Where can we draw the line?
Where can the line be drawn to determine if a work follows the Hero's Journey? As we have seen in class, the key example of Star Wars: A New Hope did not not include several of the final stages of the Hero's Journey including master of two worlds or even crossing the return threshold. Siddhartha appeared to have every stage, but some of them were a bit of a stretch, and the stages in Siddhartha did not all appear in the same order as they do in the Hero's Journey. If these both are still considered to follow the Hero's Journey, then what needs to happen (or not happen, as the case may be) to consider something to not follow the Hero's Journey? I am going to look at another title, outlining steps of the Hero's Journey in it, and leave it up for the readers to decide whether or not it can be considered a Hero's Journey story.
The Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight is a video game, but considering that movies can follow the Hero's Journey, I do not see why video games could not also.
The call to adventure occurred before the game's events, as did the refusal - if there even was one. I tend to think that a refusal could not have happened just by looking at the game's lore. Therefore, the first step is supernatural aid, which the Knight receives from the Snail Shaman and its gift of the Vengeful Spirit. Crossing the threshold is the Knight's entering of Greenpath, which happens to be the belly of the whale location. The road of trials is arguably the Pilgrim's Way, where the Knight is still inexperienced and learning how to use its abilities. However, this brings up an interesting discussion topic: can the road of trials encompass the belly of the whale, starting as soon as the protagonist crosses the threshold? If not, then Hollow Knight's road could maybe be the City of Tears? A great deal of events take place in the City, but a significant amount of time occurs between Greenpath and the City of Tears - with the Knight visiting anywhere from 2 to more than 7 other areas before arriving in the City. (note from the author: in Nathaniel's experience the City is the sixth location to be explored - with King's Pass and Dirtmouth being considered one starting location.)
Meeting with the goddess is assuredly meeting Hornet in the City of Tears, but in that meeting she does not gift the Knight anything. If, however, the Knight is to heed her words and visit Kingdom's Edge and encounter Hornet, she allows the Knight to combat her in order to claim the King's Brand. There is a large time gap between these events but I believe it still makes sense chronologically. Another possible meeting with the goddess could be in the Knight meeting the Seer and her giving it the Dream Nail, allowing it to access the world of dreams. Both events are important for the main story and I believe that both could be viewed as a meeting with the goddess stage. The next stage in the Hero's Journey is temptation - but there is no clear temptation in Hollow Knight, or even an event similar to temptation. The only temptation I can think of is when a select group of NPCs advises the Knight to sit on a bench and thus be captured, but that event is optional and also not big enough to be considered a stage of the Hero's Journey.
Atonement with the father comes in an odd way. Instead of the Knight making up with its dad, it instead finds its father dead on his throne. Cutting its father's corpse from his throne, the Knight usurps him as king and claims itself king of Hallownest, which is hardly an atonement... After taking its fathers throne and a relic from its mother, the Knight comes to possess the Kingsoul, and equipped with the Kingsoul and King's Brand is able to plunge into the depths of the Abyss to find its birthplace. Reconciling with its deceased siblings, the Knight undergoes a transformation where the Kingsoul becomes the Void Heart, and the Knight is marked as Void - apotheosis.
After killing the Dreamers and wielding the Awoken Dream Nail and Void Heart, the Knight is able to face its sibling, the Hollow Knight, and end its life. Alternatively the Knight can choose to enter the mind of its sibling (with Hornet's aid) and instead kill the Radiance within. This can be considered the "ultimate boon." However, difficulties arise here. The Knight either is killed in the process, gives up its life to destroy the Radiance, or is sealed in its sibling's place, therefore ending its journey. There is no crossing the return threshold, no freedom to live. In fact, the Hero's Journey either ends here completely or restarts with Hornet, the Knight's sister. Including the call to adventure, Hollow Knight includes 9 of the Journey's 17 steps. I would argue that this is too few to be considered a Hero's Journey example, but what do others think? And if it can be considered Hero's Journey, then where is the line drawn? 9/17 is only ~53%. While that is a simple majority, it isn't a majority by much. What qualifies as not partaking to the Hero's Journey?
-Nathaniel Wiesbrook
is among us heros journey?????
ReplyDeleteDear Storm,
DeleteWhat a remarkable question. Here are my findings:
Call to Adventure - The Player hears of Among Us, a popular 2020 mobile game.
Refusal of the Call - The Player decides that maybe they shouldn't download it as they might get addicted to the game.
Supernatural Aid - God declares that the Player is to download Among Us - therefore the Player does so.
Crossing the First Threshold - The Player downloads Among Us and transitions into a Crewmate.
Belly of the Whale - The Crewmate finds themselves in the Lobby and anxiously awaits its role assignment. This stage ends with the Crewmate discovering that they are just a crewmate.
Road of Trials - The Crewmate struggles with their tasks and narrowly avoids the other Crewmates - who may or may not secretly be impostors.
Meeting with the Goddess - The Crewmate meets a Guardian Angel who bestows on them the knowledge that Red is sus.
Temptation - The Crewmate is tempted to accuse their fellow crewmate of being an impostor upon the grounds of being a "sussy baka." Fortunately, the Crewmate realizes that would be extremely cringe, not to mention unproductive, and does not make the accusation, sparing their ally's life.
Atonement with the Father - (Atonement with the Impostor) In this stage the Crewmate realizes that the Impostor is actually not the villain here - that the true enemy is the Society that forces Impostors and Crewmates to hate each other. The Crewmate forgives the Impostor and is peacefully killed.
Apotheosis - The Crewmate, after realizing that Impostors are necessary, embraces death and is reborn as an Impostor themselves.
The Ultimate Boon - As an Impostor, the previous-Crewmate must find their friend, the previous-Guardian Angel, and end their life. In this stage, however, they are also discovered as Impostor and trialed before the Crewmates.
Refusal of the Return - The previous-Crewmate tries unsuccessfully to convince the other crewmates that they are on the same side.
Magic Flight - (Ejection) The previous-Crewmate is ejected from the ship, falling for miles. 0 Impostors remain.
Rescue from Without - The Crewmate respawns back into the Lobby.
Crossing the Return Threshold - The Player decides to put Among Us aside for the rest of the day - they get too immersed in the game.
Master of Two Worlds - The Player manages to play Among Us every day and also get all of their work done.
Freedom to Live - The Player lives a life of happiness, only being suspicious when necessary, making friends, making enemies, and getting enough sleep.
So, to answer your question, yes. Among Us definitely works within the Hero's Journey!
Sincerely,
Nathaniel
I am so sorry to whoever reads the Among Us comment. Please do not let it distract you from your thoughts about the Hero's Journey and its applicability.
DeleteI really enjoyed your usage of a video game to reflect on the effectiveness of the Hero's Journey at representing stories. I believe that video games serve as the most effective way to convey a story to the player because if done correctly, the player is right there with their character as the story progresses. Because of this, games are able to tell more abstract stories that don't necessarily follow the template of the Hero's Journey. Sometimes the Journey is represented by the player's actions rather than the story of their character.
ReplyDeleteI've also thought a lot about where to draw the line when talking about Hero's Journeys, but I think any monomyth that describes a hero going on an adventure in a foreign world to accomplish something is a valid Hero's Journey. Campbell's 17-step cycle is simply a template to represent what often happens in these monomyths. I think it doesn't matter which steps a story follows as long as it involves a hero working toward their purpose in an unfamiliar realm. I'm not familiar with the video game, and I'm still not 100% sure of what's going on based on the description, but it seems like there's one hero, an ultimate boon, and a crossing of the threshold into a new place, which would make it a Hero's Journey.
ReplyDelete