If the previous post on using tarot for character development appeared right-of-center for you, this one appears it for me. Previously dismissive of the field of Physiognomy, I was happy to find that the possible archetypes and personality analysis associated to facial features are worth understanding.

Introduction to Physiognomy

“Your face, my thane, is as a book where Men may read strange matters.” ― Macbeth, William Shakespeare

Physiognomy or face-reading has been a practice for thousands of years. Ancient Greek philosophers believed in it, whilst some Chinese practice it today. The practice was dismissed around the Middle Ages due to the many con-artists using it at the time, but nowadays it has raised in prevalence and been related to many other holistic or spiritual theories.

Even if you don’t share a belief that face shapes can tell us about the personality of a person, as writers we should remain open to the subject:  Even now many people make quick judgements about personality type or who a person is, based on face shape or features.

In popular and literary fiction alike, authors make use of some of this, perhaps without thinking – I can’t recall ever finding a hero described as being thin-lipped, for instance – but villains? And thugs with round childish faces? Not so many, unless going for a comedy. Taking head shapes out to full body type – very few heroes I have read are below average height. We all know the rumours about the real heights of some of our top actors playing such heroic roles, and how filming needs to accommodate that to make them look taller. Take a look at those actors as a group, and you may find similar facial types, however.

Yes, human beings are quick to make judgements through outward appearances. But we can use that as a development tool.

How do I use Face Reading as a Writer?

There are a couple of ways face reading can help with character development.

Begin with a Personality Type

The first method is in using face shapes for providing a very rudimentary but commonly understood archetype for stock or some secondary characters. Helpfully, seven face shapes have been caterogorised into different “types” of people for us. These are listed below. You can simply read the archetypes and choose what you need, then build on from that personality and facial description.

Begin with a Character, and Augment with Description

For major characters, I use many different tools for character development. Like most writers, at some point in development, I find images of a real-life person who looks like how I see the character in my mind. These face-claims can be tricky – sometimes I just can’t find exactly the right look to a face, or the hair or something, meaning I compromise my own mind-description of the character to some respect. Sometimes it’s also better to go with an unknown rather than celebrity – using a celebrity as face claim brings some personality or behaviour associations.

But once I have the look of the character, and some personality and traits development, I look for other tools to augment the development. This is where I came into the quick study of face and head-shape reading, and of course the realisation that if I describe my character to a very detailed level, the reader may well have preconceived personality or intelligence ideas based on the character’s description anyway. A knowledge of facial shapes and some of the stereotypes associated with them lets a writer take an additional look at what they are creating.

Interpreting Faces

Some basics are listed below. Warning: stereotypes abound, but writers may well be at fault in creating some of the common stereotypes – writers in the 1800’s were influenced by physiognomy at the time, and many writers have since followed suit with fictional characters following those older villains and hero descriptions.

Forehead – foreheads are associated with intelligence. Wide foreheads are seen to denote cleverness, as well as practicality. Men with receding hairlines (and large foreheads) are often estimated as being intelligent. Note – put on glasses and you double the intelligence. Narrow foreheads are seen as being closed down (narrow-minded).

Eyes and Eyebrows – small eyes are often stereotyped as denoting stupidity, but it’s not all bad – deeply set eyes (which may appear small) denote a deep-thinker, somebody like a scientist or philosopher. Large eyes help in the commonly understood attractiveness judgement – doll or doe-eyed actresses are often said to be more attractive. For this reason, women enhance the size and attention to our eyes and fullness of our lips with makeup. The drawing art of anime pushes large eyes to the limits. Close-set eyes belong to criminals, while the Chinese believe wide-set eyes are lucky, although very wide-set eyes are used by cartoonists at least to denote someone a little, er, kooky.

Eyebrows are also something quickly judged – most Hollywood actresses have highly arched eyebrows, allowing the viewer to see their large eyes well, and denoting that that person is observant and easily read (an arched eyebrow, anyone?). Straight eyebrows denote a person who is thoughtful. The unibrow is despaired, revealing cruelty or possessiveness. The Unibrowed character, Gerard is fittingly Maggie Simpson’s nemesis. Many stereotypical comic-book evil villains sport unibrows. Unkempt eyebrows – at least for older men – appear to denote intelligence (as in Albert Einstein).

Noses – ah, the area of plastic surgeon enrichment programmes. Certain shapes denote wealth and therefore possibly education and intelligence, not to mention attractiveness. Thick fleshy large noses belong to criminals – or contact sportsmen.

Lips – full lips are always best somehow. Thin lips belong on people who, um, may be a little stingy? Lips denote sensuality and communication. Round and full lips are on people who are caring, while a thin top lip in particular, is understood to denote a person who does not reciprocate much. The Chinese face reading system believes balanced full lips are lucky, while unbalanced is not. And of course, a full bottom lip at least allows a character to chew on it, denoting their nervousness.

Charts via Isabels Beauty Blog:

Personality Types from the Face

Time to move on now, to face reading based on general face shapes. It’s here that the writer has access to several helpful stereotypes of personality. Beginning with the basics –

Face Shapes in General

Round shape – seen as jovial, sensitive, sincere and caring. Perhaps this is because round faces are somewhat child-like and therefore playful but trusting.

Oval shape – dedicated, people of principles, fearless, diplomatic, intelligent and authoritive with good people skills.

Oblong or Long shape – practical, spiritual, creative. Oblong shapes often come with a straight or athletic body, so are also seen as fit and active.

Diamond shape – diamonds have pointy chins and small foreheads, which are seen as determined, but possibly unpredictable or cunning. Many stereotypical crones or hags of fairy tales have pointy chins. Oddly, the really pointy chinned are seen as “nosy” which isn’t really associated with a certain nose type.

Square shape – wide foreheads and jaws, denoting practicality, competitiveness (the strong bone structure),  aggressiveness and rebelliousness. The stereotype of this, from a physiognomy viewpoint, the thug or bully found in many of our films. 18th Century physiognomy practices associated the square face to criminals, hence also the materialistic association we possibly put onto people. It’s not all bad – the broad square face is also the Santurnian loner (see below) – somebody with empathy but is an introvert.

Heart-shaped – an inverted triangle brings large forehead, small chin. Self-analysers, quick thinkers and a good memory. Ambitious and independent, but not easy-going (the small chin?)

Personality Types (2 Sets) to Face Shapes

Helpfully all of this fits into some archetypal personality types. There are two sets – the Soul Types and the Astro (Celestial or Planetary) Types, but both identify similar characteristics. Note that in certain theologies and spirituality practices such as astrology the number seven is highly significant, and you can find seven soul or celestial types commonly spoken about.

Seven Soul Types

These are the seven soul types (detailed here with even more detail and appearance descriptions at Personality Spirituality net here including celebrity example photos matching the facial types). Note that soul types are matched not only with general face shapes, but facial features and settings, and sometimes body type is also described.

Writers will notice that the soul type names match well with the standard Jungian archetypal characters.

The soul names reflect the behaviours and purpose of each soul type:

• Servers (Round Shape) are naturally accommodating, caring, nurturing, hospitable, altruistic. (25% of the population)
• Artisans (Heart Shape) are naturally creative, inventive, imaginative, sensitive, dexterous. (21% of the population)
• Warriors (Square or angular shape) are naturally forceful, loyal, protective, determined, steadfast. (18% of the population)
• Scholars (Oblong shape) are naturally curious, studious, academic, analytical, neutral. (14% of the population)
• Sages (Cartoonish round shape) are naturally engaging, articulate, charming, entertaining, expressive. (11% of the population)
• Priests (long shape) are naturally inspirational, uplifting, motivating, energising, visionary. (7% of the population)
• Kings (diamond shape but blockier forehead) are naturally commanding, assured, powerful, authoritative, decisive. (4% of the population).

Astro Types

At Personality Predictors 7 Personality Types have been described here, with another index linking to more details on each here. On other new age websites similar planetary types are listed, all of which use the face shape (and body shape) to categorise people into archetypes of character role and traits under a planetary naming system. These are also linked with one of the four elements.

• Jupiterian (long but angular face)– the Leader – determined, reliable, idealistic, steadfast.
• Saturnian (broad, square face) – the Loner – empathy, cautiousness, introverted, sensitive, determined.
• Lunarian or Neptune (round face) – Creative Dreamer – creative, artistic, restless, travellers, nervous, active.
• Martian Type (round or square face) – Focused Courageous / Last One Standing – soldiers for a cause, steadfast, loyal friends, unwavering belief, few words, direct, act quickly.
• Apollo Type (oval or long face ) – Lucky Ones – athletic, loved by all, charming, tall, attractive, perceptive, highly intuitive, healthy, vigorous.
• Mercurian (large forehead, pointy chin) – Fame and Fortune – wiry, quick, intellectual, quick-witted, precise, tactful, good at games, and finance, highly strung or anxious and restless.
• Venusian (Round or Oval face) – Balanced and Beautiful – warm, idealistic, caring, balanced, happy, fun loving, sensual, giving, family or love orientated, talented, truthful, of service.

Further Reading

The History and Practice of Physiognomy

• Physiognomy on Wikipedia
• Face Reading (several articles) and Chinese Face Reading at Buzzle.com
• Body and Soul describes more facial features
• Askastrologer.com pinpoints areas of the face for certain traits.
• Isabel’s Beauty Authority blog has a detailed post on Chinese Face Reading practices, and includes many interesting diagrams and charts, some appearing here. The Chinese 12 Houses method of face reading is also documented in this post.
• Face Reading images on Pinterest
• Joey Yap is the store that many of the images found on Pinterest and elsewhere map back to. Here you can find many charts, books and courses on Chinese Face Reading.
• There are several apps available on face reading also. There’s even a Physiognomy PC application (screenshot below). Or play around with a photofit app.

Face Claims

Need some help in simply selecting a starter face for your character? Face claims are all the rage through RPG channels, and there are copious tumblr blogs set up to share face claims or pictures from celebrity sources. Directories are available to search through – just google them. This is one of the bigger ones, filterable.

More on the Soul or Planetary Types

• Personality Spirituality
• Personality Predictors
• Astrology Com Australia has a large detailed page on face shapes and elements to personality.
• More on 7 Types – at askastrologer.com
• The 7 Ray Soul Types at Soul Bridge (also a questionnaire)
• Expressing Your Truth links face reading and astrological types to four bodily temperaments or humors – sanguine, melancholy, choleric and phlegmatic. At this site you can also find –
  • A free to download PDF on Astro-Type Planetary Guide, which links astro-types with goddess or god examples, as well as the humors and elements.
  • An ebook on Seasonal Types with face reading – a system that many women live by
  • An ebook on Astro-Types with face reading.

7 Personality Types by sociologist/counsellor Elizabeth Puttick, Ph.D. (Hay House, 2009).

Via Isabels Beauty Blog

If you have a lot of free gigabytes and bandwidth, and a lot of time to spare for downloads, you may find the newly released Black Desert character creator beneficial in creating a look-a-like for any fictional character under development.

Black Desert is a new multiplayer virtual online world game, yet to be released. But they have just released their character creator as a free download. I used to enjoy creating facsimiles of my own characters via Second Life, but that’s an expensive option to do with monthly access fees, then purchases for skins, hairstyles etc. Black Desert’s character creator gives you some good options for personalisation (although not clothing) and is free.

The software comes at a cost however. It’s a large download of 6.22 GB, so took me an hour to download and setup. For setup you will need to create a Black Desert account, in readiness for the actual game launch. Once you’re through that, however, the application on your desktop is very slow to load. Sign in to your account, then be prepared for a large wait time with a black screen in front of you, before music and a game splash page comes up.

Once in to the character creation side, you have a few base character type options. You can go with most of these, although note the warrior woman is elven, and pointy ears aren’t customisable, and most come with different hair style choices from the ones I chose to play around with. The wizard will give you the best older character base, but is obviously male.

You can save your character to your hard-drive, but I found no way of importing this back into the character creator for further customisation. Fully developed characters with names, can be saved into the game, and appear ready for game launch, but again, I couldn’t find a way to change their appearances once saved to game.

The creator app does allow copious screenshots, however. Which is all this writer needs to go on with. Of course, unless you’re writing for fantasy, you’ll have to use shots of your chars in their underwear. I’ve played around with a few of my characters to give you some screenshots.

With a bit of time, and work, you may find this free character creator beneficial. Download it from – Black Desert Character Creator.

In a December 2015 post, author Mary Carroll Moore blogged about Elizabeth George’s character list technique for character development.

Character Lists, for Elizabeth George, are basically stream-of-conscious notes taken on a character, arriving at many pages worth of notes. I have been using the same technique for years, but never called it anything. In fact,with the addition of an e-notes taker, I have the best of both worlds for what I now call “CharLists”.

I create Charlists for all my major characters. I use a couple of e-note takers to ensure all the notes are kept together for each character also.

I use Evernote predominantly, creating a notebook for each major character, in which I file all the charlist notes. Once an area is fully worked out, I transfer those notes onto one big note in OneNote. (OneNote lets me create columns in a note, better formatting and print to PDF).

Evernote – is available on all my devices, and I run with an inbox system which is downloaded and synchronised automatically. This means that when I get a sudden idea when I’m out and about, I can simply add it into a new note in my inbox, then move to the relevant notebook and/or note in Evernote at a later time. There are also mobile apps like Draft which lets you append a current note quite easily.

As an Evernote premium customer, I download some of my notebooks offline onto my mobile devices. Aside from my “Inbox” notebook, I also make sure that offline I have access to the most important of character notebooks, and some setting and overall plotting notebooks for my WIP.

There’s nothing much new about creating and describing a character in this way here. And the example given isn’t really a list. Despite the name of character “list” I believe the real benefit from this technique of development is in spending time just sitting and writing out anything that comes to mind for the character. Not following prompts or a questionnaire – those personally bore me as they are too formulaic for my own mind. The key is in spending time, and seeing where it takes you.

In taking some screenshots of a character’s notes for this post, I had an eiphany and it has really started to firm up my character: Stewart (temporary name, I think) is a secondary main character. He’s an older teen at this point in time, and for the first couple of books, has a background role. But in working with Stewart’s notes again, I suddenly felt the need to give him flying lessons and a possible future career which fits his personality to a “T”.

Note that I have some standard types of charlist notes for my major players in a story. These I develop with research and some time spent randomly exploring ideas, but eventually I build a better understanding of the character areas important to me. My standard note types you may see in the screenshots above. These are –

• Envoking (character name) – I select colour palettes to represent the character (style and internally). Stewart is kind of citrusy/beachy – he’s an outdoor type of person who loves the beach. And yes, he surfs. Now, I’ve just thought of that! [writes another note…]
• Deets (stupid name for details) – anything goes in here, like external what-they-look like bullet points, to sentences describing hobbies or ways they go about things.
• Images (because I’m a visual person and enjoy looking for just the right face-claim or image to fit how I see the character)
• Timeline (Backstory timeline and events timeline as story progresses). I stick in any events I think of which the character is involved in, or impacted by. Dates and times, and occasionally if I work it out, a checkin of how old the character is at that time. I cross-match with other characters.
• Personality Profiles / Archetypes etc – I try to place the character into Myers-Briggs, Enneagram and other Archetypal systems. This is easier for a secondary character. I’m still working over my main protagonist, as there’s no full fit on one of these personality types. But for Stewart, locating a Myers-Briggs gave me a good base for the faults and needs of his type. From there, my charlists build on. I take a copy of the personality type I think works (I keep a database of traits and details for all the personality- and arche-types) and then write in new notes and thoughts on top as he develops.

Other types of notes which may make their way into character notebooks as charlists are –

• Character Interviews or Chats – where I interview my own character (or sometimes they take over and interview me)
• Answers to character questionnaires or prompts
• Specific Motifs, Symbols or Objects – sometimes a character may be related to an object, say a bird or animal – which I’ll then research and take some images and information for.
• Relationships – I often plot out character relationships, particularly where there’s a family or workplace involved.
• Future thoughts – future storylines for that character.
• Style Guide – if the images I’ve found don’t quite fit the character’s style, I may describe it, or find outfits which indicate style.
• and many more…

What tools do you use to hold your character development notes? I still know of writers who maintain and get the best inspiration in using physical notebooks or ringbinder systems, whereas I’ve used electronic notebooks like Evernote for a decade now. Whether physical or digital, I believe the best benefit comes from simply spending time in whatever system you use. In doing so today, I came up with two new ideas to round out Stewart.

Most writers I know have been aware of the perilous Write or Die app for several years, but there are a few new options if writing with jeopardy is something which tools up your writing productivity.

Note – this is not how I can write. I need to pause and think a lot, so having my words disappear on me doesn't work. But Write or Die's newest edition caters for writers like me also.

Write or Die 2

The original app which used to slowly disappear your text when you paused for a few seconds, has now been updated with other incentives to write to a clock. The new modes are stimulus and reward, working with a visual environment.

With reward mode you can set up your own photos to appear at certain intervals to award your writing session. Stimulus mode does the opposite – you set up a lovely visual environment to write within, and if you pause too long, that environment will fade away. The Write or Die old school methods, along with an annoying alarm sounds, are still available if you prefer writing with the fear factor of losing your words. This is now called Conseqences mode, and includes plenty of new options to randomise your fear incentives.

Write or Die 2 also provides many additional features, such as the Write or Die leaderboard for registered users.

Write or Die 2 is available for $20 for Mac versions. The webapp is available to try put at the top of this page. The app is available for iOS also. The older original version is still available also.

Link: Write or Die

While you're there, note that the designer of Write or Die, Dr. Wicked, has several more apps:

• a beta webapp for editing called EditMinion, spots inconsistencies and does interesting things with language
• WordWar is a game system for hosting your own writing sprints.
• BoredMuse is a simple webapp writing spark generator.

The Most Dangerous Writing App

This is a very lethal webapp. Simply set one of the time countdowns, and begin writing. I'm not a fast typer on my iPad, so very quickly paused too long, and all my words disappeared at once. But if this works for you, the app is free to use.

Link: The Most Dangerous Writing App

Written? Kitten!

A favourite with many writers, Written? Kitten! gives you pictures of kittens, puppies or bunnies (from Flickr) as rewards after a set number of words. If you're after quick gratification, this is the one for you.

Late last year the site, hosted at GitHub, went missing, as the original developer lost interest. But the good news is it's now up at its own site, although Google has older links.

Note that the old site had a search function which allowed you to input any image search, but the newer version is confined to the three animals. The new app also appeared a little buggy to me, I got a kitten stuck when it should have been a bunny.

Link: Written? Kitten!

Flowstate

Flowstate is an app for Mac and iOS which pretty much does what The Most Dangerous Writing App does – in writing mode, if you pause for 5 seconds the words disappear. However, Flowstate has some other features of use – once a piece is written, it is saved as a document, which you can access from a library in the app, and put into an edit mode.

Link: Flowstate

750 Words

750 Words com is another well known webapp used by many writers. This is an online community, gaming app which rewards you with points and badges when you maintain a regime of writing at least 750 words each day. Each month you start off with a clean slate. The community allows for word wars, and other rewards and competitions, and the site has many statistic functions to give you an understanding of your writing.

Your writing is private, but saved. A lot of people use 750words for journaling, or free writing exercises.

Link: 750words

Today’s character archetype is a modern trope normally associated to the teen or child. The Brat has an interesting pedigree, and has gone from a totally negative stereotype to one which can be used as a basis or starter archetype for a heroine.

“I deserve it all…now!”~ Brat motto.

Whilst normally perceived as a minor villain type, you may be surprised to find that the [spoiled] brat features quite predominantly as a start position for the protagonist in many movies targeted to tweenage girls. It seems that the spoiled brat with a hidden heart of gold may have a redemptive arc.

Signs of the Brat

• has a huge sense of [unjustified] entitlement –  believes the world owes them everything incl. constant on-demand attention, and/or materialistic things, maybe even love
• whiny tantrummy behaviour to wear down somebody not giving them what they want
• confident they are right
• pig-headed, manipulative and underhand, but not stupid
• runs with a pack or entourage of enablers including other royalist archetypes like Queen Bees
• snobby, discriminatory or bullying behaviour towards those worse off
• materialistic wealth (often inherited); has the latest and greatest, always
• weak-willed and guilty parents who give in to demands

A Bit about Gender and Wealth

Brats are normally – but not always – girls. Previously the bully archetype was more often applied to boys. This is changing also, but the two have an association – the brat (as female) was a softened way of showing a bully. After all, the brat at home often uses bullying tactics to get what they want from weak-willed parents.

The motivation behind the two is different however – bratty behaviour comes out of a sense of entitlement and high self-esteem, whereas bullying comes from a lack of self-esteem and a need to appear bigger than themselves.

Brats are often associated with wealth, being a metaphor for the old lesson that we should always be grateful for/never take for granted what we have. Fiction doesn’t really provide many nice rich people, in my opinion.

Although normally applied to the rich princess types, the brat archetype can also be useful in other settings – there are several brats found in educational and technology settings, for instance – this is the geeky smart student who has always got A’s and believes they are entitled to all A’s but then throws a tantrum when a new teacher grades them with a B+. Or the brat in business – the son of the CEO who has expectations they will take over the empire without working their way up the chain, and already acts like the chief. Or the school mum who has always headed up the school’s Parent Group efforts, and finds she has a new mum on the block as competition for her popularity. Or the Pageant Queen who expects to date and marry the best looking boy / wealthiest boy around because they are the best match together.We’ve seen brats everywhere, but take care as many of these examples are now overworked stereotypes.

The key to making a proper brat is consistent and repetitive bratty behaviour. A brat is not found in a one-off temper tantrum out of frustration or just pure anger, which can often be found in toddlers – in supermarket sweet/candy aisles. The brat displays repetitive examples of their sense of entitlement from the world.

Examples of the Brat

Molly Ringwald’s character from The Breakfast Club (which also featured many actors from the 1980’s “Brat Pack“); Draco Malfoy and Dudley Dursey in earlier books of the Harry Potter series; Veruca Salt of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; Edmund of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe; Catherine from Wuthering Heights.

Many current examples can be found in Disney movies with princesses or high school girls all needing to stop bratty behaviour to become a better self and therefore heroine. And in rom-coms, the brat as adult is the long-standing girlfriend or boyfriend who will be dumped (although often is the dumper) once the hero comes to the realisation that there is somebody much better out there.

Other Names & Associates

• sub-tropes: heiress brats, princess brats, snobby brats, spoiled princess, little rich girl
• not the same: golden child, although if a character suddenly made golden starts to act brattishly, then also a brat.
• similar: queen bees, jocks, popular girls, bullies and other teenage tropes
• shadows – brats are common shadows for characters with other archetypes, particularly in YA, or rom-com genres or fiction works with corporate settings. If you have a story which deals with a group of wealthy or privileged characters, odds on you will find several brats among them.

Part of 2016’s Character Archetype Series (A-Z) @ Hunter is Writing.

Today’s character archetype is a Jungian archetype, one of the 12 archetypes defined through myth. But it’s also commonly used in Branding today, and often referred to with a different label – that of The Magician or Visionary.

The Catalyst or Magician

“It can happen!” or “I make things happen” ~ Magician motto

The catalyst is difficult to drill down on. It is mentioned often, but seldom fully explained, and through various other archetypal combinations in character can be acted out as a role rather than as archetype.

Catalyst means change-making and is defined as something or someone who speeds up an event to cause change without affecting themselves. The word comes from chemistry.

Catalysts make things happen through other characters, but they may not do those things themselves, and they do not change themselves in the process, only the world*

Some confusion reigns because the catalyst is also known as “The Magician” (or permutations like Wizard or Alchemist) which can muddy our connotations because of the associated magic, spells and wizardry.

Perhaps a better label may be “The Visionary“, although this isn’t a character who sits around doing mantras and envisioning the future – this archetype puts things into motion to create that vision.

In general terms, any person who motivates or pushes change through the protagonist or the protagonist’s world (including his or herself) can be a catalyst.

* The major situations of the story will be inspired and motivated by a catalyst, but will not create a change in the catalyst’s own character journey because of this. The catalyst character can have a separate character arc where they have to battle their own flaws and dark side, to enable them to be the catalyst for another character. Or they may be a static secondary or even tertiary character without an internal arc.

Signs of the Catalyst / Magician / Visionary

Because there are so many sources of use for the catalyst archetype, and the role itself can be found within other standard archetypes, it is difficult to immediately recognise a catalyst (unless they appear straight out as a mentoring wizard wearing a costume, that is). A catalyst-

• exudes transformative powers, enjoys intentionally influencing people and seeing beneficial change.
• is excellent in times of strife or upheaval
• does not change himself from the change-making
• is spiritual, believes in inter-connectivity
• is charismatic and capable of articulating ideals and complex reasoning simply (good characters with this archetype are often full of shareable quotes)
• is consciousness-raising, visionary
• is imaginative and clever
• has high standards – sometimes too high
• and is mysterious, mystical, and idealistic
• may combine with other archetypes such as the mentor, or sidekick role as part of an assemble cast, or may be a tertiary character who is sought out for advice.
• there are examples of the protagonist / hero also being a catalyst for other characters ie. the rebel leader, revolutionary or kick-butt karate master (see more examples of the catalyst hero below)

Examples of the Catalyst / Magician

Fiction: Obi Wan Kenobi (Star Wars); Dumbledore (Harry Potter); Fred MacMurray (or Robin Williams) in The Absentminded Professor; Patrick Stewart (Professor X) and Ian McKellen (Magneto as shadow) in X-Men; Ian McKellen as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho. Loki (Marvel and Nordic Mythology) and Darth Vader (Star Wars) as shadow. Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (later series).

Real Life: Nostradamus and Isaac Newton; Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Oprah, Steven Spielberg, Albert Einstein.

Other Names & Associates

• catalyst names: magician/wizard or alchemist, visionary, mentor, influencer, change-maker, shaman
  
• associations: healer, medicine man, witch, warlock
  
• catalyst hero: advocate, champion, charismatic leader, rebel leader, revolutionary or reformer (enneagram type 1)
  
• business or brand: magician, visionary, enchanter, associated with entrepreneur as category
  
• shadow: the entrepreneur who uses their own vision for self-profit; a reformer who is corrupt or working for themselves for power; a wicked witch, evil wizard – all who turn to forceful manipulation to get what they want

The Sources for the Catalyst Archetype

The Catalyst or Magician Archetype is nominated in many archetypal systems. These may be further discussed and linked to within a supplementary PDF ebook for this Character Archetype series which will be published with interest (please comment below if interested). Sources discussed –

• Jung‘s Catalyst / Magician
• Pearson-Marr Archetype Indicator (PMAI)
• Catalysts in mythic structures
• The Catalyst Hero / Advocate or Champion
• The Catalyst in the Fascinate System
• The Magician in Tarot
• The Catalyst / Magician in Business and Branding
• As Mature Masculine archetype via Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette
• Caroline Myss – Alchemist archetype

Further Details

Further details on this archetype (origins, appearances and details) may be extended in the supplementary ebook: A to Z of Character Archetypes  which may possibly be published after the final in this series. If you are interested in this, please comment below.

Part of 2016’s Character Archetype Series (A-Z) @ Hunter is Writing.

Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences is normally applied as learning styles to the education fields, but it’s applicable across our lives, and as I’ve found, to my own work and writing processes.

Introduction to the Multiple Intelligences

The original Multiple Intelligence theory was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University and published in the book, ‘Frames of Mind.’

The book suggested everybody has a different mind, with no two profiles of intelligence the same, so the traditional concept of measuring intelligence by I.Q testing is too limited. Gardner described an original seven (now 8 or 9) primary intelligences. A person can prefer and dominate in 1–3 of these, and will contain all 8 but at various levels of aptitude.

Since the initial seven, with peer feedback, Gardner added a further eighth intelligence – naturalism, and has hinted at another two – existential intelligence and moral intelligence.

More Multiple Intelligence information –

• Big Thinkers: Howard Gardner on Multiple Intelligences (video)
• Wikipedia
• A writer’s entry on creating smart characters, linking to MI’s.
• Howard Gardener’s Multiple Intelligences (this page also details VAK – visual-auditory-kinaesthetic and VARK or VATK – learning models)
• Bloom’s Taxonomy – Wikipedia entry
• Northern Illinois University (PDF) – Brief descriptions were taken from this document and extended as necessary

Learning Styles vs Archetypal Intelligences

Although the education system tends to use MI’s as “learning styles” Gardner points out that learning styles are different.

There are several attempts to classify learning styles – VAK (see above), left or right brained, impulsive vs reflective or several others. Many of these learning categories can fit roughly into the MI framework, with the closest match taken up by schools being that of Bloom’s Taxonomy. But intelligence is larger than learning.

“Human potential can be tied to one’s preferences to learning; thus, Gardner’s focus on human potential lies in the fact that people have a unique blend of capabilities and skills (intelligences). This model can be used to understand “overall personality, preferences and strengths” via businessballs.com via www.niu.edu/facdev

Knowledge of our own personal intelligence types provide ways of applying these across a life to drive our human potential and endeavours throughout our lives, including in our writing.

The Intelligences

Below are brief summaries. For a much more detailed description, please download the bonus PDF “Multiple Intelligences  for Writers” here.

This document, created especially for writers, includes each intelligence’s traits, names, relevant roles, examples from real-life and fictional characters, and as a writer bonus, relevant character archetypes for each, helpful for character development.

• Spatial-visual intelligence users have a capacity to think in images and pictures, to visualise accurately and abstractly
• Bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence is the preference to control one’s body movements and to handle objects skilfully
• Musical-rhythmic intelligence users have the ability to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch and timber
• Interpersonal intelligence users are best in a crowd, and are externally focussed and good with people
• Intrapersonal intelligence users have a capacity to be self-aware and in tune with inner feelings, values, beliefs and thinking processes
• Verbal-linguistic intelligence users have well-developed verbal skills and sensitivity to the sounds, meanings and rhythms of words
• Logical-mathematical intelligence works with the ability to think conceptually and abstractly, and capacity to discern logical and numerical patterns
• Naturalist intelligence users have the ability to recognize and categorise plants, animals and other objects in nature.
• Existential intelligence relates to a sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence such as, What is the meaning of life? Why do we die? How did we get here?

Testing and Working with your Multiple Intelligences

1. Know (Test) for your MI’s

My next step was to work out my own MI’s.

• This is a PDF test, written by Walter McKenzie in 1999, available directly here. This quiz includes Existential Intelligence questions.
• This online test at BGFL  will display a nice graph for you. Only the eight intelligences.
• This is another at Edutopia.
• This one requires Flash, but has some interestingly different questions.
• Here you will find a 70 question excel spreadsheet which really nuts out the first 7 intelligences.

Note that each assessment linked above has different questions per intelligence. I recommend taking a few of them to qualify your own results, particularly where something feels just plain wrong to you.

2. Considerations for a MI-Based Writing Process

Okay, so it was time to consider what I wanted to get out of this. Writing isn’t a process. In fact, writing is the product at the end of writing – the complete project. I could spend all my time working on my process, yet not deliver something.

And – it’s not just the one process – writing is a project of phases of writing, each with differing processes: – here are at least four, no matter what type of writing you are doing –

1. Writing Phases

• Ideation – taking an idea out to workability – may include research, plotting/planning
• Creation – the first draft
• Revision – assessing, editing, rewriting, several drafts
• Publication – self-publishing or submissions and further work

All of these writing phases may blend, but importantly, each phase requires differing mindsets, skills–and intelligences.

2. Knowing Your Writer Self

On the PDF quiz linked above, I received the following results –

• 3/10 logical
• 5/10 musical
• 8/10 naturalist
• 7/10 existential
• 3/10 interpersonal
• 6/10 kinaesthetic
• 5/10 linguistic
• 9/10 intrapersonal
• 7/10 visual

After nearly half a century on this planet, I have a reasonable understanding of myself, so my results weren’t startling.  The findings for linguistic (or words) was disappointing for me as a writer (but came about because the questionnaire focused on verbal questions).

After taking a few more tests to confirm my results, my logical, linguistic-words and interpersonal intelligences rose.

3. Break into intelligence tiers

Roughly, I broke out my own results into tiers –

• Top Intelligence Tier (1-3): mine are intrapersonal, followed a little below by naturalistic, visual and linguistic-words.
• Middle Intelligence Tier (2-6 of these): mine are existential, kinaesthetic, musical and linguistic-verbal (just)
• Bottom weaker intelligence Tier (1-3): mine is interpersonal, and still far down the bottom – logical-mathematical

4. Consider the writing phases and processes needed

I considered how these results matched and could inspire a better writing process for each of the writing phases.

As an example, my highly preferred intrapersonal intelligence is fabulous for the hermit writer in me, doing the ideation and creation phases above. But it’s not great for other phases like editing, which requires feedback from shock – other people.

Writers with an interpersonal bent, however, may suffer through the generally quiet and lonely task of the earlier writing phases. To bring in their higher interpersonal intelligence you may see these writers writing in cafes or public places, frequenting writing groups or  collaboratively writing. I’ve tried and failed at doing all those things and now know why.

There was also a discrepancy with my musical result, due to the fact that as an HSP, powerful music can overcome my emotions. So I purposely avoid music unless I want to empower and energise certain parts of my life – and writing.

You may find you will need to analyse many of your MI results as relevant to what you know about yourself.

With this analysis I began to see how I had previously and very successfully setup Ideation and Creation writing processes which use my top and middle tiered MI’s. But I also now have the reason why in later processes such as revision I often get stuck. These need more logical and interpersonal skills – and I need to practice to strengthen them. To do this, I need to include bits of them in my favourite phases also.

Below are my own examples.

-Example for your reference-

Note that I wouldn’t normally write these down like this, but it’s for reference to show each multiple intelligence, tiered out into a writing work process and phase. I’ll give you a couple of examples. Also, I’ve created a tenth intelligence, that of the writing intelligence. *Grins*

Hunter’s Multiple Intelligence Writing Processes *example*

Ideation & Planning – The Idea to a Working (Rough) Plan

1. Use: logical but visual-orientated tools (logical, visual) to play around with ideas, and to plan with (eg. spreadsheets, scene cards, mindmaps, maps, note-taking visual apps – analogue and digital)
2. Where: on the road, out and about, in the sports-park or back yard (naturalist), in bed and at the desk(comfort)
3. Use: writing tools and elements to progress the idea into a rough plan (writing intelligence)
4. Don’t: overplan, just the basics (logic, intrapersonal)

Creation (First Draft) Writing:

1. Work alone (intrapersonal)
2. on: big picture concepts (existential) and story plans (writing intelligence) with great visual elements (visual – I like to collect a lot of character images for instance) to write the first draft (linguistic-words)
3. by:  getting out into nature (naturalist and spatial) and taking frequent energetic breaks (kinaesthetic) as these last two will re-energise you during working time.
4. use: music and beats / sounds (musical) and play with words and language (linguistic – words) by reading out your work (linguistic-verbal) when in need of a break or as a half-task to re-motivate or re-energise myself
5. don’t: spend too much time on logic, analysis or statistics (logical-mathematical) and avoid people (interpersonal) during first draft work.

Edification *sic* (Revision):

Where the middle and bottom intelligences (for me) come out –

1. Work alone (intrapersonal) initially, then in final drafts with a few trusted others for feedback (interpersonal)
2. Analyse and note problems in the draft (logic) via: spreadsheeting and other tools (visual) and by reading it out loud to yourself (linguistic-verbal)
3. Rewrite methodologically, in sections (logic) and patterns ie. dialogue, action, scene, sequel etc (linguistic – words)
4. Rest. Use music, nature and energetic actions to re-energise (musical, natural, kinaesthetic) while: Work on high concepts or the big picture across the full draft (existential) by: drawing/graphing/doodling/playing (visual)
5. Repeat: 2-4 for each draft.
6. Final drafts: seek feedback and critiques, participate in critique groups (interpersonal and logical)

Images Used:

• Image 1 Header : My own work, using free clipart icons
• Image 2: MJ Smart, 1999
• Image 3: Silvia Rosenthal Tolsano [Ipad MI Apps]

Today’s character archetype is representative of the many animal archetypes we can make use of in building a character. Many animals symbolise certain traits, roles and metaphors as soon as we think of them. The dolphin has an ancient history basis also.

This post will also preview the many other animals with similar archetypes, often as spirit or zodiac guides.

The Dolphin

Mention a dolphin to anybody and they can immediately share some universal characteristics which most of us believe the dolphin represents. Off-hand, these are – gregariousness (sociability and playfulness), intelligence, community, communicator, inquisitiveness, protection, companionship, gracefulness and a bit of a trickster.

Further Dolphin Qualities and Symbols

Dolphins also have an association both with water as an element, and within spiritual domains as a healer. As a current part of our myth cultures, there are constant tales of handicapped, pregnant or ill people swimming with dolphins and receiving some kind of special gift or treatment from these animals. The dolphin also signifies and acts as a symbol for harmony, peace and preservation of our world eco-systems. Even now dolphins are being caught and slaughtered through tuna fishing nets.

In many cultures the dolphin is said to be the King of Fish, associating the dolphin to royalty and royal qualities. However, most people would also look at a dolphin and see a gracious and kind king, rather than a bloodthirsty or domineering one.

Christianity sees dolphins as an aspect of Christ. Used in Christian art, the dolphin signifies resurrection. A Greek legends tells the story of dolphins carrying the souls of the dead to the Island of Blessed.

Also from Ancient Greece mythology, the dolphin accompanies both Apollo (the sun) and Aphodite (the moon) so dolphins also have lunar and solar domains. Delphin was a dolphin who aided the god Poseidon in pursuit of nymph Amphitrite. Once successful, Poseidon rewarded Delphin by placing him into the stars as the constellation Delphinus. Greek legends are full of dolphins who acted as helpers and loyal friends to the Gods and mortals alike.

There is also an overall human envy of having the freedom to swim and manourvre like a dolphin. This may account for the many mythic beasts where a dolphin tale has been merged onto human or other forms such as the many cultural varieties of mer-people we share across the world.

Animal Archetypes

Whilst the dolphin was chosen for this post, many other animals hold similar and age-old archetypes across the world. Ancient shamans understood and related animals as archetypes for both story and character. Wolves, lions, beavers, dragons, bears, deer, panthers, snakes, owls, hawks, rabbits and monkeys all hold archetypal qualities, and mythic tales of these.

Native American Animal Guides: Many of our cultures put meaning and symbolism onto various animals, and several ethnic groups have animal spirits as protectors. The most well-known animal spirits perhaps belong in the Native American culture, which also has animals as totem messengers, and twelve animals have been used to create an astrology zodiac.

The Chinese Calendar and Zodiac: The Chinese name their calendar system on animals, each new year has specific qualities due to that animal’s influence, and these are also passed onto people born in that year.

The Celtic Zodiac: Rather than a zodiac and horoscopes based on celestrial bodies (and Greek Gods and animals), the Celtic Zodiac has twelve animals representing the months. There is also a celtic zodiac based on trees.

Online there are many quizzes asking us personality type questions to find us our spirit animals or animal archetypes. Once we have quizzed and resolved an animal, we get to read what characteristics and mottos such an animal archetype lives by. All are good sources as further archetypal bases to build characters from.

Other Cultural Animals: many other countries, faiths, folktale and myths identify with specific and special animals.  Another source to look at is a nation’s flags or full coat of arms, many feature archetypal animals. And pop culture abounds with animals, even Disney movies or a film like Kung Fu Panda identify specific archetypes to creatures.

Resources:

• Chinese Zodiac animals
• Celtic Animal Signs – Quiz to find your animal, and information on each.
• Native American Animal Signs – Quiz to find your native american animal.
• Spirit Animal website – with Dolphin page here
• Michael Heibert talks about animal archetypes as story theme.

Other Archetypes Beginning with D:

• damsel in distress
• dancer
• daredevil
• data engineer
• debater
• decoder
• defender
• designer
• destroyer
• detective
• deviant
• devil’s advocate
• dictator
• diplomat
• director
• diva
• don juan
• drama queen
• dreamer
• duchess

Part of 2016’s Character Archetype Series (A-Z) @ Hunter is Writing.

So, I’ve been playing around some more with character development, and got to the point of choosing superpowers. Combined with Myers-Briggs indicators, enneagrams and maybe a smattering of zodiac, Olympic Gods and all (because, why not?).

I have a small household of superhero nerds, so the subject comes up a lot – what’s the superpower you would choose if you could?

My daughter is a true superhero nerd. She’s had her answer to this question down pat for several years now, and it never changes. She would choose invisibility. Despite being adamant this is her superpower, she can never confirm why.

I’m not so clear, but believe mine would be something along the psionic lines, which is a relative change of mind for me.

Since my own teenage years I’ve always had a thing for strong females, and Wonder Woman was my idol. To be more factual – Linda Carter’s Wonder Woman, as cheesy as the television series may have been – even back then. I am trying to reserve my opinion of the latest Wonder Woman until I see the movie this weekend, but still hold out that if I was to fall in love with a woman based on sheer physicality it would be Linda Carter, as Wonder Woman.

Now that I’ve moved into psychic powers for my characters, things have changed. I’m intrigued by Jean Grey as an archetype: pure goodness vs total evilness when she turns into Dark Phoenix. Jean Grey and I have a lot in common (save for the powers, and killing off an entire solar system, that is). Both of us are women, that’s one (finding a lot of strong female role models out there is still falling short), both of us are INFJs on the Myers-Briggs typology (Beast is too, and I’m cool with that, and being shaggy blue too). Jean and I are both decisive, interested in character motivation, and we both have highly sensitive empathetic reactions to the world that drive us crazy.

Maybe I should be thankful that I don’t actually have psychic superpowers and can turn into an all-powerful being and have to sacrifice myself to save the world from me. Nor would I fit in that catsuit of hers.

That’s it, I’ve chosen my psionic superpower – something which can’t get me in trouble (other than with aerospace flight paths, maybe) and something which could relax me and give me the ultimate alone time – I want aero-kinesis, the power to take flight using air manipulation. I want to soar over mountains and watch the world from above.

It would be helpful also, to activate the superpower of writing at will, but that’s another matter. What would be your superpower, and what superhero is your idol?

Some resources I’ve played with –

• Archetype.com: Superhero archetypes
• Personality types: Superheroes
• Dark Phoenix artwork (above) by Brandon Peterson (via tumblr and Pinterest)

Note, although this post was light-hearted, the subject of Jean Grey as archetype is a much bigger and more frautful one. She’s been called an example of the Artemis (ie. kickass woman warrior) archetype killed off as nurturing sacrificial woman and is exampled as the poster-model for problems with taking a weaker powered woman into a mega-powered evil bee-itch which has even coined a term – “The Jean Grey Effect” (via Elliott Freeman).

So, maybe I’ll call Jean my own, but I’ll leave my teenage daughter with Sue Storm, aka The Invisible Woman.

Manuskript is a new open source writing platform currently under heavy development. But the screenshots look promising, offering a Scrivener-like look and what gets me excited: a storyline graph tool, for tracking throughlines.

If interested, take a look here – http://www.theologeek.ch/manuskript/

Note – I haven’t tried the downloads, as the product currently needs a lot of support code, but my thanks to Oliver for pointing it out to me.

Today’s character archetype is one of the twelve Jungian archetypes but also a common archetype if you have explored the Myers-Briggs or Enneagram personality types.

The explorer can be found in many of us, and makes for an interesting fictional character.

“Don’t fence me in” ~ Motto: The Explorer

The Explorer

Unless talking about adventure and action heroes, the explorer archetype can sometimes be forgotten about. But as an archetype, the explorer speaks to all characters who want to venture or explore and to the 9-10% (according to MBTI stats) of our population who spend time exploring new learnings, and creating new insights for our world. The explorer isn’t solely about exploring an external world, it’s also very internally based: exploring ourselves and sense of identity.

Signs of the Explorer

• investigative, inquisitive and methodological at tasks
• social, sharing, can work in (non-conformist) teams when necessary, but may be a misfit
• friendly, supportive, understanding and patient with friends and loved ones
• observant, intelligent, analytical, however may not collect or organize materials
• spend time creating new insights, dealing with abstracts and expressing new ideas
• if not finding a new place, will be finding themself
• will always choose the road less travelled, a non-linear life
• self-sufficient, independent, often single or without a family to tie them down
• driven by a need for freedom and fulfilling their true self
• fear – of being trapped or being forced to conform, grows bored easily of repetitive or highly structured tasks
• weaknesses (shadow)– wandering aimlessly, becoming a thrill-seeker only, commitment phobia, eschew leadership roles due to propensity towards abstract ideas, indecisive, unachievable goals lead to disappointment

Examples of Explorers

Real life – Amelia Earhart, Columbus, Marco Polo, David Livingstone, Sir Edmund Hillary

Fictional – Lara Croft, Hiccup (How to Train a Dragon), Star Lord (Guardians of the Galaxy), several Disney princesses, Indiana Jones, Captain James T Kirk (Star Trek), James of James and the Giant Peach, Penny Lane from Almost Famous, Tommy (Rugrats), Erin Brokovich, The Goonies, Maria (Sound of Music).

Other Names and Associates

• Other names: seeker, iconoclast, wanderer, individualist, pilgrim, adventurer (Jung and Brand Archetypes)
• Associated:
  • MBTI: ENTP – explorer, inventor, visionary, debater, originator (logical explorer)
  • MBTI: ENFP – campaigner, champion (compassionate explorer)
  • MBTI: ISFP – adventurer, artist, composer
  • 16 Personalities: Explorer category, ISFP
  • Enneagram: Type 7 – enthusiasts or epicures, with 6 wing – entertainer, with 8 wing – realist
  • Enneagram: Type 6 – loyalist or loyal skeptic
  • Enneagram: Type 8 – challenger or champion, with 7 wing – maverick
• Shadow: escapist, anarchist, commitment -phobe, prisoner. Basic fear of being deprived or trapped.

–Additional Reading for the Explorer–

Sources for the Explorer Archetype

Jung’s 12 Archetypes

Jung introduces the explorer within the soul category. Soul types are defined by goals related to personal development, or agendas that serve to improve their spiritual, mental, or physical standing with the world.

The Explorer in Jung’s 12 Common Archetypes is also known as the seeker, the iconclast (as non-conformist), wanderer, individualist or pilgrim.

In Jung’s terms, the Explorer can be summed up with a motto: “Don’t fence me in.”

The explorer’s biggest fear is being trapped, conformity and having an inner emptiness. They can have a weakness of wandering aimlessly (both in the world, and intellectually with new ideas), and being called a commitment-phobe.

Note that the explorer, unlike the hero, does not need an inciting incident to go on their own fulfillment journey.

The Character Therapist and Alex Hurst both have a good series of posts on Jung Archetypes. You will find the links to the explorer posts below.

Myers-Briggs, 16P’s and Enneagrams: ENTP, ENFP or ISFP

There are a lot of different role names applied to the 16 personality types found in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator system, so the archetype can be applied to several types which fit MBTIs as personalities.

Myers-Briggs

ENTP: Sometimes the name explorer, inventor or visionary is applied to the ENTP type. However, this personality type can also be found as “the debater, inventor or originator.” This Myers-Briggs profile is the Logical Explorer.

“Logical Explorers balance their approach of innovation and initiation with an internal focus on logic and analysis. They like to create a complex system of patterns and models by evaluating and critiquing new information” Via

ENFP: Sometimes named as “the campaigner, the champion”. This personality type again is enthusiastic, social, and a free spirit. This Myers-Briggs profile is the Compassionate Explorer.

‘’Compassionate Explorers balance their approach of innovation and initiation with an internal focus on values. They rely on their personal sense of responsibility and integrity to help them identify opportunities to help others and develop human potential” Via

ISFP: This Myers-Briggs type is an introvert, also named “the adventurer, the artist, or the composer.” This type is friendly, loyal and dislikes arguments (almost the opposing force to an ENTP) but regarding the adventure side, this is the Explorer when spending a lot of time in intellectual pursuits. The ISFP is always willing to explore and pursue new experiences.

16 Personalities

There are hundreds of websites which provide Myers-Briggs information on various personality types. One popular one is 16 Personalities. 16P has broken the 16 types out into 4 categories based on the 4 temperament quadrants of David Keirsey– the guardians, idealists, rational/intellectuals or the artisans.

In 16P’s case, the four quadrants include 4 personality types sitting under a “Explorer” category. Under this the ISFP Adventurer sits.

Famous ISFPs: Kevin Costner, Michael Jackson, Thea Queen from Arrow.

Enneagram: Type 6, 7 or 8, Loyalist, Enthusiast, Challenger

The Enneagram Type 7s closely match with ENFP and ENTP. Type 7’s are Enthusiasts or Epicures. Type 7’s have the same motto or fear as the Jungian explorer – of being trapped.

The ISFP matches with a Type 6 Enneagram personality (perhaps with a 7 wing).  Type 6’s are Loyalists or The Loyal Skeptic. Whilst slightly intellectual adventurers, this type would make a good sidekick for an adventuring hero.

With Enneagrams you can also have a combination of types as main enneagram types can have wings to those on either side.

Worth exploring (pun unintended) for additional traits for the explorer archetype –

• Type 7’s with a 6 wing are called The Entertainer
• Type 7’s with an 8 wing are the logical or realistic explorers known as The Realist
• Type 8’s are the Challengers or Protectors, which again, sit well with the ENFP. Type 8’s with a strong 7 wing even more suit the wanderlust adventurer, as they are named The Maverick.

Archetype.com: Adult and Teen Archetypes

The Explorer archetype is detailed both for adults, and as a special teen archetype at archetype.com. For the teen archetype, here. Both are categorised into the “Discovering” Archetype family (another name for Soul types per Jung).

Other names for this archetype: traveller, adventurer, trailblazer.

Brand Archetypes

The Explorer as brand archetype is ready-made for companies with products targeting adventurers or travelers but also those seekers of intellectual or spiritual growth.

Brands using the Explorer: Virgin, Travelocity, Contiki, Jeep, but also The Discovery Channel, Oprah.

Image via Melissa Bolton

Resources to Explore the Explorer Archetype

There are hundreds of websites dedicated to myers-briggs and enneagram personality types. Do a simple search on the MBTI types, and go from there.

• 16 Personalities
• Myers Briggs Foundation
• For Enneagrams: 9 Types or The Enneagram Institute
• Archetypes.com is a good source for explorers.
• Jung Archetypes – The Explorer –
  • Character Archetypes 101: The Explorer (Character Therapist)
  • Archetypes: Explorer (Alex Hurst)

Part of 2016’s Character Archetype Series (A-Z) @ Hunter is Writing.

I’m looking for some kind of charting software which would help me to make character arcs which actually look like arcs. At this point, there seems no such thing, but in the process I found some interesting resources worth bookmarking which are shared below.

These are for writers in developing characters (and the plot points and structure necessary for that development).

Character Evolution Files

In July last year Sara Letourneau began a post series on her website under the theme of Character Evolution. In this series she has described several standard plot or turning points and linked these with the main character’s developmental arc. The series also provides a downloadable PDF (found off this page) which tables plot with character points.

The  Character Evolution Files is a monthly series. At this point, the last post of the series was published only a couple of days ago, and the series has arrived at the Midpoint of a standard plot, so there are many posts yet to go. There is also a lot of time to catch up and read the previous posts which I recommend.

Link: Character Evolution Files – No. 7 – Stage 5, Midpoint

Character Arc and Themes

A year ago Sara Letourneau guest posted at DIY MFA with a post on character arc as theme. This post is also worth a read, and there is a worksheet available on Sara’s site (found off this page) to accompany it.

Masterplots to Support Your Character and Story

Most of us are aware that next month there will be a huge blogging publishing challenge in the A-Z Blogging Challenge which will include hundreds of writers. Even if you aren’t participating one worth bookmarking for the month may be Write on Sisters,who have just announced their theme for the month – Masterplots Theater. Over April the blog will profile 26 different universal or master plots with examples.

However, in choosing the 26 to fit into the A to Z theme, the writers had to discount many more. One discounted plot – The Revenge Plot, has been released as a post this week for our reference.

Character Reactions and Interactions

The Write on Sisters have recently also posted a couple of good posts for character development. Both posts feature charts showing us how a character will interact with other characters or react to story events, depending on genre. If you like emoticons and charts, these will help.

• Character Development: The Reaction Chart (to story events)
• Character Development: The Interaction Chart (to other characters)

Character Arc Charts

Because I wanted a header image for this post, I used this one –

There are plenty of examples of character transformational arcs out there, and if you hand-draw a big one on the wall, you can place sticky note plot points onto the charts to link events with character. My problem is I can’t use a standard graph shape as I have a character who’s arc plummets before rising again – across a series. This would take more than a wall to plot out, but appears worth it to me, to make sure the whole series works consistently across all main characters.

Most plotted character arcs like this are hand-drawn, but it seems a case for digital help here. And yet I can’t find any chart mapping software that works easily to create this. If you know of any likely apps, please leave a comment.

Delving into the mentor archetype, with a side-plot of fallen, dark and evil mentors, this archetype is popular in recent fiction, and for good reason.

The Mentor Archetype

The mentor archetype is a large category of tropes and character types unto itself. There are some writers who always provide a defined “mentor” character to the protagonist, particularly following Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey story archetypal and character structure, where the mentor is one of the eight main character types.

The word “mentor” can be traced back to Homer’s The Odyssey, where there was a teacher character named Mentor who was actually the Goddess Athena in disguise. Athena was the Goddess of wisdom.

The mentor character must display enough expertise and wisdom to be able to support the protagonist or hero through their external or internal journey, or both. This means the mentor is often linked with other character archetypes such as the sage, the teacher, the wise man or woman, or if you’re looking for a stereotype, perhaps the elderly martial arts guru.

Mentors don’t have to be external – some characters have such a strong honour code they can act as their own inner mentor. Other characters such as Harry Potter, are mentored at various times by a multitude of people. Protagonists themselves can [shape]shift from mentor to hero and back again.

The mentor will operate as a reflection character, a person who helps the hero to obtain their goals by stepping up and facing their weaknesses and fears (via Michael Hague):

“In real life, the reflection character is one, who, no matter how difficult or painful, offers honesty, loyalty and real friendship.”  He helps the hero reach his goal by making him accountable”. – Michael Hague

“Mentors provide heroes with motivation, inspiration, guidance, training, and gifts for the journey. Every hero is guided by something, and a story without some acknowledgement of this energy is incomplete. Whether expressed as an actual character or as an internalized code of behavior, the Mentor archetype is a powerful tool at the writer’s command” ~ Christopher Vogler, ‘The Writer’s Journey‘

Typical examples of the mentor:

Obi-Wan Konebi and Yoda (puppet elderly martial arts teacher?) in Star Wars; Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit; Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Professor X to the X-Men; Dumbledore in Harry Potter; The Fairy Godmother in Cinderella; Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz. There is some debate over Rubeus Hagrid in Harry Potter but I consider him a mentor in that he was the first real friend Harry had, and introduced Harry to much of the wizarding world.

Donkey is Shrek‘s mentor and Dorry is Nemo‘s dad Marlin’s mentor, despite never knowing it. In fact, Disney does mentors so naturally, that there’s a sub-trope coined, of the “Disney Mentor.”

Notice some of these examples ended up dying through the storyline. Mentors can be expendable, even sacrificial, if done well.

Okay, so we know what a mentor is meant to do for the protagonist of the story, but now we come to my favourite types of the mentor – some forms of the anti-mentor.

The Fallen Mentor

“I once was you, but it cost so much…”~ Fallen Mentor motto.

As the anti-hero is a reluctant hero, and the anti-villain is a villain who loses his way to become a possible hero, the fallen mentor is an anti-mentor (there are two kinds, see below). This is a reluctant mentor, a hero who has lost their way.

The fallen mentor is a person who has lost step and faith in their own hero’s journey. (Sometimes literally their faith – there are several fallen priests as mentors in literature).

Mentoring the new protagonist will allow the fallen mentor to re-enter their own hero’s journey (if reluctantly at first) and have a redemptive arc.

Haymitch from The Hunger Games springs to mind immediately. Previously a winner of the Hunger Games, Haymitch then fell – via alchoholism because of his PTSD. Even though he was reluctant to mentor Katniss  and in some drunken cases, incapable of being trustworthy as a mentor, Haymitch managed to carry out the two functions of the mentor role – he taught and guided Katniss through the games, and also organised the sponsors’ gifts into the game arena which would allow Katniss to survive. Gift giving, as Vogler suggests in the quote above, is a task of the mentor.

Obi-Wan (Ben) Konebi from Star Trek is another fallen mentor, taking himself into the dessert after feeling he failed with his former student Anakin Skywalker. Tom Hank’s character in A League of Their Own was a drunken mentor who had to get his act together.

The Dark Mentor

“But I did it for you!”~ Dark Mentor motto.

The Dark Mentor is another anti-mentor type. This isn’t a fallen mentor but an anti-mentor possibly an anti-villain. They may appear as the hero’s mentor but be misleading the hero (and the audience), while working towards their own darker goals.

The dark mentor’s values oppose the hero’s required values. Instead of motivating the hero, they may well tempt the hero down a darker path. The Dark Mentor can also have a redemptive arc, won over by the strength of the protagonist’s heart and values, or they may simply stay a villain. Dark mentors are often oblivious to their darkness, claiming and believing they did it for the hero’s good.

Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, is a great example. Fagin to Oliver Twist, is another. Another – the Svengali characters who offer young students support and training to exploit the hero for their own gain.

Dark mentors may not be totally evil, unlike the true Evil Mentor who is training the villain or antagonist in the dark or evil arts to oppose the protagonist. Star Wars has a whole lot of truly evil mentorship going on.

Signs of the Mentor

• the mentor sat in the protagonist/hero’s position previously- they were the hero, and learned the exact skills necessary to survive in the new world
• the mentor has two roles – to teach and guide the hero, and to give gifts (items, knowledge or a clue).
• mentors can have other roles – they can be the romantic interest, or even the hero (if a teacher of a student eg. Batman)
• Tropes / Stereotypes and Events of the Mentor –
  • social misfit (lives away from normal society, often alone, possibly a hermit)
  • but well-known and recognised (mysterious and heroic reputation)
  • disheveled appearance (they don’t care about many of society’s values)
  • often unreliable, scatter-brained, or mystical
  • always flawed (Haymitch was a drunk, Dumbledore was manipulative)
  • despite their apathy and general age (many are old) the mentor will initially show much more power and skill than the hero being trained by them. But eventually –
  • the mentor will convince the hero to accept their own powers and skills
  • the mentor will often be the secret keeper of special weapons, objects or other gifts which will be passed onto the new hero to allow them to take the reigns
  • once the job is done, the mentor may disappear from the hero’s life (often by dying)
  • even when dead, a mentor may well come back to haunt annoy judge inspire the hero in times of need

Other Names & Associates (to the mentor)

• sub-types: dark mentor, fallen mentor, evil mentor, comedic mentor, eccentric mentor, continuing mentor, cool or badass teacher, fair weather mentor, inner mentor (perhaps via a honour code), shamans (healer)
• mentor as brand archetype – identified by Jonah Sachs in Winning the Story Wars: the seven brand archetypes based on mentors are – pioneer, magician, rebel, jester, captain, defender and muse. Sachs also offers four more archetypes through a PDF download – these are: the architect, alchemist, oracle and healer.
• associated: pupil, protege, student; teacher, trainer, professor; sage, guru, expert, wise old man, wise old woman (crone), wingman, reflection character / the ghost / the conscience
• subtropes and stereotypes: The Obi-Wan, elderly martial arts guru, magical nanny, fairy godmother, old convict, old master, old cop, “Disney” mentor, fallen priest.
• shadows – evil mentor (as villain), the teacher who becomes corrupted, the mentor as abuser.

Last thought – in the television drama, ‘The Black List‘ is Jame Spader’s role of Raymond Reddington a dark, evil or good mentor to Elizabeth Keene and/or the FBI? I am yet to work that out, which is the whole premise of the drama.

Part of 2016’s Character Archetype Series (A-Z) @ Hunter is Writing.

This post is an accompaniment to a character archetype post G for Gemini. Here's how I create characters based on an archetype from the Western Zodiac, with explanations of astrology for writers.

Zodiac Archetypes

Whether you believe in astrology and having a particular set of character traits based on your date of birth, or are skeptical of the whole zodiac and star sign thing, most people are aware of certain expectations of character once you mention a star sign name, and writers can make use of this.

You can mix and match traits from this star sign, possibly with other signs associated to the birth date, or simply use a star sign like Gemini as a simple base for some characteristics.

There are a few options for creating a character off a zodiac base –

1. Simple character traits from the star sign profile or using daily horoscopes to inspire character plot events
2. Choose a birth date in the star sign range for your character, and add to the characteristics with an associated moon sign and ascending sign. More below.
3. Take a look at the sun sign's elements and modalities for more possibilities. More below.

The below will briefly list some of the astrology attributes available, but this can become complex. Recommended further reading and links are listed below if you want to add to your working knowledge.

Disclaimers:

1. I am not an astrologer. My interpretations of any charts found here are most probably erroneous or surface-level at best. I have used astrology as a basis for archetypal characteristics in fictional character development only, and interpreted as I saw fit. As a writer, you can and most probably will do the same.
2. This post was themed towards character development only. Of course, many of the predictions which come via horoscopes can make good thoughts for plot events also. For more on this, see Corrine Kenner's book below.

Star Signs, Moon Signs and Ascending Signs

Sun Signs

The Western Zodiac (originating in Ancient Greece and earlier) is based on 12 constellations seen in the Grecian skies. These are Sun (or Star) signs. When someone asks “What's your sign?” they are typically referring to your sun sign – the position of the sun on the date you were born. These are the astrology signs found in newspapers and magazine horoscopes across the world.

The Western Zodiac is made up of 12 signs profiled below.

Each of these signs is ruled by a planet, as a personal sign, which provides attributes or characteristics to that sign. These signs are also used through the Vedic or Hindu Zodiac prevalent through India and other countries, but note that in the Vedic Zodiac, the signs are Lunar signs, and the dates of those signs tend to shift across by up to a month. This means that if I'm a Gemini in Western astrology, I am a Taurus under the Vedic astrological system.

Signs, as a set of characteristics, are made up of the combination of elements, polarities and modes – see below on these.

Our sun sign is our sign of our core identity – who we are, what drives and motivates us, our egos and life goals. The sun sign is how we consciously act. WHO I AM.

Moon and Ascending Signs

Based on our birth date and time our full astrological chart is full of many more planets than just our sun sign, and some have even more bearing on our life.

The Moon Sign – found in our birth time, the moon sign represents our inner and often hidden self. The Moon sign is how your character will act under stress, what they keep hidden from themselves, and also will supply you, as a writer, with the source of the most inner conflict. Moon and sun signs are innate to the character.

In this respect, we are talking about a shadow archetype. It will show us what the character must overcome or assimilate to achieve their character growth arc.

Depending on what signs (and elements*) appear as the moon sign, on a basic level your character will need different things –

• Fire moons (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) need freedom and acknowledgment
• Earth moons (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) need stability
• Air moons (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) need interaction and mental stimulation
• Water moons (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) need to serve others and need time to themselves to recharge.

*for more on elements see below

The moon sign is the sign of our inner selves – our emotions, unconscious fears and instinctual habits. The moon sign is how we react. WHAT I NEED.

The Ascendant / Rising Sign – the ascendant sign indicates the first impression a character will give: how the character will react and approach a new environment. It is also known as “the mask” a person puts on as an outside front. In Psychology terms, this public face is the archetypal persona. It's how that character wants to be perceived by those around him.

The ascendant is the sign of our mask, or outward appearance – our natural defenses and how we deal with the day-to-day. HOW I RELATE.

Finding your Moon and Ascendant for your Character

There are a number of websites which will draw up an astrological chart for you. I have linked below to one if you want to take this process even further. But to simply find the moon and ascendant signs for your character, choose a birth date and time, and place, and input it into this website form: http://www.elbertwade.com/atlas.html.

Note that this website gives the sun, moon, ascending (based on time of birth) and an MC sign. The MC sign is the midheaven sign, which traditionally indicates the career, status or public aims in life for that person. It's another good source for archetypal traits, so you may want to look up something on that sign as MC.

Here's an example, where I randomly put in an early Gemini birth-date –

A character based on the above birth configuration would be very interesting and I will profile a little below, but first, let's look at some elements and modalities of the sun signs.

In Summary –

• Your sun sign is how you act and express your personality consciously
• Your moon sign is how you think and feel subconsciously
• Your ascendant / rising sign is how you portray yourself to the world (and are seen by the world) and what you strive to be

Elements, Polarities and Modalities

Each Western Zodiac sign is ruled by several categorization systems which may point to other characteristics of that sign holder.

Elements

The element of a sign reveals the basic temperament of the sign. A full star chart (see below) which has more than 4 planets sharing the same element will show a person who is extremely fixed in those elemental traits.

Fire and air are compatible, earth and water are compatible, but mix somebody as a fire with somebody as a water, and you may find some interesting dynamics with one watering down the other, or the other steaming up the conflict. Some characteristics of each element –

• Fire signs – Fire is the element of imagination: active, high energy, can't sit around, enthusiastic, positive, risk-taking, impulsive.
• Water signs – Water is the element of emotions: changeable, emotional, sensitive, compassionate, caring, high feelings, intuitive, can be overwhelmed.
• Air signs – Air is the element of communication and the mind: intellectual, social, open, talkative, reasonable, open-minded, require mental stimulation, but also can be aloof and detached at times.
• Earth signs – Earth characters are attuned to reality and rely on what they can see, hear, etc. with their senses: stable, practical, calm, patient, prefer to not push the boat, can be stubborn, pragmatic but sensuous.

Note that aside from elements, there is a similar sign delineation based on the seasons. These are again, based on the Greek calendar or Northern Hemisphere's seasons at the time the zodiac was created. But as somebody who lives in the Southern Hemisphere I personally find it difficult to look on a Gemini (born in the Southern winter season) as being a Spring sign. However, the seasons have a bearing on modalities (below).

Polarities

The twelve signs are broken out into two sets of six in polarities. In current terms, these are masculine vs feminine or yang vs yin, or simply think of them as opposites.

Other names indicate the energy levels polarities symbolise – active vs passive, positive vs negative, extroverted vs introverted. I prefer to think of it as active vs receptive energies.

These terms can be a little unhelpful, as the natural inclination is to go for an active polar sign, because passive is bad, right? Add in the whole male versus female dynamic, and it's a whole heap of difficulty. But consider the Greek mythology gods of Ares and Athena – both are traditionally Gods of War – Ares is the hot-headed truly active God who goes in all guns blazing, but Athena is the Goddess who all the soldiers follow, because they know she's got their backs – she is the God of Strategic War, combined with wisdom. Ares is active, Athena sits back and strategizes, a form of receptive action. But both are examples of alpha heroes. Athena was born fully grown and armoured from her father Zeuses' head, so she's undeniably an alpha warrior.

• masculine/positive/active: The fire and air signs are extroverted, objective, assertive, and active. They act and go after what they want.

• feminine/negative/receptive: The water and earth signs are introverted, subjective, receptive, and passive. They react and wait to see what will happen.

Modalities

Signs also have been broken into three modalities (sometimes called modes, or Modes of Being) – Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable. These each have characteristics applicable to four star signs.

Astrology follows the four seasons, which correspond to the four elements, and each of these three-month-long seasons is comprised of a beginning, middle, and end.

• Cardinal – marks the beginning of the season and the power of initiation. These signs represent new beginnings, and have the power to initiate things easily, but may have problems with follow-through. They are the go-getters, with their minds centered on actions.
• Fixed – corresponds to the middle of the season and the power of sustaining or maintaining. They are stable and stubborn about sticking to their setting, good at establishing the stability and security of a new initiative caused by the cardinals, but the signs which least like change.
• Mutable – represents the end of the season and the power of change. Mutables are adaptable, flexible, go with the flow. They can instigate and communicate change when necessary, but because they can see all sides, can find it hard to make decisions.

Quick Profile

Going back to this quick example profile. What we have here is –

Sun – WHO AM I – Gemini.

Mutable Air – The Gemini motto is “I THINK” and with a mutable air sign, this possibly makes my character a double-thinker. Air is intellectual, talkative, social and open, but also as a mutable sign, he's not going to make decisions very easily. A bit scatter-brained, actually. As an active masculine sign, he's energetic and possibly pushy with it. Gemini's have dual-natures and have a sense of fun.

Moon – WHAT HE NEEDS – Aries.

Cardinal Fire– ouch, fire heats up the air of Gemini, wafting smoke everywhere. Aries is all action orientated, the warrior of the signs, enthusiastic with a motto of “I AM”. So, underneath, this Gemini reacts in a flash to protect himself, but really needs to embrace the power of his temper, and use it proactively to get things done. He is conflicted between his need to be who he is, and his need to overthink as a Gemini.

Ascending – HOW DOES HE RELATE – Leo.

Fixed Fire – double fire. It's getting hot, hot, hot here. The Leo is King of his domain, with a motto of “I WILL” and that's how this character acts. A natural ruler, this character takes over and demands to be the centre of attention. Double fire means the air of his main sun sign just isn't powerful enough to simply make smoke. Maybe it's just all hot air and bluster? A triple masculine too – this character is very active and outwardly and inwardly forceful. Leo's can come across as being lazy, though, and with a high sense of entitlement which could make him enemies until other characters realise he also has the high reasoning and sensible powers of the Gemini intellectual.

MC – Career and Public Goals – Taurus.

Taurus are into luxurious careers. Jobs like Jewellery merchants, actors, property. With the above chart aspects, this character may have the ambition to be some kind of Property Magnate, or just a King or Ruler.

This character has all the qualities of a very good hero, full of dynamic but reasoned action – or a mastermind villain with a big sense of entitlement. Or a smart bully?

Even More Signs

Want to take it further? A full astrological chart will give you some other interesting signs and dynamics of personality. Input your birth date, time and place into the form here, and you will get a chart similar to my example one.

Below the website chart you will find brief profiles of all the signs in certain “Houses” on the mini reading. From this summary you can –

1. List out all the signs in their positions and find those which are dominant. If you have a majority of masculine signs your character will be very active in their energy levels. If you have a lot of Aquarius signs across the chart, despite the character having a Gemini sun sign, they will have a lot of Aquarian attributes to investigate.
2. Venus and Mars signs –
   • Venus governs your romantic relationships, who you attract, how you attract them, your social skills, how affectionate you are, what you consider beautiful, what you want in a partner, and how you interact with others. It also oversees money – both spending and receiving (earning). Which ever sign appears in Venus provides the dynamics of the character's love and money aspects.
   • Mars is about your motivation, your initiative, your aggression, your confidence, your inner drive, your physical strength and stamina, what you want to achieve, where you put your energy, how much of a risk-taker you are, how passionate you are, and your sexual energy.
   • Uranus, Pluto and Neptune planets have a larger social or group relevancy. If you are creating a character who is a rebel, group leader or a story with a world theme you may be interested in looking into these.

–> For more information on the planets, see here. There are many other websites which will give you profiles for the signs.

My Example Chart

The above full chart is based on my example character. According to this chart, I have some additional information.

Although my major signs for this example character are Gemini, Aries and Leo, in the mini reading Taurus not only appears as the MC sign, but in Venus and Mars. Taurus is known for their caring and affectionate side but also for their slow thoroughness in what they do. This puts a whole new slant on this character:

With Taurus as the ruling sign over Mars, it takes some of the force out of any actions this character may take. Taurus is a fixed earth sign, this really grounds the more firey signs of the main chart above. Although he may be all Leo and “this is my domain, yo” it's feasibly all about his family or loved ones. He's becoming a protector type.

Some Fun – Fictional Signs in Harry Potter

Many fictional characters don't come with birthdates, but JK Rowling provided some for her main characters –

Harry Potter, born July 31st is a typical Leo. Leo's are natural rulers, generous and kind-hearted. Hermoine Granger was born September 19th making her a Virgo. Virgos are academics and practical, overcritical and harsh. Ron Weasley was born March 1st, a Pisces – a sensitive and warm although sometimes vague friend. Severus Snape and Voldermort are both reported as Capricorns, explaining the command and officiousness of each.

Further Resources

My Pinterest Boards

• Mythology – Zodiacs and Elements | Writing References
• Characters – Using Zodiac and Elemental Archetypes for Development

For Writers

• Bryn Donovan published a full series on Writing Characters with Zodiac Traits – here's the Gemini one.
• Recommended Reading –
  • Book: Astrology for Writers: Spark your Creativity Using the Zodiac by Corrine Kenner (Amazon link)
  • Book: Astro-Characters: A Writer's Guide to Creating Compelling Fictional Characters With the Signs of Zodiac by Judy Hall (Amazon link)

   

• Pamela Moran has a fantastic workshop called Creating Characters Using Astrology – recently run online at Writer Univ. Check her website for her next course.
• Mary O'Gara teaches an online course Astrology for Writers. The last was in 2015 at Savvy Authors. Her website here.
• Character Basics through Astrology – this post takes a different slant to the houses. The website, Planetary Writer, contains some interesting posts also.
• Rachel Funk Heller put up a couple of posts on the subject, then stopped.
• A Writer's Astrology – this post profiles each sign, and lists famous writers born in that sign.

Tools Used

• The small chart of Sun, Moon, Ascending and MC signs to birth date is created here. The same script code is found elsewhere on the web.
• The full astrological chart created with brief profiles of all the planet signs is created here.

More Astrology Basics

• Free Astrology Lessons – explains elements, modalities and star signs comprehensively.
• For more information on the planets, see here.
• A Brief Introduction to Astrology – profiles the signs.

More Zodiac Archetypes

You don't have to confine yourself to the Western Zodiac. Many nations hold their own astrological beliefs. There is a Balinese, African, Indonesian, Tibetan, Iranian, Arabian, Mayan Astrology (and many more) and of course, the Chinese Zodiac based on birth years.

Once you have created a date of birth for your character you can hook into any of these systems for archetypal characteristics.

Day of Birth

Most people are aware of the poem about your birth day –

Monday's child is fair of face,Tuesday's child is full of grace;Wednesday's child is full of woe,Thursday's child has far to go;Friday's child is loving and giving,Saturday's child works hard for its living;But the child that is born on the Sabbath dayIs bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

If you are not aware of what day of the week your fictional birth date fell on, input it here. Day of Birth net will give you the day, and a profile of characteristics for people born on that day. My example Gemini character was born on a Saturday, making him (according to the site): serious, prone to worry, intellectual and a bit of a rebel.

Burmese Zodiac

The Myanmar or Burmese Zodiac works with days of the week also. There are eight signs as Wednesday is split between AM and PM. As my character was Saturday born, in the Myanmar Zodiac he has been born as a Dragon – which means he is intelligent and hard-working and destined to be a leader, but considered unlucky in relationships.

• Burmese Zodiac Signs – 1 2 or 3

Today’s character archetype comes from a source often discounted, that of astrology and our Western Zodiac.

The Gemini as a character is profiled below. This post is accompanied by another showing how to create characters using the zodiac and a birth date base.

 “I Think” ~ Motto: The Gemini

The Gemini and Zodiac Archetypes

Whether you believe in astrology and having a particular set of character traits based on your date of birth, or are skeptical of the whole zodiac and star sign thing, most people are aware of certain expectations of character once you mention a star sign name, and writers can make use of this.

You can mix and match traits from this star sign, possibly with other signs associated to the birth date, or simply use a star sign like Gemini as a simple base for some characteristics.

You can take a number of steps for creating a character base off a zodiac symbol –

1. Simple character traits from the star sign (see Signs of the Gemini below)
2. Choose a birth date in the star sign range for your character, and add to the characteristics with an associated moon sign and ascending sign.
3. Take a look at the sun sign’s elements, polarities and modalities for more possibilities.
4. Add in more planets and signs via a full astrological chart
5. Or, if you have an idea of birth date and time, use other zodiacs.

The second to fifth options – plus more, are detailed in the accompanying post, How to Create Characters Using Astrology.

Gemini Astrological Profile

The Gemini is a Mutable Air and Masculine sign, meaning that the character with this star sign picks up the following attributes –

• Mutable people are adaptable, flexible, and go with the flow, so can instigate and communicate change when necessary Because they can see all sides of a situation they may have a hard time making a decision.
• Air is the element of communication and the mind: intellectual, social, open, talkative, reasonable, open-minded, require mental stimulation, but also can be aloof and detached at times.
• Masculine/positive: The fire and air signs are extroverted, objective, assertive, and active. They act and go after what they want.

Other points of the Gemini –

• Motto: “I Think”
• Symbol – the Twins
• Colour – yellow
• Ruled by the Planet: Mercury (as is Virgo).  Mercury is about your communication style, how you think, how you solve problems, how you learn, what you’re curious about, and some of your general interests.

Some Ancient Mythology –

• Mercury is also the planet and name for Greek or Roman messenger God, Hermes / Mercury.
• The signs and Gods ruled by this planet are associated with all aspects of direct communication, writing, teaching, short-distance travel and transportation, liars, theives and trickery; with brothers and sisters and with transformation.
• Apollo’s gift of the golden caduceus (which would later become the symbol for medical practioners) is an important symbol of Mercury’s potential for transformation. Hermes is associated with the element mercury, or quicksilver, and its alchemical transmutation from liquid metal into gold is a metaphor of the soul’s journey toward psychological and spiritual transformation and wholeness.
• Hermes/Mercury was the baby brother of Zeus/Apollo. As a baby, the legend goes that he snuck out as a newborn, stole his brother’s cattle, cooked and ate them, then lied about it when asked. Hence his associations with communication, liars, thieves and trickery.
• The Twins symbol for Gemini are for the Twins, Castor and Pollux, who were Gods of favourable winds for sailors, horses, and Roman mounted knights, the equites. 

The Gemini as Archetype

The Gemini as archetype is  well known as the twins of the zodiac, signifying dual aspects, changes of mind, intellectualism and also a jester-like reputation. Gemini is ruled by Mercury, the planet of information and communication. Gemini’s are also known as The Questioner, The Chameleon, The Jester, The Thinker or The Wanderer.

Signs of the Gemini

• Dual in nature, two sides to the coin
• Quick thinker and mind-changer, agile, adaptive, observant, versatile
• Curious, creative thinker, intellectually flexible
• Collects ideas and information all the time
• As Kings and Queens of communication and information, you will find the modern Gemini ruling over a plethora of internet sites and social media, using the latest tech to collate and share information
• A reputation as crafty, sly or fickle or scattered and can appear superficial
• Can turn any situation into a laugh, makes the world more bearable.
• Cheerful, witty, charming, socialable and entertaining.
• Natural communicators – Talkative, expressive, but also argumentative with it.
• Easily bored if not mentally stimulated
• Can be doubtful, nervous, anxious and indecisive
• Fears emotional depth, will retreat to thoughts. Needs downtime to think.
• Fearing emotional depth, this sign is likely to turn to text to dump relationships or friendships
• Lives in their mind, thoughts, in the unknown

Examples of Geminis

Real life – Gemini celebrities are typically announced via astrological sites.

Fictional – some of these are surmised out of personality rather than known fictional birth dates – Peter Pan, Bernadette (Big Bang Theory), Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter), Edward (Twilight), Pippn and Samwise (Lord of the Rings), Tom and Jerry, Captain Jack Sparrow, Kate Austen (Lost). Gemini is the name of a supervillain in the DC Universe, and a superhero character for Marvel. The Cat in the Hat, and Loki from Thor.

Other Names and Associates

• Other names: The Questioner, The Chameleon, The Jester, The Thinker or The Wanderer, The Twins, Trickster
• Associated: The Jester / Fool or Trickster (both Jung archetypes); Alter Ego or Dual Identities. The Student, The Storyteller, The Gypsy, The Journalist, The Comedian, The Child, The Writer, The Teacher, The Messenger, Peter Pan, Dashing Dan
  • Gemini in Cinemascope: A variety of genres and shrewd characters – this article relates the Gemini with cinematic archetypes – “detectives and spies, talented salesmen and flacks, struggling writers and shallow scribblers, crooks and gentleman master thieves, nervous stutterers, confused scientists, roving reporters, motormouths, urban neurotics, gangsters, and knowledgeable professors…”
• Shadow: In this case you can choose from two shadows – either the Moon sign if you choose a birth date, or the shadow of a Gemini from a fear perspective would be the fear of being incapable of or having the freedom to think and ponder for themselves.
  

Further Resources

• Several links, books and websites for more astrological information is provided in the accompanying post, How to Create Characters Using Astrology.
• Gemini and other Profiles –
  • Bryn Donovan published a full series on Writing Characters with Zodiac Traits – here’s the Gemini one.
  • Gemini Profile at Astrology.com
  • Gemini Profile at astrozone
  • Planets and Archetypes – Hermes: The Quicksilver Messenger
• My Pinterest Boards
  • Mythology – Zodiacs and Elements | Writing References
  • Characters – Using Zodiac and Elemental Archetypes for Development

Part of 2016’s Character Archetype Series (A-Z) @ Hunter is Writing.

myWriteClub is a new beta site which allows you to setup writing goals to track and share.

Currently in beta, joining is free. Writing goals can be setup on words or page counts, percentages, amounts or as you please, so you can have one for writing, another for revision, and both in a tracker to see them at once. The tracker graphs look similar to how NaNoWriMo look. Goals can be public, allowing public comments, or private for friends view only. Emails inform movement on the site.

The site also allows friends and followers who can boost you on. I'm registered as WordHunter, so feel free to friend me, and I'll follow you back.

I've set up a blog goal, a pre-write goal which aims to complete in time for a full novel writing goal set for November's NaNoWrMo. I'll probably adjust those last two down over time.

For those who enjoy writing sprints, myWriteClub allows you to set your own up, or join in the global sprint which runs every half hour. Work is written in your bowser and can be saved into Dropbox.

Link: myWriteClub

A double-up on archetypes – The Herald arrives from The Hero’s Journey, and Hermes is the Ancient Greek God, charged as Divine Herald amongst many other archetypal elements.

The Herald

“Announcing…a new challenge!” ~ Herald motto.

The Herald is one of the eight archetypes described by Christopher Vogler, originating from Joseph Campbell’s ‘The Hero’s Journey’.

The Herald, whether a character, object or force of nature, has one job – to announce the arrival of an important event or occurrence (often the inciting incident) which will send the hero off into a new world. This is the hero’s call to adventure, the motivation to change and move. Often, but not always, the Herald is an agent of change for the protagonist.

Signs of the Herald

• The Herald could be anything, any type of character, or shared as a role by another archetypal character such as a shape-shifter, the main or a secondary antagonist, a friend or sidekick to the protagonist, a static bit-player in the story, anyone.
• Or even an inanimate object, weather system, internal psychological or medical change, lucky arrival or changed situation like, say, a freak accident. Newspapers and billboards can carry news which acts as a herald. In fact, many real life newspapers contain the name “Herald” in their mastheads.
• They are recognised by Where they appear in the story, rather than what they appear as. An archetypal herald appears in the first act or portion of a hero’s journey – accompanying or simply as an inciting incident. They may provide dialogue or simply some symbolisation towards an invite issued for the hero to take up a call for change or adventure.
• Heralds can appear elsewhere in the plot, signifying major changes of direction for the protagonist. Structurally this is likely to be at the midpoint, and leading into the final climax.
• In terms of the herald as character archetype, this person would typically orally invite or call for the hero to help, change, or move into adventure.
• The Herald as person or object, can be neutral, positive or negative. A character as herald could as easily have villainous intentions as positive towards the protagonist.
• Although usually an agent of change and motivation for the protagonist to move from the static everyday world of their life, there are exceptions. In James Bond, for instance, M is a herald of another adventure or mission for Bond, but because James is a very static hero character there is no change.

Examples of the Herald

Fiction: Efie from The Hunger Games; M from James Bond, R2D2 and later Old Ben Konobi are heralds to Luke Skywalker, Star Wars; a contest announcement and later, the golden ticket, are herald to Charlie Bucket of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory fame; magical letters announce something magical, while Hagrid’s arrival seals the deal for Harry Potter.

Real Life: Heralds are found in real life, with announcers of celebrity or political arrivals.

 Hermes

“As above, so below” ~ 15th Century Europe Hermes motto.

“I will help, provided it’s fun” ~ possible modern Hermes motto.

As God of messengers, Hermes makes a good fit to round out this post. However, he’s much more than that, he’s the God of Travellers, Liars, Thievery and many more. Making Hermes (or Roman equivalent, Mercury) the best kind of herald and ancient trickster archetype.

A Little Hermes History

The son of Zeus and a star-goddess named Maia, Hermes was precocious from the day he was born. His first act as a newborn was to invent the lyre by fastening strings across a tortoise’s back. His big tale is when, again, only a newborn, he snuck out of his birth cave and stole some cattle from his half brother, Apollo. The story goes that he cooked and ate the cattle, gave away some to bribe a witness to his crime, and invented animal sacrifices to the deities to appease all of them.

Apollo, having the power of prophesy, saw through the thievery, and Hermes was sent to be trialled at court by father Zeus. However, as Apollo was also the God of music, he was intrigued by his half-brother’s newly invented lyre, and held off.

Zeus, too, was fond of his son’s skill, athleticism and speed, appointing Hermes to be his divine messenger between himself and other Gods. Eventually Hermes would also become the God who shepherded souls to Hades and the underworld; and dreams to sleeping humans. When appointed as Divine Herald, Hermes was gifted by Zeus the winged sandals and helmet, and winged staff known as the Caduceus.

These objects are symbolic icons to this day.  The winged sandals or Herme’s full image appear as the icon for a world-wide florist, and the Caduceus was erroneously taken up as the symbol for medical practitioners (it was actually meant to be a similarly designed but smaller staff held by the God of Medicine, Asclepius). The helmet made an appearance as part of the first costumes for Marvel’s superhero speedster, The Flash.

As a traveller, Hermes is symbolised by the messenger bag – which he needed, as he was constantly on the roads and never settled down (although managed to father many children such as the God, Pan). As Messenger or Herald God, Herme’s image is used by the Greek Post Office. As God of business,trade and commerce, Hermes also has another little symbol bag – a money bag.

Hermes’s creativity, ingenuity, friendliness, and mental and physical speed made him a popular and helpful God, despite his sometimes lack of honesty. He appears as a helper God in many Ancient Greek Myths, making arrangements for – and fixing – Zeus’s many love affairs, saving reborn God Dionysus from another death, liberating Io from Hera’s wrath, and creating the peacock plumage, helping Perseus to slay Medusa, freeing Odysseus from Calypso, and many more.

Hermes was known in the ancient world as amoral and the patron god of thieves, highwaymen, travellers, traders, and businessmen. Homer wrote Hermes as a merry and light-hearted trickster figure.

In 1947 Norman O Brown called Hermes a magician, due to his supernatural powers. This has some standing, as the ancient Greeks often mapped their own Gods on other ancient civilisations. In this case a figure of magic historically – Hermes Trismegistus, may have been a combination of  Egyptian deity, Thoth, and Hermes, both of whom were Gods of writing and magic. The Hermetic texts written by this “person” still form occultist practises and philosophy today. And the designs of some tarot “magician” cards have figures which often resemble Hermes, sometimes with wings, or a Caduceus-like staff. The magician tarot card is interpretted to mean (aside from the obvious magical elements) to be transformative, as the magician stands between earth and sky, or the two worlds.

Hermes is God of – trade, eloquence, patron and protector god of thieves, travellers, sports, athletes and border crossings, guide to the Underworld, god of weights and measures, literature, oratory, wit, shepherds and merchants, and possibly magic. He is also credited with inventing not only the lyre and panpipes (which his son Pan would use), but foot racing and boxing.

Hermes and Gods as Archetype

As Herald to the Gods and patron of roads and boundaries, the use of Hermes as an archetype means you will be dealing with not only his huge plethora of skills, but with transitions and communications. He is the symbolic archetype of transformation.

Hermes, as trickster, is often associated with the fool archetype. The fool is not necessarily naive, stupid, or innocent, and often plays a vital role in questioning the protagonist with just the right questions to give them information (or messages).

In her book, ‘Gods in Everyman’ Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen speaks of the Hermes Archetype as being a composite of the messenger archetype, the trickster archetype, the younger sibling rival archetype, the guide archetype, and the rescuer archetype. That’s a pretty good summary of all that Hermes offers for a character.

Gods and Goddesses as Archetypes

Mythological ancient gods like Hermes provide a good archetypal basis for character (and real-life) development. The book referenced above, Gods in Everyman, by Dr Jean Shinoda Bolen has several books detailing female goddess counterparts including ‘Goddesses in Everywoman’ and ‘Artemis’ by the same author. Several websites provide archetypal details on ancient gods and goddesses also.

I personally have two characters based on Hermes, each divides up a few of the main themes for this god. Hermes seems one of the easier gods to change gender on. My female character is based on the Mercury Roman archetype – Mercury is the planet closest to the sun. If you consider your main protagonist as your sun, the Mercury character, as female, could be the girl-next-door archetype, circling the sun as messenger. Mine is exactly that.

Signs of Hermes

• skilled in mental and physical quickness – cunning, creative and ingenious; with high athletic or sporting skills, fit and healthy
• questionable morals regarding lies and trickery – resourcefulness
• enjoys pranks and having raucous fun with others – extroverted
• heralds and communicates changes and transitions – or transformations
• helper and fixer for other people’s problems and issues – ready to serve, but independent so won’t be taken advantage of
• never the actual hero – on the periphery of political decisions or actions and not fully authoritative or judgemental
• popular and friendly, enchanting and seductive
• good with animals
• efficient, good head for money, punctual
• a puer aeternus or eternal boy-man – won’t settle down, happy to just have fun, travel and explore
• as fool, will ask a lot of informative or leading questions, just in the nick of time
• naturally makes use of all his powers and skills to reach his ultimate level in life

Examples of Hermes

Because Hermes has domain over so many varied themes, as an archetype you can find elements of Hermes in many other character types. Some obvious ones found in fiction and cinema are –

The Flash as superhero speedster – his original 1940s design had him wearing the Hermes helmet. In fact, not only does DC have the Flash, but also has Hermes as a superhero. In fact, both DC and Marvel have both Mercury and Hermes as heroes or villains.

Doctor Who (in several of his forms) needs a lot of cunning, wit, trickery and often athleticism. And he never dies. Dr Who has fought off an alien villain called ‘The Trickster’ and his arch nemesis – The Master or Missy, is a prime example of trickster villain. Wife, River Song is a trickster and often a herald to the Doctor’s own trickster side.

Merlin heralds and guides the transformation of Arthur into hero and king, but is also a very good trickster magician. Dumbledore provides a similar role with Harry Potter, and combines the herald with a little duplicity, as he doesn’t tell Harry of his fate.

Loki is the Nordic trickster god, another fascinatingly deep character as played by Tom Hiddleston. Other trickster Gods are Eshu (Africa), Coyote (Native American), Maui (Polynesian), Crow (Australian Aboriginal) and Set (Egypt). Other trickster villains with some superpowers – the Joker and Riddler as Batman nemeses and Wile Coyote to the Road Runner. Other not quite villainous tricksters – Briar Rabbit, Bart Simpson, Bugs Bunny, and The Pink Panther.

Hermes is also an example of the puer aeternus or eternis – the boy who never fully grows up. Peter Pan is the original modern form of this archetype. More modern renditions can be found in the swathe of movies featuring overgrown slackers.

Other Names and Associates

• Associated Herald Archetypes – messenger, announcer
• Associated Hermes Archetypes – herald, trickster, puer aeternus / eternal child, magician / shaman, athlete, joker, liar, thief / petty criminal, the fool
• Others – explorer, adventurer, fixer, mediator, guide, commitment-phobe, super-villain, rescuer, sibling rival
• Origins – The Hero’s Journey for herald, trickster and fool;  Jung for trickster and fool;  Greek Mythology for Hermes
• Shadow – the trickster is shadow to a true shaman or magician

Hermes Character used in header image: Copyright: Malchev, Shutterstock

Part of 2016’s Character Archetype Series (A-Z) @ Hunter is Writing.

Here’s a modern name for an archetype which comes originally from mythic stories. The Initiate can be an individual, or a group archetype, and is often linked with an archetypal plot point, that of “The Initiation.”

The Initiate

“Let me become” ~ Initiate Motto.

In fundamental structure, the initiate as archetype, is a newbie member or signon to a group or world view but hasn’t reached a level of acceptance into that group. To be accepted they must learn the language and skills necessary to act in that group or world, and must pass a sequence of initiation events.

The initiate in story is primarily the trainee hero and protagonist. They must undergo this training and transition period before entering the full hero arc but during their initiation they will have opportunities to show the hero they will become.

The Initiates

This is a group of initiates who enter their new world at the same time, and often have to train, learn and practise or undergo group tasks and trials together as a group before being examined towards acceptance. At this initiation point, the groups of initiates become individuals – some may fail the initiation and be kicked out of the group, others may pass.

Initiates, as a group archetype, are often cyclical meaning that a new group of initiates / candidates / pleebs etc will enter the new world annually, or periodically once that world is ready for them. In the YA genre this is often age-related, in other genres there may be an intake or qualification period.

Group initiates are often denoted as being different from full members of that world – often by having to wear different uniforms. Quite often the initiates are also pitted against each other in competition to win their full membership by subsetting them into smaller groups, with different wardrobes again.

The Initiation

The term “tasks or trials” mentioned above points to one specific archetypal story structure that will often have initiates as trainee-hero characters – The Hero’s Journey  will start with one or more non-heroes who must pass an initial entrance event (linked with an inciting incident) and step over the threshold into the new world – where they will then have to undergo the training, learning and tasks and trials of the initiate, through a mentor, before the final initiation task allows them to take up the full Hero mantle.

The Initiation is a situational archetype.

If you take a look at The Hero’s Journey overall, the first half of it can represent a psychological initiation into maturity – complete with the trainee-hero first refusing his call into hero-hood, and later accepting it. This acceptance within himself is his psychological initiation.

Initiations can be many types of events – from an examination of knowledge or skills, to a series of tests and a final heroic task to test their mantle.

The initiation is something which happens over a certain time period at the beginning of a story. It shouldn’t be confused with something that specifically happens to end the initiation period and allow the initiate to cross over into the new world as a fully fledged member.

That specific end point can be found in modern, dystopian Young Adult and urban cultures – something like an Initiation Ceremony or Judgement into a Varsity Collegiate, or sports team, a final competition or games, a ritual or ceremony.

Overall, if it’s a successful initiation as part of the full storyline, then it is normally the point in story where the adolescent comes into his maturity but then has a new awareness and bigger problems, or the internist is accepted into the world, but suddenly encounters worse problems than he experienced under the guidance of his mentor – and he’s alone now. This is their rite of passage.

Examples of Initiates

Mulan (Mulan) is an initiate in the Chinese army, William Turner (Pirates of the Carribean) must learn how to survive in a world of piracy, Daniel (The Karate Kid) is initiated into the competitive world of karate by an initially reluctant mentor Mr Miyagi. Luke Skywalker is mentored by Obi-Wan and Yoda into using “The Force” (Star Wars). Tris is initiated into the skills and world of the Dauntless faction (Divergent series).

Other Names and Associates

Other names for The Initiate: The Intern, plebe, trainee, student, recruit, apprentice, disciple, follower, cadet, rookie, greenhorn / tenderfoot, fledgling, novice, novitiate, neophyte, beginner, learner, newcomer, amateur, young person from the provinces, tyro, starter or understudy. Also – innocent, fool or child (birth and beginnings) – see more on the fool below.

Note that the initiate is typically a young or trainee hero type and therefore the protagonist of the story.

Structure and Universal Story: The Hero’s Journey or Quest (Often there is a Stage called the Initiation, which comes before further trials and tribulations) and a Coming of Age story feature initiates, crossing thresholds and rites of passage.

Associated Archetypes: The Mentor  – every initiate needs guidance (for more on mentors see the F post in this series), The Innocent  / Fool – an initiate’s start point and The Hero  – an initiate’s end point but the start of the Hero archetype and arc.

Other Points of Archetypal Reference:

• The innocent is one of the 12 Jung Archetypes and will be found through many other archetypal systems. As a Jung archetype, the innocent is also used in brand archetypes.
• The Initiate is another name for The Fool card in Tarot, and is associated with a soul journey. Traditionally, the Fool card, the first card of the Major Arcana in Tarot represents a completely new and fresh beginning.  The Initiate knows nothing of what is ahead yet is eager in the likeness of a child when presented with a new opportunity for discovery.

The Shadow: the shadow of an initiate hero is a rejected hero already in the new world. This is somebody who was previously initiated, then rejected but still wants to be that hero. An example as villain also, is Scar, who was the shadow to young Simba in ‘The Lion King’ – both wanted to be king, but went about it very differently.

Avoid associations with:

1. The Chosen One (as a method for locating an initiate) or
2. the Varsity “Initiations” into a Collegiate or freshmen initiations which have a bad reputation and lately have been banned across many countries.

Part of 2016’s Character Archetype Series (A-Z) @ Hunter is Writing.

Appearing quite simple, the Judge archetype has quite a bit of power behind it, and can play character roles in your story which can be extremely positive, extremely negative, or extremely conflictive.

The Judge

“I’ll decide” ~ Judge’s Motto

The judge must balance some type of justice with compassion. They ensure an even distribution of power, setting realistic and fair boundaries and encouraging people to take responsibility for their actions.

To do so, they must sit as the head or ruler of the laws of your story world, and these laws should be established for the reader in some way.

Most judges as characters are older, more expert, and therefore perceived by other characters as holding the authority and power to judge, mediate, or sometimes make peace between conflicting or competing people or ideas.

The Judge does not necessarily have to be an actual Judge, or lawman. They may simply be a wise one who your characters seek out to mediate over a problem.

Anyone in a high position of power over others – such as businessmen, Kings, rulers and leaders can all hold the judge archetype, either in a good or bad way eg. the corporate head who must make decisions over business matters or employee’s jobs, commanders or military leaders who must make life or death decisions are another archetypal judge.

Where you have written group conflict, you may need a judge.

Recognising the Judge

If you’ve written a proper judge they may well be recognisable by what they wear – in many countries this is the judge’s “robes” – further enhanced in the British Judicial system with the Judge’s “wig”.

But take away those uniforms of authority and you still don’t have a problem. Young children asked to play a judge without the robes or wig to dressup with, will stand in a fierce stance with crossed arms, and look stern. Made to sit down, those kids will pick up some kind of toy to use as a gavel. Even young kids understand the archetypal judge and how to indicate such power.

To recognise a judge in story, we need to see some indication of –

• Their power of authority ie. other characters trust and allow them to make judgements on their behalf. They are often appointed or voted in as a judge or mediator.
• They are trusted by people of differing powers or levels of their own – in other words, the judge has power of decisions for common people to royals or rich people. As archetype, they can not be over-ruled without questions.
• They should wear or hold something indicating their separate status. This may be as simple as where they sit, or who can talk to them, or how their judgements are then turned into actions (and by whom).
• Judges as characters tend to be older than the heroes and skilled or experts in their profession or the way of the world.
• Give off an atmosphere of stern but compassionate understanding. They are wise, extremely rational and logical, preferring cold facts over fantasy or abstract information.
• They may appear overly cold and unemotional, even through to their outside life. The lack of emotions is a necessary shell or mask they must take on, in order to be seen as unbiased.
• Judges respect and believe in the rightness of having fair justice systems, and constantly seek ways to improve those systems they work under, for overall good.
• Judges (whether they are actual judges, doctors, engineers or whatever) model those justice systems in their everyday life – they act authoratively in all matters, don’t enjoy being questioned, and expect respect.

The Good (Judge), the Bad and the In-Between

Good Judges

The good judge as peacemaker, mediator or arbitrator, will settle matters compassionately and fairly. The good judge will listen to both sides of a story, and will refuse to make a decision until they are aware of both sides.

Although most judges are older and perceived as wiser, there are characters who act as judges or mediators who are much younger. Hermoine Granger is a girl the other Harry Potter characters consider wise in something beyond her own years or experience, thus giving her the authority to make or at least opinionate decisions or mediate conflicts.

For younger judges like Hermoine, there is, however, the lack of full authority gifted by age or knowledge of how to communicate assertively and unemotionally – in Hermoine’s case, several of her own judgements or opinions, even when later found to be correct, were initially dismissed as simply being “bossy.”

Bad and Shadow Judges

The bad judge as a villain archetype is often a hidden mystery to the reader and main characters for some time. Outwardly respected as authoritarian judge, behind the scenes the villain judge displays pure machiavellionism, and uses his power and authority to profit or look after himself.

Open to bribes, blackmail or other forms of corruption to get him to do what somebody with more power wants, the bad judge often acts as a minion to a bigger bad, and uses his power to enforce rules and manipulate laws which take power and freedom away from other people.

Those associated to the law such as cops or detectives can often be written as this type of corrupt judge, abusing their powers or authority over others.

The Vigilante is a bad form of the judge, combining his judge with jury and possibly revenge and penalties also. Vigilante Groups are even more frightening – led by a true villainous zealot, the group supports characters who have “lost all judgement” and will break common laws in order to uphold their own created laws.

The shadow judge – the shadow of a good judge is the propensity to take their critical judgements to the extreme, and become overly critical, judgemental and impatient with other people in their lives. Hermoine Granger’s shadow judge appears several times in the books when she is overly critical of Harry or Ron, and frustrated they don’t listen to her. Taken to the extreme, you have the overly critical and destructive parent, stereotypically portrayed as the bad mother.

The shadow mediator – sometimes people are appointed as mediators to smooth relations between conflicted people or organisations. Mediators, too, can be corrupt, and work both sides so that they personally gain from the conflict. The shadow mediator will have ulterior motives and hidden agendas to help themselves.

Example Judges/Mediators

Stepping away from the reality television judges we all know like Judge Judy, there are many forms of judges and mediators found in our fiction but most that come to mind are the more corrupt or renegade ones such as –

Judge Dredd – the dystopian law enforcement officer who became judge and jury to criminals; Q of Star Trek, who as an omnipotent being, pronounced judgement on the human race on several occasions.

In crime or political fiction, mediators often make a heroic appearance, negotiating trade agreements, arms races, or as trained FBI or Police hostage or kidnapping negotiators.

As secondary characters, often corrupt, we have the ambassadors or diplomats for a country or corporation. In our television dramas, Embassy Diplomats are so often portrayed as being bad guys, writing to our mistrust that a group of people with “diplomatic immunity” will not follow our common laws and are therefore immoral.

Our many jury or trail movies such as ‘12 Angry Men’ or ‘The Accused’ or ‘The Verdict’ feature our justice systems and a whole plethora of bad and good judges, jury members, lawyers and support characters.

Politically themed movies such as ‘Silk Wood’ feature characters who are incorruptible, examine and find evidence to support their convictions, and stick to higher principles in the face of danger and threats.

Other Names, Associates and Origins

• Other names: judge, mediator, arbitrator, ambassador, diplomat, go-between, negotiator, critic, examiner, referee, umpire.
• Associations:
  • lawman, enforcer, wise one, reviewer, critic
  • Social networks like Facebook provide a quick critical or judgement system (like, thumbs up, hearts)
  • Libra (the star sign) is known as the judge;
  • Enneagram Type 9’s are the peacemakers;
  • The 8th card of the major arcana in Tarot is Justice, complete with sword and a set of scales.
• Shadows: critical abusive parents, bad mothers; corrupt judges, mediators, ambassadors or diplomats; vigilantes and revengers; vigilante groups.

Origins –

Human society has had laws and some form of justice for eons, and therefore characters who work within those laws. Some examples from our religious and mythic backgrounds –

• Thoth  was the Egyptian god of wisdom and mediator among the gods, who always sought his counsel;
• Genetaska was an Iroquois woman so respected for her fairness and impartiality that all disputes were brought to her to settle;
• Mitra/Mithra was the Vedic/Persian god of friendships and contracts and regarded as a mediator between the gods and humankind.

I’ll take a look at the Greeks and Roman slant below –

Gods of Justice

Themis was the daughter or Gaia and Uranus, and was the Titan goddess of divine law and order—the traditional rules of conduct first established by the gods. As prophetic oracle, she also instructed mankind in the primal laws of justice and morality. Themis is depicted as a stern blindfolded woman, holding a set of scales and a cornucopia. The Roman equivalent was named Justitia, who gained a sword, and became the modern day model of Lady Justice.

Back to the Greeks – With Zeus (who acted as King, judge and jury for matters of the Olympian Gods), Themis gave birth to the the Horae (hours) and the Moirae (fates). Although some tales suggest the Moirae came from Nyx, the Goddess of the night.

It is often suggested that Athena, who came from Zeuses’ head, looks quite stern and very much like Themis. As goddess of wisdom, and the strategy of war, Athena is a known diplomat.

As well as being the goddesses of the seasons (spring, summer and autumn in Greece), the Horae presided over the ordering of the heavens and the gates to heaven. Eirene was the goddess of peace, her sisters were Eunomia (goddess of order, law and legislation) and Dike (goddess of moral justice).

The Moirae were the Fates – the three goddesses who presided over the lifespans and fates of all kind.

Nyx is the mother of Goddess Nemesis – the divine goddess of retribution or revenge.

Themises’ father, Uranus, was later castrated by Cronus. This created not only Aphrodite, but from the blood that splashed on the ground came the Erinyes or Furies – these three netherworld sisters avenged crimes against the natural order – homicide, unfilial conduct, crimes against the gods, and perjury.

Let’s go fully underground now. Hades, as God of the Underworld, had judgement over the afterlife of every mortal and God. Hades was also the father of Mesperyian, Greek goddess of torture and punishment.

Moving finally onto the Romans, in Roman Gladiatorial combat, Roman crowds would signal their judgment by the pollice verso. Here is the well-known origins of a common critique system – the thumbs up or thumbs down. Half of this system appears on our biggest social media network.

Images: If you want closeups and links of many of these images, you will find them on my Pinterest boards –

• Mythology – Ancient Gods and Goddesses
• Mythology – Zodiacs, Tarot and Elements
• Characters – Archetypes
• Characters – Personality Types

Part of 2016’s Character Archetype Series (A-Z) @ Hunter is Writing.

The Kuudere, Tsundere, Dandere and Yandere are archetypes from Japanese anime. They are relevant to female young characters as love interests in particular, but Western fiction also has many archetypes which are comparable.

The Deres

The term “dere” comes from the Japanese word “deredere” (デレデレ) which is the onomatopoeia for being lovestruck. By combining this word with other words, we get these archetypes of love interests in anime and games.

The deres are normally applied to female characters, but there are examples outside anime of the same archetypes in both male and female, and in various genres.

Kuudere

“Business Only, Emotions are Unhelpful” – Kuudere Motto.

The “kuu” in kuudere comes from the Japanese pronunciation of the English word “cool” (クール). A person who is kuudere is calm and composed on the outside, serious, always in charge in any situation, and the kuudere never panics. They keep any anger or sadness – and happiness and joy very deep inside of them, and at extremes can be very emotionless and robotic.

Western fiction examples of the Kuudere are often found across science fiction – Mr Spock of Star Trek struggled to let his human half come out with such a kuudere Vulcan side. Mr Robot’s Elliot contains his emotions robotically, particularly at the beginning of the drama, but later on we see his emotions leaking out in times of higher stress.

The archetypal ‘Robot’ or i-Robot type can be found used often with villains and for villain’s thugs who do the dirty work. Stereotypically, a lot of Nazi-types and ex-Cold War Russians have been portrayed as being very emotionless when going about their bad work. Kuuderes are therefore useful as both villains and on the other side, sidekicks for the heroes, but they normally don’t make a full hero themselves without a lot of help from characters around them to bring out the humanness inside so that we can better like them.

There’s an interesting fictional trope where emotionless uncaring evil masterminds show their dere lovey-dovey side with a cat – troped as their “right-hand cat”. Many historical villains were actually cat haters and dog lovers, but that’s another matter.

Tsundere

“I have so much love to give, but don’t disappoint me!” ~ Tsundere Motto

The “tsun” in tsundere comes from the Japanese word “tsuntsun” (ツンツン) which means to be aloof or high and mighty or to turn away in disgust. Stuck-up on the outside but loving on the inside. In romance terms, these are the characters who struggle between their pride in their status in life, and the person they are interested in.

The hot and coldness of the tsundere can also be a swing between a short and violent temper to a loving nature. There can be a reversal also – a normally sweet character can turn incredibly harsh with some situations (which may involve threats to their loved ones). So, we can have two-three kinds of examples of the tsundere –

The cold aloof to loving

In a love story, the cold aloof will deny their love –  because they are so embarrassed with themselves and how people around them perceive them, they often become even more holier and superior in public around the very people they are in love with. But the Tsundere’s character arc will eventually find them admitting their love, at least privately and spending more and more time with their lover.

If you hear a character say the words “It’s not like I love you or anything,” you’ve probably got a cold aloof Tsundere.

So, we have – public – emotionless and aloof, privately – loving and caring for those allowed close. Swings in between. TVTropes calls this type the “sugar and ice personality”.

Danny Zuko from Grease is an example of this tsundere at work at the beginning of a love relationship. He’s so interested in maintaining his “cool” status that he forces Sandy to change her own ways.

Amy Pond (a Dr Who companion) is tsundere to boyfriend Rory. She swings between harsh coldness to tender sweetness and back several times.

The hot tempered to loving

This is another form of showing people around you that you really aren’t interested in somebody (when you are) as well as dispersing your quick anger. These tsundere types may act with anger to maintain their status and throw off somebody they are actually interested in. In primary schools it leads to violence – girls who punch boys, boys who yank a girl’s hair – all just to show they are not interested.

Miss Piggy is a good example of the tsundere pig to a frog Muppet’s interest. She swings from nearly killing him to appearing sweetness and light. Kate Beckett is tsundere overall, but sweet to Richard Castle once they finally admit their love for each other.

There is also much debate (to meme status) over Batman as tsundere – as a public image Bruce Wayne as a businessman puts on a warm persona, but you get the notion easily that it’s exactly that – a mask for the public. Underneath, Bruce is lonely and cold, very much a tsundere until he opens up to a very few trusted loved ones. The Batman alter-ego is extremely aloof, even in a world of aloof superheroes, yet Batman is also hot-tempered and violent.  But if a loved one like Alfred the butler is threatened or sick, his dere side comes out.

The Sweet to Harsh Cold Killer

This is the tsundere character who can segregate their cold and sweet loving sides at will, or for certain situations. A standard example is the reversal story where we first meet a genuinely loving couple and later find out that one or both of the couple are trained (perhaps retired) assassins who can kill coldly and at a whim.

The tsundere is the most popular dere archetype but also the hardest one to detail. The “runs hot and cold” aspect of this character needs to be planned for specifically, to create a believable reason why this character will show such differences in their behaviours, and when. We see it used a lot in attempts to create a “strong female character” and used a lot erroneously, by having a strong tsundere female turn wimpy permanently with the love of the true hero.

Dandere

“When in doubt, don’t…” ~ Dandere motto.

The “dan” in dandere comes from the Japanese word “danmari” (黙り) meaning silence. A dandere is a quiet and often antisocial character. Because of this quiet emotionless aspect, a dandere is often mixed up with the kuudere, but there is a difference –

The dandere’s quietness is through shyness, and a mistrust of getting hurt. The dandere character may often want to be more social, popular, listened to etc, but due to their shy personality is unheard or invisible. If they are in a group that they trust, the dandere may well be talkative and loud, but if a stranger moves into the group, they’ll quickly withdraw.

There are several western archetypal equivalents – the wallflower, the shrinking violet and for teen genres an associated trope is “the invisible.”

The invisible is a term denoting a person, often female, who yearns for the attention of a more popular guy ie. it’s an unrequited love story. Because of the character’s shyness, ugliness or blandness the lover of interest just never notices them. Often, and stereotypically, the trope concludes with “the invisible” or dandere becoming aware that their love interest wasn’t all they were cut up as being, and a more worthy person of their love is probably found in their best friend.

The shrinking violet as shyness trope adds some additional characteristics – the violet will not wear anything which might make them stick out. In stereotype terms, these characters are often the nerds or outcasts who wear no makeup, or untrendy frumpy clothes. Taken to stereotypical levels as a heroine, they will then be adopted by a trendy mentor and have a makeover, suddenly finding they are beautiful, and popular and somehow, no longer shy.

The good thing about the true dandere is that normally they will have a supportive group of lifelong friends to count on. As an archetype the dandere is also often portrayed as being intellectual, and of more worth to society as a whole than the more “popular” cliques. There is often a moral tale around the use of a dandere.

Neville Longbottom is the chief dandere of Harry Potter. Despite his shyness, there is much debate about Neville being the actual real hero of the story. Ginny Weasley is dandere around Harry. Elizabeth March of Little Women is so shy that she stops going to school.

Yandere

“We are destined to be together – always” ~ Yandere motto.

The yandere is a favourite archetype of mine if done well. Unfortunately it’s often overdone and has become cliched for many bad guys. The “yan” comes from “yanderu” (病んでる) which means to be sick—in this case, mentally sick.

Unlike the others of the dere family, it is not the “dere” part that is hidden inside. The dere or sweetness part is the external side of a deranged character. It’s not a front or mask, however – the dere personalities are geniune. So the yandere is geniunely sweet and kind but there is a dark side to them also.

Unfortunately this sweet to dark is overused in villain terms, meant to surprise the reader when a sweetness and light character turns out to be the evil villain. It also doesn’t help when evilness is explained as being a mental health issue eg. the serial killer is a sweet kind family member but occasionally due to being abused and traumatised in their childhood, turns into a deranged monster for a night.

The yandere characters I do appreciate are the sweet girls normally, who have a wacky slightly deranged side to themselves. This is Luna Lovegood, who is normally extremely kind and gentle, but has a side which allows her to protect, fight and kill her and her friend’s enemies without remorse.

Taking this dere back to the original purpose, sitting as a love archetype, there are two types of yandere – the obsessive and possessive. A yandere is often a normal happy, social and well liked girl. But love makes her crazy—often violently so. So all the obsessive love struck characters who do weird things to gain the attention of their love interest are yandere. And characters like Annie in Stephen King’s ‘Misery’ are very yandere.

The High School Queen Bee who wants to win the prom queen crown alongside her destiny mate of the most popular boy in the school often is a yandere in stereotypical fiction. The obsessive go-getter after a specific job can be a yandere also. Watch out anyone who gets in their way.

Obsessives will manipulate, setup, threaten or injure anyone who gets in the way of them obtaining their love or objective.

Possessives will go as far as killing or ruining the ones they love in case somebody else gets them. Taken to the extreme in real life, we sadly have examples of this in the parents who murder their own children whilst committing suicide, or the ex-husbands or boyfriends who stalk and kill their exes and their current lovers.

The bunny boiler stereotype (from ‘Fatal Attraction’) comes to mind easily here. Up a notch and you have Gone Girl’s psycho bitch. Taken down a notch, we have the crazy bitch. The male equivalent of these is possibly the abusive boyfriend, the stalker or psycho boyfriend.

Another detailed post on the yandere can be found here.