Monomyth Return Phase: The Third and Final Stage of the Hero's Journey

This is a continuation of my blog post, What is the Monomyth?. In this series, we are dissecting each phase of the Hero's Journey (AKA the Fool's Journey), and breaking it down into the core components. Today we're discussing the third and final act of the Monomyth, the "The Return" phase. If you're not familiar with the first and second stages, check them out here in my posts, Monomyth Separation Phase: The First Stage Of The Hero's Journey and Monomyth Initiation Phase: The Second Stage of the Hero's Journey.

The key points are below:

Monomyth Three Phases
The Hero's Journey is broken up into three main phases (or acts, or stages, or major plot events--depending on what you're writing):

1. Separation (or Departure)
2. Initiation (or Trials/Tests)
3. Return 

Today's post explores the third phase, Return.

Purpose

In many ways, the return phase is the most meaningful. Not only is this where the climax happens, but it provides the hero meaning to the journey and should deliver a lesson to the audience. Below are the main purposes it fulfills. 

1. Forces the hero to return to the normal world with the boon.  
2. Provides the hero's final test, normally in the form of a climactic battle, to prove he has retained all of the lessons in the narrative.
3. The hero experiences death and sacrifice on the deepest level possible. 
4. Tie up loose ends and return back to normal life. 

Steps of the Return Phase:

Before re-crossing the threshold into the normal world, the hero will...

• Refuse the return 
• Having been in the special world for so long, the hero becomes accustomed to the new rules and does not desire to leave
• Perhaps they have become addicted to their new found powers, or lustful of new relationships 
• Or perhaps they find the normal world too boring compared to the adventure they have experienced 

• The Magic Flight
• Although sometimes depicted as actual flying, this step actual refers to the hero fleeing from a fight/enemy
• Many times the hero's will take flight back into the safety of their normal world
• The "magic" can be special technology, or an ethereal transcendence, or sometimes a method that the hero himself can not create (piloting a ship)
• Rescue from without

• Many times the hero needs help crossing the return threshold, usually because hero is weak/injured/incapable
• Normally this comes from an unlikely character
• Usually someone the hero has taken for granted, underestimated, or considered beneath him
• After receiving the help hero learns humility 
• This humbling is necessary to temper the hero's new found powers

• Crossing The Return Threshold
• Once the hero has returned, they must learn how to integrate their new knowledge into the normal world
• This normally means sharing the boon with the normal world
• This also means fighting the ultimate enemy one last time in an epic battle/fight/argument at the climax of the narrative
• Many times this requires the hero to make one final ultimate sacrifice of themselves

• Resurrection
• Having given the ultimate sacrifice, the hero is resurrected
• Normally hero enters a godlike state 
• Powers become fully realized

• Master of Both Worlds
• Having Incorporated the lessons from the journey into the normal world, the hero can now use their power's without hindrance
• Hero uses power to bring balance to both worlds

• Freedom to Live
• Hero is free to return to life in a new form
• Hero is the embodiment of the lessons they have learned an go about life in a new way that frees them from fear of pain or death (both literal and figurative)

• Face temptation (at any point during the return)
• Can be any type of temptation as long as it fits the theme of the story
• Sexual temptation
• Greed
• Power
• Sometimes the hero is tempted to quit the mission
• Break ethics

Characters normally seen in Return Stage:

• Villain
• Represents antithesis of hero's goal
• Examples
1. Vader (Star Wars)
2. Souruman (Lord of the Rings)
3. Souran (Lord of the Rings)
4. Voldemort (Harry Potter)
5. President Snow (Hunger Games)

• Antagonist's Army/Faction
• Examples
1. Storm Troopers (Star Wars)
2. Orcs (Lord of the Rings)
3. Death Eaters (Harry Potter)
4. Capital troops (Hunger Games)

• Allies
• Could be old threshold guardians
• Sidekicks from Separation phase
• Rivals from earlier

• Shapeshifter
• Sometimes the tempter in the temptation step
• Often a character from the opposite sex
• Can be villain or lackey of villain

• Trickster
• Can be villain or lackey of villain
• Can be rival or sidekick hybrid
• Explores theme of trust and perspective

• Shadow
• Mirrors/contrasts the hero in several ways (particularly the moral argument)
• Represents the dark side of the story's theme
• Can be main villain or act as contagonist

Stay tuned. The next few monomyth posts, I intend on using well known movie, book, and video game examples to walk through the Hero's Journey.  

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And he has a book on military transitions here: http://www.amazon.com/About-Face-Josh-Coker-ebook/dp/B00N4GYB84/