Defining the support character

Support characters, as oppose to other characters, are motivated in some way towards helping the hero on the quest.

As many of us put ourselves first, at least in some key respects, it can be suspicious when one person dedicate themselves to another, perhaps even unto death. But prosocial behavior does happen and love does not have to be sexual or gender-based. Support characters typically gain support for their sense of identity through association with the Hero.

Support characters

There are many characters who can play in a support role. Here are just a few…

The Party

Although not a single support character, the Hero is often aided by a group of people who form the Party (the Gang, the Companionship, etc).

The Party may be highly cohesive, with a single and clear aim, or may be a relatively collective who work together because of some mutual benefit, from safety to dislike of the villain. a False Party may be formed where characters work together to find a treasure, whilst each seeks to deceive the other at the last minute to carry the treasure away for themself.

The Party is often made up of complementary characters, each of whom contributes something to the story. Although they may be heroic, typically none of these is as brave or skilled as the main Hero, thus highlighting the Hero’s remarkable qualities.

If we do not identify well with the Hero, the Party gives us a choice of support characters with which to associate.

The Faithful Companion

The Faithful Companion dedicates themself to supporting the main character, who they define as superior in some way. They often feel honored to be in the place they are, with the opportunity to support a great person.

In the Lord of the Rings, Samwise Gamgee is an archetypal Faithful Companion, carrying Frodo on his back when Frodo is unable to work and even staying faithful when Frodo rails unkindly against him.

Companions gain much of the esteem from the reflected glory of the Hero and knowledge that they have contributed in ways that perhaps others do not. They are grateful for the position of trust and will never betray the Hero, even under severe duress.

In stories, we admire the complete integrity of the Faithful Companion and perhaps envy the Hero such unstinting support.

The Friend

The Friend is not as attached to the Hero as the Faithful Companion, but will nevertheless put themselves out significantly in the name of Friendship.

In the Lord of the Rings, Merry and Pippin are very good friends of Frodo, but do not have the dedicated closeness of Sam.

We often associate more easily with Friends than with Companions, as this is a more common role that we play. It reassures us that we can indeed have a place in an adventure story that is close to the heroic role.

The Ordinary Person

Help comes from many places and Ordinary People, who are often bystanders in the main plot can provide unexpected and significant support.

Most ordinary people have decent values and, when asked to help a good cause will help perhaps even beyond what might reasonably be expected.

Many of the the main characters in stories may start out as Ordinary People and, through character development and trial take on other roles. Many Heroes, in fact, start out as Ordinary People.

More than perhaps all other characters, the Ordinary Person represents us. We associate with them, then as they offer increasing support we a vicariously proud of their actions.

The Father

The Father has the archetypal role of Protector. He may also take on roles of Teacher, helping the person learn to live in the new world of grown-up adventure.

The Father, particularly for a male, is often the target of Oedipal envy and adolescent revolt and some villains may have a father element to them. For a female, the father plays the Protector role for much longer (though may also have some ambiguity, being an ‘unattainable male’).

When the Hero is older, the Father may add wisdom or perhaps even be a bit bumbling, such as the role played by Sean Connery in the Indiana Jones movies.

The Mother

The mother is the archetypal Nurturer, providing kind and thoughtful support that asks nothing in return.

The Mother is the earliest carer in a person’s life and has deep and original significance. For a male she represents early desire and loss (through the Oedipus Complex). For the female, she may be both Companion and Friend, against whom males (including the Father) are a separated species.

Parent figures thus have deep psychoanalytic meaning and tug at ancient neonatal memories.

The Kin

Beyond parents, blood ties leech off through siblings, grandparents, cousins and so on. The critical aspect of Kin is that there is a duty of care on both sides. Cousins are not supposed to fight one another. Aged grandparents must be cared for, whilst their wisdom is listened to and preserved.

Stories thus may include both the good support that comes from Kin and the obligations fulfilled to Kin. Stories may also come from Kin actions that are non-supportive, such as family feuds and family members who take different paths in life. 

The Nurturer

The role of the Nurturer is to provide emotional support to the Hero, who may well be suffering significant stress during the adventure. Within a party, the Nurturer provides general support to others and helps to keep up the general spirit. When anyone is ill or depressed, the Nurturer will be there to help them.

This role may be played by a Mother or other Kin, such as a sister. It can also be played by a Companion or Friends. A Leader may take on Nurturing if it is needed.

In stories, we are grateful to the Nurturer for providing much-needed support and humanity in what may sometimes become an inhuman trial.

The Teacher

The Teacher helps the Hero learn and develop the knowledge and skills needed to complete the adventure. The Teacher may thus be a swordmaster, a Thinker, a Magician or other.

The Teacher help the Hero and party grow and develop and hence become three-dimensional characters. They often take the form of an old man, such as Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars or Gandalf in Lord of the Rings. In a reversal, an Innocent can also take on the Teacher role.

As observers, we also may learn from the Teacher and this may well be intentional on the part of the storyteller. It can be easier to learn from characters in a story than be criticized for our own actions. Stories thus can form very useful teaching tales.

The Thinker

The Thinker provides the brain-power for the Hero and the party, alerting them to unthought-of issues and finding solutions to tricky puzzles. They ‘un-stick’ the plot when everything seems lost, finding ways forward that nobody else could credibly find.

Thinkers may be academic geniuses who seem to live on another planet or they may be pragmatic and hands-on practitioners whose knowledge and ability is based on a long experience. Sometimes they are the Hero, as in Sherlock Holmes and sometimes they act in a support role.

Thinkers help us sometimes as an effective Teacher (a role which they may also take on), showing what was not obvious. Stories may be a series of puzzles that we are invited to resolve, such as detective stories. When we find the solution ahead of the Thinker, we may be rightfully delighted.

The Doer

In contrast to the Thinker, the Doer is an all-action person who acts first and worries about the consequences later.

Heroes are often Doers, leading the main action of the story. Doers may also be Warriors or other action-oriented roles. They also may give opportunity for lessons around thinking before acting as they get themselves into unwise scrapes.

As observers of the story, we are grateful for the Doers who provide action, heroics and comedy. It is through their actions that the plot gathers pace and interesting things happen.

The Doubter

The Doubter expresses uncertainty about some aspect of the quest, whether it is the skills of the Hero, the validity of information received or the overall likelihood of success.

The Hero or others in the party may go through a period of doubt as they consider the size of the challenge ahead. This validates doubt as an expression of humanity and gives reality to their struggle, making their final conquest even more heroic.

Doubters have a role in highlighting the virtue of those who never lose faith in the Hero or the quest. In the New Testament of the Bible, ‘Doubting Thomas’ plays this role.

The Doubter may well reflect our uncertainty as to whether the task may be achieved or the validity of other incredulous aspects of the story. Their expression of doubt, however, allows these fears to be allayed as others in the party can then explain why they will succeed.

The Giver

The Giver, also known as the Donor or Provider, has some knowledge or artefact that they give to the Hero or some other member of the party. The gift takes the story a step closer to conclusion as now the Hero has some tool by which the next stage of the quest may be completed or which may be used in defeating the Villain.

The role of Giver may be taken by other characters, such as the Teacher, a parent or Friend. It may also be a neutral character, such as the Guardian who gives the Hero a special weapon after the Hero completes a particular sub-quest.

We are grateful to Givers although they may not play a significant role in the story. Unless they are main characters, their time is transitory. Nevertheless, they mark transition points and often occur at pauses in the action, for example in Lord of the Rings where Frodo is given information about the future by Galadriel.

The Joker

The Joker provides humorous elements and light relief to the story through mischief, joking and other antics. As such, they offer rest points at which we can release some tension before the next stage of the story winds us up again.

In Lord of the Rings, Merry (note the name) and Pippin, with their enduring sense of fun, provide relief between the major battles and other action scenes.

The Joker can be an ambiguous character, such as Shakespeare’s Puck, perhaps acting more as a traditional Fool or having a darker side. 

The Protector

The Protector serves to keep someone or something safe, guarding it at all costs (and, as such, is related to the Guardian). Typically, the Protector is the primary Warrior in the party or may be assigned to a vulnerable character such as the Maiden.

The Protector is often sympathetic as they remind of the Father figure who will keep the child in us safe from harm.

The Magician

The Magician performs feats that we have no way of explaining. These may be deft illusions, technological marvels or may involve ‘true’ magic, depending on the story and the form of magic allowed.

In some ways, the Magician represents hope and rescue, as their seemingly infinite powers can be deployed to save any situation. To keep the story tense, the Magician often has limitations as to the use or effectiveness of their power.

The Organizer

Some stories are wreathed in chaos, rather than being a simple A-follows-B sequence. In such tales a key role is the Organizer, who creates order from disorder, structure from random uncertainty. Organizers also enact simpler tasks, such as managing the logistics of the journey. Organizing can come in many shapes, for example detectives such as Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes organize knowledge.

The Organizer can be a major role, depending on the story, but often is not. The task may also be taken on by one of the party, typically the Faithful Companion or a Friend.

Although not necessarily a major role, the Organizer adds credibility to a story, anchoring it in the real world and helping to join up the dots of the story.

The Witness

The Witness can play a key role in stories where they observe from a neutral position and are hence arbiters of the truth. Without prejudice, they say what they see and are not influenced by social bias or influence.

In the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes, the little boy takes on the role of Witness when he is the only one to declare that the Emperor is naked. In doing so, the adults are permitted to also talk about this. The Witness thus legitimizes honesty.

When the Witness writes down what they see, they become historians and archivists. When they tell what has happened, they become storytellers and narrators. They may even be a disembodied voice that tells the main story and comments on the action.

The Conscience

The Conscience of the party acts to remind them of their values and of generally held social norms and ethics. This can be particularly significant in stories where achieving the goals of the story involves shady dealings and harm of others, perhaps even innocent bystanders.

When the Conscience speaks, people may feel guilty, but they do usually listen and the audience is reminded how good the Hero and the party is. The Conscience may also highlight villainy by talking about how bad the Villains are.

It is not uncommon for the mission be prioritized above following all social values. In this case, the purpose of the Conscience is to remind the audience of the over-riding importance of achieving goals such that some values become secondary. 

The Turncoat Villain

Sometimes help comes from the most unexpected places and villains may provide help in some form or another, typically giving intelligence about the villain’s plans, thus allowing the hero to avoid a trap or prepare for a significant confrontation.

The most common form of villainous support comes from one of the main villain’s henchmen who conveniently acquires a conscience. Villains may also inadvertently offer support when they err or boast.

See also

Heroic characters, Villainous characters

This is a collection of heroic types, by no means complete or definitive, but which illustrate the richness of heroes that may be found in various stories.

Heroic subtypes discussed here are:

The Generic Hero

The generic Hero is the protagonist or main character of most stories, although stories may also have multiple heroes in them (for example Lord of the Rings).

The Hero is important in that we identify with him or her more strongly than with other character. We thus vicariously experience  what the hero goes through, empathizing with their fears and exaltations. To identify with them means that they must be sympathetic in some way, and that the less attractive heroes have some redeeming feature with which we can connect.

A common theme is that the hero demonstrates courage in overcoming external obstacles to their goal. This may also parallel an internal transformation where they also overcome internal obstacles, thus growing and learning.

Hero sub-types

The Classic Hero

The Classic Hero is the person who goes on a quest to achieve some good end that benefits other people in some way. Perhaps they are rescuing a maiden in distress or preventing a dastardly villain from ruling the world.

We look up to the Classic Hero but may not fully believe their perfection. Nevertheless they are a clear ideal to which we can aspire.

The Tragic Hero

The Tragic Hero reflects more of the real world in that the slings, arrows and bullets that are thrown at them do not always miss.

The classic Tragic Hero is doomed from the outset, yet the continue in their quest, perhaps achieving it just before they (tragically) die.

The Tragic Hero may also fail in their quest, perhaps having bitten off more than they can chew.

For the audience, the tragic hero may represent their fears for themselves, that despite their best efforts that they will fail.

The Accidental Hero

The Accidental Hero just happens to get in the way of excitement and adventure and is swept up, often protesting, in the action. Perhaps their car is hi-jacked by gunmen or they are in a plane that crashes on a desert island. Which ever way, they are thrust into the main storyline and somehow manage to succeed, either stepping up to the plate and taking unavoidable responsibility or bumbling through and succeeding despite their own protests and inappropriate actions.

We associate more easily with the Accidental Hero as they generally represent the common person more than other heroes. Their plight is often a recipe for comedy as they stumble through the plot and we laugh at their naivety and slapstick.

The Super-hero

The Super-hero is an exaggeration of the classic hero in their abilities to succeed. In the modern genre they have super-human powers, such as Superman and the characters of the X-Men. In older stories, such heroes were mighty warriors or magicians.

These powers could make them human, so they often are portrayed with very human weaknesses and go through life-threatening experiences just as other heroes. Thus Superman is weakened by green kryptonite.

The Super-hero story often paints black-and-white caricatured characters in the same way that hero’s powers are exaggerated. Thus thus bad guy is truly evil and the henchmen are pretty stupid.

The Super-hero represents our dreams in which we can fly and have super-human strength.

The Anti-hero

The Anti-hero is a hero that we do not particularly like. Their indifference or distraction irritate us and they seem determined not to be heroic, but when the chips are down they pull out the stops and deliver.

Anti-heros can be frustrating for the audience, but they do increase anticipation and excitement as we wonder what they will do next.

The Knight

The Knight is driven by the knightly code of honor that demands bold acts and confrontation of evil wherever it may be found. The Knight thus rescues maidens but does not woo them, preferring instead to preserve a distant purity.

We tend not to associate directly with the Knight but they do represent the rescue that we often crave.

The Crusader

The Crusader is characterized by being driven by a powerful mission to which all other activities are subservient. The crusade often targets many others and may, for example, be to convert many people to a way of thinking.

We admire the Crusader’s fortitude in standing up to almost overwhelming odds. Through them we may realize that we can persuade others and change the world. 

The Genius

The Genius is a highly intelligent person who uses their substantial brain-power to solve the problems with which they are confronted and decide what to do next. No problem is too big for them and they relish in conundrums and puzzles.

Geniuses may play in supporting roles, but can also take on the leading role. They are often nerdy, lacking social skills, but making up for this with their towering intellect. Sherlock Holmes is a classic example.

We may well envy their mental powers but are grateful that they are on the side of good.

The Leader

The Leader directs the troops, often from the front, who may contain other heroes, in achieving a critical goal. Their main skill is in inspiring and motivating others, although they also need to be able to determine which direction to lead their party.

The Leader can represent a parent or teacher who tells you what to do. By ceding decision to them, you place your trust in their ability to chose and achieve the final treasure.

The Bold Adventurer

The Bold Adventurer is close to the classic hero although with the primary goal of excitement and stimulation more than achieving some end (which they may also need to achieve — it is just that their personal satisfaction comes from the thrills of getting there).

The Adventurer thus steps into the unknown with a smile on their face and, whilst we might not follow them as we would the leader, we are drawn along with the story which promises non-stop excitement.

The courageous Child

When children are cast into leading roles, we expect them to behave as children, seeking adults who will protect them from harm. Thus when a child steps forward and takes on the bad guys we are amazed and impressed.

The Courageous Child perhaps represents something from our own childhood, where we played imaginary games of adventure, thus letting us recapture our youth for a little while.

The Whizz kid

The Whizz-kid is first a genius who usually knows everything there is to know about some subject — often technology — and usually more than the bumbling adults who are thrown into confusion by the amazing genius before them.

The Whizz-kid invents prodigiously and comes up with amazing contraptions or other solutions to whatever problems they face.

This prodigy perhaps represents some secret desires we have for super powers of the intellect. If we were to be like them (or at least have their brains) we could solve most of the problems before us at a single stroke.

The Silent Man

The Silent hero says little and does what is necessary with the minimum of fuss. They express little emotion, just getting on with what needs doing.

They are often mysterious characters and we wonder why they do what they do. Nevertheless we admire their abilities and also their lack of demands on the people around them. Other heroes may be a bit full of themselves by comparison.

The Founder

The Founder begins things, often institutions or societies that become great, perhaps through taking on some of the greatness of the founder.

In real life, company founders are often mythologized into heroic characters by the stories told of their vision and compassion.

Founders are also associated with birth and creation, which reaches deep into our psyches.

The Martyr

The Martyr first offers self-sacrifice in the name of a greater cause or the safety of significant others. This putting of others before oneself is a characteristic of most other heroes and martyrdom is a potential and defining route for any heroic action.

We may have great admiration for those who lay down their lives for their countries or their faiths, particularly in their ability to transcend our deep fear of dying and death.

The Savior

The Savior’s noble goal is to rescue others from discomfort and distress. Whether it is a lost child or captured maiden, the savior’s promise is of succor and salvation.

The Savior plays directly to our need for rescue that echoes down from early childhood, where parents would save us from real or imagined ills.

The Noble Savage

The Noble Savage is a primitive being who, from their appearance, would seem to be little more than an animal and hence could be expected to be fierce and uncaring (and perhaps too primitive to understand care).

Yet they also have a deep spark of humanity that perhaps exceeds our own, as they act with dignity and concern that is thrown into contrast against our expectations of them. Thus there may be a confusing juxtaposition, as we become the savage and they become the civilized being.

Thus the Noble Savage surprises and teaches us.

The Gentle Giant

Something like the Noble Savage, the huge person would seem to be able harm us without difficulty, yet they act in contrast to their appearance (and perhaps deliberately so) in the way that they gently and delicately interface with the world around them.

The Gentle Giant may not always be gentle as they mete out punishment to the villains, perhaps as they barge their way through on a rescue mission.

We are grateful to them for not harming the good guys and thus place them on a heroic plinth.

The Rough Diamond

The Rough Diamond is someone who may appear as a villain and maybe does have villainous tendencies. However, they also have a heart of gold and may unexpectedly perform heroic acts, perhaps even surprising themselves in the process.

The Rough Diamond, as with the noble savage and the gentle giant, reminds us that the world is not always as it seems and that goodness can be reassuringly found in even the most unexpected places.

See also

Pearson’s heroic archetypes, Villainous characters

Blevins (1993) describes a number of roles that people take in families, that can appear in the workplace and elsewhere and often crop up in stories. Note that different people may take different roles at different times and individuals may take on several roles at one. Individuals also tend more towards some roles than others.

Blamer

When things go wrong, the blamer points a finger. Things are never accidental — somebody is to blame. In doing so, of course, the blamer points a finger away from themself.

Cheerleader

The cheerleader stands on the sidelines and encourages others with great enthusiasm. Whilst they do not gain the highest prizes, they are safe and may well be popular.

Distracter

The distracter draws attention away from problems and towards things that are easier to accept and handle. Others may be grateful for this release from responsibility.

Favored son

This person has a special place in the hearts of parental figures. They get given the best and are more easily forgiven. This can make them arrogant.

Hero

The hero always saves the day when things go wrong or people are threatened. They help both individuals and the wider team.

Invalid

The invalid is sick, injured or otherwise limited in capability, sometimes through choice. They are often a burden on others who feel obliged to carry them.

Jester

This person makes light of most situations, creating laughter and levity. Like the distracter, this helps people avoid emotionally difficult situations.

Martyr

The martyr endures suffering, often with little complaint. They may carry the hurt on behalf of others. For this sacrifice, they get sympathetic attention.

Mascot

The mascot is a good luck symbol. They are harmless and loved. They give little but good feelings.

Placator

The placator calms down conflict between others and helps people resolve issues. They personally avoid conflict and may concede much in order to do so.

Rebel

Rebels are autonomous individuals who do not fit in. They push away and are pushed away. They look and think differently. They may also be annoyingly successful.

Saint

The saint is unremittingly good. They never think ill of others and work for the good of all people. They may feel superior and may be the subject of envy.

Scapegoat

When things go wrong, the scapegoat is given and accepts the blame. For this, they may feel like a martyr, though they are not treated as one.

Skeptic

The skeptic is the doubter who questions everything and believes nothing to be absolutely true. They can be useful truthseekers or annoying disrupters.

Star

The star is afforded special status. They are put on a plinth and adored. Limitations are ignored and strengths are over-played. They are assumed to have a bright future.

See also

Preferences

Carol Pearson, in Awakening The Heroes Within, describes twelve archetypes, each of which can go on a heroic quest. It is notable that some of these are not ‘traditional’ heroes in the sense of having archetypal strength of body or mind.

Here are a few notes and interpretations on each of Pearson’s archetypes.

Innocent

The Innocent, fearing abandonment, seeks safety.

Their greatest strength is the trust and optimism that endears them to others and so gain help and support on their quest.

Their main danger is that they may be blind to their obvious weaknesses or perhaps deny them. They can also become dependent on others to fulfil their heroic tasks.

Orphan

The Orphan, fearing exploitation, seeks to regain the comfort of the womb and neonatal safety in the arms of loving parents. To fulfil their quest they must go through the agonies of the developmental stages they have missed.

Their strength is the interdependence and pragmatic realism that they had to learn at an early age. A hazard is that they will fall into the victim mentality and so never achieve a heroic position.

Warrior

The Warrior is relatively simple in their thought patterns, seeking simply to win whatever confronts them, including the dragons that live inside the mind and their underlying fear of weakness.

Their challenge is to bring meaning to what they do, perhaps choosing their battles wisely, which they do using courage and the warrior’s discipline.

Caregiver

Caregivers first seek to help others, which they do with compassion and generosity. A risk they take is that in their pursuit to help others they may end up being harmed themselves.

They dislike selfishness, especially in themselves, and fear what it might make them.

Seeker

Seekers are looking for something that will improve their life in some way, but in doing so may not realize that they have much already inside themselves.

They embrace learning and are ambitious in their quest and often avoid the encumbrance of support from others. Needing to ‘do it themselves’, they keep moving until they find their goal (and usually their true self too).

Lover

The Lover seeks the bliss of true love and the syzygy of the divine couple.

They often show the passion that they seek in a relationship in their energy and commitment to gaining the reciprocal love of another.

They fear both being alone and losing the love that they have gained, driving them to constantly sustain their love relationships.

Destroyer

The Destroyer is a paradoxical character whose destructiveness reflects the death drive and an inner fear of annihilation. As a fighter, they are thus careless of their own safety and may put others in danger too.

Their quest is to change, to let go of their anger or whatever force drives them and return to balance, finding the life drive that will sustain them. Living on the cusp of life and death, they are often surprisingly humble.

Creator

Creators, fearing that all is an illusion, seek to prove reality outside of their minds.

A critical part of their quest is in finding and accepting themselves, discovering their true identity in relation to the external world.

Ruler

The Ruler’s quest is to create order and structure and hence an effective society in which the subjects of the Ruler can live productive and relatively happy lives.

This is not necessarily an easy task, as order and chaos are not far apart, and the Ruler has to commit themself fully to the task. The buck stops with them and they must thus be wholly responsible — for which they need ultimate authority.

Magician

The Magician’s quest is not to ‘do magic’ but to transform or change something or someone in some way.

The Magician has significant power and as such may be feared. They may also fear themselves and their potential to do harm.

Perhaps their ultimate goal is to transform themselves, achieving a higher plane of existence.

Sage

The Sage is a seeker after truth and enlightenment and journeys far in search of the next golden nugget of knowledge.

The danger for the sage and their deep fear is that their hard-won wisdom is built on the sand of falsehood. Their best hope is that they play from a position of objective honesty and learn to see with a clarity that knows truth and untruth.

Fool

The goal of the Fool is perhaps the wisest goal of all, which is just to enjoy life as it is, with all its paradoxes and dilemmas.

What causes most dread in the Fool is a lack of stimulation and being ‘not alive’. They must seek to ‘be’, perhaps as the Sage, but may not understand this.

See also

Heroic characters

Pearson, C.S. (1991). Awakening the Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes to Help Us Find Ourselves and Transform Our World, CA: HarperSanFrancisco

Psychologist (Advert) Carl Gustav Jung described several archetypes that are based in the observation of differing but repeating patterns of thought and action that re-appear time and again across people, countries and continents.

Jung’s main archetypes are not ‘types’ in the way that each person may be classified as one or the other. Rather, we each have all basic archetypes within us. He listed four main forms of archetypes:

The Shadow

The Shadow is a very common archetype that reflects deeper elements of our psyche, where ‘latent dispositions’ which are common to us all arise. It also reflects something that was once split from us in early management of the objects in our lives.

It is, by its name, dark, shadowy, unknown and potentially troubling. It embodies chaos and wildness of character. The shadow thus tends not to obey rules, and in doing so may discover new lands or plunge things into chaos and battle. It has a sense of the exotic and can be disturbingly fascinating. In myth, it appears as the wild man, spider-people, mysterious fighters and dark enemies.

We may see the shadow in others and, if we dare, know it in ourselves. Mostly, however, we deny it in ourselves and project it onto others. It can also have a life of its own, as the Other. A powerful goal that some undertake is to re-integrate the shadow, the dark side, and the light of the ‘real’ self. If this can be done effectively, then we can become ‘whole’ once again, bringing together that which was once split from us.

Our shadow may appear in dreams, hallucinations and musings, often as something or someone who is bad, fearsome or despicable in some way. It may seduce through false friendship or threaten with callous disregard. Encounters with it, as an aspect of the subconscious, may reveal deeper thoughts and fears. It may also take over direct physical action when the person is confused, dazed or drugged.

The Anima and Animus

The second most prevalent pattern is that of the Anima (female) / Animus (male), or, more simply, the Soul, and is the route to communication with the collective unconscious. The anima/animus represents our true self, as opposed to the masks we wear every day and is the source of our creativity.

These archetypes may appear as someone exotic or unusual in some way, perhaps with amazing skills and powers. In fiction, heroes, super-heroes and gods may represent these powerful beings and awaken in us the sense of omnipotence that we knew in that very early neonatal phase.

Anima and animus are female and male principles that represent this deep difference. Whilst men have a fundamental animus and women an anima, each may also have the other, just as men have a feminine side and women a masculine. Jung saw men as having one dominant anima, contributed to by female members of his family, whilst women have a more complex, variable animus, perhaps made of several parts.

Jung theorized the development of the anima/animus as beginning with infant projection onto the mother, then projecting onto prospective partners until a lasting relationship can be found.

The Syzygy (the divine couple)

In combination, the anima and animus are known as syzygy (a word also used to denote alignment of planets), representing wholeness and completion. This combining brings great power and can be found in religious combinations such as the Christian Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy ghost).

A perfect partnership between man and woman can occur when not only are our physical forms compatible but also the anima and animus. Thus you might find your soul-mate. Finding our matching other half is a lifetime of search for many of us, and few of us succeed in this quest. Love of another indicates an actual, perceived or hoped-for close match.

The Self

For Jung, the self is not just ‘me’ but God. It is the spirit that connects and is part of the universe. It is the coherent whole that unifies both consciousness and unconsciousness. It may be found elsewhere in such principles as nirvana and ecstatic harmony. It is perhaps what Jaques Lacan called ‘the real’.

Jung described creation of the self as a process of individuation, where all aspects are brought together as one. Thus ‘re-birth’ is returning to the wholeness of birth, before we start to split our selves into many parts.

Other archetypes

Jung said that there are a large number of archetypes. These are often linked to the main archetypes and may represent aspects of them. They also overlap and many can appear in the same person. For example:

Family archetypes

The father: Stern, powerful, controlling

The mother: Feeding, nurturing, soothing

The child: Birth, beginnings, salvation

Story archetypes

The hero: Rescuer, champion

The maiden: Purity, desire

The wise old man: Knowledge, guidance

The magician: Mysterious, powerful

The earth mother: Nature

The witch or sorceress: Dangerous

The trickster: Deceiving, hidden

Animal archetypes

The faithful dog: Unquestioning loyalty

The enduring horse: Never giving up

The devious cat: Self-serving

Deep origins

A notable characteristic of Jung’s archetypes is that we recognize them in image and emotion. This gives a profound effects on us and implies that they have deep and primitive origins. They thus have a particular potential for significance and may be feared or revered as mysterious signifiers of things beyond our complete understanding.

In earlier work, Jung linked the archetypes to heredity and considered them as instinctual. Yet wherever he looked across cultures, he found the same archetypes and thus came to conceptualize them as fundamental forces that somehow exist beyond us. They have existed in ancient myths as elemental spirits and Jung sought to link with this deep and old experience.

See also

Jung, C.G. (1964). Man and His Symbols, New York; Doubleday and Company, Inc.