An Archetypal Character is a character who appears over and over in legends far and wide, even in cultures that have shut themselves off from the world; in other words, a Universal Character. The blood-drinking risen dead are an Archetype as almost every culture has come up with their own legends independent of each other. Angel is an archetype: the tragic hero trying to overcome the evils of their past. Trickster God Coyote is an archetype. Xena is an archetype. Any of these may be disguised as a Space Alien. Some characters combine aspects of various archetypes to form more complex characterizations, like a being The Hero and The Trickster, or a combination of two opposing archetypes.
Some lit-theories classify archetypes by the role/purpose the character inhabits for the story. These classes are: Protagonist, Antagonist, Reason, Emotion, Sidekick, Skeptic, Guardian, and Contagonist.
A related concept is the 'ectype', a distorted or flawed version of the archetype. For example, Batman is archetypal. He's a rich man who dedicates himself to anonymously fighting crime (protecting society) with a variety of gadgets. Many of the characters in Watchmen are ectypes based on this archetype.
See also Stock Characters.
Tropes
- All-Loving Hero
- The Antagonist
- Anthropomorphic Personification
- Anti-Hero
- The Archmage
- Audience Surrogate
- Barefoot Sage
- Big Fun
- Blind Seer
- Blue-Collar Warlock
- Bruiser with a Soft Center
- The Champion
- A Chat with Satan
- The Chosen One
- The Chooser of The One
- Classical Hunter
- Classic Villain
- Commander Contrarian
- The Conscience
- The Corrupter
- The Cynic
- The Dragonslayer
- The Drunken Sailor
- Dumb Muscle
- Eccentric Mentor
- Enigmatic Empowering Entity
- Evil Overlord
- The Fair Folk
- False Prophet
- Father Neptune
- The Ferryman
- The Fool
- Fool for Love
- Genki Girl
- Gentle Giant
- The Good King
- Granny Classic
- The Grotesque
- Herald
- The Hero
- Heroic Wannabe
- The High Queen
- Higher Self
- Hunter of Monsters
- Ideal Hero
- The Idealist
- Ineffectual Loner
- Jeanne d'Archétype
- Keet
- The Kirk
- The Klutz
- Knight in Shining Armor
- Lady and Knight
- Loser Archetype
- Lovable Rogue
- Madonna Archetype
- Magical Barefooter
- Mary Sue
- The McCoy
- Mentor Archetype
- Messianic Archetype
- Mock Millionaire
- Modern Major General
- Moses Archetype
- My Girl Back Home
- Obstructive Bureaucrat
- Oedipus Complex
- Old Soldier
- The Paladin
- The Paragon
- The Patriarch
- Person of Mass Destruction
- The Pollyanna
- Powers That Be
- Prince Charming
- Princess Classic
- The Protagonist
- A Protagonist Shall Lead Them (a.k.a. Leader Archetype)
- Rebel Leader
- Rebellious Spirit
- Reluctant Monster
- Satanic Archetype
- Seeker Archetype
- Shadow Archetype
- Sidekick
- The Sociopath
- The Spock
- Star-Crossed Lovers
- The Storyteller
- Threshold Guardians
- Turn Coat
- The Trickster
- Wicked Stepmother
- Wicked Witch
- Witch Classic
- Wizard Classic
- Wolf Man
- World's Best Warrior
- World's Most Beautiful Woman
- World's Strongest Man