annotated bibliography #3

Vogler, Christopher. “Threshold Guardian,” “Herald,” “Shapeshifter,” “Shadow,” “Ally,” “Trickster” The Writer's Journey : Mythic Structure for Writers Third Edition. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007.
Summary
Vogler continues to talk about the different archetypes, introducing six new ones: the threshold guardian, the herald, the shapeshifter, the shadow, the trickster, and the ally. The threshold guardian is usually present at the entrance to each of the hero’s new worlds. They are usually not the main villain in the story, playing the part of a helper to the main antagonist, secret helper, or a neutral figure instead. The primary function of the threshold guardian in a story is to test the hero, and there challenge should be considered a lesson by the hero. The ways a hero can defeat the threshold guardians are: attacking them, running away from them, deceiving them, bribing them, or making them into an ally. The part of the herald is usually introduced in the beginning of the story, challenging the hero to take up an adventure. The herald can be a neutral, negative or positive part in a story, and it does not have to be a character; it can be something as simple as a phone call.
The shapeshifter archetype of one that changes appearance or mood and presents a challenge to the hero when it comes to determining their loyalty. The function of this archetype is to introduce suspicion and doubt into the storyline. Any character of the story can be a shapeshifter, and this archetype of a common way for a hero to get past a threshold guardian. This archetype is most commonly used in male-female relationship stories. The shadow is the dark or evil aspect of the story, most commonly expressed through the roles of a villain or antagonist of the hero. The villain of a story is a character who wants to kill the hero, and the antagonist is not always as hostile towards the hero. The archetype of the shadow can be expressed through the role of a single character or multiple characters throughout a story, including the hero. It is best when a shadow is not completely evil, a way to humanize them is to give them vulnerabilities. This archetype can be both internal or external. In most stories the characters that portray this archetype do not consider themselves the villain. The ally is the archetype that helps the hero during the course of the journey. They commonly do mundane tasks for the hero, but provide a source of comic relief, a way to humanize the hero, and ways to explain aspects of the story to the audience. The ally does not always have to be human, it can be a variety of things including an animal or a spirit. The main functions of a trickster in a story are comic relief and to cut down egos and make people look realistically at what is going on. The trickster can be a variety of different characters in the story and they don’t have to be good. This archetype usually is found in catalyst characters. This is another archetype that a hero can use to get around a threshold guardian. All of the archetypes help to add dimension to the characters in the stories.
Reaction
I find the connections Vogler makes between the archetypes and the psychological apsects really interesting. It kind of makes you look at it in a different perspective. I also like the fact that these aceetypes are do not follow a strict set of guidelines within a story; the fact that they can take on so many faces is what allows them to blend into the different stories. It is interesting to look at the different stories and be able to identify what the characters are without it being blatantly obvious while you read them.
Questions
1) Who are some popular shapeshifters?
2) Does a story need to have all of these archetypes?
3) Are there any villains you have felt sympathy towards?