The Hero With A Thousand Faces

The typical journey:
The Hero with a thousand faces

By Joseph Campbell
In his famous book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell showed that
every story always follows the same steps:
1- The separation
The story usually begins with an Everyman just living his hum-drum life. Suddenly and
unexpectedly, either by chance or by choice, Everyman is either pulled out of his
ordinary life or chooses to leave his ordinary life to launch into a great adventure. This is
what Campbell calls the “call to adventure”. Everyman then has to leave his
everyday/familiar world, comfortable zone…etc, often with the support of a helper.
2- The initiation
The adventure, according to Campbell, then goes through several specified stages. The
hero will journey into a dark world where he meets various forces or entities which he
has to deal with. Along the way he encounters a teacher who gives him the instruction in
new skills he will need to learn to successfully achieve his goal. Striving for his goal, the
hero is challenged to his limit, reaching a peak culminating experience, that Campbell
calls a "supreme ordeal." The result is that the hero "gains his reward" and is forever
changed by the experience. He often gains some new powers and sets off with them.
3- The return
Eventually the hero re-emerges to his society with these new abilities bringing a boon to
his society which somehow restores/saves that society.
The separation
1) THE HERO IS INTRODUCED IN HIS ORDINARY WORLD.
Most stories take place in a special world, a world that is new and
alien to its hero. If you're going to tell a story about a fish out
of his customary element, you first have to create a contrast by
showing him in his mundane, ordinary world. In WITNESS you
see both the Amish boy and the policeman in their ordinary
worlds before they are thrust into alien worlds -- the farmboy into
the city, and the city cop into the unfamiliar countryside. In STAR
WARS you see Luke Skywalker bored to death as a farmboy
before he takes on the universe.
2) THE CALL TO ADVENTURE.
The hero is presented with a problem, challenge, or adventure.

Maybe the land is dying, as in the Arthur stories about the search
for the Holy Grail. In STAR WARS again, it's Princess Leia's
holographic message to Obi Wan Kenobi, who asks Luke to join
in the quest. In detective stories, it's the hero accepting a new
case.
In romantic comedies it could be the first sight of that special --
but annoying someone the hero or heroine will be
pursuing/sparring with the remainder of the story.
3) THE HERO IS RELUCTANT AT FIRST.
Often at this point, the hero balks at the threshold of adventure.

After all, he or she is facing the greatest of all fears -- fear of
the unknown. At this point Luke refuses Obi Wan's call to
adventure, and returns to his aunt and uncle's farmhouse, only to
find they have been barbequed by the Emperor's storm troopers.
Suddenly Luke is no longer reluctant, and is eager to undertake
the adventure. He is motivated.
4) THE HERO IS ENCOURAGED BY THE WISE OLD MAN
OR WOMAN.
By this time many stories will have introduced a Merlin-like

character who is the hero's mentor. The mentor gives advice and
sometimes magical weapons. This is Obi Wan Kenobi giving
Luke Skywalker his father's light sabre.
The mentor can only go so far with the hero. Eventually the hero
must face the unknown by himself. Sometimes the wise old man
is required to give the hero a swift kick in the pants to get the
adventure going.
5) THE HERO PASSES THE FIRST THRESHOLD.
He fully enters the special world of his story for the first time.
This is the moment at which the story takes off and the adventure
gets going. The balloon goes up, the romance begins, the plane
or spaceship blasts off, the wagon train gets rolling. Dorothy sets
out on the Yellow Brick Road. The hero is now committed to his
journey... and there's no turning back.
The initiation
6) THE HERO ENCOUNTERS TESTS AND HELPERS.
The hero is forced to make allies and enemies in the special

world, and to pass certain tests and challenges that are part of
his training. In STAR WARS, the cantina is the setting for the
forging of an important alliance with Han Solo, and the start of
an important enmity with Jabba The Hut.
The tests and challenges phase is represented in STAR WARS
by the scene of Obi Wan teaching Luke about the Force, as
Luke is made to learn by fighting blindfolded. The early laser
battles with the Imperial Fighters are another test which Luke
passes successfully.
7) THE HERO REACHES THE INNERMOST CAVE
The hero comes at last to a dangerous place, often deep

underground, where the object of his quest is hidden. In the
Arthurian stories the Chapel Perilous is the dangerous chamber
where the seeker finds the Grail. In many myths the hero has to
descend into hell to retrieve a loved one, or into a cave to fight
a dragon and gain a treasure. It's Theseus going into the
Labyrinth to face the Minotaur. In STAR WARS it's Luke and
company being sucked into the Death Star where they will
rescue Princess Leia. Sometimes it's the hero entering the
headquarters of his nemesis; and sometimes it's just the hero
going into his or her own dream world to confront his
or hers worst fears... and overcome them.
8) THE HERO ENDURES THE SUPREME ORDEAL.
This is the moment at which the hero touches bottom. He faces the possibility of death,
brought to the brink in a fight with a mythical beast. For us, the audience standing outside
the cave waiting for the victor to emerge, it's a black moment. In STAR WARS, it's the
harrowing moment in the bowels of the Death Star, where Luke, Leia and company are
trapped in the giant trash-masher. Luke is pulled under by the tentacled monster that lives in
the sewage, and is held down so long the audience begins to wonder if he's dead. E.T.
momentarily appears to die on the operating table.
This is a critical moment in any story, an ordeal in which the hero appears to die and is born
again. It's a major source of the magic of the hero myth. What happens is that the audience
has been led to identify with the hero. We are encouraged to experience the brink-of- -death
feeling with the hero. We are temporarily depressed, and then we are revived by the hero's
return from death.
This is the magic of any well-designed amusement park thrill ride. Space Mountain or The
Great White Knuckler make the passengers feel like they're going to die, and there's a great
thrill that comes from surviving a moment like that. This is also the trick of rites of passage
and rites of initiation into fraternities and secret societies. The initiate is forced to taste
death and experience resurrection. You're never more alive than when you think you're
going to die.
9) THE HERO SIEZES THE SWORD.
Having survived death, beaten the dragon, slain the Minotaur, the hero now
takes possession of the treasure he's come seeking. Sometimes it's a special
weapon like a magic sword, or it may be a token like the Grail or some elixer
which can heal the wounded land.
Sometimes the "sword" is knowledge and experience that leads to greater

understanding and a reconciliation with hostile forces.
The hero may settle a conflict with his father or with his shadowy nemesis. In
RETURN OF THE JEDI, Luke is reconciled with both, as he discovers that the
dying Darth Vader is his father, and not such a bad guy after all.
The hero may also be reconciled with a woman. Often she is the treasure he's
come to win or rescue, and there is often a love scene or sacred marriage at this
point. Women in these stories (or men if the hero is female) tend to be SHAPE-
SHIFTERS. They appear to change in form or age, reflecting the confusing and
constantly changing aspects of the opposite sex as seen from the hero's point of
view. The hero's supreme ordeal may grant him a better understanding of
women, leading to a reconciliation with the opposite sex.
The return
10) THE ROAD BACK.
The hero's not out of the woods yet. Some of the best chase scenes
come at this point, as the hero is pursued by the vengeful forces
from whom he has stolen the elixir or the treasure. This is the
chase as Luke and friends escape from the Death Star, with
Princess Leia and the plans that will bring down Darth Vader.
11) RESURRECTION.
The hero emerges from the special world, transformed by his

experience. There is often a replay here of the mock
death-and-rebirth of stage 8, as the hero once again faces death
and survives. Each ordeal wins him new command over the
Force. He is transformed into a new being by his experience.
12) RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR.
The hero comes back to his ordinary world, but his adventure
would be meaningless unless he brought back the elixir,
treasure, or some lesson from the special world. Sometimes it's
just knowledge or experience, but unless he comes back with
the elixir or some boon to mankind, he's doomed to repeat the
adventure until he does. Many comedies use this ending, as a
foolish character refuses to learn his lesson and embarks on the
same folly that got him in trouble in the first place.
Sometimes the boon is treasure won on the quest, or love, or

just the knowledge that the special world exists and can be
survived. Sometimes it's just coming home with a good story to
tell.
What does this journey remind you of?
Do you have other examples of an
archetypal journey?

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The typical journey:

The Hero with a thousand faces

The hero is presented with a problem, challenge, or adventure.

Often at this point, the hero balks at the threshold of adventure.

By this time many stories will have introduced a Merlin-like

The hero is forced to make allies and enemies in the special

The hero comes at last to a dangerous place, often deep

Sometimes the "sword" is knowledge and experience that leads to greater

The hero emerges from the special world, transformed by his

Sometimes the boon is treasure won on the quest, or love, or

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