If you’ve heard a story where the main character is yearning to find something worth pursuing when suddenly they find themselves plunged deep into an adventure that tests their morals and abilities, only to come out a changed being, you’re not alone.
This skeletal illustration can be found in some of the most prominent books, movies, and TV shows. It can even be found in stories that have been told before the term “monomyth” was even established.
A monomyth, commonly known as the “Hero’s Journey,” is one of the most well known narrative archetypes where the main character, or the hero, attempts to solve a problem on their journey, while obtaining enlightenment on the way. Popularized by writer Joseph Campbell in his 1949 book The Hero With a Thousand Faces, he writes, “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”
The study of the hero myth narrative can be traced all the way back to 1871 with notable names contributing to the critical observations such as Edward Burnett Tylor, Otto Rank, and Lord Raglan. Much of the foundational work for the monomyth can also be attributed to the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. No person alone has created the idea of the hero’s journey, but we’ll be going over the individual variations of each matrix starting with Joseph Campbell’s.
Monomyths tend to have three acts, much like theatrical plays. These acts are listed in order as the Departure, the Initiation, and the Return. The Departure is when the hero leaves their familiar world behind; the Initiation is when the hero learns to navigate the unfamiliar world; and the Return is when the hero comes back to conclude their journey.
In Campbell’s version of the monomyth, there are 17 stages. The first stage in the Departure, or act one, is the Call to Adventure where something (or someone) interrupts the hero’s day to day life to present a problem, threat, or opportunity. This leads to the second stage titled the Refusal of the Call where the hero is hesitant about embarking on a journey because they are unwilling or afraid to step outside of their comfort zone. This initial refusal is squashed by the third stage called Supernatural Aid where a mentor gives the hero confidence to begin their journey. When they officially begin their quest, they enter the fourth stage called The Crossing of the First Threshold. Finally, the last stage in act one is called The Belly of the Whale, where the hero crosses the point of no return and faces their first major obstacle.
The initiation, or act two, begins with The Road of Trials where the hero has to prove their worth through a set of, well, trials! These trials are usually difficult and cause bouts of failure and frustration. The Meeting with the Goddess is the second stage in act two where the hero meets one or more allies who help them continue their journey; however, after this stage the hero is tempted by power, fame, or even a love interest to abandon their quest. This stage is called Woman as the Temptress. Atonement with the Father is a very important stage where the hero asks themselves what their journey is truly all about. This is known as a major turning point in the story. After the major turning point, the hero reaches the stage of Apotheosis where they finally learn the true nature of their power and prepare for the most difficult part of their journey. The last stage in act two is The Ultimate Boon where the hero is triumphant, fulfilling the call to adventure that began their quest.
The return, or act three, is initiated with The Refusal of the Return. Similar to the second stage in act one, the hero is reluctant to go back to the ordinary world because of the thrill and enlightenment of their epic journey; however, the second stage in act three, The Magic Flight, causes the hero to escape from those who wish to reclaim whatever enlightenment or object the main character has acquired. Rescue from Without is the following stage where the hero once again receives help from someone, but this time it’s to make it back home. They then enter the fourth stage in act three, The Crossing of the Return Threshold, where the hero successfully makes it back to the ordinary world. After they’ve officially returned, they find balance between who they were before the quest and who they’ve become after. This stage is called The Master of Two Worlds. Finally, the last stage is the Freedom to Live, where the hero is able to live their life at peace, concluding the story.
Another version of the hero’s journey was made by American philologist David Adams Leeming in his book Mythology: The Voyage of the Hero originally published in 1973, but had significant changes in 1981.
Act one begins with the Miraculous Conception and Birth, where the hero is conceived or born during miraculous, unusual, or extreme circumstances. Stage two is the Initiation of the Hero-child, where the hero (as a child) begins to learn about the forces that are infinitely larger than themselves. This is where they face and overcome obstacles with the help of outside assistance, showcasing their importance in the world. The last stage in act one is the Withdrawal from Family or Community for Meditation and Preparation, where the hero begins to detach from their idea of self in order to find their true self. This means resisting worldly temptations and other “sinful” ideas.
Act two begins with the Trial and Quest where the hero, now an adult, must face the outside world and experience struggle and reward. The next stage is appropriately titled Death where the hero, similar to their birth or conception, dies under miraculous conditions and acts as a scapegoat for our fear and guilt. The last stage in act two is the Descent into the Underworld where the hero confronts death to find enlightenment.
Act three only has two stages, the first being Resurrection and Rebirth where the hero ascends from the underworld and rises from the dead. The final stage in Leeming’s monomyth is Ascension, Apotheosis, and Atonement where the hero represents immortality and takes his last steps towards discovering God; thus, completing his journey.
It’s easy to find similarities between Leeming’s hero pattern and the story of Jesus Christ, along with Lord Raglan’s hero pattern as well. Their paradigms reveal a more mythological take on the hero’s journey.
One of the most recent adaptations of the hero’s journey comes from Christopher Vogler, a Hollywood development executive and writer, who worked with Disney in 2007 and developed The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers, which was originally published in 1992. In the book, before listing his twelve stages of his monomyth, he starts with the eight character archetypes that can be found in the story.
The first character archetype is obviously the Hero, someone who is willing to put others above themselves for the sake of good prevailing. The second archetype is the Mentor, characters who give the hero knowledge and useful objects. Next is the Threshold Guardian, a menacing obstacle that must be understood in order to overcome it. The fourth archetype is the Herald, a force that brings a new challenge to the hero. Next is the Shapeshifter, characters who change depending on the hero’s point of view. The Shadow is a character that represents the dark side of the story. The Ally is someone who aids the hero and travels with them on their journey. Lastly, the Trickster represents characters who are mischievous and cause a desire for change.
The twelve stages of Vogler’s hero’s journey begins with The Ordinary World in act one, where the hero is shown in their everyday life. The second stage is the famous Call to Adventure, described as the initiating incident of the story. The Refusal of the Call is next, where the hero experiences hesitation to embark on their quest, followed by the Meeting with the Mentor. This meeting causes the character to gain confidence, supplies, and knowledge needed to begin their adventure. The last stage in act one is Crossing the First Threshold where the hero commits wholeheartedly to their quest.
Act two begins with Tests, Allies, and Enemies where the hero explores a new environment, makes friends, and faces trials and enemies. Next is the Approach to the Innermost Cave where the hero gets close to the middle of the story and starts to understand the new world they are in. The Ordeal is when the hero faces their toughest challenge and experiences death and rebirth (metaphorically or literally). This leads to the last stage in act two called the Reward. This is when the hero faces the consequences of surviving death.
The last three stages are found in act three, starting with The Road Back. This is where the hero either returns to the ordinary world or continues their journey to a new destination. This is followed by The Resurrection where the hero experiences a final moment of death and rebirth so that they become pure. The final stage in this hero’s journey is the Return with the Elixir when the hero comes back with a form of enlightenment or object that will improve the ordinary world.
It’s clear that throughout history people have put a lot of thought into how the hero’s journey in a story should be structured, with some of the most famous works like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and The Hunger Games following the template almost exactly, but many people in the world of writing are critical of this way of storytelling. They claim that these templates aren’t really applicable to today’s cultural, racial, and gender issues and that they’re far too general.
One of the biggest criticisms monomyths face is that it promotes lazy writing and ends up causing stories to be predictable and unoriginal. This raises an interesting question:
Should you really follow a hero’s journey template when writing your story?
To answer this, let’s look at the definition of the word ‘template.’ According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a template is “a gauge, pattern, or mold used as a guide to the form of a piece being made.” The key word here is ‘guide’ because that’s all monomyths are. Like the mentor character archetype, the hero’s journey helps writers find their way in a new world and prepares them for their own journey. It’s used as the foundation of the story, and everyone knows a good house needs an even better foundation, but that doesn’t mean we stop building at the foundation. In fact, it doesn’t mean that we can’t improve the foundation and people have been for centuries.
Both arguments, for and against monomyths, bring up valid points, but at the end of the day it’s important not to become too polarized on the subject. The hero’s journey shouldn’t be blindly followed, but it shouldn’t be disregarded either.
There are so many different kinds of monomyths out there that we simply couldn’t cover them all in a single article. This is why we made seven monomyth diagrams, from Lord Raglan to Dan Harmon, and made them all downloadable on our patreon. That way you could have them all in one place and utilize them for your next story without having to spend hours scrounging the web for structure inspiration.
Click here to download all of the diagrams!
We hope this information about monomyths helps you strengthen your writing on future projects and let us know in the comments if you think the hero’s journey is a useful template for storytelling.
References
Campbell, J. (2004). The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.
Green, T. A. (1997). Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Beliefs, Customs, Tales, Music, and Art. ABC-CLIO. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-87436-986-1.
Leeming, D. A. (1981). Mythology: The Voyage of the Hero. New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 9780060439422.
Raglan, L. (1936). The Hero: A Study in Tradition, Myth and Drama. Dover Publications.
Segal, R.; Raglan, L.; Rank, O. (1990). “Introduction: In Quest of the Hero”. In Quest of the Hero. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691020620.
Singh, M. (2021). “The Sympathetic Plot, Its Psychological Origins, and Implications for the Evolution of Fiction”. Emotion Review. p. 183–198.
Vogler, C. (2007). The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. Studio City, CA : Michael Wiese Productions. Third Edition.
Wise, L. (2018). Should you follow “The hero’s journey” in your writing? Midnight Publishing LLC. https://midnightpublishingllc.com/cliched-or-popular-should-you-follow-the-heros-journey-in-your-writing/.
Writing 101: What is the hero’s journey? (2022). MasterClass. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/writing-101-what-is-the-heros-journey#joseph-campbell-and-the-heros-journey.
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