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Character Archetypes

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Post  Lee Thu Feb 23, 2012 11:35 pm

Since you suggested it in the other thread, I thought it was a good idea to actually make it. Thought you were going to, but I guess I beat you to the show :P

Anyway so far the only one I took consideration on was Sokka. I immediately thought of the the Trickster, but that doesn't sound like what Sokka is. I mean sure he's the plan guy, but when I think of Trickster, I thought of someone who is more rebellious.

Sokka isn't really the rebel type, especially when he often tries to take on the leader role of the group, because Aang is too busy being a goofy kid for half of the series.

Like for example when I think of Trickster, I think of Han Solo from Star Wars. Someone who is a deceiving conman, which Han does really well.

Of course I only know so few archetypes actually. Is there an archetype called Thinker or something?

Other then that I haven't put much thought in the other characters.
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Post  Loyal Subject Fri Feb 24, 2012 5:08 pm

^ ive only really gone over in class The Goddess, Hero, Trickster, Sidekick, and Shadow. there's more but i dont know enough about them to definitely say which archetype a character is or isnt.

The Trickster isn't necessarily a con-man. yes, the trickster can be a con-man but there's more to the archetype than just being mischievous. it's almost like the trickster is the comic relief character who is also smart. which is why i'd say Sokka is the trickster. he's not a con-man but he is funny and he is brilliant. he uses his intellect above all else but he does it in a more comedic way. that's really what the trickster is.

as for the others, ill just mention the ones that seem the more obvious since i haven't really thought about it too much.

Aang is the hero...for obvious reasons...i mean, im not really going to explain it unless you want to argue he isn't the main character XD

Katara is definitely the Mother Goddess....i mean, we've talked endlessly about her and how she's a borderline Mary Sue and all that.

Azula is definitely the Shadow of the Goddess. i mean, she's pretty much the anti-Katara which is actually why it kind of made sense for them to fight in the finale battle. though, i still think Zuko should have finished the fight instead of letting Katara do it.

I have no idea who Zuko or Toph would be. I mean, I feel like Zuko starts off as possibly being Aang's shadow because he is the villain we see most often in the beginning. but then he kind of goes off that track and becomes the reluctant hero. so im not all too sure about him. and Toph, i havent got a clue. there might be a 'the tomboy' archetype but we haven't gone over it in class so i dont know if it actually exists or not.

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Post  Lee Fri Feb 24, 2012 7:47 pm

I went on wikipedia after making this thread, and for Aang they claimed he was the Reluctant Hero/Trickster Hero. When I went to look through the others though, they didn't mention any archetypes for them.
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Post  Loyal Subject Fri Feb 24, 2012 8:36 pm

I disagree about the reluctant hero XD.

Because if you have a character labeled as 'the hero' that doesn't make them 'the reluctant hero' necessarily. all the heroes that go through the hero's journey are reluctant at one point, that's part of the character arc they have to go through. so yes, Aang is reluctant at first but he gets over being reluctant pretty quickly. i mean, by the first couple of episodes in season one, he's kind of okay with taking on his responsibilities as the Avatar.

Zuko, on the other hand, takes three damn season to finally get his **** together and finally be one of the heroes. i mean, it takes him FOREVER to get to that step. that's why i thought he might be the reluctant hero....cause i mean, really, that's kind of a long time considering the show is 3 seasons long lol XD.

i can kind of see Aang as a trickster hero though. i mean, i dont think Mike and Bryan alluded to Peter Pan in the Ember Island Players episode just because they felt like it.
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Post  Lee Fri Feb 24, 2012 9:18 pm

Zuko is part of the force that Aang and his friends are going against though. I know everyone wants him to be like, yeah I'm going to join the good guys now, but that's just cliche.

Neither side was good or a beaming icon of evilness. Just look at Jet or that one Earth Kingdom general who tried to get Aang to go into the Avatar state by such extreme methods.

So it's understandable why Zuko took so long. With Aang and others their side was already the side that the audience was more in tune with. Seriously imagine if you had to go up against your homeland, your family, people you know, all for a different side. It's not black and white.
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Post  Loyal Subject Fri Feb 24, 2012 9:24 pm

^ but that's why im saying he's the reluctant hero. he was the force against Aang for season 1. that's why im saying i think he moved from being the shadow to the reluctant hero. because Iroh kept telling him basically 'you have to be the hero' but Zuko didn't want to listen. im not saying there's anything wrong with not wanting to listen to that or that it's not understandable as to why he chose to be reluctant. im just saying that's why i think he is the reluctant hero.
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Post  Lee Fri Feb 24, 2012 9:30 pm

No I understand what you're saying, but you went on to explain how pathetic it was that it took him three seasons to make the switch. It's not that easy to leave your homeland. Seriously imagine yourself having to leave United States to overthrow/battle it.

In a way it's similar to the Civil War. Too many people always think of it like Confederates bad, Union good, or some stupid black and white generalizing like that. Or with any war.

However with the Civil War people tended to fight for where their state went. For a lot of different reasons, one being because they wouldn't want to fight their own family or town. It wasn't like, Oh yeah I'm going to fight for the Union to end slavery!
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Post  Loyal Subject Fri Feb 24, 2012 9:46 pm

^ i wasnt insinuating that it was pathetic, i was saying that it took him a long time to do it compared to Aang who only took 3 episodes to get over that. considering it takes Zuko a majority of the time for the entire show to finally step up, id say he's a reluctant hero. you don't get more reluctant than that :p
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Post  Lee Fri Feb 24, 2012 9:48 pm

Right but if Aang had to step up and for some reason go up against his Air Nomad brethren would he be able to do it? That's what I was sort of getting at. The heroes are already on the side that is geared towards the audience.
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Post  Loyal Subject Fri Feb 24, 2012 9:53 pm

i honestly still don't get what you're saying. i mean, i get the point but i don't get what it has to do with Zuko being the reluctant hero. i mean, if Aang was in his position, then Aang would be the reluctant hero.

you could be on the same side as the 'good' side and still be the reluctant hero. it doesn't matter which side you're on but if you show signs of being extremely reluctant, then you're the reluctant hero.



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Post  Lee Fri Feb 24, 2012 9:55 pm

No I was just asking do you think Aang could do what Zuko? As in leave his homeland and go against it. Because I highly doubt he would be able to. It really didn't have anything do with the topic, I just felt like asking it.
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Post  Loyal Subject Fri Feb 24, 2012 10:19 pm

oh.

i think it depends on the circumstances. i mean, if Zuko had been in the wrong circumstances, he could have easily ended up as a tragic figure rather than a reluctant hero. so i think it depends on Aang's circumstances within the story.

speaking of tragedy, Zuko and Azula definitely suffer from the Oedipus Complex or whatever it's called. i dont think we should necessarily go there but just saying :p
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Post  Lee Fri Feb 24, 2012 11:20 pm

Right I know, it was just something interesting to think about. Because we don't normally put other characters in other said character's shoes.

And forget that complex, Freud just wanted to see sex in everything because he was a big pervert. Maybe he's a certain someones daddy.
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Post  Loyal Subject Fri Feb 24, 2012 11:44 pm

^ yeah i know lol. hence why i said we not even go there. though, i think if someone wanted to make the argument, they could easily prove it.
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Post  Lee Sat Feb 25, 2012 3:50 pm

For Toph, I don't know if this is a newer archetype, so it might not work. Anyway I found SpunkyKid/WildChild which was basically just like a rebellious kid.

I think it might mean an eccentric kid, which Toph wouldn't fall under, but I also feel it means that they are more of a rebel to their society, which Toph totally is.
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Post  Loyal Subject Sat Feb 25, 2012 8:36 pm

is there a site that has a list of archetypes besides TV Tropes? im not sure how close TV Tropes is to the actual archetypes that have been defined by scholars. i havent been there in a while.
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Post  Lee Sat Feb 25, 2012 8:45 pm

I usually just type in character archetypes in the search engine and check out the first few links to come up. Normally there are some worthless ones, but I found a huge list which went into detail with all the forms of the heroes and so on.

Like Reluctant Hero, Fallen Hero, ect ect.
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Post  Loyal Subject Sat Feb 25, 2012 9:02 pm

you should post the link so I everyone can look at it and use it as a reference :p
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Post  Lee Sat Feb 25, 2012 9:09 pm

If I find it again, I will. I forget what I actually Googled.
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Post  Loyal Subject Sat Feb 25, 2012 9:17 pm

Lee, you're supposed to share these kinds of resources as soon as they're found :p. especially if they're relevant to the topic :p
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Post  Lee Sat Feb 25, 2012 9:27 pm

^ You mean like you always do? :P
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Post  Loyal Subject Sat Feb 25, 2012 10:05 pm

yes lol XD
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Post  Lee Sun Feb 26, 2012 11:11 pm

This isn't the link I was mentioning before, but I thought I'd share it anyway. Some of them or work (or most might not), but there are a few interesting ones you can take from it.

http://www.listology.com/list/character-archetypes
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Post  Loyal Subject Sun Feb 26, 2012 11:23 pm

^ okay. thats helpful but i dont really have time to go through it now :p
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Post  Lee Sun Feb 26, 2012 11:27 pm

Oh so you make me search for a bunch of archetype links and don't use them? I see how it is :P
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