Self Archetype
There are various examples of the Hero archetype in popular culture. In the context of a story this is the classic protagonist who has to go on a journey to resolve the problems and becomes an hero. We have someone who is call to an adventure and has to develop in the process. This type of narrative is very influential and crucial to our collective intelligence. What is interesting about this form of narrative is that we have a sense of intimacy with the Hero taking on the adventure. The archetype takes a certain posture regarding the challenges of life highlighting well the share symbol of a challenge in all of us.
We can call it more than a Hero story if there is a sense of transcendant factors that extand itself to everything, meaning that the content of the narrative reach the sense of completeness in experience. If it happens, we can call it a self archetype story. Analizing stories of this archetype can help us understand it structures better and in what ways it can express itself. What seems to be universals (collective representations) and the fundamental aspects connect to it. This is closely connect to the different parts of the self in all of us which means that the story is talking to a lot of existing parts of ourselves. The most successful in depth self archetype are the ones that highlight larger than life aspects and some clear evidence that the world is rich filled with different form of forces.
For Carl Jung, the Self is an archetype representing psychic totality, the unification of the conscious and the unconscious of the psychic life of the individual. The ego, the shadow, the persona, the anima and animus, collective unconscious are united. The Self is the equivalent of all the different parts of the person, what was, what is, what will, consciously to unconsciously. This is a pretty extreme archetype. This is the highest form of human representation. This figure is represent by Christ in the West. It is also synonimous in lesser forms to legends, to heroes and to saviors in our collective intelligence. This can be compare to the idealisation of our psyche to thrive towards totality. There is a sense of awe when confront with this image of the self.
The mandala is a symbol of the self. The squaring of the circle which express wholeness is a pretty fundamental pattern in dreams. It has a center point refering to the individuation from a Jungian perspective and expand to every corner with some kind of synchronisation. Ultimately, the meaning of it is that everything leads to the self. Everything you create in your mind is your fabrication and that extand to every corner of the universe. The highest form of conscious element of the self is the universe. This is highlight in the deep storytellings, where there is a lot of content project through our frames like lens of seeing and understanding the world. Basically, the story has to have a rich world coming together and speaking it's own given intelligible langage and a Hero willing to fight for it.
Hero vs Self stories
Self story: The universe and everything has a sense of richness: fundamental archetypes coverage, develop world (universe, places, creatures, culture, technology/power, people). The Hero is messianic (elements of it), the temptation is the strongest fight of the Hero. The story has elements of what was, what is and what will even if its often time a mystery. There is a sense of universality that is overly present. The bad self archetype stories will fail at it but you will see an attempt. A simple rule to confirm a story of that sort is to see that the hero is in an hero journey at big scale (saving the world).
Hero story: Doesn't have a universe that is rich and is "everywhere". It lacks archetypical figures like people, creatures and places for it to be total. The hero is not messianic or barely messianic. The temptation is not there or not that fundamental. You dont get a sense that it is fundamentally a universal story. But there is a hero doing something.
The Story Architecture
The story of the self archetype has to be rich or else it will not work totally. It will have to compensate on its characters or hero journey or innovation. The world can be quite simple but a good story has to set itself up in its universe, places, creatures, population, culture and technology. They are all interlink and influence each others but seeing them in isolation help build the story. Enough space to let the story tell itself but enough momentum to not lose the audience. There is also the mystery and the progression element that has to be handle well, not spoil everything and show all the cards of the world in the first chapter.
When making a story its always good to see the mechanisms of the hero journey but at the same time you want to create something that is focus on the story and is not mechanic driven. Things will be form implicilty and you dont want it to be so explicit and caricatural. A good narrative is a dance that shift beautifully between some kind of order and chaos. It has to be original and outside of parameters but also be coherent and follow story telling that works and comes together. They are largely implicit to the viewer or the reader but have to be understood by the creator to form compeling images. Easier said than done. But this is not a mathematical puzzle to solve, it has to be original and not overly rigid for it to work. The formula and the universe can also be quite simple and still work. A good example is The Lion King.
The hero journey is the sequences the Hero has to take in order to do the complete journey. The most influential stories have particular sequences that can be trace. This can be quite different depending on the stories but there is evident patterns of events. The hero journey can be summarize by a problem solution mechanism and a movement downward. A question or a problem arise and it takes you down. Now you have to face the challenge in a multitude of direction and stack the adventures to arrive at a coherent solution at the end of the journey.
The World
Universe
The story of the Hero takes place in a universe that has certain fundamental places in the story, certain creatures who have significance, certain forms of culture, some kind of idea of the technology evolution and the forms of lives that populate the world. The universe has to feel alive and have some kind of charges for the self archetype narrative to really work.
Places
The places that are in the story must have some kind of powerful image that draw people in for what the story has intent it to be. The places in the universe set the tone and in what ways the environment is secure, neutral and unsafe. It puts contexts and emotions on the line in various ways for people to connect elements together. The aesthetics are there to inspire and serve the richness of the world.
Creatures
The creature give some pretty good idea of what the universe constitute of in terms of fantasy and danger. The purpose of the mythological creature is to speak to some raw mythical image in our unconscious. They are more there to set the parameters and speak to direct archetypal forms. Even in narratives that deal with real event we can spot "creatures". The other side of a person, a dream, etc. There is a slippery aspect or an undefined aspect to the creatures of the story. Out of the norm, rare, etc.
People
The intelligible people in the world have much more nuance archetypal forms. The more day to day population who can speak at lenght and have "human personalities" are there to inform us about the population of the universe and the sorts of interactions. The people of the main places of the story is setting up the mass of the world, what to expect and the contrasts to other populations.
Cultures
The culture is a pretty nuance factor that can be quite rich or not rich at all. This is not a must have on the list because it is the majority of the time implicit in the story and compensate by other factors. Often time the age or the era of the world and the history of the world inform us about it. The buildings, the clothings are forms that implicitly inform us about it and we naturally kind of project the culture to some degree to something that we know in our knowledge and experience.
Technology/Power
The technology is highly interlink with the age of the world and we naturally compare it to our non fiction world, evaluating it like a world from the past or from the future. The technology also give the forms of power in the universe. There might be no technology but some kind of magical power that is crucial to the narrative. The culture and the technology are the ways the civilizations express themselves.
The Hero Journey
1. Normal/Paradise
The story at the beginning with everything being mostly fine even though we might have some clues in what ways the paradise can break. The hero is often time naive and has no clue of what will happen. Even if there might be some traits that the hero possess that might suggest that he might deserve to be the hero. Or simply that he is the focus in term of principal character with no indications yet.
2. Tragedy/Problem
This is where the trauma and the destruction of the paradise happen. This is a difficult event for the hero or something that put him in a different place than he was at the beginning. And now the world is change and that means that there is some actions or adventures that has to be taken.
3. Aventure/Struggles
The hero has to fight for what he has lost or learn what he is missing out on. He is consciously going into the adventures to fight for what he believe in. This is where the majority of the story happen and this can be quite long for some stories. Often time the long stories have some realisations along the way and some small tragedy happening along the way. For some stories the tragedy is kind of low so the adventure kind of happen and we know more and more the problem the hero is actually facing.
4. Training/Final fight training
This is usually the stage after realising who is the actual evil and that he has to deal with it fast or else this is not going to work. There might be a tragedy before that event like a closer to 3. for the hero to really understand. Or sometimes the mentor is aligning the hero in some forms. So the hero trains to fight for the final stage of the story.
5. Final battle/Temptation
Everything is finally coming together to the battle that was suppost to happen just after stage 2. But the hero had to develop himself and deal with a lot of other stuff before finally undertaking what is causing the problems. It is also the fight against temptation because it is the tool of the villain and his best shot at winning. But all the struggles of the hero along the way made him resilient to the temptation. Can't be fooled anymore.
6. Return to normal/New paradise
This is when the hero has overcome the villain and the temptation. He can now return to a new normality or create the new paradise out of the ashes of the tragedy. This is where everyone is happy and is now recovering from the tragedy where the hero is now conscious of the unconscious.
The Hero Archetype
The Hero in most stories is someone who has courage and perseverance. In fact this is a reflection of the most important traits to have when facing challenges and threats. He might have specific traits or power that is putting him above others but he might not know it yet. Maybe the hero knows he is some part of a prophecy or an important lineage and heritage from the start but he still doesnt know if he is worthy. Only the adventures can satisfy the hero in some fashion, he might not know it yet but it is how things get resolve. In most stories, there is some kind of trio going on. The hero is part of that trio and this is a reference to the trinity which is a fundamental pattern in human history that encapsulate a lot about life. This has archetypal power and is a good number to develop characters in range and deepness.
The Temptation
The temptation is the most powerful psychic force in the story. It is what the hero actually fear and what might turn him in the same position as the villain. The temptation can take various forms in a story but is always the corruptive force that blocks the hero in his journey. It can motivate the hero but it's always on the hedge of corruption or destruction. It is the symbol of power and corruption/motivation. It is the fuel and the wild card of the story. What is triggering the hero deeply and his part of the trauma. It is the cause of the story often time and only the fight of the temptation can end it all. The temptation is fundamental in our lives and is express in the fundamental story of Adam and Eve in the bible, with the snake and the apple. It is also in the story of Jesus when he encounters the Devil in the desert.
« The contrast between the desert and paradise therefore signifies isolation as contrasted with individuation, or the becoming of the self ». - Carl Jung
The power is the effect it has on the mind, meaning the illusion it creates on the mind. Winning over it means that you are free from your mind. In summary, the Hero is the symbol of courage and perseverance of identity. The Hero is the one fighting the Villain and has to overcome a lot of challenges to get there. Primarly the fight against temptation and himself. This is a deep reflection on life. The biggest challenge is ourselves. It might take us a lot of steps and some big tragedy to realise that but it is ultimately the journey. After that you can act and do good without illusions and things holding you back for long enough.
The Self archetype stories
Eren from Attack On Titan
This is a story about some people living behind walls to protect themselves from titans who eat humans. The story has 2 big tragedies, one is a trauma while the other one is more in the form of a strangeness and a solution. The story evolves a lot and is not what it seems from the start.
Frodo Baggings from the Lord Of The Rings
This is a story about a deep mythological world where there is a force of evil who want to have it's power back. Only a normal hobbit can destroy the thing that can get the villain it's power back. The story expand to a lot of fronts and was fundamental to the other self archetype narratives.
Paul Atreide from Dune
This is a story about a planet who has the most precious ressource in the world. The house of the Hero has to go there to extract the ressource for the king of the houses. But a tragedy happen. The Hero fears himself and what he might do in the future. This story was fundamental to a lot of others self archetype stories.
Harry Potter
This is a story about an orphan who is going to a school of magic. He finds out that the evil that is menacing his school is in fact link to him. While living the school life he has to take on a lot of magical adventures with his friends. Coming closer and closer to the evil that is menacing his school.
Naruto
This is a story about an orphan who want to be the most powerful ninja in the kingdom. The fact is that he has no skills, the village hate him and he has no friends. But through perseverance he find his way, his heritage and powers he didnt expect to have. On his way to be the most powerful ninja.
Daenerys from Game Of Thrones
This is a story about people fighting for a throne which symbolize power in the kingdom. Daenerys is from the ancient house that were in power. They possessed dragons and rule the lands. When daenerys give birth to dragons, a species that was extinct, a journey to the throne begins.
Luke Skywalker from Star Wars
This is a story about an orphan who is taking on a journey in this intergalactic world. He realises that he has powers that are crucial to help restore the balance to the good side of the universe. But he doesn't know some ugly truth and ultimately who he is.
Neo from the Matrix
This is a story about a guy living a normal life. But something seems not right and some aspects seems to break out of normality. He doesn't know what is real or not. He is about to learn the ugly truth of reality and fight for human life.
Simba from The Lion King
This is a story about a lion that has his life turn upside down crucially in a matter of moment. It is partially because of him and he blames himself to the point of forgetting who he is and what was. But he has to remember and fight back and restore the kingdom of his father, The Lion King.
The Temptation
Attack On Titan
The wall is a symbol of oppression and lack of freedom. Eren trauma is the death of his mother during the first major attack of the titans. The temptation is the revenge and the intense power of the titans that can be cause by The Rumbling.
Lord Of The Rings
The One ring is the temptation. The attraction and the power the ring can offer. Ornement of powerful evil and temptation to act according to our own desires and pride.
Dune
The vision of Paul and the temptation of revenge. The inevitability of war and what he might become. He want to avenge his father.
Harry Potter
The villain Voldemort. The one leaving the mark on Harry Potter forehead. He want to recrut Harry (knows he is the other side of him) to his cause.
Naruto
Fox of nine tails. The demon inside Naruto that destroyed his village. There is plenty of villains and example of other characters having temptation in Naruto story but this is the main character true battle. Fighting the most powerful demon inside of him.
Game Of Thrones
The temptation is the power of The Iron Throne and the dragons. Dragons are the symbol of the heritage of the Targaryens and the main power that put them above everyone else. Dragons are tools of destruction to take the Iron Throne (symbol of the ruler of the seven kingdoms).
Star Wars
Darth vader and the dark force is the temptation of the hero. The dad of Luke Skywalker is Darth Vader and want to recrut him to the dark side of the force and the evil order of the intergalactic empire.
The Matrix
The temptation is knowing the truth or be blind in illusion. Red pill is the truth and blue pill the illusion. Neo wants to know the source code of reality and see the ugly hard truth. That he is in a matrix pode and humanity is in peril of instinction by robotic machines.
The Lion King
Paradise and the killing of his father. Simba forgot about what happen to the kingdom of his father. He doesn't want to remember the tragedy and numb himself with pleasure, friendship and love. But all this is an illusion. He thinks he killed his father and is traumatize by that.
The Archetypes
The Father
Mufasa. Morpheus. Leto Atreides. Dumbledore. Ned Stark. Aragorn. Minato Namikaze. Grisha Yeager.
The Sage
Gandalf. Galadriel. Elrond. Dumbledore. Yoda. Rafiki. Oracle. Hiruzen Sarutobi. Bran Stark. Armin Alert.
The Beast
Sandworm. The Matrix. The One ring. The Dark force. Titans. The Wall. The Dementor. The Basilic. Dragons. Gregor Clegane. Scar. Fox with nine tails. Gaara.
The Master
Morpheus. Obi Wan Kenobi. Yoda. Jiraya. Kakashi Hatake. Mufasa. Rafiki. Lady Jessica. Erwin Smith. Dumbledore. Voldemort. Jon Snow. Sauron.
SideKicks
Naruto crew. Sam Gamgee. Legolas. Gimli. Ron Weasley. Hermione Granger. Trinity. Attack on Titan crew. Han Solo. Chewbaca. Leia. R2D2. C3PO. Zazu.
Lover
Nala. Leia. Chani. Arwen. Sam Gamgee. Severus Snape. Ron Weasley. Hagrid. Dobby. Luna Lovegood. Sakura. Mikasa Ackerman. Armin Alert. Trinity. Brienne of Tarth. Davos Mervault. Jorah Mormont.
The Eternal child
R2D2 and C3PO. Timon and Pumba. Pepin and Meriadoc Touque. Fred and George Weasley. Tommen Baratheon.
Trickster
Han Solo. R2D2. Jango and Boba Fett. Scar. Euron Greyjoy. Petyr Baelish. Ramsey Snow. Ron Weasley. Fred and George Weasley. Naruto. Orochimaru. Timon and Pumba. Pepin and Meriadoc Touque. The hobbits.
Shapeshifter
Agent Smith. Orochimaru. Kabuto. Obito Uchiha. Voldemort. Peter Pettigrow. Barty Crouch Jnr's. Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Arya Stark. Jaqen H'ghar. Gollum. Sarumane. Grima. Boromir. Scar. Eren Yeager.
The Good Samaritan
Hagrid. Dobby. Hodor. Samwell Tarly. Armin Alert. Obito Uchiha.
The Villain
Sauron. Darth Sidious (Palpatine). Voldemort. Scar. Madara Uchiha. Baron Vladimir Harkonen. Agent Smith.
The Brain
Hermione Granger. Armin Alert. Hansi. Zeke. Erwin. Yoda. Tyrion Lannister. Bran Stark. Petyr Baelish. Samwell Tarly. Thufir Hawat. Shikamaru. Kakashi Hatake. Orochimaru. Oracle.
The Broken Hero
Jon Snow. Aragorn. Isildur. Itachi Uchiha. Anakin Skywalker. Eren Yeager. Nagato.
The Rival
Sasuke Uchiha. Drago Malfoy. Hermione Granger. Boromir. Legolas and Gimli. Reiner Braun. Agent Smith. Feyd Rautha. Scar. Game of thrones everyone.
The AntiChrist
Eren Yeager, Daenerys Targaryen, Nagato (pain), Tom Riddle (Voldemort), Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader), Paul Atreides.
Devouring and Nurturing Mother
Devouring: Reverend Mother. Bene Geserit. Lady Jessica. Margaery Tyrell. Cersei Lannister. Harry Potter Oncle family. Naruto village opinion on him. Nurturing: Lady Jessica. Sarabi. Catelyn Stark. Kushina Uzumaki. Carla Yeager. Galadriel.
The Servant/The hand
Mikasa. Livai. Chewbaca. Darth Maul. Dooku. Duncan Idaho. Rabban. Severus Snape. Voldemort servants. Jaime Lannister. Brienne of Tarth. Davos Mervault. Jorah Mormont. Zazu. Sam Gamgee. Grima. Kabuto.
The AntiSage
Orochimaru. Saruman. Voldemort. Darth Sidious and Dooku. Scar. Bene Geserit. Melisandre. Petyr Baelish.
The Everyman
Timon and Pumba. Zazu. Nevil. Drago Malfoy. C3PO. The Hobbits. Bilbo Sacquet. Theon Greyjoy.
The Ruler
Cersei Lannister. Joffrey Baratheon. Robert Baratheon. Tywin Lannister. Sensa Stark. Khal Drogo. Ramsay Snow. Baron Harkonnen. Duke Leto Atreides. Denethor. Jabba The Hutt. General Grievious. Rod Reiss. Historia. Hokagai. Dumbledore. Mufasa. Scar.
The Broken
Gollum. Denethor. Faramir. Sandor Clegane. Theon Greyjoy. Jaime Lannister. Severus Snape. Gaara. Obito. Reiner Braun. Hyenas.
There can be combos of archetypes
Some people can embody more than 1 archetype which can lead to more nuance into what role the character is playing in the story. If there is a lack of archetypes in the stories, it will set the tones and atmosphere in a certain way. In some, it might expand the role of some characters because of that. There is a battle between too simple and too much. It is also worth mentionning that a lot of the images (archetype) are implicit and serve the story. The narrative with its events and characteristics will make the combos and the velocity of the images.
There is a negative and a positive version of every archetype
Every archetype has a bad and good side to them like weaknesses and strenghts. Some archetypes are inherenlty negative or inherently positive in universals. The AntiChrist and the devouring Mother are too much of an archetypal significance to not be mention here. These are good exemple of inherently negative archetype and aspect of another archetype. There is also distorded versions like the broken hero. Some are also nemesis and oppose other archetypes in values and traits (they balance or they fight). We can think of the Villain and the Rival opposing the Hero.
There is macro/general and micro/precise archetype
Some archetype are easier to fit into another archetype. For example the Master is often relate to the Father. The Ruler is a lesser or a micro archetype of the Father. And some can feel like a further down the branches of a more general one. For example, we can have a second Hero that is more of a sidekick. We can also have a character that has some traits of an archetype but fit mainly into another. The more a character is nuance and precise in how it is express the more we have a precise character. Even if the archetypal form of the image is there and cannot escape.
Archetypes:
« [...]there is good reason for supposing that the archetypes are the unconscious images of the instincts themselves, in other words, that they are patterns of instinctual behaviour. » - Carl Jung
Archetypes are general expressions of the collective images of the unconscious. The word can be broken down into two parts: arche and type. Arche, from the Greek means origin, beginning, primal, and tupos means pattern, stamp, or model. So an archetype is a primal stamp, the first or original pattern of “something,” usually describing a certain mode of being in the human realm of motivation, perception and role (i.e., trickster, magician, villain, etc). The great psychologist Carl Jung made the term famous and is responsible more than any other person for popularizing the idea of the archetypes in everyday life (i.e., father complex, anime-animus, etc). His version of the archetypes is the basis of the popular term, and often used by writers, personality typing system call the Myers-Briggs Typing Indicator (MBTI).
« One can speak of an archetype only when these two aspects are simultaneous. When there is merely image, then there is simply a word-picture of little consequence. But by being charged with emotion, the image gains numostiy (or psychic energy); it becomes dynamic, and consequences of some kind must flow from it. […] They are piece of life itself – images that are integrally connected to the living individual by the bridge of the emotions » - Carl Jung
They are universal patterns in the preconceive idea in the unconscious at first but the context, the images and the emotions in the forms they take make them symbols, meaning they have a universal quality and a format expressions. They are analyse and made conscious in the expressions of the form they take. We can see them as parts of the self so they are parts of the human kingdom. But they are often time extremes representations of some kind of behaviors and roles. The archetypes are quite expandable and contextual but there is still some good form of categorisations that can be made. They are quite universals so it's easy to spot the ones that work when you analyze culture, history and stories. Even when they are not working properly, the narrative will expand them to a certain role and representation. The archetypal images are so ingrained in our instincts that we are not really aware of the repercussions they have on our will and purpose. Also in what ways it influences how we perceive the world and embody some roles by the structures they make.
« Such experiences seem to show that archetypal forms are not just static patterns. They are dynamic factors that manifest themselves in impulses, just as spontaneoulsy as the instincts. » - Carl Jung
Analysis of the 23 different archetypes in the Self Archetype stories:
The Hero: Symbol of Courage and Perseverance. Is the character that is taking the adventures face on and is confronting himself to grow. In a self story the Hero is willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good.
Father: Symbol of Unity and Peaceful Order. Is the order of the world in some fashion and often die at the beginning of the story for the tragedy to happen.
Sage: Symbol of Wisdom and Mysticism. Is the guide of the Hero towards the things he has to do which give purpose and meaning to the story.
Beast: Symbol of Challenge and Terror. Is the representation of the unconscious demon of the Hero or the most powerful thing in the story (the temptation). Can be seen as the shadow archetype to some degree.
Master: Symbol of Mastery and Teaching. Is the one offering the skills and the power to the Hero. It is clear he is the most powerful in the journey. He might wait for some potential or proof the hero deserve the teaching.
Sidekicks: Symbol of Friendship and Dedication. Are the friends close to the Hero and decide to take the same journey and do what is neccessary to fulfill the quest.
Lover: Symbol of Passion and Belonging. Is the person who is passionate, show some empathy and have a special connection towards the Hero. Can be naive in some case or highly opiniated.
Eternal Child: Symbol of Naiveté and Childishness. Is a way to offer a light side to the story or to show the dangers of being stuck a child and being innocent.
Trickster: Symbol of Tricks (multiplicity) and Comedy. Is the person doing a turn of events, doing things for his/her own profits and doing jokes.
Shapeshifter: Symbol of Change and Sadistic Two face. Is the closer to the villain or is the villain, is hard to pin down, act in the darkness and is smart.
Good Samaritan: Symbol of Kindness and Gardening. Is the one protecting the Hero in a consistent way even though it is not part of the adventure really. Or help the hero one time crucially.
Villain: Symbol of Evil and Total Conquest. Is the main source of evil in the story and is the principal confrontation of the Hero with the beast.
Brain: Symbol of Ingenuity and Smartness. Is the person that is known for being smart and find solutions to problems that require to think and innovate.
Broken Hero: Symbol of the Torture Hero and Redemption. Is the Hero that is not really the Hero, but have an arc that is about redemption and fighting torture in some forms.
Rival: Symbol of everyday Confrontation and Skills. Often time the person that is pushing the hero to its limit and have some sort of daily confrontation.
AntiHero: Symbol of Vengeance and Temptation. Is the Hero turn bad (might be the main villain) and is consume by the temptation, is fighting agaisn't what he was suppost to fight for in the beginning.
Devouring Mother: Symbol of Consuming attention Negatively and Forgetting. Is the mother that is not orienting the Hero properly and being deceitful or bad in some fashion.
Nurturing Mother: Symbol of Raising properly and Remembering. Is the mother that had offer paradise/stability to the Hero and is encouraging the Hero to fight for what he believes in for the greater good.
Servant: Symbol of Devotion and Action. Is the Hand of the Hero which means that they will obey and do whatever it takes to serve, because of some honor or admiration.
AntiSage: Symbol of Corrupt Wisdom and Dark Mysticism. Is the Sage turn bad or someone who use wisdom in a corruption sense. Some kind of magic in a way that is agaisn't the hero purpose.
Everyman: Symbol of Normality and Cowardism. Is the representation of the most normal person in the story or the people not willing to fight back because they are comfortable in normality.
Ruler: Symbol of Control and Ruling. Is the Leader that control and has authority over a kingdom or some places. There is a lack of awareness of the external in some fashion, too much preoccupied with the kingdom at it's detriment.
Broken: Symbol of the Torture and Trauma. Is the person who has pass a lot of challenges and traumas and has not really pass them (torture forever) or has nothing to lose.
Primordial stories
Jesus
All the self archetype stories mention are in the image of the story of Jesus. This narrative was so influential, profound and powerful that our western culture is trying to replicate that in it's stories. It is compelling to us. The Hero journey experience is so universal that it is not surprising that there is always some similarities within influential stories. It also make sense by extension that the New Testament myths were in fact influence by other more ancient narrative, consciously or unconsciously. What comes to mind is the Old Testament, the Greek and the Egyptians myths.
« Our discourse necessarily brings us to Christ, because he is the still living myth of our culture. He is our culture hero, who, regardless of his historical existence, embodies the myth of the divine Primordial Man, the mystic Adam. It is he who occupies the centre of the Christian mandala, [...] » - Carl Jung
The self sacrifice and message of love that Jesus give is actually what makes the self archetype more clear. Because now we know that the Heros are in fact in some sense the one that bring love and self sacrifice for a higher purpose than themselves. Those aspects become clearer in the form of a narrative perspective (which is huge in a culture).
Horus
« On a much greater scale, the Christian era itself owes its name and significance to the antique mystery of the god-man, which has its rooths in the archetypal Osiris-Horus myth of ancient Egypt. » - Carl Jung
There is some evidences suggesting that the story of Horus (God of kingship, healing, protection, the sun and the sky) might actually be the most ancient popular self archetype story that we can trace. It's unclear but we can at least say it's one of the most ancient classic narrative. There is also a lot of similarities with the Jesus story. We can at least agree that they were both treated as self archetype messiah figures. Horus fought Seth who killed his father Osiris, the king of the gods. Seth was jealous of his brother and want to inherit the throne instead of Horus. Seth and Horus fought multiple times and Horus finally won the kings rights. So he won and restore unity in the kindgom agains't the god of violence, disorder and the desert, who we can say is the egyptian representation of evil or the devil.
The Antichrist
We could argue that this archetype is actually more fundamental in our day and age. This type of narrative got more popular since world war 2. We can see a collective trauma because of all the terrible things that happen in the 20s century. The infamous dictator, responsible for the Holocaust and World War II, is widely regarded as one of the most evil men in history. Hitler's charismatic leadership, ability to manipulate the masses, and his aspiration for global domination align with the characteristics commonly associated with the Antichrist.
« The energy of archetypes can be focused (through rituals and other appeal to mass emotion) to move people to collective action. The Nazis knew this, and used versions of Teutonic myths to help rally the country to their cause " - Carl Jung
The AntiHero is the Symbol of Vengeance and Temptation. Often time the Hero turn bad and is consume by the temptation, is fighting agaisn't what he was suppost to fight for in the beginning. The antichrist is what I refer to for the image of the self archetype gone wrong or the archetype opposing the self archetype. This figure is a warning that the messiah can turn bad. It is the other side of the pattern, meaning the dark side of the light side of the self archetype.
The first mainstream fairly recent self archetype story highlighting this pattern is the story of Paul Atreides in Dune (1965). The most recent stories have an example of the AntiHero that is more in the form of a good guy turn bad within a classic hero narrative. There is Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars that was the Hero before turning into the infamous Darth Vader. In Game of Thrones, there are two Heroes, Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen. From the start we get a sense that Daenerys is more the true self archetype but we see at the end that she actually become the antichrist. In anime, Eren Yeager in Attack on Titan is the classic Hitler image because he is doing a genocide in order for his people to live harmoniously and normaly. In Naruto, the rival of the main hero (Naruto) loose agaisn't his temptation for a big part of the story. He becomes the antichrist, an agent of evil and desintegration.
« Psychologically the case is clear, since the dogmatic figure of Christ is so sublime and spotless that everything else turns dark beside it. It is, in fact, so onesidely perfect that it demands a psychic complement to restore the balance. » - Carl Jung
According to Jung, the Antichrist archetype represents the dark side of human nature, the embodiment of evil and destruction. It is a symbol that embodies the collective fears and anxieties of society, reflecting our deepest insecurities and moral dilemmas. Jung argued that the Antichrist archetype arises in times of societal crisis or upheaval, when the collective psyche is grappling with profound questions about good and evil, power and corruption. Exploring the symbolism of this figure can help us confront these hidden aspects, leading to greater self-awareness and personal transformation.
The analysis of the stories
Attack On Titan
Lord Of The Rings
Dune
Harry Potter
Naruto
Game Of Thrones
Star Wars
The Matrix
The Lion King
Avatar The Last Airbender
Avatar
Planet of the Apes
Narnia