This is a continuation of my blog post, What is the Monomyth?. In this series, we'll dissect each phase of the Hero's Journey, and break it down into the core components. Today we're discussing the second phase of the Monomyth (AKA the Fool's Journey); the "Initiation" phase. If you're not familiar with the first act, check it out here in my post, Monomyth Separation Phase: The First Stage Of The Hero's Journey.
The key points of the Initiation phase are below:
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):
- Separation (or Departure)
- Initiation (or Trials/Tests)
- Return
Purpose
In many ways, the Initiation phase is the most exciting. Not only is this where most of the action happens, but it serves as a testing ground for the hero and his allies. Below are the main purposes it fulfills.
- Tests the hero and their allies, by multiple obstacles that gradually build in difficulty over time.
- Introduces key characters, particularly allies, rivals, and enemies. Archetypes like the shapeshifter, trickster, and shadow may appear.
- The hero gets their first glimpse of the special world, and it's difficulties.
- The hero experiences death and sacrifice on a much deeper level than he did in the Separation act.
My video below explains in detail.
Steps of the Initiation Phase?
After crossing the threshold, the hero will...
- Enter the road of trials
- Note: this section encompasses the rest of the initiation steps and should take up the majority of your narrative
- Meeting with the goddess
- Receive additional guidance/advice
- Gives stronger tools/talismans
- Goddess challenges hero with impossible test
- Face temptation
- 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
- Apotheosis
- Hero experiences death (either himself, or someone else) and enter a state of godlike divinity (normally during dragon battle)
- Atonement with the father
- Hero comes to terms with a godlike power
- Can be dragon battle
- Can also be godlike being (think Zeus/Vader)
- Receive/obtain ultimate boon
- Normally proceeded by a Dragon Battle and Apotheosis
- Also known as the ordeal
- Villain
- What’s at stake?
- Reconnaissance
- Villain's plot/machinations
- Examples
- Vader (Star Wars)
- Souruman (Lord of the Rings)
- Souran (Lord of the Rings)
- Voldemort (Harry Potter)
- President Snow (Hunger Games)
- Antagonist's Army/Faction
- Examples
- Storm Troopers (Star Wars)
- Orcs (Lord of the Rings)
- Death Eaters (Harry Potter)
- Capital troops (Hunger Games)
- Goddess
- Serves as greater mentor
- Gives powerful tools/totems/talismans
- Provides advice, confidence, or psychological center
- Sometimes sends hero on impossible test
- 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
- Dragon
- Represents the hero's darkest sins
- Normally extremely powerful
- Sometimes mixed with the shadow
Stay tuned for the next post, where I will detail the third act of the Hero's Journey; the Return phase.
Follow Josh onYouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/user/Tipperdy
Or Twitter: @Joshumusprime
Or Twitter: @Joshumusprime
Or Facebook: www.facebook.com/thepolymathparadigm
And you can his NaNo progress here: http://nanowrimo.org/participants/tipperdy
And he has a book on military transitions here: http://www.amazon.com/About-Face-Josh-Coker-ebook/dp/B00N4GYB84/
