accept The Call, whereas The Crusader gets nuanced by whether she's trying to save the world or just her little group.
B. Rough counterparts who still amount to the same general idea
- The Bad Boy and The Seductress are both scarred by childhood and have troubled connecting with other people.
- The Spunky Kid and The Best Friend are both dependable allies who are always ready to help when the chips are down.
C. Those who don't seem to pair off
- The Charmer, The Lost Soul, and The Swashbuckler don't seem to have female counterparts.
- The Free Spirit, The Waif, and The Nurturer don't seem to have male counterparts.
According to the book, when working in the Romance genre
- A guy can be an irrepressible rogue who shows you a good time but doesn't stick around when it's over, but a girl is less likely to be like this.
- A girl can be a quirky eccentric who lives life to the fullest and doesn't care what the neighbors think, but a guy is less likely to be like this.
- A guy can be a gung-ho action hero with an eye for adventure and a blindness to possible risk, but a girl is less likely to be like this.
- A girl can be a Damsel in Distress, a child-like innocent who needs to be protected but yet has great strength of will, but a guy is less likely to be like this.
- A guy can be a brooding loner, a sensitive and vulnerable artist with a Gothic outlook on life, but a girl is less likely to be like this.
- A girl can be a selfless caregiver who listens to your problems and warms your spirit with her genuine optimism, but a guy is less likely to be like this.
If you're going to defy gender stereotypes, those six are a great place to start.
Examples of stories:
Western Animation
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: According to Lauren Faust, the main girls are based around these.
- Twilight Sparkle is The Librarian.
- Pinkie Pie is The Free Spirit.
- Applejack is The Boss.
- Fluttershy is The Nurturer.
- Rainbow Dash is The Crusader.
- Rarity is The Waif.
