Archetypal Character

"It may seem redundant at first as strictly speaking an archetype is simply an example of something, in short every trope is a story archetype. However here we are using the term in reference to a concept in Jungian Psychology of the same name."

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.

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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.

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Tropes

Categories:

• Allegorical Character
• Stock Characters

• 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

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• 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

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