Every Great Story Has A Main Character That Goes Through 4 Archetypes - Jeffrey Alan Schechter

Synopsis: 4 archetypes that he says every good story character goes through: orphan, wanderer, warrior, martyr. 4 questions the "Disney exec" told him the story needs to answer: Who is the main character? What are they trying to accomplish? Who is trying to stop them? What happens if they fail? Combine these to get Act 1 telling you who your character is, an orphan (in some sense). Act 2 they are a wanderer as they try to get what they want. Act 3 someone/something is trying to stop them and so they become a warrior to fight back for what they want. Act 4 they become a martyr as they face the possibility of failure.

In my Improv class they always say that your first tool is "YES AND", because you're trying to play off your scene partner, and keep it going, so you don't shut down their tangent. You go with it. Listening to this interview I find EXCEPT WHEN equally beautiful as a tool to add complexity to a character.

Let me make it more easier: He basically described how characters arc works: Imagine a ladder: -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 (1isolation), (2 connection). All most all movies are about a character on level 1 going to level 2. Or fall from level 3 (family) to level 1 and try to get back to level 2 at least. The Joker for example starts like this. Level 3 to level 1, but goes down to 0 (animal) and -1 (psychopath). or the Growth arc from 1 to 2 to 3 and even 4 if they sacrifice themselves for the greater good. Walter White (as she mentions) - Family level 3 - down to level 2 (Jesse), down to level 1. And then tries to constantly regain level 2 and 3 until last season. He doesn't get back to 3. -2 is your demonic spirits/poltergeists. (characters in this realm -1 and -2 are generally flat, they cannot improve or grow). and level 4 is martyr and 5 is evangelic angles/heavenly spirits. (Character won't often reach 5 - because 4 kills them. Christ however is a good example of level 5)

As of this date she is still alive and 78 years old!

I was pretty shocked to hear that a Disney exec pointed that out to him. Probably a former Disney exec at this point. Modern Disney content doesn't consider those questions.

This is kind of crazy. I've been writing a book over the last year and my main character goes from a kind of orphan to a wanderer to a warrior to a sort of martyr by the end without me planning it that way.

Read KING, WARRIOR, MAGICIAN, LOVER which is a similar Jungian Archetype book about male psychology. Pearson is good, too.

We underestimate how important that last one is -- What will happen if they don't get it? That's basically the reason why the character is doing any of the stuff theyre doing in the story -- to avoid that negative outcome. rather than pursue good for the sake of good itself.

Looking at the early Disney animated features, the four archtypes may require a bit of trimming in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, Pinocchio and Dumbo. Pinocchio's journey from orphan to wanderer through warrior and martyr fits the mold. Bambi becomes an orphan, then a wanderer, fights for his mate and his martyrdom is implied when Bambi replaces the Great Prince of the Forest--it's an eternal cycle.

The 4 central questions. What a lesson! Thank you so much for this educational content.

There are many ways of expressing this concept. It's all the same really, just from different points of view. For example the character has a "false belief" or a "fatal flaw", and through the adventure that is challenged and then the character either overcomes that limitation or succumbs to it. Or the character is in the "ordinary world" at the beginning, and then is thrust into a new, different world, which might be the same in appearance but is wildly different for the character internally because their beliefs have been shattered, or their life is at risk, or a loved one is in danger, whatever. The summary would be, your character is in their normal routine (usually the beginning, gives us time to connect emotionally and care about the rest) until something abnormal happens that forces them to go on a journey through strange lands, literal or metaphorical. Now they must fight their demons and/or external demons, and they either win and save the day, get the girl/guy, etc. or lose and become a martyr, because at least they fought. Even more succint --there was no conflict before, but there is conflict now, perilous conflict which the character might not survive, but they are a hero because they try. The rest is variable, but this is constant, you won't find a story with no conflict. Even "shows about nothing" like Seinfeld.

I did NaNoWriMo for a decade and we used to play a game called 20-word synopsis. Most people had a lot of difficulty doing it. I almost never did because used my own 4 questions, answering them in 5 words or less. They were almost exactly like the ones he mentions. I also appreciate that he recognizes the 4 act structure is superior to the 3 act structure. I do feel, however, that the Jungian archetypes are a little superficial and that the 4 types mentioned can't cover every character arc--particularly steadfast characters who have come to teach a lesson rather than learn a lesson.

Goal, make as many characters run through the character development stages as possible

For me I love this guy. I bought Contour app for iOS years ago and just learned that it was Jeffrey' system used in that writing app. I was able to write a full length screenplay using that iOS app. I just recently bought his book - thanks to Film Courage. It amazes me how people on the comment section complain for information they didn't pay for.

This video gave me the input I needed right now. Thank you 🙏🏼

What is your preferred character archetype to watch and write?

Love the interview, thanks for sharing 👍

whoops...seems she is alive Carol S. Pearson Born 21 March 1944 (age 78) Chicago but I'm going to get her book. I read the Hero's Journey and this seems like a good compliment. She can thank you for that :)

Holy shit… this absolutely helped me figure out my ending!

No purpose> searching for purpose> fighting for that purpose> dying for that purpose