Save to My Latticework unsave

Hero's Journey
Hero's Journey
Hero's Journey
save0 saved view15.4K views
Share this with your network
Share this with your network
Overview

Whether you’re writing fiction, starting a marketing campaign, crafting a pitch, or trying to ride the ups and downs of an entrepreneurial li ...

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Eaedem enim utilitates poterunt eas labefactare atque pervertere. Non est ista, inquam, Piso, magna dissensio. Potius inflammat, ut coercendi magis quam dedocendi esse videantur. Quamvis enim depravatae non sint, pravae tamen esse possunt. Piso, familiaris noster, et alia multa et hoc loco Stoicos irridebat: Quid enim? Habes, inquam, Cato, formam eorum, de quibus loquor, philosophorum. Ab hoc autem quaedam non melius quam veteres, quaedam omnino relicta. Duo Reges: constructio interrete.

Si alia sentit, inquam, alia loquitur, numquam intellegam quid sentiat; Quas enim kakaw Graeci appellant, vitia malo quam malitias nominare. Quae est igitur causa istarum angustiarum? Illa argumenta propria videamus, cur omnia sint paria peccata. Ita similis erit ei finis boni, atque antea fuerat, neque idem tamen;

Modo etiam paulum ad dexteram de via declinavi, ut ad Pericli sepulcrum accederem. In quo etsi est magnus, tamen nova pleraque et perpauca de moribus. Vitiosum est enim in dividendo partem in genere numerare. Utinam quidem dicerent alium alio beatiorem! Iam ruinas videres. Perturbationes autem nulla naturae vi commoventur, omniaque ea sunt opiniones ac iudicia levitatis.

Share this model with your network to be smarter, faster, together!
Actionable Takeaways
  • Create narratives with this structure in mind. 

Rather than follow the model religiously, use it as ...

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Diodorus, eius auditor, adiungit ad honestatem vacuitatem doloris. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Qui autem de summo bono dissentit de tota philosophiae ratione dissentit. Ut in voluptate sit, qui epuletur, in dolore, qui torqueatur. Si longus, levis. Eodem modo is enim tibi nemo dabit, quod, expetendum sit, id esse laudabile. Quae iam oratio non a philosopho aliquo, sed a censore opprimenda est. Sed non alienum est, quo facilius vis verbi intellegatur, rationem huius verbi faciendi Zenonis exponere.

An est aliquid, quod te sua sponte delectet? Modo etiam paulum ad dexteram de via declinavi, ut ad Pericli sepulcrum accederem. Tamen aberramus a proposito, et, ne longius, prorsus, inquam, Piso, si ista mala sunt, placet. Potius ergo illa dicantur: turpe esse, viri non esse debilitari dolore, frangi, succumbere. Nummus in Croesi divitiis obscuratur, pars est tamen divitiarum. Et quidem Arcesilas tuus, etsi fuit in disserendo pertinacior, tamen noster fuit;

Consequentia exquirere, quoad sit id, quod volumus, effectum. Illis videtur, qui illud non dubitant bonum dicere -; Tum Torquatus: Prorsus, inquit, assentior; Sed residamus, inquit, si placet. Quid turpius quam sapientis vitam ex insipientium sermone pendere? Quid, quod res alia tota est?

Limitations

There were many critiques about whether or not Campbell’s original model really applied to folklore, or whether he selectively cited his examples. At the same time, his model which referenced such things as ‘meeting with goddess’ and ‘woman as temptress’ was rightly critiqued from a feminist perspective. I would argue that the updated model from Vogler does address many of these issues, especially when seen as a ‘loose framework’ rather than a tight script.  

Another criticism is about its complexity and therefore usefulness to be applied. Vogler obviously reduced and streamlined the stages from 17 to 12 but even so it might be too much for some applications. Indeed, Dan Harmon, who was behind Community and Rick and Morty, simplified it further to the story circle which consists of 8 stages: a character in comfort; they want something; they enter an unfamiliar situation; they adapt; they get what they wanted; they pay a price; they return to their familiar situation; they’ve changed. 

Perhaps the biggest criticism in a business context is that the approach is too bloated for a busy, overwhelmed audience. If that’s the case, Minto’s Pyramid or other models might be a better approach.

In Practice

So many examples.

Many examples have been cited to back up the relevance of the Hero’s Journey in storytelling. I particularly like this wonderful infographic explaining how it applies in popular movies such as Harry Potter, Star Wars, the Matrix, Spiderman, the Lion King and the Lord of the Rings.

Build your latticework
This model will help you to:

The hero’s journey is a fundamental, persistent and broadly used model in storytelling. 

Use the following examples of connected and complementary models to weave the hero’s journey into your broader latticework of mental models. Alternatively, discover your own connections by exploring the category list above. 

Connected models: 

  • Three act model: a three act approach to storytelling.
  • Minto's pyramid: it’s different but the simplified business focused narrative structure bares some resemblance. 

Complementary models: 

  • Journey map: use the hero’s journey to provide a structure to a customer journey. 
  • Design thinking: to empathise with a protagonist or customer as part of telling their story.
  • Lean startup: tell your entrepreneurial story with the hero’s journey.
  • Non violent communication: another communication model that you might incorporate with the hero's journey to express yourself in a more compelling way.
Origins & Resources

First described in 1949 by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, the hero’s journey, or monomyth, aimed to capture the universal or archetypal story element found everywhere. Campbell originally described 17 stages to the model. Our diagram references the modernised and simplified version presented by Christopher Vogler in his 2007 book, The Writer’s Journey, though we have still cited Campbell as the model’s originator. 

For more, watch this animated video about the hero’s journey from TedEd. Or, for my favourite video on the topic, view the Glove and Boots puppet inspired explanation of the character archetypes in the hero’s journey.

The Emma Coates framework mentioned in the summary above came from this Pixar story page by David Price

My Notes

  • profile
    1127 days ago mlr
    Another limitation is the gendered nature of Campbell's model - the heroine's journey is different and well documented. The male-gendered (Campbell) hero figure acts alone, sacrifices his connections with family and society, and seeks goals that ultimately exile him from society. In contrast, the female-gendered heroine responds to a loss of power by turning to friends and family for assistance; she enables others to have agency and demonstrate their own talents; and when she regains power, there's usually a compromise solution that is designed to bring benefits to all sides. See Gail Carriger (2020) The Heroine's Journey for a fast, easy-to-read summary of both models, as applied to writing novels and movies. https://gailcarriger.com/books/the-heroines-journey-for-authors-book/
Already a ModelThinkers member? Please log in here.

Oops, That’s Members’ Only!

Fortunately, it only costs US$5/month to Join ModelThinkers and access everything so that you can rapidly discover, learn, and apply the world’s most powerful ideas.

ModelThinkers membership at a glance:

Small mark
UNLOCK EVERYTHING
Access all mental models and premium content.
Small mark
BUILD YOUR LATTICEWORK
Save models to your personal list.
Small mark
QUICKLY MEMORISE MODELS
Use our Learn function to embed models to memory
Small mark
PERSONALISE MODELS
Add your own notes and reminders.
Small mark
BUILD YOUR ‘EXTERNAL BRAIN’
Discover a new idea? Capture it by adding a new model.
Small mark
JOIN THE MT COMMUNITY
Rate models, comment and access exclusive events.

“Yeah, we hate pop ups too. But we wanted to let you know that, with ModelThinkers, we’re making it easier for you to adapt, innovate and create value. We hope you’ll join us and the growing community of ModelThinkers today.”

Arun Pradhan & Shai Desai
CoFounders, ModelThinkers.

You Might Also Like:

- Actionable summaries of the world's most powerful ideas.