What would be a good motif for my main characters?

One of my main characters represents the strength of the group(toughness bravery etc). Another represents the mind(thoughfulness, wisdom and so on). The next repsresents the heart(passion, good cause and stuff). The last is the unknown(change, growth, you know).

I want something with four to them like seasons or elements. I thought of having elements with Earth's Strength but I can't figure out the rest. So can anyone help me?

Let's see...

• Fire- The Heart. Fire has long represented passion and vitality due to its status as a major factor in human survival.
• Water- The Mind. Water has a calming effect that results in a lot of people thinking with fountains and rivers in the background. Think meditating monks or something.
• Earth- The Strength. As you stated already. Almost all world cultures place the Earth as strong.
• Air- The Unknown. Air is an unpredictable, enigmatic, omnipresent element that could either sustain life or kill it in a heartbeat.

Not sure about seasons, though.

edited 6th Mar '11 5:10:47 PM by CrystalGlacia

Mind if you can elaborate on who your characters are? Their names, their personalities, habits? I (and others) can more likely help you if you share more.

It might help to tie in the character's motifs with the rest of the show (for example, House MD compared some of the characters to a spine and a heart and something else I can't remember because it's about a hospital.) So, what's your story about?

I suppose the unknown could be soul and represent the higher power behind the group or its moral compass.

seasonal motifs, granted will probably change based on regional seasons

• summer: bravery, heat, war, strength
• winter: survival, cold, intellect, resourcefulness
• Spring: growth, rain, purifying, abundance
• Fall: harvesting, night, revelry, stuff dieing

My memory is failing me at the moment about the others but the Chinese element of wood sounds like your unknown character.

Tarot; Cups = Water = Emotion. Swords = Air = Thought. Pentacles = Earth = Strength. Wands = Fire = Change. Unknown = the fifth element, spirit = Major arcana.

It depends whether you want a 5 man band or a 4.

Hmmm, if you're looking for seasons, I'd go with the following:

• Winter: Strength of the group(toughness bravery etc). Winter has always been one of the toughest seasons for humans and other creatures to survive. Back before modern commodities, only the strong and good of health has a real time surviving it. Plus, if you're worried about ice as a motif, ice does not always mean an individual that's cold and uncaring
• Summer: Mind(thoughtfulness, wisdom and so on). Partially because the mind might be considered the opposite of strength, but also because summers have long been co-notated as either the easiest season of the year before modern times, allowing for the use of the mind without other physical worries such as freezing to death, or the hottest time of year, meaning little movement of the body and more use of the mind.
• Spring: Heart(passion, good cause and stuff). Spring has long been associated with passion in poems, and concepts such as Spring Fever fit in well here.
• Fall: The unknown(change, growth, you know). The first step in change is death. New ideas cannot be born and take root without the death of old ideas. It is the beginning of growth.

edited 13th Mar '11 9:25:11 AM by SeventySeven