hero's journey special world

The Ordinary World: The First Step in the Hero’s Journey

by David Safford | 1 comment

From The Odyssey to Star Wars to Toy Story , the Hero's Journey is the foundation of millennia of storytelling. But before any hero can embark on their journey, they must start in the ordinary world.

How can you leverage this world and the hero's journey in your own writing?

In storytelling, the hero's journey has to do with the stages of the hero as researched by Joseph Campbell and Christopher Vogler. Decades ago, these two storytelling experts identified several common trends that appear in great works from every generation and every culture.

One of those trends is structure.

Thankfully this structure has a proven track record of success. This successful record is so long, in fact, that we don't know when it started.

And it all begins with a person living an ordinary life.

What Is the Hero's Journey?

The Hero's Journey is a timeless combination of characters, events, and symbols frequently structured as a sequence of twelve steps. It is a storytelling structure that anyone can study and utilize to tell a story that readers will love.

You can learn all about the twelve steps that make up the universal structure of great stories in this article . Today, I'd like to take you even further into the first of those steps.

Let's take a look at the beginning: The Ordinary World.

Hero's Journey Step #1: Start Ordinary

We have Hollywood screenwriter and executive Christopher Vogler to thank for our condensed version of the Hero's Journey. If you're curious, his most notable credit is a film that makes explicit use of the Hero's Journey: The Lion King.

In Vogler's simplification of Campbell's theory, there are twelve steps to the Hero's Journey (I cover each one in-depth in a detailed Hero's Journey blog series, this article being one of those special articles).

The first step of the Hero's Journey involves establishing your hero's day-to-day ordinary life, all so it can be disrupted by the impending Inciting Incident. This is the Ordinary World.

This is when you establish the hero's day-to-day life, all so it can be disrupted by the impending Inciting Incident. Tweet this

David Safford

You deserve a great book. That's why David Safford writes adventure stories that you won't be able to put down. Read his latest story at his website. David is a Language Arts teacher, novelist, blogger, hiker, Legend of Zelda fanatic, puzzle-doer, husband, and father of two awesome children.

Great article. What do you think about combining 3 journeys into 1?

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Hero's Journey: A Guide to Becoming The Hero Of Your Story

What will your story be.

Be the hero of your story . It’s common advice from motivational speakers and life coaches, a call to arms to take centre stage and tackle life’s challenges head-on, to emerge victorious in the face of adversity, to transform through hardship.

As humans, hardwired to view the world and share experiences through the medium of stories, myths often act as powerful motivators of change. From ancient cave paintings to the Star Wars and its Death Star to Harry Potter and his battle against evil, the hero’s journey structure is a familiar one. It’s also one you need to know if you want to know how to write a book , but I digress.

This article will outline the stages, and psychological meaning, of the 12 steps of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey. So, are you ready to become the hero of your story? Then let the adventure begin...

Who is Joseph Campbell?

Joseph Campbell was an American professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College, and an expert of mythology that once spent five years in a rented shack, buried in books for nine hours each day. His greatest contribution is the hero’s journey, outlined in his book The Hero with A Thousand Faces . Campbell was able to synthesise huge volumes of heroic stories, distilling a common structure amongst them.

Near the end of his life, Campbell was interviewed by Bill Moyers in a documentary series exploring his work, The Power of Myth .

Throughout their discussion, Campbell highlighted the importance of myth not just in stories, but in our lives, as symbols to inspire us to flourish and grow to our full potential.

How is the hero’s journey connected to self development?

You might be wondering what storytelling has to do with self-development. Before we dive into the hero’s journey (whether that is a male or a female hero’s journey), context will be useful. Joseph Cambell was heavily inspired by the work of Carl Jung, the groundbreaking psychologist who throughout his life worked on theories such as the shadow, collective unconscious, archetypes, and synchronicity.

Jung’s greatest insight was that the unconscious is a vast, vibrant landscape, yet out sight from the ordinary conscious experience. Jung didn’t only theorize about the unconscious; he provided a huge body of work explaining the language of the unconscious, and the way in which it communicates with the conscious mind.

The nature of the unconscious

Due to its vast nature, the unconscious doesn’t operate like the conscious mind, which is based in language, logic, and rationality. The unconscious instead operates in the imaginal realm — using symbols and meaning that take time to be deciphered and understood consciously. Such symbols surface in dreams, visualizations, daydreams, or fantasies.

For Jung, the creative process is one in which contents of the unconscious mind are brought to light. Enter storytelling and character development — a process of myth-making that somehow captures the truth of deep psychological processes.

Campbell saw the power of myth in igniting the unconscious will to grow and live a meaningful life. With that in mind, his structure offers a tool of transformation and a way to inspire the unconscious to work towards your own hero’s journey.

The 12 steps of the hero’s journey

The hero’s journey ends where it begins, back at the beginning after a quest of epic proportions. The 12 steps are separated into three acts:

The hero journeys through the 12 steps in a clockwise fashion. As Campbell explains:

“The usual hero adventure begins with someone from whom something has been taken, or who feels there is something lacking in the normal experience available or permitted to the members of society. The person then takes off on a series of adventures beyond the ordinary, either to recover what has been lost or to discover some life-giving elixir. It’s usually a cycle, a coming and a returning.”

Let’s take a closer look at each of the steps below. Plus, under each is a psychological symbol that describes how the hero’s journey unfolds, and how when the hero ventures forth, he undergoes an inner process of awakening and transformation.

1. The ordinary world

The calm before the storm. The hero is living a standard, mundane life, going about their business unaware of the impending call to adventure. At this point, the hero is portrayed as very, very human. There could be glimpses of their potential, but these circumstances restrict the hero from fulfilling them. Although well within the hero’s comfort zone, at this stage, it’s clear something significant is lacking from their life.

Psychological symbol

This is represented as a stage of ignorance, pre-awakening. Living life by the status quo, on other people’s terms, or simply without questioning if this is what you want. At this point life is lived, but not deeply satisfying.

2. Call to adventure

Next is a disruption, a significant event that threatens the ways things were. This is a challenge that the hero knows deep down will lead to transformation and change, and that the days of normality, “the way things are,” are numbered. The hero confronts the question of being asked to step into their deeper potential, to awaken the power within, and to enter a new, special world.

Many of us embark on inner-journeys following hardship in life — the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, physical or mental illness. This stage occurs when it becomes apparent that, to move through suffering, one has to look within, to adventure into the soul.

3. Refusal of the call

No compelling story would be complete without friction. The hero often resists this call to adventure, as fear and self-doubt surface at full force, and the purpose of this new life direction is questioned. Can the reluctant hero journey forth? Do they have the courage?

The only way to grow and live a deeply fulfilling life is to face the discomfort of suffering. Campbell himself once said: “ The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek .” At this stage, fears, and anxieties about delving deep into the psyche arise. The temptation is to remain blissfully ignorant, to avoid discomfort, and to stay in your familiar world.

4. Meeting a mentor

As the hero faces a crisis of confidence, a wise mentor figure appears.

This character offers inspiration, guidance, or understanding that encourages the hero to have the self-belief to start this new adventure. In many stories, a mentor is someone else who has embarked on the hero’s journey, or someone who attempted, and failed. This person reflects the importance of this mission, reminding the hero their calling far exceeds their fear.

When the journey of exploration has to begin, people or situations enter your life at just the right time, guiding you in the right direction. This could be a close friend, a peer, a professional, such as a coach or therapist, or even a fictional character in a film or book. In most cases, these are chance encounters that contain a sense of knowing before the hero leaves on his or her adventure.

5. Crossing the threshold

This is a pivotal moment in the hero’s journey, as the initiation begins. This occurs when the hero fully commits to their quest, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual. This is the point of no return, where the reluctant hero embarks on their adventure, and has accepted that the way things were must change. The hero enters a new zone, one in which the call to adventure must be accepted. The hero’s resolve is hardened, and they understand they have a responsibility to confront what is ahead of them.

Whatever your life was before the call to action, this is a crossroads which is accepted, knowing your life may never be the same. This is a point of empowerment, where you realize that journeying within will lead you to greater self-understanding, even if those insights will dramatically change your life direction.

6. Test, allies, enemies

Now the hero has ventured outside of their comfort zone, the true test begins. This is a stage of acclimatizing to unknown lands. Unknown forces work against them, as they form bonds with allies who join them along the way, or face formidable enemies or encounters that have to be conquered. Throughout this testing time, the hero will be shaped and molded through adversity, finding deeper meaning in their life and mission.

Once the journey of self-discovery is underway, the initial burst of inspiration might be tested by the difficulty of the task. You might meet people who are able to offer advice or guide you, or those who reflect areas of yourself you have to work on.

Often, these are inner experiences, in the forms of memories, emotions, or outward tests, such as difficult circumstances that challenge your resolve and commitment to your new life direction.

7. Approach to the inmost cave

Having already crossed the threshold into the unknown and the uncertain, having faced obstacles and enemies, and having begun to utilize their qualities along the way, the next stage is another threshold.

This is the beating heart of the hero’s challenge, where again self-doubt and fear can arise, as another threshold has to be crossed. This is often a period of respite, giving the hero time to pause and reflect. Will the hero make the leap?

The hero’s journey has ups and downs. There may be quick wins in the beginning — your new life direction may go well, or inner-work may lead you to a new place of calm or confidence. But then, out of nowhere, comes an even bigger challenge, surfacing as a question mark to the person you’ve become. Life often has a way of presenting the right challenges at the right time…

This is the life-or-death moment. This can be a meeting with an ultimate enemy or facing the hero’s deepest fear. There is an awareness that if the hero fails, their new world, or their life, could be destroyed.

Everything the hero has fought for up to this point, all the lessons learned along the journey, all the hidden potentials actualized, will have to be utilized to survive this supreme ordeal, for the hero to be victorious. Either way, the hero will undergo a form of death, and leave the ordeal forever changed.

There are inner challenges that have to be confronted on the journey of self-discovery. This might be in the form of trauma that has to be confronted and healed, people with whom you have to have difficult conversations, or fears you have to face, actions that in the past you never thought you’d be capable of. But, with the skills you’ve learned along the way, this time you’ll be ready. But it won’t be easy.

9. Reward (seizing the sword)

Through great adversity comes triumph. Having confronted their greatest fear, and survived annihilation, the hero learns a valuable lesson, and is now fully transformed and reborn — with a prize as a reward.

This object is often symbolized as a treasure, a token, secret knowledge, or reconciliation, such as the return of an old friend or lover. This prize can assist in the return to the ordinary world — but there are still a few steps to come.

When confronting deep inner fears or challenges, you are rewarded with deep insights or breakthroughs. That might be in the form of achieving a significant goal or inwardly having a sense of peace or reconciliation with your past, or moments that have previously felt unresolved. As a spiritual process, this may also be the realization that behind suffering and pain lies freedom or inner peace.

10. The road back

Having traveled into distant, foreign lands and slain the dragon, now it’s time for the hero to make their return journey. This stage mirrors the original call to adventure and represents another threshold.

The hero may be understanding their new responsibility and the consequences of their actions, and require a catalyst to make the journey back to the ordinary world with their prize.

The hard work has been done, the ultimate fear confronted, new knowledge found. Now, what’s the next step? For many, the initial stages of growth come with a period of renunciation or are symbolized by an outward journey away from home, or away from familiarity.

Then comes the stage of returning to familiarity, or the things left behind — be it family, friends, locations, or even behaviors that were once loved and sacrificed during the journey.

11. Resurrection

When it appears the hero is out of the woods, there comes a final confrontation — an encounter with death itself. Transformed inwardly and with a personal victory complete, the hero faces a battle that transcends their individual quest, with its consequences far-reaching, for entire communities or even humanity itself.

This purification solidifies the hero’s rebirth, as their new identity fully emerges just in time to return to the ordinary world.

In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, self-actualization is secondary to self-transcendence. In other words, once inner battles have been faced, and the alchemy of psychological transformation is underway, the next stage is to apply the newfound insights and knowledge to a bigger cause — supporting others, or standing up a mission that will benefit the wider world.

12. Return with the elixir

Following the final battle, the hero finally returns home. By now, personal transformation is complete, they’re returning home a different person. Having faced indescribable hardship, the hero returns with added wisdom and maturity. The elixir is the treasure they’ve returned with, ready to share with the ordinary world. This could be a sense of hope, freedom, or even a new perspective to assist those originally left behind.

The hero has a new level of self-awareness, seeing the ordinary world through fresh eyes. They’ve left internal conflict behind. There’s an understanding that things will never be the same, but that the hero’s journey was part of their destiny.

Then comes the ultimate prize: a final reconciliation, acceptance from the community, celebration, redemption. Whatever the prize, there are three elements: change , success , and proof of the journey .

Following a transformative psychic process, there’s an understanding of what is within your control. The “ordinary world” may have many elements that remain the same, but this is accompanied by a realization that when you change, so does your reality. Previously modes of thinking may be replaced, as bridges are built with your past, giving opportunity for a renewed approach to life.

What can we learn from the hero's journey?

At the time of writing this article, I’m in the UK visiting my family for the first time in 18 months. As I walked down paths I’d walked throughout my childhood, I was struck by how much I’ve changed over the years. A passage from T.S Eliot’s poem Little Gidding came to mind:

“We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring. Will be to arrive where we started. And know the place for the first time.”

I reflected on the notion of coming full circle — to begin a journey, outwardly or inwardly, before finding yourself back at the beginning, transformed. In spiritual traditions, the circle is a powerful symbol of timelessness, death and rebirth, totality, and wholeness. Aptly, the 12 steps of the hero’s journey are depicted as a circle. It’s not a coincidence.

What can we learn from the hero’s journey? In a way, it is similar to the writer’s journey. Above all else, it’s a reminder that we each within us have a purpose, a quest and a mission in this life that can and will invoke our truest potential. The path isn’t easy — there are many, many challenges along the way. But at the right time, people and situations will come to our aid.

If you’re able to confront the mission head-on and take bold steps along the way — just like all the heroes of fiction before you, from Shakespeare’s characters to Luke Skywalker and Rey from the universe brought to us by George Lucas — then you will be transformed, and then you can return to where you started, reborn, ready to share your gifts and your lessons with the world.

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Pamela Anderson has it all: beauty, fame and success. So why can’t the most famous blonde find her fairytale ending? Why is Pamela so unlucky in love and what dark secrets lie behind her seemingly glamorous life?

The Many Marriages of Pamela Anderson

See on Instagram

Pamela Anderson had a fairytale look at weddings from a young age. "I'd meet somebody, fall in love, and it would just be very romantic and it would be love at first sight."

But sadly, none of her nine weddings led to that dream relationship for the 56 year old actress.

While she looks to have found peace and calm in her later years, Anderson's previous relationships were fraught with abuse, drugs, and fear.

How many husbands did Pamela have over the years?

Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee (1995-1998, 2008-2010)

The bad-boy of rock, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, was the first man to sweep Anderson off her feet. The two stars had a whirlwind relationship that resulted in sons Brandon and Dylan. But what was once a fairytale marriage was also incredibly 'tragic,' ending in Tommy Lee being charged with spousal and child abuse.

While the Baywatch babe refers to Tommy Leed as "the only man I ever really loved was Tommy Lee," the two were not able to make it work.

Anderson and Kid Rock (2001-2003, 2006)

Anderson married the controversial rapper and musician a total of four times, though she knew it was a mistake, "right when I got married."

It looks like there was no love lost, as both have confirmed they never spoke again after the split.

Pamela Anderson and Rick Salomon (2007, 2013-2015)

Rick Salomon made a name for himself as a sometimes actor and poker player. Salomon turned out to have a serious drug addiction which Anderson only discovered when she found his crack pipe in the Christmas tree. Their marraige was annulled but they reconciled in 2013, thought the second marriage was short-lived.

Pamela Anderson and Jon Peters (2020) Kind of...

While it turned out the two never had an official marriage certificate, Anderson did announce her marraige to movie producer Jon Peters. Husband number five didn't last long, just a mere 12 days before the two split.

Pamela Anderson and Dan Hayhurst (2020-2022)

Anderson met her last husband, Dan Hayhurst, when he was the contractor for her house. The marriage survived two years before they went their separate ways.

"You know, it was more like trying to put a family unit back together. But I wasn't really in love. I just was going through the motions and then realizing, I have nothing in common with this person. Like I was putting people in my life to kind of numb some of the pain or be with someone, companionship, but nothing nothing healthy."

Poor Boy Couldn’t Afford to Bury His Mom - So He Takes Matters Into His Own Hands

Poor Boy Begs For Money to "Bury My Mama" With Heartbreaking Sign

A week ago, 11-year-old Kayden Ely experienced the devastating loss of his mother, Shannon Mount. Her unexpected passing didn't just leave Kayden and his four siblings without their mom, it also left the family in dire financial straits.

Desperate to raise funds for his mom's funeral, Kayden took to the streets of his small town in Georgia begging for help. For two days the heartbroken little boy stood next to the railroad tracks, holding a sign that read, "Please help me bury my mama!"

Grieving Boy's Desperate Plea for Help

Kayden Ely says goodbye to his mom, Shannon Mount; Kayden Ely and his older brother raise funds for their mom's funeral.

Facebook.com/Jennifer Fife

Shannon Mount, 45, went into cardiac arrest on July 8. Her boyfriend, Billy Upton, tried to save her, performing CPR on her until paramedics arrived and were able to revive her. After spending several days on life support, she passed away.

Without life insurance and unable to afford the astronomical bill of her 8 days in emergency care (never mind burial expenses) Kayden didn't have the luxury of taking time to grieve his mom.

Instead, he made it his mission to give her a proper goodbye.

Armed with his homemade sign, Kayden spent hours standing on the side of the road, praying passing motorists would notice and want to help.

Not only did community members step up and come to his aid with donations, hugs, and prayers, but they also shared the young boy's plight on social media and contacted local news stations to spread the word. They even joined him on the ground, helping him set up a hotdog stand to make more money.

But the small town giving didn't stop there. An anonymous donor contacted the family, offering to pay for the cost of a burial plot, and several local businesses put out jars to collect spare change. The funeral home, Good Shepherd, also gave the family a significant discount.

GoFundMe Campaign Raises More Than 10x the Original Goal

www.gofundme.com

Inspired by Kayden's strength and determination to provide a resting place for his mom, Jennifer Grissom, his cousin and guardian, also launched a GoFundMe .

"Shannon did not have life insurance, she has an 11-year-old that is left without the only thing he ever knew," Jennifer wrote on the page.

"He has been standing on [the] side of the road for 2 days with a sign to help bury his mama."

She initially set a goal of $7,100, just enough to cover the costs of the funeral which can run upwards of $12,000 in some states.

But then the donations started pouring in. And that $7,100 quickly became $70,000. More than 1700 people have come forward to donate, all of them motivated by one singular thought: "No child should ever have to worry about paying for a funeral."

Jennifer says she plans on using the extra funds to "make sure Kayden gets to do things children his age get to do; sports, camps, etc." She's also using it to buy him clothes, school supplies, and necessities, and start a college fund.

In an update on the page, she wrote, "Today we took him to Walmart so he could get a bed set and he got a few things he needed."

Adding, "When we were leaving his aunt asked him, 'Why are you so happy' and he replied...'Me and mama didn’t have much money we were poor, and I didn’t get to go buy stuff like this' and all this baby got was a bed set, toothbrush, pillows and pillow cases. He is so thankful. Thank y'all for making him smile."

But most importantly, a grieving little boy is getting his wish. Shannon, who is described as a "straight shooter...who loved her kids fiercely" in her obituary, will be properly laid to rest at the end of the month.

Paying it Forward

Kayden Ely gives away free hot dogs and drinks.

To thank his community for their incredible support, Kayden decided to pay it forward.

He set up another hotdog stand, only this time instead of charging for the dogs and drinks, he gave them away for free; a fitting gesture of gratitude for an 11-year-old boy.

He also appeared in a brief Facebook video with Jennifer, thanking everyone for their donations and helping to get the word out to the community. But even more meaningful than the monetary support was the outpouring of emotional support.

"We want to thank everybody that stopped," Jennifer said. "You know, there were some people who just wanted to give him a hug or some people that wanted to pray with him and tell him they're sorry for his loss."

"Some people stopped and just wanted to help us cook hot dogs. A man stopped and he helped us hold a sign. That means so much to us, it really does."

Grief can be incredibly isolating and when you lose the most important person in your life, it's even more so.

Kayden is only 11 years old, he shouldn't have to know the devastating pain of loss. But having a supportive community will go a long way in making him feel a little less alone.

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Grieving Daughter Finds Note In Fossil Purse While Thrifting

Thrifting can net all sorts of treasures. Shoppers can snatch up everything from vintage clothes to mid-century modern furniture to kitschy knick-knacks, all without breaking the bank.

But for one grieving woman, she found a hidden gem that was truly priceless.

Unexpected Thrift Store Find

Photo of a little girl with her father and a black purse.

TikTok/Abrielle Clausing

On January 13, 2021, Abrielle Clausing's world fell apart. Her father unexpectedly passed away from Covid-19. As anyone who has experienced grief knows, the journey isn't a straight one. It ebbs and flows with some days being significantly harder than others.

It was during a "particularly hard grief week" when Abrielle, 24, decided to embark on some retail therapy. She used to love thrifting with her dad, and no one loved a good deal more than he did.

However, she didn't just want to shop for the sake of shopping, she had a very specific item she wanted in mind.

"My sister and I decided to go thrifting and I told her I wanted to find a vintage Fossil brand purse," she explains in a now-viral TikTok video .

And wouldn't you know, Abrielle did indeed end up finding "the cutest vintage Fossil brand purse" - seriously what are the chances?

And as if that wasn't serendipitous enough, it was about to get a whole lot more remarkable.

Inside the purse was a handwritten note:

"When you read this you will be far from me in miles but not in my heart. I'm here. I love you."

She immediately took it as a sign from her beloved dad.

" I knew it was from him," she told People . "I always check the inside of the bag before I buy it to make sure it’s in good condition. When I stuck my hand in it, I felt the piece of paper and when I took it out and found the note, I read it out loud to my sister."

"When I saw the note, it just confirmed that he was with us," she added. "He’s always with us."

Response To The Viral TikTok

www.tiktok.com

Abrielle's heartwarming video has garnered nearly one million views and over 1,000 comments and it's making believers out of every single one of us.

"I'm so afraid that death is final and we just stop existing. But some things can't be explained. There has to be more out there!!"

"This was def him 🥹💙"

"I’m literally crying so hard. Someone would have had to carry me out of the thrift 😭"

"I'm honestly at a loss for words. Wow. Just wow."

Even Fossil weighed in, writing, "What a beautiful note to find. Your dad's love will always be with you. Sending you and your family a big, warm hug."

Her TikTok also opened the floodgates for others to share the signs they've received from lost loved ones.

"My brother passed away & years later I was at a checkout line in the store & at the cash register was a young school photo of him that someone left.... never made sense but I'll never forget it."

"About 30 seconds after bursting in tears thinking about my grandpa a car merged in front of me and the license plate was his name and his age when he died 😭😭"

"When my mom passed, days after I found an email that not me nor my sister had opened or read before. It was an email my mom sent us 4 years before with the message “open it when I’m gone, love, mom”. It had a beautiful letter as an attachment."

Love Lives On

The note Abrielle Clausing found in a Fossil bag while thrifting is now part of a cherished collage.

People.com/Abrielle Clausing

Abrielle has given the note a place of honor, right smack in the middle of a framed collage of her favorite sayings and things.

It's a beautiful reminder that the love she shared with her dad lives on, even though he is gone.

And whether you believe in fate or not, you have to admit the universe had an uncanny way of showing up just when she needed it to.

After all, what are the odds that a stranger penned a note with the exact words she needed to hear, placed it in the exact bag she was looking for, AND that bag ended up in the exact thrift store she was shopping in? Pretty astronomical.

And yet, here we are.

Life is full of unexpected, magical moments that often happen when we least expect it. And sometimes those moments bring us the comfort and connection we need most, reminding us that love...is never truly lost.

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Hero's Journey 101: How to Use the Hero's Journey to Plot Your Story

By Dan Schriever

How many times have you heard this story? A protagonist is suddenly whisked away from their ordinary life and embarks on a grand adventure. Along the way they make new friends, confront perils, and face tests of character. In the end, evil is defeated, and the hero returns home a changed person.

That’s the Hero’s Journey in a nutshell. It probably sounds very familiar—and rightly so: the Hero’s Journey aspires to be the universal story, or monomyth, a narrative pattern deeply ingrained in literature and culture. Whether in books, movies, television, or folklore, chances are you’ve encountered many examples of the Hero’s Journey in the wild.

In this post, we’ll walk through the elements of the Hero’s Journey step by step. We’ll also study an archetypal example from the movie The Matrix (1999). Once you have mastered the beats of this narrative template, you’ll be ready to put your very own spin on it.

Sound good? Then let’s cross the threshold and let the journey begin.

What Is the Hero’s Journey?

The 12 stages of the hero’s journey, writing your own hero’s journey.

The Hero’s Journey is a common story structure for modeling both plot points and character development. A protagonist embarks on an adventure into the unknown. They learn lessons, overcome adversity, defeat evil, and return home transformed.

Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949)

Joseph Campbell , a scholar of literature, popularized the monomyth in his influential work The Hero With a Thousand Faces (1949). Looking for common patterns in mythological narratives, Campbell described a character arc with 17 total stages, overlaid on a more traditional three-act structure. Not all need be present in every myth or in the same order.

The three stages, or acts, of Campbell’s Hero’s Journey are as follows:

1. Departure. The hero leaves the ordinary world behind.

2. Initiation. The hero ventures into the unknown ("the Special World") and overcomes various obstacles and challenges.

3. Return. The hero returns in triumph to the familiar world.

Hollywood has embraced Campbell’s structure, most famously in George Lucas’s Star Wars movies. There are countless examples in books, music, and video games, from fantasy epics and Disney films to sports movies.

In The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers (1992), screenwriter Christopher Vogler adapted Campbell’s three phases into the "12 Stages of the Hero’s Journey." This is the version we’ll analyze in the next section.

The three stages of Campbell's Hero's Journey

For writers, the purpose of the Hero’s Journey is to act as a template and guide. It’s not a rigid formula that your plot must follow beat by beat. Indeed, there are good reasons to deviate—not least of which is that this structure has become so ubiquitous.

Still, it’s helpful to master the rules before deciding when and how to break them. The 12 steps of the Hero's Journey are as follows :

Let’s take a look at each stage in more detail. To show you how the Hero’s Journey works in practice, we’ll also consider an example from the movie The Matrix (1999). After all, what blog has not been improved by a little Keanu Reeves?

#1: The Ordinary World

This is where we meet our hero, although the journey has not yet begun: first, we need to establish the status quo by showing the hero living their ordinary, mundane life.

It’s important to lay the groundwork in this opening stage, before the journey begins. It lets readers identify with the hero as just a regular person, “normal” like the rest of us. Yes, there may be a big problem somewhere out there, but the hero at this stage has very limited awareness of it.

The Ordinary World in The Matrix :

We are introduced to Thomas A. Anderson, aka Neo, programmer by day, hacker by night. While Neo runs a side operation selling illicit software, Thomas Anderson lives the most mundane life imaginable: he works at his cubicle, pays his taxes, and helps the landlady carry out her garbage.

#2: The Call to Adventure

The journey proper begins with a call to adventure—something that disrupts the hero’s ordinary life and confronts them with a problem or challenge they can’t ignore. This can take many different forms.

While readers may already understand the stakes, the hero is realizing them for the first time. They must make a choice: will they shrink from the call, or rise to the challenge?

The Call to Adventure in The Matrix :

A mysterious message arrives in Neo’s computer, warning him that things are not as they seem. He is urged to “follow the white rabbit.” At a nightclub, he meets Trinity, who tells him to seek Morpheus.

#3: Refusal of the Call

Oops! The hero chooses option A and attempts to refuse the call to adventure. This could be for any number of reasons: fear, disbelief, a sense of inadequacy, or plain unwillingness to make the sacrifices that are required.

A little reluctance here is understandable. If you were asked to trade the comforts of home for a life-and-death journey fraught with peril, wouldn’t you give pause?

Refusal of the Call in The Matrix :

Agents arrive at Neo’s office to arrest him. Morpheus urges Neo to escape by climbing out a skyscraper window. “I can’t do this… This is crazy!” Neo protests as he backs off the ledge.

#4: Meeting the Mentor

Okay, so the hero got cold feet. Nothing a little pep talk can’t fix! The mentor figure appears at this point to give the hero some much needed counsel, coaching, and perhaps a kick out the door.

After all, the hero is very inexperienced at this point. They’re going to need help to avoid disaster or, worse, death. The mentor’s role is to overcome the hero’s reluctance and prepare them for what lies ahead.

Meeting the Mentor in The Matrix :

Neo meets with Morpheus, who reveals a terrifying truth: that the ordinary world as we know it is a computer simulation designed to enslave humanity to machines.

#5: Crossing the First Threshold

At this juncture, the hero is ready to leave their ordinary world for the first time. With the mentor’s help, they are committed to the journey and ready to step across the threshold into the special world . This marks the end of the departure act and the beginning of the adventure in earnest.

This may seem inevitable, but for the hero it represents an important choice. Once the threshold is crossed, there’s no going back. Bilbo Baggins put it nicely: “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

Crossing the First Threshold in The Matrix :

Neo is offered a stark choice: take the blue pill and return to his ordinary life none the wiser, or take the red pill and “see how deep the rabbit hole goes.” Neo takes the red pill and is extracted from the Matrix, entering the real world .

#6: Tests, Allies, and Enemies

Now we are getting into the meat of the adventure. The hero steps into the special world and must learn the new rules of an unfamiliar setting while navigating trials, tribulations, and tests of will. New characters are often introduced here, and the hero must navigate their relationships with them. Will they be friend, foe, or something in between?

Broadly speaking, this is a time of experimentation and growth. It is also one of the longest stages of the journey, as the hero learns the lay of the land and defines their relationship to other characters.

Wondering how to create captivating characters? Read our guide , which explains how to shape characters that readers will love—or hate.

Tests, Allies, and Enemies in The Matrix :

Neo is introduced to the vagabond crew of the Nebuchadnezzar . Morpheus informs Neo that he is The One , a savior destined to liberate humanity. He learns jiu jitsu and other useful skills.

#7: Approach to the Inmost Cave

Time to get a little metaphorical. The inmost cave isn’t a physical cave, but rather a place of great danger—indeed, the most dangerous place in the special world . It could be a villain’s lair, an impending battle, or even a mental barrier. No spelunking required.

Broadly speaking, the approach is marked by a setback in the quest. It becomes a lesson in persistence, where the hero must reckon with failure, change their mindset, or try new ideas.

Note that the hero hasn’t entered the cave just yet. This stage is about the approach itself, which the hero must navigate to get closer to their ultimate goal. The stakes are rising, and failure is no longer an option.

Approach to the Inmost Cave in The Matrix :

Neo pays a visit to The Oracle. She challenges Neo to “know thyself”—does he believe, deep down, that he is The One ? Or does he fear that he is “just another guy”? She warns him that the fate of humanity hangs in the balance.

#8: The Ordeal

The ordeal marks the hero’s greatest test thus far. This is a dark time for them: indeed, Campbell refers to it as the “belly of the whale.” The hero experiences a major hurdle or obstacle, which causes them to hit rock bottom.

This is a pivotal moment in the story, the main event of the second act. It is time for the hero to come face to face with their greatest fear. It will take all their skills to survive this life-or-death crisis. Should they succeed, they will emerge from the ordeal transformed.

Keep in mind: the story isn’t over yet! Rather, the ordeal is the moment when the protagonist overcomes their weaknesses and truly steps into the title of hero .

The Ordeal in The Matrix :

When Cipher betrays the crew to the agents, Morpheus sacrifices himself to protect Neo. In turn, Neo makes his own choice: to risk his life in a daring rescue attempt.

#9: Reward (Seizing the Sword)

The ordeal was a major level-up moment for the hero. Now that it's been overcome, the hero can reap the reward of success. This reward could be an object, a skill, or knowledge—whatever it is that the hero has been struggling toward. At last, the sword is within their grasp.

From this moment on, the hero is a changed person. They are now equipped for the final conflict, even if they don’t fully realize it yet.

Reward (Seizing the Sword) in The Matrix :

Neo’s reward is helpfully narrated by Morpheus during the rescue effort: “He is beginning to believe.” Neo has gained confidence that he can fight the machines, and he won’t back down from his destiny.

#10: The Road Back

We’re now at the beginning of act three, the return . With the reward in hand, it’s time to exit the inmost cave and head home. But the story isn’t over yet.

In this stage, the hero reckons with the consequences of act two. The ordeal was a success, but things have changed now. Perhaps the dragon, robbed of his treasure, sets off for revenge. Perhaps there are more enemies to fight. Whatever the obstacle, the hero must face them before their journey is complete.

The Road Back in The Matrix :

The rescue of Morpheus has enraged Agent Smith, who intercepts Neo before he can return to the Nebuchadnezzar . The two foes battle in a subway station, where Neo’s skills are pushed to their limit.

#11: Resurrection

Now comes the true climax of the story. This is the hero’s final test, when everything is at stake: the battle for the soul of Gotham, the final chance for evil to triumph. The hero is also at the peak of their powers. A happy ending is within sight, should they succeed.

Vogler calls the resurrection stage the hero’s “final exam.” They must draw on everything they have learned and prove again that they have really internalized the lessons of the ordeal . Near-death escapes are not uncommon here, or even literal deaths and resurrections.

Resurrection in The Matrix :

Despite fighting valiantly, Neo is defeated by Agent Smith and killed. But with Trinity’s help, he is resurrected, activating his full powers as The One . Isn’t it wonderful how literal The Matrix can be?

#12: Return with the Elixir

Hooray! Evil has been defeated and the hero is transformed. It’s time for the protagonist to return home in triumph, and share their hard-won prize with the ordinary world . This prize is the elixir —the object, skill, or insight that was the hero’s true reward for their journey and transformation.

Return with the Elixir in The Matrix :

Neo has defeated the agents and embraced his destiny. He returns to the simulated world of the Matrix, this time armed with god-like powers and a resolve to open humanity’s eyes to the truth.

If you’re writing your own adventure, you may be wondering: should I follow the Hero’s Journey structure?

The good news is, it’s totally up to you. Joseph Campbell conceived of the monomyth as a way to understand universal story structure, but there are many ways to outline a novel. Feel free to play around within its confines, adapt it across different media, and disrupt reader expectations. It’s like Morpheus says: “Some of these rules can be bent. Others can be broken.”

Think of the Hero’s Journey as a tool. If you’re not sure where your story should go next, it can help to refer back to the basics. From there, you’re free to choose your own adventure.

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Exploring the 12 Stages of the Hero’s Journey Part 1: The Ordinary World

We dive into this archetypal story concept according to Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey and Christopher Vogler's interpreted twelve stages of that journey within his book, The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers.

Welcome to the inaugural installment of our 12-part series ScreenCraft's Exploring the 12 Stages of the Hero's Journey , where we go into depth about each of the twelve stages and how your screenplays could benefit from them.

Joseph Campbell's 17-stage Monomyth was conceptualized over the course of Campbell's own text, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, and then later in the 1980s through two documentaries, one of which introduced the term The Hero's Journey .

The first documentary, 1987's The Hero's Journey: The World of Joseph Campbell, was released with an accompanying book entitled The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work.

The second documentary was released in 1988 and consisted of Bill Moyers' series of interviews with Campbell, accompanied by the companion book The Power of Myth .

Christopher Vogler was a Hollywood development executive and screenwriter working for Disney when he took his passion for Joseph Campbell's story monolith and developed it into a seven-page company memo for the company's development department and incoming screenwriters.

The memo, entitled A Practical Guide to The Hero with a Thousand Faces , was later developed by Vogler into The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers and Screenwriters in 1992. He then elaborated on those concepts for the book The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers .

Christopher Vogler's approach to Campbell's structure broke the mythical story structure into twelve stages. We define the stages in our own simplified interpretations:

The first stage — The Ordinary World — happens to be one of the most essential elements of any story, even ones that don't follow the twelve-stage structure to a tee.

Here we offer three reasons why writers need to show protagonists in their Ordinary World.

1. To Set Up How the Conflict Disrupts the Character's Ordinary Life

When you open the story within the character's Ordinary World, you're establishing their comfort zome — a world that they're complacent with or used to living.

This doesn't mean that they're happy and comfortable in that world — sometimes they are far from that — but we're seeing them in their element at the time the story opens.

When the conflict occurs — whether it's a problem to deal with or Campbell's own Call to Adventure — the protagonist's world is shattered or disrupted at the very least.

And the only way we truly notice this is by witnessing them in their Ordinary World first, even if it's for just a brief window of time within the story.

Luke Skywalker living on a moisture farm.

Sarah Connor working as a waitress.

Neo living life as Thomas Anderson — a computer programmer and hacker — within the Matrix.

The Ghostbusters doing paranormal research at Columbia University.

Frodo living a quiet life in The Shire.

These are all examples of the Ordinary World. When these protagonists are forced to face conflict within — or outside of — that Ordinary World, they enter the Special World that the rest of the film takes place within. A world that is new or challenging to the protagonist.

And it even works with drama as well.

A film like The Big Chill offers a glimpse of the Ordinary World of each of its main characters in the form of the death of their college friend and where they are in life when they are informed — and later asked to attend his funeral.

2. To Foreshadow the Story to Come

The Ordinary World at the beginning of a story offers the writer a chance to foreshadow events to come, plant plot and character devices that pay off later within the story, and even allows for the opportunity to present themes and metaphors that will be explored within the narrative.

It's the perfect setup place for writers to prepare the reader or audience for the ride to come.

Luke Skywalker is always looking to the stars, to the distant suns, and to the adventure that lies beyond his Ordinary World.

Sarah Connor is a far cry from the savior that she is later told she'll be.

Neo, as Thomas Anderson, has always felt that there's something off about the world — and he's heard online rumblings about the concept of something called The Matrix.

The Ghostbusters are living a dull and uncelebrated career life. Peter is the screwup who has no real interest in what they are studying, beyond using university funds for projects that allow him to meet cute college girls. Ray is obsessed with the paranormal. He believes in it all. And he quickly proves that he's an authority on the subject. Egon takes a purely scientific approach to everything. To him, all of life is an experiment — especially the paranormal. This all plays within the context of the story to come.

Frodo has heard his Uncle Biblo's stories. He's interested in the book his uncle is writing. Little does he know that he's the one who will finish that book for him in the end.

You use the Ordinary World portion of the opening of your story to introduce themes, metaphors, plants, and foreshadowing to engage the reader or audience once the conflict hits the protagonist hard.

3. To Create Catharsis and Empathy

Today’s cinematic interpretation of catharsis can be translated as the feeling we feel after the resolution of the story and the protagonist’s overall journey .

If a story opens up in the middle of a conflict, and we're introduced to the protagonist in the midst of dealing with that conflict, we have no context of who they are or where they came from. So when the conflict is resolved, the reader or audience doesn't leave the story feeling that there's been a cathartic resolution. We've only witnessed a character dealing with a conflict. It may be entertaining to watch them do that in some genres, but the best stories are those that offer a truly cathartic experience.

And part of that is feeling empathy for the protagonist.

Showing them in their Ordinary World allows the reader or audience to do one of the following:

You can make people sympathize with your characters. People see their situation, and they feel compassion, sorrow, or pity for the protagonist without necessarily identifying with the situation they are in.

Writers can also use the Ordinary World to offer ways that the average reader or audience member can identify with their character. Maybe they hate their job. Maybe they like their job, but feel that something is missing in life. People identify with those things.

Whether it's outright sympathy for the protagonist or the preferred deeper level of empathy, those elements set up the catharsis that you want readers and audiences to feel when the story is concluded.

Read ScreenCraft's The Single Most Important Element of a Successful Screenplay !

Showing your protagonist within their Ordinary World at the beginning of your story offers you the ability to showcase how much the core conflict they face rocks their world. And it allows you to foreshadow and create the necessary elements of empathy and catharsis that your story needs.

And remember...

"The Hero's Journey is a skeleton framework that should be fleshed out with the details of and surprises of the individual story. The structure should not call attention to itself, nor should it be followed too precisely. The order of the stages is only one of many possible variations. The stages can be deleted, added to, and drastically shuffled without losing any of their power." — Christopher Vogler, The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers

Ken Miyamoto has worked in the film industry for nearly two decades, most notably as a studio liaison for Sony Studios and then as a script reader and story analyst for Sony Pictures.

He has many studio meetings under his belt as a produced screenwriter, meeting with the likes of Sony, Dreamworks, Universal, Disney, Warner Brothers, as well as many production and management companies. He has had a previous development deal with Lionsgate, as well as multiple writing assignments, including the produced miniseries Blackout , starring Anne Heche, Sean Patrick Flanery, Billy Zane, James Brolin, Haylie Duff, Brian Bloom, Eric La Salle, and Bruce Boxleitner. Follow Ken on Twitter @KenMovies

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Home / Book Writing / The Hero’s Journey: The 12 Steps of Mythic Structure

The Hero’s Journey: The 12 Steps of Mythic Structure

The Hero’s Journey plot structure is a common template for writing a compelling story. It also has a built-in character arc for the hero or heroine. Whether you write detailed outlines before getting into any prose, or you think writing is best done without an outline, the Hero’s Journey can help. Many writers fall somewhere in between, keeping in mind the broad strokes of a plot structure like the Hero’s Journey as they write.

Now, before you roll up your sleeves and get started with plotting your brand new idea, make sure it's viable to become a bestseller. Take just a few minutes to use book idea validation – without it, your book risks obscurity after it's published. If you have already written your book with a structure like the Hero's Journey and are looking to increase your sales, read how to make your book #1 on Amazon so you don't miss out on new readers.

One thing’s for sure: learning the twelve steps of the Hero’s Journey can only help your writing. This is why I recommend Plottr as an excellent tool to strengthen your writing. They have the Hero’s Journey and other well-known story archetypes to choose from so you can find one that best fits your particular story.

More on Plottr later. For now, let’s go on an adventure through the Hero’s Journey!

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Campbell’s name for it was the monomyth.

Other scholars and storytellers have made tweaks to Campbell’s original monomyth structure, which has seventeen steps instead of the twelve I’ll be discussing today. The version of the Hero’s Journey widely used by screenwriters, authors, and playwrights today was popularized by screenwriter and producer Christopher Vogler .

You can apply this story structure to mythology, films, books, and even short stories.

There are three overall stages to the Hero’s Journey, each with individual story beats. These are 1) Departure, 2) Initiation, and 3) Return.

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The Twelve Stages of the Hero’s Journey

Each of the twelve steps has its own story beats that happen. As we finish each stage, we’ll reflect on each story beat with an example from a famous movie.

The first step in the Hero’s Journey is your chance to familiarize the reader with the known world in which your story happens. This means giving the reader what they need to know to make sense of the world (otherwise known as exposition ). If your story takes place in a reality much like our own, you won’t have a lot to do. But if magic and mythical beasts are normal, or it’s far into the future and interstellar travel is possible, you’ll have a bit more work to do here. If you're having trouble picking which type of world is best for your book, research popular keywords in your genre to reveal settings that readers find interesting.

While you introduce the world, you’ll want to introduce the main character(s) as well. And in doing so, it’s important to give the reader a reason to like him, her, or them . While the protagonist is in their normal, ordinary world, they should want something more or different. And this want or need should dovetail nicely with the primary conflict of the story.

Tip: This first step should take the first 10-12% of the story.

Step two, the call to adventure, is also called the inciting incident. This is something disruptive that pulls the hero out of their ordinary world and toward a journey that will ultimately change their life . . . if they survive.

This call propels the rest of the story forward , so it should be exciting enough for the reader to want to continue with the story. This will change from genre to genre, so it’s important to know the tropes of whatever genre you’re writing in. On Amazon, there are thousands of genre categories to choose from, so research potential category options to better understand your market.

Tip: The Call To Adventure should happen around the 12% mark.

Not every protagonist will refuse the call. Some may be ready to go. But if you pay attention to some of your favorite stories, you’ll likely see that most heroes ‌resist initially until ‌they have no choice.

Something should happen to make a refusing hero realize that they have no choice but to take on the challenge presented to them. For every refusal, some incident or information should come out that will raise the stakes and make the hero realize they must face the challenge . The hero ventures forth at the end of this section.

Tip: The refusal section starts around the 15% mark of the story.

At this point in the story, the protagonist has responded to the call to adventure. But their initial unease is still there. They don’t yet have the skills, items, or knowledge to succeed against such a challenge. This is where the mentor comes in.

The mentor helps the protagonist gain the confidence needed to continue on the journey. This is usually done in a multifaceted manner, with both physical and mental help. Much of the time, the mentor provides tough love, kicking the protagonist’s butt into action, so to speak. While mentors are often people, they can also take the form of information, like a map, a magic scepter, or any other number of things that help the hero along.

Tip: Have this section start around the 20% mark of the story.

Step five of the Hero’s Journey is often called the point of no return. While the protagonist has learned from the mentor and gained confidence, this story beat forces them to engage fully with the challenge. Usually, this dramatic turning point is orchestrated by the antagonist, giving both the reader and the protagonist an idea of how powerful the villain really is.

One common tactic is to have the mentor killed in this section. Whatever you choose to do, make it pivotal and have it reinforce the central theme and conflict of the story . This is also the end of the Departure section, otherwise known as the first act.

Tip: Crossing the Threshold usually starts around the 25% mark.

This section marks the beginning of the second act. Building on everything that has come before, the protagonist should be challenged, putting their new abilities and knowledge to the test. It will become clear that the hero still needs help to resolve the main conflict of the story. This is where allies come into play. By teaming up with allies, the hero should continue to grow, playing off the other characters and working to overcome the tests or setbacks in the Special World.

Enemies are those that put the tests in their place, working actively against the hero and allies. The reader should learn to care about the allies, which ‌means making them multifaceted characters. By the time this section is done, not all allies will have made it. Some may have even betrayed the hero. Likewise, enemies can also transform in this section, turning into allies.

Tip: This section occurs around the 30% mark.

The approach to the inmost cave section gives the characters (and reader) a chance to reflect on the challenges of the previous section. Remember that the stakes and tension need to continue rising, so the previous section should have been the hardest challenge yet. The hero and allies are beaten and bruised — maybe one or more has died along the way — but the protagonist is still alive. The journey continues.

The group is closer to the goal — and to the place or time of ultimate danger. They’re regrouping and gathering their wits as they prepare to face the antagonist or some of the villain’s formidable forces.

Tip: This section happens around the 40% mark.

The ordeal is the biggest test yet and a transformative event that affects how the hero goes forward on their journey. This confrontation has the highest stakes so far, and it’s part of the central conflict. It brings the hero to their darkest point yet, and results in a metamorphosis of sorts that allows them to push through to the other side.

Campbell spoke of the ordeal in terms of death and rebirth for the protagonist. The hero uses all they have learned up to this point to push through the ordeal. A character close to the hero is often killed in this section, whether it be the mentor, a close ally, or a loved one. However, it’s not always a death. It could involve facing fears, going up against the biggest foe, or breaking through some seemingly insurmountable mental barrier. Whatever form the ordeal takes, the hero is broken down and comes out the other side stronger than before .

Tip: The Ordeal takes place from around the 50% mark.

Also called seizing the sword, this is the section in which the hero gets whatever they were searching for during the story. They’ve made it through the ordeal, and this is the reward. It can be an object, clarity, knowledge, or new skills/abilities. Whatever the reward is, it needs to be important in defeating the antagonist at the coming climax .

After the action and emotion of the ordeal, this section is a place for the reader and characters to regroup and catch their breath again. It can be a good place for a celebration of sorts, something to show for the sacrifices made so far. The hero may even reflect on all it took to get here.

Tip: The Reward section takes place around the 70% mark of the story.

Reward firmly in hand, the hero starts the journey back to the ordinary world. But every action has consequences, and those of claiming the reward block the hero’s road back. It becomes clear that things aren’t so simple, and the hero’s tribulations aren’t yet over.

The unforeseen consequences of claiming the reward make the hero realize they’re in more danger than ever before, and they must face the antagonist head-on before returning to the ordinary world. The hero prepares for the ultimate battle — the climax.

Tip: This section happens around the 75% mark.

This is the climax of the story — the ultimate showdown between hero and villain . The tension and the stakes are higher than they’ve been throughout the story. If the hero fails, the world as they know it will be forever changed for the worst. The hero uses all they have learned on the journey to defeat the antagonist.

The hero comes out of the confrontation changed, transformed into a true hero. This should be a dramatic transformation, completing the resurrection started earlier in the story.

Tip: This section happens around the 85% mark .

The last section of the story details the hero’s return from the special world to the ordinary world. Sometimes called the magic flight, the hero now has changed for the better. Show what new skills, items, knowledge, or understanding of the world the hero brings with them (the elixir). This “elixir” can often be used to help those the hero left behind in the ordinary world.

In most stories, the hero will return to celebration. They’ve risked it all, saved lives, and learned important lessons. The people in the ordinary world are happy to have them back. The hero may decide to settle back into this world to use their newfound abilities. Or they may find they’ve outgrown it and have a taste for adventure.

Tip: This section happens around the 95% mark and finishes out the story!

Examples of the Hero’s Journey from Famous Works

In George Lucas's Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope , we can see the Hero's Journey in action. We also see it in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Hunger Games . Let’s take a look now.

Let's say you want to think big. Like a 12 book series big. One little fun way that I use the Hero's Journey is to use each of the 12 steps to represent an entire book as a whole. You could also condense this into 6 books, 3 books, etc.

For example, the original Star Wars trilogy does a fantastic job of fitting the hero's journey not only into the first movie (A New Hope) but also into the trilogy as a whole. The first movie could easily represent the first four steps of the hero's journey from a macro-perspective (as well as covering all 12 within its self-contained plot), with The Empire Strikes Back covering steps 5-8, and Return of the Jedi covering steps 9-12.

Seriously though, the OG Star Wars trilogy is a masterclass in plotting, you guys.

In other words, the Hero's Journey doesn't have to be used just for a single novel, it can be a great way to progress your character from a more zoomed out perspective through an entire series.

Now that you know what to look for, think about some of your favorite stories. See if you can see the beats of the Hero's Journey in them. From Harry Potter and Toy Story to the Lion King and The Hunger Games , you'll find evidence of this story structure.

Its uses aren't just for adventure stories, though. With a little tweaking, a sweet romance story could also follow this template pretty closely. The point of the Hero’s Journey plot template isn’t to lock you into a formula that you can’t deviate from. Instead, it’s a tool that can guide you along. When you know the tropes of your genre, you can marry them with the major beats of the Hero’s Journey to come up with a novel readers will love . Remember, however, that writing an incredible novel is only part of the battle to find loyal readers- it's also important to have a strong marketing strategy so people can actually discover your book, as outlined in my free e-book on how to become an Amazon bestseller.

To make story beats easier, I recommend giving Plottr a try. It’s a great storytelling tool for writers that can help keep you on track using structures like the Hero’s Journey, Dan Harmon’s Story Circle , the Three Act Structure , and more.

Dave Chesson

When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.

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The Hero’s Journey (Explained in 4 Minutes)

What is the hero’s journey? How does this universal story template apply to your life? And how can you use it to tell great stories, be it as a creative or at the dinner table?

Hi! My name is Nik . I’m a self-taught writer from Germany with nine years of experience. I’ve used the hero’s journey and various other storytelling frameworks in many of my essays. Today, I’ll teach you everything you need to know about this concept that’s both important for creativity and useful in life — and I’ll try to do it in just about 4 minutes!

Table of Contents

What Is “The Hero’s Journey?”

Who came up with this idea, what does the hero’s journey look like in practice, how can the hero’s journey help me be the hero of my own life, where can you learn more about the hero’s journey.

The hero’s journey is a circular sequence of events underlying almost any story or adventure. It describes the path a protagonist must take after they set out to accomplish some goal.

The original term for the hero’s journey was “the monomyth.” Could a singular (mono) explanation lie behind any story (myth), from Christianity to Buddhism to the Gilgamesh epic to Harry Potter ? The man behind the idea, Joseph Campbell, thought so. He broke that explanation down into 3 acts and 17 steps . In his own words:

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

The 3 acts are:

The 17 stages are:

Here’s a graphic from the excellent documentary Finding Joe that shows most of the original stages:

The Hero's Journey Graphic (Circle) With Joseph Campbell's Original 17 Stages

The earliest academic studies of heroes and myths go back to the late 19th century, but the man who really put this idea on the map was Joseph Campbell . Campbell was a writer and professor, and he compared myths across many different cultures, often in the context of religion.

In 1949, Campbell published his findings, including his original 3-act, 17-part structure in a book called The Hero With a Thousand Faces . I don’t know how popular the book was upon release, but after George Lucas admitted to being inspired by Campbell’s work when making Star Wars (1977), it took off. It has now sold well over a million copies.

Campbell taught literature at the Sarah Lawrence College in New York for 38 years. He also published several other books about the monomyth and spread his ideas through interviews, documentaries, and other media. He died in 1987 at 83 years old, but with the hero’s journey, he left a profound legacy.

Today, more than 70 years after its first appearance, the hero’s journey comes in countless variations and interpretations. When modern creatives rely on the concept to write books and make movies, they most commonly use a condensed 12-step version. Christopher Vogler, a Hollywood screenwriter working at Disney, first shared it in a company memo in 1985 . Here it is:

Here’s a picture from a TED-Ed video with another, slightly different but similar 12-step version:

The Hero's Journey Graphic (Circle) With the Modern 12 Stages

To illustrate that the template applies to almost any story, people most commonly use movies, since they come with visuals. However, it holds true for books, poems, music videos, and talks as well — at least the good ones. Here’s a breakdown for the first Iron Man movie :

Here are some more hero’s journey analyses of popular stories:

If you’re a writer, filmmaker, or creative of any kind, the relevance of the hero’s journey is obvious. If you want to tell compelling stories that move people, you should know this structure. Even if you intend to deviate from it, it’s a useful outline to come back to.

But what if you’re not trying to write the next Harry Potter ? Does the hero’s journey have any value in our everyday lives? It absolutely does, if you ask me.

When you consider your life as a story that follows the hero’s journey, you can make sense of and persevere in any situation, no matter how challenging. You are the hero, and time and again, you pass through the monomyth cycle, fighting metaphorical dragons (a horrible boss, perhaps?), learning from mentors (your grandpa’s fishing lessons, maybe?), and sharing your gains with friends and family (like treating your loved ones to a vacation after a big promotion).

Changing jobs is a hero’s journey. Building a company is a hero’s journey. So are finding love, getting married, and having children. Shipping a project on a deadline is a hero’s journey, and so is hunting the perfect steak at the grocery store.

As humans, we go on adventures large and small on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis. Remembering the hero’s journey will give you an instruction manual you can turn to whenever you feel stuck. “Am I refusing the call? Scared to enter the cave? Do I need an ally?”

When you’re on the hero’s journey, you’re never truly alone — and that makes it one of the most valuable concepts I know.

The single-best way to dive deeper into the hero’s journey is to read The Hero With a Thousand Faces .* Here’s a quick overview of the book and some other resources. You can read our free summary or buy a copy with our affiliate link. That way, we’ll get a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you!

The Hero's Journey Book Cover (The Hero With a Thousand Faces)

Favorite Quote

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” — Joseph Campbell

The Book in One Sentence

The Hero With a Thousand Faces * analyzes humankind from a mythological and symbolistic point of view to prove that all humans have similar core concepts written in them, such as the monomyth, which is a way of narrating stories that people from all over the world use to connect with one another.

Key Takeaways

If you want to learn more, you can read our free, four-minute summary or get a copy for yourself:

That’s it! I hope you’ll find this concept useful, and if you have any questions, just tweet @fourminutebooks! Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you around! 👋🏻

PS : Here are some other great resources to learn more about the hero’s journey:

PPS : For the video version of our summary of The Hero With a Thousand Faces , see below.

Last Updated on June 15, 2023

*Four Minute Books participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising commissions by linking to Amazon. We also participate in other affiliate programs, such as Blinkist, MindValley, Audible, Audiobooks, Reading.FM, and others. Our referral links allow us to earn commissions (at no extra cost to you) and keep the site running. Thank you for your support.

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The Hero's Journey: 12 Steps to a Classic Story Structure

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About Dario Villirilli

Editor-in-Chief of the Reedsy blog, Dario is a graduate of Mälardalen University. As a freelance writer, he has written for many esteemed outlets aimed at writers. A traveler at heart, he can be found roaming the world and working from his laptop.

The Hero's Journey is a timeless story structure which follows a protagonist on an unforeseen quest, where they face challenges, gain insights, and return home transformed. From Theseus and the Minotaur to The Lion King , so many narratives follow this pattern that it’s become ingrained into our cultural DNA.

In this post, we'll show you how to make this classic plot structure work for you — and if you’re pressed for time, download our cheat sheet below for everything you need to know.

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Hero's Journey Template

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What is the Hero’s Journey?

The Hero's Journey, also known as the monomyth, is a story structure where a hero goes on a quest or adventure to achieve a goal, and has to overcome obstacles and fears, before ultimately returning home transformed.

This narrative arc has been present in various forms across cultures for centuries, if not longer, but gained popularity through Joseph Campbell's mythology book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces . While Campbell identified 17 story beats in his monomyth definition, this post will concentrate on a 12-step framework popularized in 2007 by screenwriter Christopher Vogler in his book The Writer’s Journey .

The 12 Steps of the Hero’s Journey

The Hero's Journey is a model for both plot points and character arc development: as the Hero traverses the world, they'll undergo inner and outer transformation at each stage of the journey. The 12 steps of the hero's journey are:

Believe it or not, this story structure also applies across mediums and genres. Let's dive into it!

1. Ordinary World

In which we meet our Hero.

The journey has yet to start. Before our Hero discovers a strange new world, we must first understand the status quo: their ordinary, mundane reality.

It’s up to this opening leg to set the stage, introducing the Hero to readers. Importantly, it lets readers identify with the Hero as a “normal” person in a “normal” setting, before the journey begins.

2. Call to Adventure

In which an adventure starts.

The call to adventure is all about booting the Hero out of their comfort zone. In this stage, they are generally confronted with a problem or challenge they can't ignore. This catalyst can take many forms, as Campbell points out in Hero with a Thousand Faces . The Hero can, for instance:

The stakes of the adventure and the Hero's goals become clear. The only question: will he rise to the challenge?

3. Refusal of the Call

In which the Hero digs in their feet.

Great, so the Hero’s received their summons. Now they’re all set to be whisked off to defeat evil, right?

Not so fast. The Hero might first refuse the call to action. It’s risky and there are perils — like spiders, trolls, or perhaps a creepy uncle waiting back at Pride Rock . It’s enough to give anyone pause.

In Star Wars , for instance, Luke Skywalker initially refuses to join Obi-Wan on his mission to rescue the princess. It’s only when he discovers that his aunt and uncle have been killed by stormtroopers that he changes his mind.

4. Meeting the Mentor

In which the Hero acquires a personal trainer.

The Hero's decided to go on the adventure — but they’re not ready to spread their wings yet. They're much too inexperienced at this point and we don't want them to do a fabulous belly-flop off the cliff.

Enter the mentor: someone who helps the Hero, so that they don't make a total fool of themselves (or get themselves killed). The mentor provides practical training, profound wisdom, a kick up the posterior, or something abstract like grit and self-confidence.

Harry holding the Marauder's Map with the twins

Wise old wizards seem to like being mentors. But mentors take many forms, from witches to hermits and suburban karate instructors. They might literally give weapons to prepare for the trials ahead, like Q in the James Bond series. Or perhaps the mentor is an object, such as a map. In all cases, they prepare the Hero for the next step.

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5. Crossing the First Threshold

In which the Hero enters the other world in earnest.

Now the Hero is ready — and committed — to the journey. This marks the end of the Departure stage and is when the adventure really kicks into the next gear. As Vogler writes: “This is the moment that the balloon goes up, the ship sails, the romance begins, the wagon gets rolling.”

From this point on, there’s no turning back.

Like our Hero, you should think of this stage as a checkpoint for your story. Pause and re-assess your bearings before you continue into unfamiliar territory. Have you:

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A story is only as strong as its characters. Fill this out to develop yours.

6. Tests, Allies, Enemies

In which the Hero faces new challenges and gets a squad.

When we step into the Special World, we notice a definite shift. The Hero might be discombobulated by this unfamiliar reality and its new rules. This is generally one of the longest stages in the story , as our protagonist gets to grips with this new world.

This makes a prime hunting ground for the series of tests to pass! Luckily, there are many ways for the Hero to get into trouble:

The shark scares Marlin and Dory in Finding Nemo

This stage often expands the cast of characters. Once the protagonist is in the Special World, he will meet allies and enemies — or foes that turn out to be friends and vice versa. He will learn a new set of rules from them. Saloons and seedy bars are popular places for these transactions, as Vogler points out (so long as the Hero survives them).

7. Approach to the Inmost Cave

In which the Hero gets closer to his goal.

This isn’t a physical cave. Instead, the “inmost cave” refers to the most dangerous spot in the other realm — whether that’s the villain’s chambers, the lair of the fearsome dragon, or the Death Star. Almost always, it is where the ultimate goal of the quest is located.

Note that the protagonist hasn’t entered the Inmost Cave just yet. This stage is all about the approach to it. It covers all the prep work that's needed in order to defeat the villain.

In which the Hero faces his biggest test of all thus far.

Of all the tests the Hero has faced, none have made them hit rock bottom — until now. Vogler describes this phase as a “black moment.” Campbell refers to it as the “belly of the whale.” Both indicate some grim news for the Hero.

The protagonist must now confront their greatest fear. If they survive it, they will emerge transformed. This is a critical moment in the story, as Vogler explains that it will “inform every decision that the Hero makes from this point forward.”

The Ordeal is sometimes not the climax of the story. There’s more to come. But you can think of it as the main event of the second act — the one in which the Hero actually earns the title of “Hero.”

9. Reward (Seizing the Sword)

In which the Hero sees light at the end of the tunnel.

Our Hero’s been through a lot. However, the fruits of their labor are now at hand — if they can just reach out and grab them! The “reward” is the object or knowledge the Hero has fought throughout the entire journey to hold.

Once the protagonist has it in their possession, it generally has greater ramifications for the story. Vogler offers a few examples of it in action:

10. The Road Back

In which the light at the end of the tunnel might be a little further than the Hero thought.

The story's not over just yet, as this phase marks the beginning of Act Three. Now that he's seized the reward, the Hero tries to return to the Ordinary World, but more dangers (inconveniently) arise on the road back from the Inmost Cave.

More precisely, the Hero must deal with the consequences and aftermath of the previous act: the dragon, enraged by the Hero who’s just stolen a treasure from under his nose, starts the hunt. Or perhaps the opposing army gathers to pursue the Hero across a crowded battlefield. All further obstacles for the Hero, who must face them down before they can return home.

11. Resurrection

In which the last test is met.

Here is the true climax of the story. Everything that happened prior to this stage culminates in a crowning test for the Hero, as the Dark Side gets one last chance to triumph over the Hero.

Vogler refers to this as a “final exam” for the Hero — they must be “tested once more to see if they have really learned the lessons of the Ordeal.” It’s in this Final Battle that the protagonist goes through one more “resurrection.” As a result, this is where you’ll get most of your miraculous near-death escapes, à la James Bond's dashing deliverances. If the Hero survives, they can start looking forward to a sweet ending.

12. Return with the Elixir

In which our Hero has a triumphant homecoming.

Finally, the Hero gets to return home. However, they go back a different person than when they started out: they’ve grown and matured as a result of the journey they’ve taken.

But we’ve got to see them bring home the bacon, right? That’s why the protagonist must return with the “Elixir,” or the prize won during the journey, whether that’s an object or knowledge and insight gained.

Of course, it’s possible for a story to end on an Elixir-less note — but then the Hero would be doomed to repeat the entire adventure.

Examples of The Hero’s Journey in Action

To better understand this story template beyond the typical sword-and-sorcery genre, let's analyze three examples, from both screenplay and literature, and examine how they implement each of the twelve steps.

The 1976 film Rocky is acclaimed as one of the most iconic sports films because of Stallone’s performance and the heroic journey his character embarks on.

Moving outside of the ring, let’s see how this story structure holds on a completely different planet and with a character in complete isolation.

The Martian

In Andy Weir’s bestselling novel (better known for its big screen adaptation) we follow astronaut Mark Watney as he endures the challenges of surviving on Mars and working out a way to get back home.

Coming back to Earth, let’s now examine a heroine’s journey through the wilderness of the Pacific Crest Trail and her… humanity.

The memoir Wild narrates the three-month-long hiking adventure of Cheryl Strayed across the Pacific coast, as she grapples with her turbulent past and rediscovers her inner strength.

There are countless other stories that could align with this template, but it's not always the perfect fit. So, let's look into when authors should consider it or not.

When should writers use The Hero’s Journey?

The Hero’s Journey is just one way to outline a novel and dissect a plot. For more longstanding theories on the topic, you can go here to read about the ever-popular Three-Act Structure, here to discover Dan Harmon's Story Circle, and here to learn about three more prevalent structures.

So when is it best to use the Hero’s Journey? There are a couple of circumstances which might make this a good choice.

When you need more specific story guidance than simple structures can offer

Simply put, the Hero’s Journey structure is far more detailed and closely defined than other story structure theories. If you want a fairly specific framework for your work than a thee-act structure, the Hero’s Journey can be a great place to start.

Of course, rules are made to be broken . There’s plenty of room to play within the confines of the Hero’s Journey, despite it appearing fairly prescriptive at first glance. Do you want to experiment with an abbreviated “Resurrection” stage, as J.K. Rowling did in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone? Are you more interested in exploring the journey of an anti-hero? It’s all possible.

Once you understand the basics of this universal story structure, you can use and bend it in ways that disrupt reader expectations.

Need more help developing your book? Try this template on for size:

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When your focus is on a single protagonist

No matter how sprawling or epic the world you’re writing is, if your story is, at its core, focused on a single character’s journey, then this is a good story structure for you. It’s kind of in the name! If you’re dealing with an entire ensemble, the Hero’s Journey may not give you the scope to explore all of your characters’ plots and subplot — a broader three-act structure may give you more freedom to weave a greater number story threads.

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Whether you're a reader or writer, we hope our guide has helped you understand this universal story arc. Want to know more about story structure? We explain 6 more in our guide — read on!

6 responses

PJ Reece says:

25/07/2018 – 19:41

Nice vid, good intro to story structure. Typically, though, the 'hero's journey' misses the all-important point of the Act II crisis. There, where the hero faces his/her/its existential crisis, they must DIE. The old character is largely destroyed -- which is the absolute pre-condition to 'waking up' to what must be done. It's not more clever thinking; it's not thinking at all. Its SEEING. So many writing texts miss this point. It's tantamount to a religions experience, and nobody grows up without it. STORY STRUCTURE TO DIE FOR examines this dramatic necessity.

↪️ C.T. Cheek replied:

13/11/2019 – 21:01

Okay, but wouldn't the Act II crisis find itself in the Ordeal? The Hero is tested and arguably looses his/her/its past-self for the new one. Typically, the Hero is not fully "reborn" until the Resurrection, in which they defeat the hypothetical dragon and overcome the conflict of the story. It's kind of this process of rebirth beginning in the earlier sections of the Hero's Journey and ending in the Resurrection and affirmed in the Return with the Elixir.

Lexi Mize says:

25/07/2018 – 22:33

Great article. Odd how one can take nearly every story and somewhat plug it into such a pattern.

Bailey Koch says:

11/06/2019 – 02:16

This was totally lit fam!!!!

↪️ Bailey Koch replied:

Great article, thanks! :) But Vogler didn't expand Campbell's theory. Campbell had seventeen stages, not twelve.

Comments are currently closed.

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Story Writing Guides

12 Hero’s Journey Stages Explained (+ Free Templates)

From zero to hero, the hero’s journey is a popular character development arc used in many stories. In today’s post, we will explain the 12 hero’s journey stages, along with the simple example of Cinderella.

The Hero’s Journey was originally formulated by American writer Joseph Campbell to describe the typical character arc of many classic stories, particularly in the context of mythology and folklore. The original hero’s journey contained 17 steps. Although the hero’s journey has been adapted since then for use in modern fiction, the concept is not limited to literature. It can be applied to any story, video game, film or even music that features an archetypal hero who undergoes a transformation. Common examples of the hero’s journey in popular works include Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Hunger Games and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

What is the hero's journey?

Stage 1: The Ordinary World

Stage 2: call of adventure, stage 3: refusal of the call, stage 4: meeting the mentor, stage 5: crossing the threshold, stage 6: tests, allies, enemies, stage 7: the approach, stage 8: the ordeal, stage 9: reward, stage 10: the road back, stage 11: resurrection, stage 12: return with the elixir, cinderella example, campbell’s 17-step journey, leeming’s 8-step journey, cousineau’s 8-step journey.

Free Hero's Journey Templates

What is the hero’s journey?

The hero’s journey, also known as the monomyth, is a character arc used in many stories. The idea behind it is that heroes undergo a journey that leads them to find their true selves. This is often represented in a series of stages. There are typically 12 stages to the hero’s journey. Each stage represents a change in the hero’s mindset or attitude, which is triggered by an external or internal event. These events cause the hero to overcome a challenge, reach a threshold, and then return to a normal life.

The hero’s journey is a powerful tool for understanding your characters. It can help you decide who they are, what they want, where they came from, and how they will change over time. It can be used to

In this post, we will explain each stage of the hero’s journey, using the example of Cinderella.

You might also be interested in our post on the story mountain or this guide on how to outline a book .

12 Hero’s Journey Stages

The archetypal hero’s journey contains 12 stages and was created by Christopher Vogler. These steps take your main character through an epic struggle that leads to their ultimate triumph or demise. While these steps may seem formulaic at first glance, they actually form a very flexible structure. The hero’s journey is about transformation, not perfection.

Your hero starts out in the ordinary world. He or she is just like every other person in their environment, doing things that are normal for them and experiencing the same struggles and challenges as everyone else. In the ordinary world, the hero feels stuck and confused, so he or she goes on a quest to find a way out of this predicament.

Example: Cinderella’s father passes away and she is now stuck doing chores and taking abuse from her stepsisters and stepmother.

The hero gets his or her first taste of adventure when the call comes. This could be in the form of an encounter with a stranger or someone they know who encourages them to take a leap of faith. This encounter is typically an accident, a series of coincidences that put the hero in the right place at the right time.

Example: An invite arrives inviting the family to a royal ball where the Prince will choose a wife.

Some people will refuse to leave their safe surroundings and live by their own rules. The hero has to overcome the negative influences in order to hear the call again. They also have to deal with any personal doubts that arise from thinking too much about the potential dangers involved in the quest. It is common for the hero to deny their own abilities in this stage and to lack confidence in themselves.

Example: Cinderella accepts the call by making her own dress for the ball. However, her stepmother refuses the call for her by not letting her go to the ball. And her step-sisters ruin her dress, so she can not go.

After hearing the call, the hero begins a relationship with a mentor who helps them learn about themselves and the world. In some cases, the mentor may be someone the hero already knows. The mentor is usually someone who is well-versed in the knowledge that the hero needs to acquire, but who does not judge the hero for their lack of experience.

Example: Cinderella meets her fairy godmother who equips her with everything she needs for the ball, including a dress and a carriage.

The hero leaves their old life behind and enters the unfamiliar new world. The crossing of the threshold symbolises leaving their old self behind and becoming a new person. Sometimes this can include learning a new skill or changing their physical appearance. It can also include a time of wandering, which is an essential part of the hero’s journey.

Example: Cinderella hops into the carriage and heads off to the ball. She has transformed from a servant into an elegant young lady.

As the hero goes on this journey, they will meet both allies (people who help the hero) and enemies (people who try to stop the hero). There will also be tests, where the hero is tempted to quit, turn back, or become discouraged. The hero must be persistent and resilient to overcome challenges.

Example: At the ball, Cinderella meets the prince, and even see’s her stepmother and stepsister. She dances with Prince all night long making her step-sisters extremely jealous.

The hero now reaches the destination of their journey, in some cases, this is a literal location, such as a cave or castle. It could also be metaphorical, such as the hero having an internal conflict or having to make a difficult decision. In either case, the hero has to confront their deepest fears in this stage with bravery. In some ways, this stage can mark the end of the hero’s journey because the hero must now face their darkest fears and bring them under control. If they do not do this, the hero could be defeated in the final battle and will fail the story.

Example: Cinderella is having a great time at the ball and nearly forgets about the midnight rule. As she runs away in a hurry, her glass slipper falls off outside the palace.

The hero has made it to the final challenge of their journey and now must face all odds and defeat their greatest adversary. Consider this the climax of the story. This could be in the form of a physical battle, a moral dilemma or even an emotional challenge. The hero will look to their allies or mentor for further support and guidance in this ordeal. Whatever happens in this stage could change the rest of the story, either for good or bad.

Example: Prince Charming looks all over the kingdom for the mysterious girl he met at the ball. He finally visits Cinderella’s house and tries the slippers on the step-sisters. The prince is about to leave and then he sees Cinderella in the corner cleaning.

When the hero has defeated the most powerful and dangerous of adversaries, they will receive their reward. This reward could be an object, a new relationship or even a new piece of knowledge. The reward, which typically comes as a result of the hero’s perseverance and hard work, signifies the end of their journey. Given that the hero has accomplished their goal and served their purpose, it is a time of great success and accomplishment.

Example: The prince tries the glass slipper on Cinderella. The glass slipper fits Cinderella perfectly, and they fall in love.

The journey is now complete, and the hero is now heading back home. As the hero considers their journey and reflects on the lessons they learned along the way, the road back is sometimes marked by a sense of nostalgia or even regret. As they must find their way back to the normal world and reintegrate into their former life, the hero may encounter additional difficulties or tests along the way. It is common for the hero to run into previous adversaries or challenges they believed they had overcome.

Example: Cinderella and Prince Charming head back to the Prince’s castle to get married.

The hero has one final battle to face. At this stage, the hero might have to fight to the death against a much more powerful foe. The hero might even be confronted with their own mortality or their greatest fear. This is usually when the hero’s true personality emerges. This stage is normally symbolised by the hero rising from the dark place and fighting back. This dark place could again be a physical location, such as the underground or a dark cave. It might even be a dark, mental state, such as depression. As the hero rises again, they might change physically or even experience an emotional transformation.

Example: Cinderella is reborn as a princess. She once again feels the love and happiness that she felt when she was a little girl living with her father.

At the end of the story, the hero returns to the ordinary world and shares the knowledge gained in their journey with their fellow man. This can be done by imparting some form of wisdom, an object of great value or by bringing about a social revolution. In all cases, the hero returns changed and often wiser.

Example: Cinderella and Prince Charming live happily ever after. She uses her new role to punish her stepmother and stepsisters and to revitalise the kingdom.

We have used the example of Cinderella in Vogler’s hero’s journey model below:

Below we have briefly explained the other variations of the hero’s journey arc.

The very first hero’s journey arc was created by Joseph Campbell in 1949. It contained the following 17 steps:

David Adams Leeming later adapted the hero’s journey based on his research of legendary heroes found in mythology. He noted the following steps as a pattern that all heroes in stories follow:

In 1990, Phil Cousineau further adapted the hero’s journey by simplifying the steps from Campbell’s model and rearranging them slightly to suit his own findings of heroes in literature. Again Cousineau’s hero’s journey included 8 steps:

As you can see, every version of the hero’s journey is about the main character showing great levels of transformation. Their journey may start and end at the same location, but they have personally evolved as a character in your story. Once a weakling, they now possess the knowledge and skill set to protect their world if needed.

Free Hero’s Journey Templates

Use the free Hero’s journey templates below to practice the skills you learned in this guide! You can either draw or write notes in each of the scene boxes. Once the template is complete, you will have a better idea of how your main character or the hero of your story develops over time:

The storyboard template below is a great way to develop your main character and organise your story:

Did you find this guide on the hero’s journey stages useful? Let us know in the comments below.

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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The 9 Stages of the Hero’s Journey and How to Use Them

by Lewis / July 14, 2018 / Story Structure

What is the true purpose of storytelling?

You might say it’s to uplift us, or to comfort us in times of trouble. Others will argue storytelling serves to teach us morality, the meaning of good versus evil, or the value of inner strength. Yet, Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey goes deeper than all of those things.

The Hero’s Journey is about exploring human nature and charting our common path from childhood to adulthood, regardless of who we are or what we struggle with. Not only that, but it embodies universal themes of growth and change, making it the perfect foundation to build your own unique story from!

What Is the Hero’s Journey?

As a follow up, Christopher Vogler wrote The Writer’s Journey , further distilling the ideas of Campbell into a usable storytelling guide.

The result is one of the best storytelling tools around.

At its core, the Hero’s Journey is a form of story structure just like the Three Act Structure. However, in comparison the Hero’s Journey is much more broad, and is something you can see at play in almost every story—regardless of how anti-traditional it may be.

This is because the Monomyth builds on ever-present patterns of growth and change, something humans have been obsessed with forever.

These questions have always echoed in the human mind, and been reflected in our storytelling as a result. Thus, the Hero’s Journey is so powerful and omnipresent because it resonates with a core part of our human experience.

“A blunder—apparently the merest chance—reveals an unsuspected world, and the individual is drawn into a relationship with forces that are not rightly understood… They are the result of suppressed desires and conflicts. They are ripples on the surface of life, produced by unsuspected springs. And these may be very deep—as deep as the soul itself.” – Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Using the Hero’s Journey in Your Own Novel

Of course, this is all well and good, but how can you use this Monomyth in your own writing?

Well, one of the best qualities of this structure is that it ties together both your characters and plot. Rather than just being a story structure, the Hero’s Journey can also act as something of a character arc. That’s the most helpful thing about these principles—they apply not only to your plot, but your protagonist’s arc as well, helping you build a more cohesive story.

When combined, you have a powerful recipe for engaging your readers!

Overall, the Hero’s Journey is split into two halves: The Ordinary World, and the Unknown World. The Ordinary World is exactly what it sounds like—your protagonist’s everyday life, complete with all of their flaws and insecurities.

However, a problem is brewing beneath the surface, and this is what will force them to leave home and enter the Unknown World. This Unknown World is where they’ll be tested and forced to grow as a person. Along the way they’ll gain new allies and skills, until they finally return to their Ordinary World to heal it’s suffering and take their place among the heroes.

Throughout this structure, your protagonist’s inner development will mirror the conflict of the story, giving your novel a cohesive and resonant feel. With that said, let’s look at the nine stages of the Hero’s Journey and how to incorporate them in your own storytelling!

The 9 Stages of Campbell’s Monomyth

The ordinary world:.

The start of the Hero’s Journey finds us in the Ordinary World, where readers are introduced to your setting, meet the starting cast, and get to know your protagonist. Essentially, the Ordinary World provides a baseline that will make the Unknown World your protagonist later encounters stand out.

Because of this, you don’t want to neglect this important setup.

Without seeing where your hero is starting from, a world full of magical purple unicorn dragons could be entirely normal to them. Instead, you need to you start your story by showing their normal everyday life in suburban Wisconsin. It’s the contrast between these two worlds that makes them feel impactful.

Alongside this, the Ordinary World also sets up the inner struggle your protagonist will need to overcome during their character arc. It shows how they’ve been living before their journey begins and foreshadows the cracks under the surface. Without this critical knowledge of the Ordinary World, the reader has no metric by which to measure your character’s growth or the growth of their world.

The Call to Adventure and Refusing the Call:

If you’re already a fan of the Three Act Structure, then the Call to Adventure will likely feel at least somewhat familiar.

This is because the Call to the Adventure mimics the Inciting Event and Key Event from the Three Act Structure. Here, your protagonist will learn of the coming conflict and get their first taste of the journey to come—though sometimes they are whisked away with little choice. Most often they’ll also refuse this call, helping your reader better understand the stakes of your story.

If your protagonist has reason to be afraid, then your audience does as well.

This stage allows you to build suspense, foreshadow the power of your antagonist and the dangers ahead, and show off your protagonist’s flaws in action. Are they too timid, headstrong, selfish, or careless? Incorporate this into their Refusal of the Call and show how it will hinder them on the journey ahead.

Overcoming Resistance and Meeting the Mentor:

Now that a Call has been issued, your protagonist will be feeling afraid, hesitant, or even outright resistant to beginning their journey.

Overcoming this resistance requires a period of counsel, where they’ll get advice and encouragement from mentors and allies. Here you’ll prepare your protagonist and audience for what’s coming, while also fitting in some last minute worldbuilding and plot development before your story picks up steam.

Your protagonist will begin collecting the tools and wisdom needed for the road ahead, though they won’t be completely prepared for a while yet. Their inner struggles will continue pushing against them here, and they may neglect important information they’ll regret later on. Still, they’ll also show promise, usually in the form of some redeeming quality that lets your readers know there is hope for them to grow.

Crossing the First Threshold:

This is the true beginning of your story.

Here your protagonist will Cross the First Threshold into the new, Unknown World, officially committing themselves to the journey ahead. There is no turning back from this point, and no returning to the Ordinary World until they’ve completed their quest and grown past their flaws.

Your protagonist will have to prove themselves to make it this far of course, even though they haven’t overcome their inner struggle just yet.

Just as they showed a redeeming quality while Overcoming Resistance and Meeting the Mentor, they’ll need to prove this redeeming quality again to cross into the Unknown World. As an example, Bilbo Baggins temporarily overcomes his fearfulness and leaves the Shire, while Mulan overcomes her self-doubt and joins the Chinese army. However, some characters will be forced into this Unknown World, like when Simba is driven from the Pride Lands by Scar.

Tests and Trials:

Your story has officially entered the Unknown World, and this is when a period of Tests and Trials begin for your protagonist.

Here they’ll gain new allies, new enemies, and new skills. They’ll be beaten down repeatedly, only to get back up again that much stronger and wiser. Essentially, this period is all about preparing them for the bigger battles that lie ahead.

This means that the Tests and Trials period is important for a variety of reasons.

It provides a stark contrast from the more stable Ordinary World and thrusts your protagonist into their new life. However, it also gives them the opportunity—through their new experiences—to prove their strengths, befriend others in your cast, and begin to threaten your antagonist. Overall, these tests will form nearly a quarter of your story’s overall runtime as you approach the Major Ordeal.

The Major Ordeal:

Perhaps confusingly named, the Major Ordeal is not the Climax.

Instead it corresponds with the Midpoint of the Three Act Structure, and shifts your protagonist from a period of reaction to action. After this point, they’ll finally be able to actively drive your plot forward, rather than just being pushed along against their will. They’ll also be rewarded for their success, either through a new tool, new allies, or new knowledge.

The Major Ordeal itself will feature a moment of growth that cements your protagonist’s progress. They’ll have to face their biggest conflict yet, giving them a chance to show how far they’ve come from their Ordinary World. However, don’t let them get ahead of themselves.

They haven’t overcome their inner struggle yet, though they may think they have.

To pick on Mulan again, her Major Ordeal occurs when she retrieves the arrow from the top of the pole in the middle of camp, proving her cleverness and intelligence. She has gained the acceptance of her comrades, but she is still living in disguise. This will come back to punish her later, just as your protagonist’s flaw will come back to punish them.

The Road Back:

With the Major Ordeal behind them, the Road Back prepares your protagonist to face the finale of your story.

They’re now driving the plot, seeking out your antagonist or otherwise planning their defeat, and likely beginning the trek to wherever their final showdown will take place. Here your pacing will speed up as well. You’re preparing for a climactic showdown, and both your cast and your readers are ready to see this journey come to its conclusion.

This creates the perfect opportunity to remind your protagonist of the stakes.

In the afterglow of the Major Ordeal, you need to show them why their journey isn’t over yet. Reveal the cracks still left by their flaw, and remind them that no matter how much they try to cover them up, they must deal with them soon. The conflict is far from over, and there’s still danger ahead.

Mastering the Journey:

With your story coming to its close, its time for your protagonist to prove they’ve mastered their journey—and as you can probably guess, this overlaps with the Climax and the Climactic moment from the Three Act Structure. Here they’ll do battle against your antagonist and face their final test, hopefully overcoming their inner struggle in the process.

As a result, everything in your story needs to come together here.

All of your themes, subplots, characters, symbols, motifs—it’s called the Climax for a reason! Of course, this is also the culmination of your protagonist’s arc. Here they’ll face the most difficult test of their flaws, and will have to use all of the knowledge, skills, and alliances they’ve gained to survive.

Ultimately, without the journey they just went on, they would never be able to succeed.

Returning with the Elixir:

With your story’s conflict resolved, it’s now time for your protagonist to recover. To Return with the Elixir references the end of many myths where the hero brings the rewards of their journey back to their home village, healing the lives of everyone around them—not just their own. In terms of the traditional Three Act Structure, this mirrors your Resolution.

Essentially, your goal in these final scenes is to complete the circle of your story.

At the end of many adventures the protagonist returns home to their Ordinary World, experiencing echoes from the start of their journey. Yet everything feels different, and they quickly realize how their quest has changed them. Others don’t make a physical return, but instead see similar situations to those they struggled with or felt uncomfortable in at the start, this time unfazed by what seemed so intimidating before.

Either way, these final moments will be bittersweet, joyful, and maybe even a bit sad.

Most importantly, they’ll provide an important sense of catharsis for your readers, a release of the emotional tension your story created. So—to use this ending to its full effect—make sure you give your readers a moment to relax with your cast before they close the back cover.

Understanding the Monomyth

At the end of the day, the Hero’s Journey embodies patterns seen in almost all human storytelling, and it’s also a great tool for writers wanting to more deeply understand their own stories. While it’s not without it’s flaws, it can still serve as a great starting point for telling your own epic adventures!

Of course, the Hero’s Journey isn’t the only form of story structure out there. If you’re interested in exploring everything else story structure has to offer, I hope you’ll take a moment to check out The Complete Story Structure Series , a collection of articles on The Novel Smithy dedicated to everything structure.

How does the Hero’s Journey impact your stories? Let me know in the comments!

Thoughts on the 9 stages of the hero’s journey and how to use them.

Hi, I have four books out and a new one almost ready. This may be the best explanation of the Journey I’ve read. And, I’ve read a lot, including Hero with a Thousand Faces and the Writer’s Journey. I especially like your take on Crossing the Threshold and the Major Ordeal. Those two entries helped clear a lot of fog on the subject for me.

Thanks. Charles Hampton

Glad to hear it Charles! 🙂

A Practical Guide to Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey

OVERVIEW: What are the hero’s journey steps? That is, what’s the psychological process we go through that can lead to inner transformation? This guide answers these questions.

______________

Treasure, love, reward, approval, honor, status, freedom, and survival … these are some of the many things associated with the hero’s journey.

However, we don’t find the meaning of the hero’s journey in slaying the dragon or saving the princess.

These are but colorful metaphors and symbols for a more significant purpose.

Battling inner and outer demons, confronting bullies, and courting your ideal mate symbolize a passage through the often treacherous path of self-discovery toward adulthood.

If you complete one of these “adventures,” you’re different. Sometimes visually, but always internally.

Here, we’ll explore the meaning of the hero’s journey steps and see how it applies to psychological development and our ability to actualize our potential.

Let’s dive in …

What is the Hero’s Journey?

The hero’s journey refers to a common motif, or set of patterns, found in many ancient mythologies around the world.

The hero’s journey steps are said to be universal and found throughout recorded history.

The popularization of the hero’s journey is attributed to the late mythologist Joseph Campbell.

These stages lead an individual (the would-be hero) through a challenging process of change that often includes great hardships.

This well-known story structure is used in many modern films and storytelling. However, the true meaning of the hero’s journey motif is psychological in origin.

What is the Monomyth?

Joseph Campbell was a curious mythologist. In the field of comparative mythology, most scholars examine how one culture’s myths are different than another.

Instead of focusing on the many differences between cultural myths and religious stories, however, Campbell did the opposite: He looked for the similarities.

His studies resulted in what’s called the monomyth . The monomyth is a universal story structure.

Essentially, it’s a story template that takes a character through a sequence of stages. Campbell began identifying the patterns of this monomyth (the hero’s journey steps).

Over and over again, he was amazed to find this structure in the cultures he studied. He also observed the same sequence in many religions including the stories of Gautama Buddha, Moses, and Jesus Christ.

Campbell outlined the stages of the monomyth in his classic book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949).

What is the Hero?

The main character in the monomyth is the hero .

The hero isn’t a person, but an archetype —a set of universal images combined with specific patterns of behavior.

Think of a protagonist from your favorite film. He or she represents the hero.

The storyline of the film enacts the hero’s journey.

The Hero archetype resides in the psyche of every individual, which is one of the primary reasons we love hearing and watching stories.

What is a Myth?

We might ask, why explore the hero’s journey steps?

Sure, Hollywood uses it as their dominant story structure for its films (more on that later). But what relevance does it have for us as individuals?

Today, when we speak of “myth,” we refer to something that’s commonly believed, but untrue.

Myth, for minds like Campbell and Carl Jung however, had a much deeper meaning. Myths, for them, represent dreams of the collective psyche .

That is, in understanding the symbolic meaning of a myth, you come to know the psychological undercurrent—including hidden motivations , tensions, and desires—of the people and culture.

What is the Power of Myth?

Campbell explains to Bill Moyer in The Power of Myth : 1 Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth , 1991, 193.

Mythology is not a lie, mythology is poetry, it is metaphorical. It has been well said that mythology is the penultimate truth–penultimate because the ultimate cannot be put into words. It is beyond words. Beyond images, beyond that bounding rim of the Buddhist Wheel of Becoming. Mythology pitches the mind beyond that rim, to what can be known but not told.

As Campbell eloquently puts it in The Hero with a Thousand Faces ,

Mythology is psychology misread as biography, history, and cosmology.

Because the hero’s journey steps represent a monomyth that we can observe in most, if not all, cultures, it represents a process that is relevant to the entire human family .

hero's journey steps joseph campbell quote

What is this Process Within the Hero’s Journey?

It’s the process of personal transformation from an innocent child into a mature adult.

The child is born into a set of rules and beliefs of a group of people.

Through the child’s heroic efforts, he must break free from these conventions (transcend them) to discover himself.

In the process, the individual returns to his soul.

If we think of the hero’s journey as a roadmap for self-development, it can hold a lot of value for us.

A Quick Note About Gender: Masculine vs Feminine

This psychological decoding is based on a “Jungian” understanding of the psyche.

The hero is ultimately a masculine archetype. The female counterpart would be the heroine. While the hero and the heroine certainly share many attributes, they are not the same.

Similarly, the hero’s journey is predominantly a process of development for the masculine psyche. The hero archetype is associated with autonomy, building structure, and learning about limitations, which are qualities associated with masculine energy.

However, note that “masculine” and “feminine” are not the same as “man” and “woman.” The psyche of a man has a feminine counterpart—what Jung called the anima . The psyche of a woman has a masculine archetype called the animus . For this reason, the hero’s journey does have universal relevance.

While Western culture seems riddled with gender confusion, there are distinct differences between the feminine and masculine psyche .

Okay, now back to our story …

The 3 Main Stages of the Hero’s Journey

Okay, so now let’s begin to break down the structure and sequence of the hero’s journey.

As Campbell explains:

The usual hero adventure begins with someone from whom something has been taken, or who feels there is something lacking in the normal experience available or permitted to the members of society. The person then takes off on a series of adventures beyond the ordinary, either to recover what has been lost or to discover some life-giving elixir. It’s usually a cycle, a coming and a returning.

This cycle of coming and returning has 3 clear stages:

Stage 1: Departure

Campbell called the initial stage departure or the call to adventure . The hero departs from the world he knows.

Luke Skywalker leaves his home planet to join Obi-Wan to save the princess. Neo gets unplugged from The Matrix with the help of Morpheus and his crew.

In the Departure stage, you leave the safety of the world you know and enter the unknown.

Campbell writes of this stage in The Hero with a Thousand Faces :

This first step of the mythological journey—which we have designated the “call to adventure”—signifies that destiny has summoned the hero and transferred his spiritual center of gravity from within the pale of his society to a zone unknown.

That is, the hero must leave the known “conventional world” and enter a “special world” that is foreign.

Stage 2: Initiation

Now the hero must face a series of trials and tribulations. The hero’s journey isn’t safe.

The hero is tested in battle, skill, and conflict. He may not succeed in each action but must press on.

The protagonist will meet allies, enemies, and mentors with supernatural aid throughout the initiation stage.

Stage 3: Return

Having endured the trials and hardships of the adventure, the hero returns home.

But the hero is no longer the same. An internal transformation has taken place through the maturation process of the experience.

Luke is now a Jedi and has come to peace with his past. Neo embraces his destiny and liberates himself from the conventions of The Matrix.

The Hero’s Journey in Drama

In Three Uses of a Knife , famed playwright David Mamet suggests a similar three-act structure for plays and dramas: 2 David Mamet, Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of Drama , 2000.

Act 1: Thesis . The drama presents life as it is for the protagonist. The ordinary world.

Act 2: Antithesis . The protagonist faces opposing forces that send him into an upheaval (disharmony).

Act 3: Synthesis . The protagonist attempts to integrate the old life with the new one.

We note that problems, challenges, and upheavals are the defining characteristic of this journey.

Without problems, the path toward growth is usually left behind. (More on this topic below.)

Assessing Your Place in the Hero’s Journey

Before we explore the stages of the monomyth more closely, let’s look at what these three phases reveal about self-mastery and psychological development.

Stage 1 represents our comfort zone. We feel safe here because it is known to us.

Stages 2 and 3, however, represent the unknown . Embracing the unknown means letting go of safety.

Abraham Maslow points out that we are confronted with an ongoing series of choices throughout life between safety and growth, dependence and independence, regression and progression, immaturity and maturity.

Maslow writes in Toward a Psychology of Being : 3 Abraham Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being , 2014.

We grow forward when the delights of growth and anxieties of safety are greater than the anxieties of growth and the delights of safety.

Is it now clear why so many of us refuse the call to adventure?

We cling to the safety of the known instead of embracing the “delight of growth” that only comes from the unknown.

Campbell’s 17 Stages of the Hero’s Journey

Joseph Campbell didn’t just outline three stages of the monomyth. In The Hero with a Thousand Faces , he deconstructs every step along the journey.

The stages of the hero’s journey are the common sequence of events that occurred in the monomyth motif.

Technically speaking, Campbell outlined 17 stages in his The Hero with a Thousand Faces:

1: The Call to Adventure
2: Refusal of the Call
3: Supernatural Aid
4: The Crossing of the First Threshold
5: Belly of the Whale
6: The Road of Trials
7: The Meeting with the Goddess
8: Woman as the Temptress
9: Atonement with the Father
10: Apotheosis
11: The Ultimate Boon
12: Refusal of the Return
13: The Magic Flight
14: Rescue from Without
15: The Crossing of the Return Threshold
16: Master of the Two Worlds
17: Freedom to Live

These 17 stages or hero’s journey steps can be found globally in the myths and legends throughout recorded history.

The Modified 12 Hero’s Journey Steps

Now, let’s review these stages of the hero’s journey in more detail.

I’m going to outline these steps below using a slightly simplified version from Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers .

Vogler’s model, which is used throughout Hollywood, only has 12 steps (compared to 17), and I think it does a solid job of keeping the essence of Campbell’s monomyth structure intact.

As you read these hero’s journey steps, see if you can determine how they apply to your development.

Step 1: The Ordinary World

Before a would-be hero can enter the special world, he must first live in the ordinary world.

The ordinary world is different for each of us—it represents our norms, customs, conditioned beliefs, and behaviors. The ordinary world is sometimes referred to as the “conventional world.”

In The Hobbit , the ordinary world is the Shire where Bilbo Baggins lives with all the other Hobbits—gardening, eating and celebrating—living a simple life.

Novelist J.R.R. Tolkien contrasts this life in the Shire with the special world of wizards, warriors, men, elves, dwarfs, and evil forces on the brink of world war.

Step 2: The Call to Adventure

The first hero’s journey step is the call to adventure.

The call to adventure marks a transition from the ordinary world to the special world. The hero is introduced to his quest of great consequence.

Obi-Wan said to Luke, “You must come with me to Alderaan.” That is, Luke is invited to leave the ordinary world of his aunt and uncle’s farm life and go on an adventure with a Jedi knight.

Joseph Campbell explains: 4 Joseph Campbell, The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell On His Life And Work , 1990.

The call to adventure signifies that destiny has summoned the hero and transferred his spiritual center of gravity from within the pale of this society to a zone unknown.

Step 3: Refusal of the Call

Fear of change as well as death, however, often leads the hero to refuse the call to adventure .

The ordinary world represents our comfort zone; the special world signifies the unknown.

Luke Skywalker immediately responds to Obi-Wan, “I can’t go with you,” citing his chores and responsibilities at home.

Step 4: Meeting the Mentor

Campbell called this archetype the “mentor with supernatural aid.”

Generally, at an early stage of the adventure, the hero is graced by the presence of a wise sage . Personified in stories as a magical counselor , a reclusive hermit, or a wise leader, the mentor’s role is to help guide the hero.

Think Obi-Wan, Yoda, Gandalf, Morpheus, or Dumbledore. Sometimes cloaked in mystery and secret language, a mentor manifests when the hero is ready.

Sadly, our modern world is depleted of wise elders or shamans who can effectively bless the younger generation. (A topic for a different day.) For most of us, it is best to seek wise counsel from your inner guide , the Self within.

Step 5: Cross the First Threshold

The hero resists change initially but is ultimately forced to make a critical decision: embark on the adventure or forever remain in the ordinary world with its illusion of security.

Although Luke refuses the call to adventure initially, when he returns home to see his aunt and uncle dead, he immediately agrees to go with Obi-Wan. He crossed the first threshold.

In one sense, the first threshold is the point of no return. Once the hero shoots across the unstable suspension bridge, it bursts into flames.

There’s no turning back, at least, not how he came.

The first threshold can mark a major decision in our personal lives:

“I’m going to travel around the globe.”
“I’m going to transform my physical health.”
“I am going to write a book.”
“I’m going to master the flute.”
“I’m going to realize my true nature.”

This first breakthrough is a feat within itself; however, it is only the first of many turning points.

Step 6: Tests, Allies, Enemies

Along the hero’s journey, the main character encounters many obstacles and allies.

Luke meets Obiwan (mentor), Han Solo, Princess Leia, and the rebel alliance while fighting many foes. Neo meets Morpheus (mentor), Trinity, and the rest of the Nebuchadnezzar crew while having to fight Agents in a strange world.

Some people may try to stop you along your quest—possibly saying you’re unreasonable or unrealistic. These “dream-stoppers” are often cleverly masked as friends and family who appear to have positive intentions but hinder your development nonetheless.

Your ability to identify obstructions on your path and align with support along your adventure is critical to your adventure.

Unfortunately, because few complete their hero’s journey to mature adulthood, most people will unconsciously attempt to sabotage yours.

Step 7: Approach to the Inmost Cave

The next significant threshold is often more treacherous than the first.

Entering the villain’s castle or the evil billionaire’s mansion, this second major decision usually puts the hero at significant physical and psychological risks.

Neo decides to go save Morpheus who’s being held in a building filled with Agents.

Within the walls of the innermost cave lies the cornerstone of the special world where the hero closes in on his objective.

For a man, the innermost cave represents the Mother Complex, a regressive part of him that seeks to return to the safety of the mother. 5 Robert Johnson, He: Understanding Masculine Psychology, 1989. When a man seeks safety and comfort—when he demands pampering—it means he’s engulfed within the innermost cave.

For a woman, the innermost cave often represents learning how to surrender to the healing power of nurturance—to heal the handless maiden. 6 Robert Johnson, The Fisher King and the Handless Maiden: Understanding the Wounded Feeling Function in Masculine and Feminine Psychology , 1995.

Step 8: Ordeal

No worthwhile adventure is easy. There are many perils on the path to growth, self-discovery , and self-realization.

A major obstacle confronts the hero, and the future begins to look dim: a trap, a mental imprisonment, or imminent defeat on the battlefield.

It seems like the adventure will come to a sad conclusion, as all hope appears lost. But hope remains and it is in these moments of despair when the hero must access a hidden part of himself—one more micron of energy, strength, faith, or creativity to find his way out of the belly of the beast.

Neo confronts Agent Smith in the subway station—something that was never done before. The hero must call on an inner power he doesn’t know he possesses.

Step 9: Reward

Having defeated the enemy and slain the dragon, the hero receives the prize. Pulling the metaphorical sword from the stone, the hero achieves the objective he set out to complete.

Whether the reward is monetary, physical, romantic, or spiritual, the hero transforms. Usually, the initial prize sought by the hero is physical—the sword in the stone or a physical treasure of some kind.

Step 10: The Road Back

Alas, the adventure isn’t over yet. There usually needs to be one last push to return home. Now the hero must return to the world from which he came with the sacred elixir.

Challenges still lie ahead in the form of villains, roadblocks, and inner demons. The hero must deal with whatever issues were left unresolved at this stage of the journey.

Taking moral inventory, examining the Shadow , and performing constant self-inquiry help the hero identify weaknesses and blindspots that will later play against him.

Step 11: Resurrection

Before returning home—before the adventure is over—there’s often one more unsuspected, unforeseen ordeal.

This final threshold, which may be more difficult than the prior moment of despair, provides one last test to solidify the growth of the hero. This threshold represents the final climax.

Neo is shot and killed by Agent Smith. And, he literally resurrects to confront the enemy one last time following his transformation.

The uncertain Luke Skywalker takes that “one in a million” shot from his X-Wing to destroy the Death Star.

Step 12: Return with the Elixir

Often, the prize the hero initially sought (in Step 9) becomes secondary as a result of the personal transformation he undergoes.

Perhaps the original quest was financially driven , but now the hero takes greater satisfaction in serving others in need. The real change is always internal .

In this final stage, the hero can become the master of both worlds , with the freedom to live and grow, impacting all of humanity.

Returning with the prize, the hero’s experience of reality is different. The person is no longer an innocent child or adolescent seeking excitement or adventure.

Comfortable in his own skin, he has evolved and is now capable of handling the demands and challenges of everyday life.

The Hero’s Journey in Films

Are you now more aware of how these hero’s journey steps play out in popular films and television series?

George Lucas was friends with Joseph Campbell. Lucas used these hero’s journey steps from Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces to produce the original Star Wars film. 7 https://billmoyers.com/content/mythology-of-star-wars-george-lucas/

It’s difficult to appreciate the impact Star Wars still has on American culture and around the world. It’s even more difficult to articulate how much of that impact is attributed to Campbell’s insights.

However, one challenge our culture faces is that many popular film franchises produce movies that, most often, never complete the hero’s journey.

Many popular characters in action films like Marvel and DC Comics superheroes, James Bond, Ethan Hunt (Mission Impossible), Indiana Jones, etc. never actually transform.

These characters stay in the adolescent stage of development (and we tend to celebrate that reality).

These heroes don’t evolve into the warm, vulnerable, generative adults who no longer seek adventure and excitement.

That said, since I originally published this guide in early 2018, this has begun to change.

For example, in the final Bond film, No Time to Die (2021), James Bond did demonstrate some generative growth.

The same goes for Tony Stark’s character (Ironman) in Avengers: Endgame (2019).

Where Are You On Your Hero’s Journey?

More importantly, do you see how these hero’s journey steps are unfolding in your life?

Although each of our stories is unique, they have common threads—elements of this universal structure we all share.

Returning from the moment of despair—from inside the dragon’s lair—without the reward (or lesson), you are presented with a similar adventure repeated ad infinitum —until you either learn the lesson or give up.

In the beginning, the hero’s journey is about achievement.

Whether you’re trying to build a successful business, raise a family, write a screenplay, travel to a distant land, or become a skilled artist, these all represent external achievements that often launch us into our hero’s journey.

But through this external quest—if we become more conscious—the journey transitions to an emphasis on internal growth that leads to transformation.

The Hero isn’t an expression of mature adulthood. This archetype is a by-product of adolescence. The archetypes of adulthood are different, but to access them, we must complete the hero’s journey first .

The Primary Ingredient in Every Hero’s Journey

Compelling stories and real life comes down to one thing: problems .

The protagonist faces a problem and tries to overcome it. Problems represent the essence of drama and the key to good storytelling. Without problems, there’s no story. Problems engage us, tantalizing the human mind.

The hero must face his problems, surmount his fears, resolve his tensions, or fail.

The same is true for our development: without problems and tensions, there can be no growth.

Psychological development is the process of overcoming setbacks, limitations, and conditioned behavior to reach maturity.

Refusing the Call to Adventure

Few people ever fully embrace the Hero’s Journey, a psychological odyssey that leads the individual to wholeness .

Because of our fear of the unknown, many refuse the call to adventure. We delay our journey in many ways:

Put important things aside.
Procrastinate.
Distract ourselves with TV, social media, and other people’s lives.
Make excuses.
Stay stuck in the lazy part .
Focus on competing with others.

But something brews inside of us. An internal tension builds. The tension may be small at first, but it grows stronger in the darkness. Tensions are those opposing forces at play within us. This internal conflict creates disharmony.

Humans don’t like disharmony when it bubbles into consciousness, and so these internal tensions can catapult us out of the familiar. The feeling of discord can lead to action and ultimately, some resolution.

Maybe you’re currently embracing your hero’s journey. Or perhaps you’ve been refusing the call. It matters not. What matters is what you do today— right now .

How to Embrace Your Hero’s Journey, Step by Step

The main thing you need to do to embrace your hero’s journey is stay present.

Remember, as Campbell explained, “You are the hero of your own story.”

Psychological development is supposed to be a natural process. But we aren’t currently in a world that supports healthy development.

As such, it’s vital to listen within .

Here are a few guides that may serve you:

Access Your Inner Guide
How to Ground Yourself
How to Stay in Your Center
How to Overcome Internal Resistance

Ultimately, be mindful of your fears and aspirations.

Left unchecked, your fears can subconsciously lead you to endlessly refuse the call to adventure.

In contrast, your aspirations can help you embrace your adventure.

As Joseph Campbell often said,

Follow your bliss!

Videos Related to the Hero’s Journey Steps

Book related to the hero’s journey steps.

The hero’s journey steps are outlined in the books referenced throughout this guide:

joseph campbell the hero with a thousand faces

The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell’s Mythos Lecture Series (DVD)

The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler

How to Be an Adult by David Richo

What Do You Think?

Are you going through the hero’s journey steps?

About the Author

Scott Jeffrey is the founder of CEOsage, a self-leadership resource publishing in-depth guides read by millions of self-actualizing individuals. He writes about self-development, practical psychology, Eastern philosophy, and integrated practices. For 25 years, Scott was a business coach to high-performing entrepreneurs, CEOs, and best-selling authors. He's the author of four books including Creativity Revealed .

Learn more >

I would like to understand the Hero’s journey. Joseph Campbell describes it as something that has been taken/lost or life giving. How do I know if my hero’s journey has been done?

If you’re examining the hero’s journey from the perspective of individuation — that is, the journey to mature adulthood — it takes many years to come to wholeness within oneself.

Psychologically speaking, the hero’s journey is inward. The characters you meet (like the Mentor) are within yourself. So it involves active imagination in bringing the archetype into some form of harmony within yourself.

You have mentioned a choice to stay in the comfort of safety or the unknow for growth. I am wondering if this is done in a Psychological manner where your life’s circumstances stay as they are or you physically live in a different environment, leaving your surroundings, people and material responsibilities etc.. Hope you can answer this for me.

If you’re a young adult, there’s often an external aspect to the hero’s journey — for example, leaving home and separating from one’s parents. But what Campbell was highlighting with the monomyth is ultimately a psychological process akin to Jungian individuation: https://scottjeffrey.com/individuation-process/

I want to share my thoughts on the heroes journey. After reading the twelve steps, and what you said- I quote “Step 12: Return with the Elixir Often, the prize the hero initially sought (in Step 9) becomes secondary as a result of the personal transformation he undergoes.

Perhaps the original quest was financially driven, but now the hero takes greater satisfaction in serving others in need.

The real change is always internal.

In this final stage, the hero can become the master of both worlds, with the freedom to live and grow, impacting all of humanity.”

My favorite movie for a while now has been The Peaceful Warrior, I have just watched Coach Carter. They seem to tell the same story and I think the story of The Heroes Journey. You have mentioned Star Wars, James Bond and the Matrix.

In the movies The Peaceful Warrior, and Coach Carter, the achievement earned is an inward spiritualism that is, I quote” impacting all of humanity.” Thank-you.

If The Peaceful Warrior is your favorite movie, read Dan Millman’s “The Way of the Peaceful Warrior” — the book the film is based on. Much deeper insights. It’s a magical book — especially when you’re just setting out on your self-discovery journey.

I have read about 25% so far, I am not a good reader. I give myself three pages each day, yet often I’m reading more. It is as if the movie is replaying and I’m able to go with it, imaging the main characters. There is more information from reading than watching the movie, though I am thinking there is a lot of fiction, as it has been described on the net. Though I just need to adhere to the believable parts. I don’t know if it is possible to remember the day’s events that happened during college. For example, what people said, what they were doing throughout the day. My college day’s I can only remember situations that happened all dispersed from one another, with only a few minutes recalled. Does someone like yourself able to recall conversations and put them as dialogs for a book? Or is it a writer’s privilege to invent these for the book?

“The Peaceful Warrior” is a work of fiction. The genre is technically called “visionary fiction.”

There is a passage in the book where Socrates say’s “Mind is an illusory reflection of cerebral fidgeting. It comprises all the random uncontrolled thoughts that bubble into awareness from the subconscious. Consciousness is not the mind; awareness is not mind; attention is not mind. Mind is an obstruction, an aggravation, a primal weakness in the human experiment. It is a kind of evolutionary mistake in the human being. I have no use for the mind.” I don’t think think this way because what we have as humans is natural and so it has a purpose. I am interested if you would give an opinion on this statement Socrates said.

For the most part, I agree with Millman’s statements. They are also consistent with much of the Eastern traditions. An essential aspect of the meditative traditions is to “pacify the mind”. They sometimes even use stronger longer of “killing the mind.” But at other times, they make the distinction between the “aware mind” versus the “monkey mind” or the “shining mind” versus the “stirring mind.” But in terms of the untrained mind (which is the mind of over 99% of people), I agree with Millman. I just wouldn’t call it “evolutionary.”

Millman would have already made ethical judgment towards any begger, so, he should not have thought twice about ignoring him. But because his story, is going through a transformation, he had these menacing mind talks. Do you think if you were in the same situation as him, would you give the begger money or use your self-consciousness to clear negative mind noise? I am wondering if a second time in the same situation would make one change their reaction…

This is quoted from the book; “A scrawny young teenager came up to me. “Spare some change, can’t you?” “No, sorry,” I said, not feeling sorry at all. As I walked away I thought, “Get a job.” Then vague guilts came into my mind; I’d said no to a penniless beggar. Angry thoughts arose. “He shouldn’t walk up to people like that!” I was halfway down the block before I realized all the mental noise i had tuned in to, and the tension it was causing – just because some guy had asked me for money and I’d said no. In that instant I let it go.”

I finished the peaceful warrior and found it enjoyable. The preview of Dan’s second book (Sacred Journey of the peaceful warrior) sums up what he was expressing through his life.

There was one part I have heard before where the dialog between Dan and Soc was flat, with no meaning. Thank-you.

I would like to balance the four functions Jung describes (thinking, feeling, sensation and intuition) in your Individuation Process page. How do I know when feeling and sensation are active in everyday events? Could you give me an example? Thank-you.

Brett, please use the related guide page to address your questions.

The Individuation process page has not got a comments section.

I was walking in the bush on a moonlit windy night. The moving branches displayed a moving shadow, I was startled at first thought someone was behind me. Then I put the moonlight and the moving branches together and summed up what had happened without turning around. Was my thinking a Feeling, thinking, intuition or sensation? Thank-you.

I didn’t realize the comment sections weren’t open on that other guide. The psychological types represent our dominant orientations for processing information. When you were startled, was your attention on your body or the fear itself? Was your mind focused on “what could that be”? No need to answer here.

But the main thing about psychological types, from a Jungian perspective, is to understand what your dominant and inferior types are so you can develop your weakest side. Taking an Enneagram assessment test can help you determine your dominant type. In that system, it’s either thinking, feeling, or sensing.

Thank-you for your reply. You gave me an example of what I believe would be my dominant (being the first impression of the event) type. The second instance you described, is that too my dominant type? I do already know what it was that brings me fear. Can you follow up with this scenario? I have done enneagram questions before, and I am hopeless in giving a true response as all multiple question apply to equally.

“I have done enneagram questions before, and I am hopeless in giving a true response as all multiple question apply to equally.”

In my experience, when people say things like this, it’s often because they are “out of center” and analyzing things in their heads. If, for example, you read detailed descriptions of each Type, there’s no way you’re going to relate equally to all of them. Only one (sometimes a few) will strike a deep cord within you. It may leave you feeling “raw” and exposed.

Using the example you provided isn’t really going to help in this context. Do you mostly live in your head (mind/thoughts/analysis), your body (gut/sensations/sensory perception), or feelings? We all use all of them, but one tends to be more dominant than the others.

Thank-you. I agree with you Quote “If, for example, you read detailed descriptions of each Type, there’s no way you’re going to relate equally to all of them”. You might think I’m procrastinating as I want to work this out. Quote” Superior Function versus Inferior Function We like to do things we’re good at and avoid doing things in which we feel inadequate. Thus, we develop specific skills while undeveloped capacities remain in the unconscious. Jung grouped these four functions into pairs: thinking and feeling, sensing and intuiting”. Follow me for a sec, I have determined my superior function is Thinking, that would leave my inferior function to feeling. I assume sensing and intuition would be in the middle. I’m going to give the answer that you will give to my question, how do I bring the four functions to the middle? Answer ; center yourself. Do you agree or tell me what I should be doing?

Brett, I can’t really speak to what you should be doing. From a Jungian perspective (as well as transpersonal psychology), you would develop your inferior function and grow in that line of intelligence. I borrow the concept of the Center from the Taoist tradition. Western psychology mainly seeks to build a healthy ego while Eastern traditions mainly focus on transcending the ego.

Is the answer to “center yourself”? Sure. But most likely you’ll only be able to do this temporarily (representing a “state” of consciousness), while if you develop via various practices, you establish different structural changes that become more stable.

How to Center Yourself.

I like this article and want to learn more. I’m sending you my questions in this article as there isn’t a comments section.

I have so many questions, do I really need these answered to be comfortable with learning? Or should I take a calming with acceptance approach, that will eventually find the answers I seek? Should I go ahead and ask… ok I will ask. In the four centers, take in information via the physical center, interpret experience via the emotional center, evaluate the world via the mental center. Could all be take in information? Thank-you.

Brett, I just opened the comment section on that centering guide. Please post your question there and then I’ll reply.

Is it always a Heroes journey to take on what seems an insurmountable task? I see this at the beginning of inspirational films. Thank-you.

Always be careful with the term “always.”

Remember that what Campbell was ultimately highlighting with his monomyth structure was a psychological process of development. So it’s best to keep that in context.

Insurmountable tasks can sometimes be a catalyst for one’s journey, but this is not always the case.

In films and storytelling, you need major a problem for the hero/protagonist to face. Otherwise, there’s no story.

With what you said in keeping the psychological process in context. I was thinking of the film where a football coach leaves a successful career in the city, to coach no-hoper orphans in the country. My first impression was that the coach is on a hero’s journey with much to lose but great inward comfort to gain. Now I think it is the orphan footballers who are on a hero’s journey, (by leading as an example of being an orphan and becoming successful to inspire them to do the same) to stand up with confidence to be equal to the rest of the world. The movie is twelve mighty orphans. Is this reasonable thinking and do you see different interpretation? Thank-you

I can’t really comment as I haven’t seen the film. In any decent film, multiple characters have “arcs.” In many cases, the coach in sports films plays the mentor/sage role but then has his own transformation as well. This is the case with Gandalf the Gray who has to “die” and be resurrected, transforming into Gandalf the White.

Merry Christmas Scott digital guide. Type to you soon:)

Does the hero’s journey have the same thoughts and feelings for a woman as a man?

From a Jungian perspective, the process would be different.

As Jungian Robert A. Johnson highlights in many of his books, the myths related to the feminine psyche are different than the myths related to the masculine. As such, they follow a different structure and aim.

That said, because there’s an anima in each male psyche and an animus in each female psyche, a part of us can relate to the hero’s journey in its totality. Hence, a heroine can go on a similar hero’s journey as a man.

What an excellent and thorough treatment. Thanks for these invaluable insights for my writing class.

Thank you for the feedback, Craig!

I love this observation about modern cinematic heroes: “Many popular characters in action films like Marvel and DC Comics superheroes, James Bond, Ethan Hunt (Mission Impossible), Indiana Jones, etc. never actually transform.”

Have you written elsewhere at greater length on this topic? I thought I read an article on this topic a few years back but don’t remember where! Certainly the weightiness of the observation was such a lightbulb moment.

Thanks and kind regards M.

You can find a more detailed archetypal decoding of the hero here:

https://scottjeffrey.com/hero-archetype/

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The Ordinary World in the Hero's Journey

From Christopher Vogler's "The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure"

Moviepix / GettyImages

Tips For Adult Students
Getting Your Ged

B.A., English, St. Olaf College

The hero's journey begins with the hero in the ordinary world, going about ordinary life, except that something isn't quite right. What he does in the first scenes demonstrates a flaw of some kind, a lacking to be overcome, for either the hero or someone close to him or her.

The Ordinary World

According to Christopher Vogler, author of The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure , we see the hero in his ordinary world so we recognize the difference when he enters the special world of the story. The ordinary world generally conjures a mood, image, or metaphor that suggests a theme and gives the reader a frame of reference for the rest of the story.

The mythological approach to story boils down to using metaphors or comparisons to convey the hero's feelings about life.

The ordinary world is sometimes set in a prologue and often strains credibility to prepare the audience for the special world, Vogler writes. An old rule in secret societies is that disorientation leads to suggestibility. It allows the reader to suspend disbelief.

Writers often foreshadow the special world by creating a microcosm of it in the ordinary world. (e.g., Dorothy’s ordinary life in the Wizard of Oz is depicted in black and white, the events mirroring what she is about to encounter in the technicolor special world.)

Vogler believes that every good story poses both an inner and an outer question for the hero that becomes apparent in the ordinary world. (e.g., Dorothy's outer problem is that Toto has dug up Miss Gulch's flower bed and everyone is too busy preparing for the storm to help her out. Her inner problem is that she has lost her parents and doesn’t feel "at home" anymore; she's incomplete and about to embark on a quest for completion.)

The Importance of the First Action

The hero’s first action usually illustrates his or her characteristic attitude and the future problems or solutions that will result. Stories invite the reader to experience an adventure through the hero's eyes, so the author generally strives to establish a strong bond of sympathy or common interest.

He or she does that by creating a way for the reader to identify with the hero's goals , drives, desires, and needs, which are usually universal. Most heroes are on a journey of completion of one kind or another. Readers abhor the vacuum created by a missing piece in a character, and so are willing to embark on the journey with him or her, according to Vogler.

Many authors show the hero unable to perform a simple task in the ordinary world. By the end of the story, he or she has learned, changed, and can accomplish the task with ease.

The ordinary world also provides backstory embedded in the action. The reader must work a little to figure it all out, like getting pieces of a puzzle one or two at a time. This, too, engages the reader.

While analyzing your hero's ordinary world, remember that much can be revealed by what characters don't say or do.

This article is part of our series on the hero's journey, starting with The Hero's Journey Introduction and The Archetypes of the Hero's Journey .

The Hero's Journey: Crossing the Threshold
The Resurrection and Return With the Elixir
The Reward and the Road Back
The Hero's Journey: Meeting with the Mentor
An Introduction to The Hero's Journey
The Approach to the Inmost Cave in the Hero's Journey
The Hero's Journey: Refusing The Call to Adventure
The Role of Archetypes in Literature
The Ordeal in the Hero's Journey
Writing SMART Goals
Give a Speech People Remember
5 Ways to Improve Adult Literacy
Questions to Ask Before Going Back to School
Activities and Ideas for Students with an Auditory Learning Style
How to Write a Learning Contract and Realize Your Goals
Inspirational Quotations for Adult Students

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The Hero’s Journey Ultimate Writing Guide with Examples

by Alex Cabal

Alex Cabal is the founder and CEO of Scribophile, one of the web’s oldest and largest writing communities, and the editor-in-chief of Standard Ebooks , a volunteer-led project that creates commercial-quality public domain ebooks for free distribution.

What do Star Wars , The Hobbit , and Harry Potter have in common? They’re all examples of a story archetype as old as time. You’ll see this universal narrative structure in books, films, and even video games.

This ultimate Hero’s Journey writing guide will define and explore all quintessential elements of the Hero’s Journey—character archetypes, themes, symbolism, the three act structure, as well as 12 stages of the Hero’s Journey. We’ll even provide a downloadable plot template, tips for writing the Hero’s Journey, and writing prompts to get the creative juices flowing.

What is the Hero’s Journey?

The Hero’s Journey is a universal story structure that follows the personal metamorphosis and psychological development of a protagonist on a heroic adventure. The protagonist goes through a series of stages to overcome adversity and complete a quest to attain an ultimate reward—whether that’s something tangible, like the holy grail, or something internal, like self confidence.

In the process of self-discovery, the archetypal Hero’s Journey is typically cyclical; it begins and ends in the same place (Think Frodo leaving and then returning to the Shire). After the epic quest or adventure has been completed by overcoming adversity and conflict—both physical and mental—the hero arrives where they once began, changed in some as they rose to meet the ultimate conflict or ordeal of the quest.

Joseph Campbell and Christopher Vogler

The Hero’s Journey has a long history of conversation around the form and its uses, with notable contributors including Joseph Campbell and the screenwriter Christopher Vogler , who later revised the steps of the Hero’s Journey.

Joseph Campbell’s “monomyth” framework is the traditional story structure of the Hero’s Journey archetype. Campbell developed it through analysis of ancient myths, folktales, and religious stories. It generally follows three acts in a cyclical, rather than a linear, way: a hero embarks on a journey, faces a crisis, and then returns home transformed and victorious.

Campbell’s ideation of the monomyth in his book The Hero With a Thousand Faces was influenced by Carl Jung’s perspective of psychology and models of self-transformation , where the Hero’s Journey is a path of transformation to a higher self, psychological healing, and spiritual growth.

While Campbell’s original take on the monomyth included 17 steps within the three acts, Christopher Vogler, in his book The Writer’s Journey , refined those 17 steps into 12 stages—the common formula for the modern structure many writers use today.

It’s also worth checking out Maureen Murdock’s work on the archetype, “The Heroine’s Journey.” This takes a look at the female Hero’s Journey, which examines the traditionally masculine journey through a feminist lens.

Hero’s Journey diagram: acts, steps, and stages

Below, you can see the way Volger’s Hero’s Journey is broken into twelve story beats across three acts.

A diagram representing the Hero’s Journey. The 12 steps of the journey surround a circle, which goes in a direction from act 1 to the final act.

Why is the Hero’s Journey so popular?

The structure of the Hero’s Journey appears in many of our most beloved classic stories, and it continues to resonate over time because it explores the concept of personal transformation and growth through both physical and mental trials and tribulations. In some sense, every individual in this mythic structure experiences rites of passage, the search for home and the true authentic self, which is mirrored in a protagonist’s journey of overcoming obstacles while seeking to fulfill a goal.

Additionally, the Hero’s Journey typically includes commonly shared symbols and aspects of the human psyche—the trickster, the mother, the child, etc. These archetypes play a role in creating a story that the reader can recognize from similar dynamics in their own relationships, experiences, and familiar world. Archetypes allow the writer to use these “metaphorical truths”—a playful deceiver, a maternal bond, a person of innocence and purity—to deeply and empathetically connect with the reader through symbolism. That’s why they continue to appear in countless stories all around the world.

Hero’s Journey character archetypes

Character archetypes are literary devices based on a set of qualities that are easy for a reader to identify, empathize with, and understand, as these qualities and traits are common to the human experience.

It should be noted that character archetypes are not stereotypes . While stereotypes are oversimplifications of demographics or personality traits, an archetype is a symbol of a universal type of character that can be recognized either in one’s self or in others in real life.

The following archetypes are commonly used in a Hero’s Journey:

The hero is typically the protagonist or principal point-of-view character within a story. The hero transforms—internally, externally, often both—while on their journey as they experience tests and trials and are aided or hindered by the other archetypes they encounter. In general, the hero must rise to the challenge and at some point make an act of sacrifice for the ultimate greater good. In this way, the Hero’s Journey represents the reader’s own everyday battles and their power to overcome them.

Heroes may be willing or unwilling. Some can be downright unheroic to begin with. Antiheroes are notably flawed characters that must grow significantly before they achieve the status of true hero.

The mentor often possesses divine wisdom or direct experience with the special world, and has faith in the hero. They often give the hero a gift or supernatural aid, which is usually something important for the quest: either a weapon to destroy a monster, or a talisman to enlighten the hero. The mentor may also directly aid the hero or present challenges to them that force internal or external growth. After their meeting, the hero leaves stronger and better prepared for the road ahead.

The herald is the “call to adventure.” They announce the coming of significant change and become the reason the hero ventures out onto a mysterious adventure. The herald is a catalyst that enters the story and makes it impossible for the hero to remain in status quo. Existing in the form of a person or an event, or sometimes just as information, they shift the hero’s balance and change their world.

The Threshold Guardian

This archetype guards the first threshold—the major turning point of the story where the hero must make the true commitment of the journey and embark on their quest to achieve their destiny. Threshold guardians spice up the story by providing obstacles the hero must overcome, but they’re usually not the main antagonist.

The role of the threshold guardian is to help round out the hero along their journey. The threshold guardian will test the hero’s determination and commitment and will drive them forward as the hero enters the next stage of their journey, assisting the development of the hero’s character arc within the plot. The threshold guardian can be a friend who doesn’t believe in the hero’s quest, or a foe that makes the hero question themselves, their desires, or motives in an attempt to deter the hero from their journey. Ultimately, the role of the threshold guardian is to test the hero’s resolve on their quest.

The Shape Shifter

The shape shifter adds dramatic tension to the story and provides the hero with a puzzle to solve. They can seem to be one thing, but in fact be something else. They bring doubt and suspense to the story and test the hero’s ability to discern their path. The shape shifter may be a lover, friend, ally, or enemy that somehow reveals their true self from the hero’s preconceived notion. This often causes the hero internal turmoil, or creates additional challenges and tests to overcome.

The shadow is the “monster under the bed,” and could be repressed feelings, deep trauma, or festering guilt. These all possess the dark energy of the shadow. It is the dark force of the unexpressed, unrealized, rejected, feared aspects of the hero and is often, but not necessarily, represented by the main antagonist or villain.

However, other characters may take the form of the shadow at different stages of the story as “foil characters” that contrast against the hero. They might also represent what could happen if the hero fails to learn, transform, and grow to complete their quest. At times, a hero may even succumb to the shadow, from which they will need to make sacrifices to be redeemed to continue on their overall quest.

The Trickster

The trickster is the jester or fool of the story that not only provides comic relief, but may also act as a commentator as the events of the plot unfold. Tricksters are typically witty, clever, spontaneous, and sometimes even ridiculous. The trickster within a story can bring a light-hearted element to a challenge, or find a clever way to overcome an obstacle.

The Hero’s Journey can be found all across comparative mythology

Hero’s Journey themes and symbols

Alongside character archetypes, there are also archetypes for settings, situations, and symbolic items that can offer meaning to the world within the story or support your story’s theme.

Archetypes of themes, symbols, and situations represent shared patterns of human existence. This familiarity can provide the reader insight into the deeper meaning of a story without the writer needing to explicitly tell them. There are a great number of archetypes and symbols that can be used to reinforce a theme. Some that are common to the Hero’s Journey include:

Situational archetypes

Light vs. dark and the battle of good vs. evil

Death, rebirth, and transformation in the cycle of life

Nature vs. technology, and the evolution of humanity

Rags to riches or vice versa, as commentary on the material world and social status

Wisdom vs. knowledge and innocence vs. experience, in the understanding of intuition and learned experience

Setting archetypes

Gardens may represent the taming of nature, or living in harmony with nature.

Forests may represent reconnection with nature or wildness, or the fear of the unknown.

Cities or small towns may represent humanity at its best and at its worst. A small town may offer comfort and rest, while simultaneously offering judgment; a city may represent danger while simultaneously championing diversity of ideas, beings, and cultures.

Water and fire within a landscape may represent danger, change, purification, and cleansing.

Symbolic items

Items of the past self. These items are generally tokens from home that remind the hero of where they came from and who or what they’re fighting for.

Gifts to the hero. These items may be given to the hero from a mentor, ally, or even a minor character they meet along the way. These items are typically hero talismans, and may or may not be magical, but will aid the hero on their journey.

Found items. These items are typically found along the journey and represent some sort of growth or change within the hero. After all, the hero would never have found the item had they not left their everyday life behind. These items may immediately seem unimportant, but often carry great significance.

Earned rewards. These items are generally earned by overcoming a test or trial, and often represent growth, or give aid in future trials, tests, and conflicts.

The three act structure of the Hero’s Journey

The structure of the Hero’s Journey, including all 12 steps, can be grouped into three stages that encompass each phase of the journey. These acts follow the the external and internal arc of the hero—the beginning, the initiation and transformation, and the return home.

Act One: Departure (Steps 1—5)

The first act introduces the hero within the ordinary world, as they are—original and untransformed. The first act will typically include the first five steps of the Hero’s Journey.

This section allows the writer to set the stage with details that show who the hero is before their metamorphosis—what is the environment of the ordinary world? What’s important to the hero? Why do they first refuse the call, and then, why do they ultimately accept and embark on the journey to meet with the conflict?

This stage introduces the first major plot point of the story, explores the conflict the hero confronts, and provides the opportunity for characterization for the hero and their companions.

The end of the first act generally occurs when the hero has fully committed to the journey and crossed the threshold of the ordinary world—where there is no turning back.

Act Two: Initiation (Steps 6—9)

Once the hero begins their journey, the second act marks the beginning of their true initiation into the unfamiliar world—they have crossed the threshold, and through this choice, have undergone their first transformation.

The second act is generally the longest of the three and includes steps six through nine.

In this act, the hero meets most of the characters that will be pivotal to the plot, including friends, enemies, and allies. It offers the rising action and other minor plot points related to the overarching conflict. The hero will overcome various trials, grow and transform, and navigate subplots—the additional and unforeseen complexity of the conflict.

This act generally ends when the hero has risen to the challenge to overcome the ordeal and receives their reward. At the end of this act, it’s common for the theme and moral of the story to be fully unveiled.

Act Three: Return (Steps 10—12)

The final stage typically includes steps 10—12, generally beginning with the road back—the point in the story where the hero must recommit to the journey and use all of the growth, transformation, gifts and tools acquired along the journey to bring a decisive victory against their final conflict.

From this event, the hero will also be “reborn,” either literally or metaphorically, and then beginning anew as a self-actualized being, equipped with internal knowledge about themselves, external knowledge about the world, and experience.

At the end of the third act, the hero returns home to the ordinary world, bringing back the gifts they earned on their journey. In the final passages, both the hero and their perception of the ordinary world are compared with what they once were.

The 12 steps of the Hero’s Journey

The following guide outlines the 12 steps of the Hero’s Journey and represents a framework for the creation of a Hero’s Journey story template. You don’t necessarily need to follow the explicit cadence of these steps in your own writing, but they should act as checkpoints to the overall story.

We’ll also use JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit as a literary example for each of these steps. The Hobbit does an exemplary job of following the Hero’s Journey, and it’s also an example of how checkpoints can exist in more than one place in a story, or how they may deviate from the typical 12-step process of the Hero’s Journey.

1. The Ordinary World

This stage in the Hero’s Journey is all about exposition. This introduces the hero’s backstory—who the hero is, where they come from, their worldview, culture, and so on. This offers the reader a chance to relate to the character in their untransformed form.

As the story and character arc develop, the reader is brought along the journey of transformation. By starting at the beginning, a reader has a basic understanding of what drives the hero, so they can understand why the hero makes the choices they do. The ordinary world shows the protagonist in their comfort zone, with their worldview being limited to the perspective of their everyday life.

Characters in the ordinary world may or may not be fully comfortable or satisfied, but they don’t have a point of reference to compare—they have yet to leave the ordinary world to gain the knowledge to do so.

Step One example

The Hobbit begins by introducing Bilbo in the Shire as a respectable and well-to-do member of the community. His ordinary world is utopian and comfortable. Yet, even within a village that is largely uninterested in the concerns of the world outside, the reader is provided a backstory: even though Bilbo buys into the comforts and normalcy of the Shire, he still yearns for adventure—something his neighbors frown upon. This ordinary world of the Shire is disrupted with the introduction of Gandalf—the “mentor”—who is somewhat uncomfortably invited to tea.

2. Call to Adventure

The call to adventure in the Hero’s Journey structure is the initial internal conflict that the protagonist hero faces, that drives them to the true conflict that they must overcome by the end of their journey.

The call occurs within the known world of the character. Here the writer can build on the characterization of the protagonist by detailing how they respond to the initial call. Are they hesitant, eager, excited, refusing, or willing to take a risk?

Step Two example

Bilbo’s call to adventure takes place at tea as the dwarves leisurely enter his home, followed by Gandalf, who identifies Bilbo as the group’s missing element—the burglar, and the lucky 14th member.

Bilbo and his ordinary world are emphasized by his discomfort with his rambunctious and careless guests. Yet as the dwarves sing stories of old adventures, caverns, and lineages, which introduce and foreshadow the conflict to come, a yearning for adventure is stirred. Though he still clings to his ordinary world and his life in the Shire, he’s conflicted. Should he leave the shire and experience the world, or stay in his comfortable home? Bilbo continues to refuse the call, but with mixed feelings.

3. Refusal of the Call

The refusal of the call in the Hero’s Journey showcases a “clinging” to one’s original self or world view. The initial refusal of the call represents a fear of change, as well as a resistance to the internal transformation that will occur after the adventure has begun.

The refusal reveals the risks that the protagonist faces if they were to answer the call, and shows what they’ll leave behind in the ordinary world once they accept.

The refusal of the call creates tension in the story, and should show the personal reasons why the hero is refusing—inner conflict, fear of change, hesitation, insecurity, etc. This helps make their character clearer for the reader.

These are all emotions a reader can relate to, and in presenting them through the hero, the writer deepens the reader’s relationship with them and helps the reader sympathize with the hero’s internal plight as they take the first step of transformation.

Step Three example

Bilbo refuses the call in his first encounter with Gandalf, and in his reaction to the dwarves during tea. Even though Bilbo’s “Tookish” tendencies make him yearn for adventure, he goes to bed that night still refusing the call. The next morning, as Bilbo awakes to an empty and almost fully clean hobbit home, he feels a slight disappointment for not joining the party, but quickly soothes his concerns by enjoying the comfort of his home—i.e. the ordinary world. Bilbo explores his hesitation to disembark from the ordinary world, questioning why a hobbit would become mixed up in the adventures of others, and choosing not to meet the dwarves at the designated location.

4. Meeting the Mentor

Meeting the mentor in the Hero’s Journey is the stage that provides the hero protagonist with a guide, relationship, and/or informational asset that has experience outside the ordinary world. The mentor offers confidence, advice, wisdom, training, insight, tools, items, or gifts of supernatural wonder that the hero will use along the journey and in overcoming the ultimate conflict.

The mentor often represents someone who has attempted to overcome, or actually has overcome, an obstacle, and encourages the hero to pursue their calling, regardless of the hero’s weaknesses or insecurities. The mentor may also explicitly point out the hero’s weaknesses, forcing them to reckon with and accept them, which is the first step to their personal transformation.

Note that not all mentors need to be a character . They can also be objects or knowledge that has been instilled in the hero somehow—cultural ethics, spiritual guidance, training of a particular skill, a map, book, diary, or object that illuminates the path forward, etc. In essence, the mentor character or object has a role in offering the protagonist outside help and guidance along the Hero’s Journey, and plays a key role in the protagonist’s transition from normalcy to heroism.

The mentor figure also offers the writer the opportunity to incorporate new information by expanding upon the story, plot, or backstory in unique ways. They do this by giving the hero information that would otherwise be difficult for the writer to convey naturally.

The mentor may accompany the hero throughout most of the story, or they may only periodically be included to facilitate changes and transformation within them.

Step Four example

The mentor, Gandalf, is introduced almost immediately. Gandalf is shown to be the mentor, firstly through his arrival from—and wisdom of—the outside world; and secondly, through his selection of Bilbo for the dwarven party by identifying the unique characteristics Bilbo has that are essential to overcoming the challenges in the journey. Gandalf doesn’t accompany Bilbo and the company through all of the trials and tribulations of the plot, but he does play a key role in offering guidance and assistance, and saves the group in times of dire peril.

5. Crossing the Threshold

As the hero crosses the first threshold, they begin their personal quest toward self-transformation. Crossing the threshold means that the character has committed to the journey, and has stepped outside of the ordinary world in the pursuit of their goal. This typically marks the conclusion of the first act.

The threshold lies between the ordinary world and the special world, and marks the point of the story where the hero fully commits to the road ahead. It’s a crucial stage in the Hero’s Journey, as the hero wouldn’t be able to grow and transform by staying in the ordinary world where they’re comfortable and their world view can’t change.

The threshold isn’t necessarily a specific place within the world of the story, though a place can symbolize the threshold—for example a border, gateway, or crossroads that separate what is safe and “known” from what is potentially dangerous. It can also be a moment or experience that causes the hero to recognize that the comforts and routine of their world no longer apply—like the loss of someone or something close to the hero, for example. The purpose of the threshold is to take the hero out of their element and force them, and the reader, to adapt from the known to the unknown.

This moment is crucial to the story’s tension. It marks the first true shift in the character arc and the moment the adventure has truly begun. The threshold commonly forces the hero into a situation where there’s no turning back. This is sometimes called the initiation stage or the departure stage.

Step Five example

The threshold moment in The Hobbit occurs when the party experiences true danger as a group for the first time. Bilbo, voted as scout by the party and eager to prove his burglar abilities, sneaks upon a lone fire in the forest where he finds three large trolls. Rather than turn back empty-handed—as he initially wants to—Bilbo chooses to prove himself, plucking up the courage to pickpocket the trolls—but is caught in the process. The dwarves are also captured and fortunately, Gandalf, the mentor, comes to save the party.

Bilbo’s character arc is solidified in this threshold moment. He experiences his first transformation when he casts aside fear and seeks to prove himself as a burglar, and as an official member of the party. This moment also provides further characterization of the party as a whole, proving the loyalty of the group in seeking out their captured member.

Gandalf’s position as the mentor is also firmly established as he returns to ultimately save all of the members of the party from being eaten by trolls. The chapter ends with Bilbo taking ownership of his first hero talisman—the sword that will accompany him through the rest of the adventure.

6. Tests, Allies, Enemies

Once the hero has crossed the threshold, they must now encounter tests of courage, make allies, and inevitably confront enemies. All these elements force the hero to learn the new ways of the special world and how it differs from the hero’s ordinary world—i.e. how the rules have changed, the conditions of the special world vs. the ordinary world, and the various beings and places within it.

All these elements spark stages of transformation within the hero—learning who they can trust and who they can’t, learning new skills, seeking training from the mentor, and overcoming challenges that force and drive them to grow and transform.

The hero may both succeed and fail at various points of this stage, which will test their commitment to the journey. The writer can create tension by making it clear that the hero may or may not succeed at the critical moment of crisis. These crises can be external or internal.

External conflicts are issues that the character must face and overcome within the plot—e.g. the enemy has a sword drawn and the hero must fight to survive.

Internal conflicts occur inside the hero. For example, the hero has reached safety, but their ally is in peril; will they step outside their comfort zone and rise to the occasion and save their friend? Or will they return home to their old life and the safety of the ordinary world?

Tests are conflicts and threats that the hero must face before they reach the true conflict, or ordeal, of the story. These tests set the stage and prime the hero to meet and achieve the ultimate goal. They provide the writer the opportunity to further the character development of the hero through their actions, inactions, and reactions to what they encounter. The various challenges they face will teach them valuable lessons, as well as keep the story compelling and the reader engaged.

Allies represent the characters that offer support to the protagonist along the journey. Some allies may be introduced from the beginning, while others may be gained along the journey. Secondary characters and allies provide additional nuance for the hero, through interactions, events, and relationships that further show who the hero is at heart, what they believe in, and what they’re willing to fight for. The role of the allies is to bring hope, inspiration, and further drive the hero to do what needs to be done.

Enemies represent a foil to the allies. While allies bring hope and inspiration, enemies will provide challenges, conflicts, tests, and challenges. Both allies and enemies may instigate transformative growth, but enemies do so in a way that fosters conflict and struggle.

Characterization of enemies can also enhance the development of the hero through how they interact and the lessons learned through those interactions. Is the hero easily duped, forgiving, empathetic, merciful? Do they hold a grudge and seek revenge? Who is the hero now that they have been harmed, faced an enemy, and lost pieces of their innocent worldview? To answer that, the hero is still transforming and gestating with every lesson, test, and enemy faced along the way.

Step Six example

As the plot of The Hobbit carries on, Bilbo encounters many tests, allies, and enemies that all drive complexity in the story. A few examples include:

The first major obstacle that Bilbo faces occurs within the dark and damp cave hidden in the goblin town. All alone, Bilbo must pluck up the wit and courage to outriddle a creature named Gollum. In doing so, Bilbo discovers the secret power of a golden ring (another hero talisman) that will aid him and the party through the rest of the journey.

The elves encountered after Bilbo “crosses the threshold” are presented as allies in the story. The hero receives gifts of food, a safe place to rest, and insight and guidance that allows the party to continue on their journey. While the party doesn’t dwell long with the elves, the elves also provide further character development for the party at large: the serious dwarf personalities are juxtaposed against the playful elvish ones, and the elves offer valuable historical insight with backstory to the weapons the party gathered from the troll encounter.

Goblins are a recurring enemy within the story that the hero and party must continue to face, fight, and run from. The goblins present consistent challenges that force Bilbo to face fear and learn and adapt, not only to survive but to save his friends.

Step Seven: “Approach to the Inmost Cave”

7. Approach to the Inmost Cave

The approach to the inmost cave of the Hero’s Journey is the tense quiet before the storm; it’s the part of the story right before the hero faces their greatest fear, and it can be positioned in a few different ways. By now, the hero has overcome obstacles, setbacks, and tests, gained and lost allies and enemies, and has transformed in some way from the original protagonist first introduced in the ordinary world.

The moment when the hero approaches the inmost cave can be a moment of reflection, reorganization, and rekindling of morale. It presents an opportunity for the main characters of the story to come together in a moment of empathy for losses along the journey; a moment of planning and plotting next steps; an opportunity for the mentor to teach a final lesson to the hero; or a moment for the hero to sit quietly and reflect upon surmounting the challenge they have been journeying toward for the length of their adventure.

The “cave” may or may not be a physical place where the ultimate ordeal and conflict will occur. The approach represents the momentary period where the hero assumes their final preparation for the overall challenge that must be overcome. It’s a time for the hero and their allies, as well as the reader, to pause and reflect on the events of the story that have already occurred, and to consider the internal and external growth and transformation of the hero.

Having gained physical and/or emotional strength and fortitude through their trials and tests, learned more rules about the special world, found and lost allies and friends, is the hero prepared to face danger and their ultimate foe? Reflection, tension, and anticipation are the key elements of crafting the approach to the cave.

Step Seven example

The approach to the cave in The Hobbit occurs as the party enters the tunnel of the Lonely Mountain. The tunnel is the access point to the ultimate goal—Thorin’s familial treasure, as well as the ultimate test—the formidable dragon Smaug. During this part of the story, the party must hide, plot, and plan their approach to the final conflict. It’s at this time that Bilbo realizes he must go alone to scout out and face the dragon.

8. The Ordeal

The ordeal is the foreshadowed conflict that the hero must face, and represents the midpoint of the story. While the ordeal is the ultimate conflict that the hero knows they must overcome, it’s a false climax to the complete story—there’s still much ground to cover in the journey, and the hero will still be tested after completing this, the greatest challenge. In writing the ordeal phase of the Hero’s Journey, the writer should craft this as if it actually were the climax to the tale, even though it isn’t.

The first act, and the beginning of the second act, have built up to the ordeal with characterization and the transformation of the hero through their overcoming tests and trials. This growth—both internal and external—has all occurred to set the hero up to handle this major ordeal.

As this stage commences, the hero is typically faced with fresh challenges to make the ordeal even more difficult than they previously conceived. This may include additional setbacks for the hero, the hero’s realization that they were misinformed about the gravity of the situation, or additional conflicts that make the ordeal seem insurmountable.

These setbacks cause the hero to confront their greatest fears and build tension for both the hero and the reader, as they both question if the hero will ultimately succeed or fail. In an epic fantasy tale, this may mean a life-or-death moment for the hero, or experiencing death through the loss of an important ally or the mentor. In a romance, it may be the moment of crisis where a relationship ends or a partner reveals their dark side or true self, causing the hero great strife.

This is the rock-bottom moment for the hero, where they lose hope, courage, and faith. At this point, even though the hero has already crossed the threshold, this part of the story shows how the hero has changed in such a way that they can never return to their original self: even if they return to the ordinary world, they’ll never be the same; their perception of the world has been modified forever.

Choosing to endure against all odds and costs to face the ordeal represents the loss of the hero’s original self from the ordinary world, and a huge internal transformation occurs within the hero as they must rise and continue forth to complete their journey and do what they set out to do from the beginning.

The ordeal may also be positioned as an introduction to the greater villain through a trial with a shadow villain, where the hero realizes that the greatest conflict is unveiled as something else, still yet to come. In these instances, the hero may fail, or barely succeed, but must learn a crucial lesson and be metaphorically resurrected through their failure to rise again and overcome the greater challenge.

Step Eight example

Bilbo must now face his ultimate challenge: burgle the treasure from the dragon. This is the challenge that was set forth from the beginning, as it’s his purpose as the party’s 14th member, the burglar, anointed by Gandalf, the mentor. Additional conflicts arise as Bilbo realizes that he must face the dragon alone, and in doing so, must rely on all of the skills and gifts in the form of talismans and tokens he has gained throughout the adventure.

During the ordeal, Bilbo uses the courage he has gained by surmounting the story’s previous trials; he’s bolstered by his loyalty to the group and relies upon the skills and tools he has earned in previous trials. Much as he outwitted Gollum in the cave, Bilbo now uses his wit as well as his magical ring to defeat Smaug in a game of riddles, which ultimately leads Smaug out of the lair so that Bilbo can complete what he was set out to do—steal the treasure.

The reward of the Hero’s Journey is a moment of triumph, celebration, or change as the hero achieves their first major victory. This is a moment of reflection for both the reader and the hero, to take a breath to contemplate and acknowledge the growth, development, and transformation that has occurred so far.

The reward is the boon that the hero learns, is granted, or steals, that will be crucial to facing the true climax of the story that is yet to come. The reward may be a physical object, special knowledge, or reconciliation of some sort, but it’s always a thing that allows for some form of celebration or replenishment and provides the drive to succeed before the journey continues.

Note that the reward may not always be overtly positive—it may also be a double-edged sword that could harm them physically or spiritually. This type of reward typically triggers yet another internal transformation within the hero, one that grants them the knowledge and personal drive to complete the journey and face their remaining challenges.

From the reward, the hero is no longer externally driven to complete the journey, but has evolved to take on the onus of doing so.

Examples of rewards may include:

A weapon, elixir, or object that will be necessary to complete the quest.

Special knowledge, or a personal transformation to use against a foe.

An eye-opening experience that provides deep insight and fundamentally changes the hero and their position within the story and world.

Reconciliation with another character, or with themselves.

No matter what the reward is, the hero should experience some emotional or spiritual revelation and a semblance of inner peace or personal resolve to continue the journey. Even if the reward is not overtly positive, the hero and the reader deserve a moment of celebration for facing the great challenge they set out to overcome.

Step Nine example

Bilbo defeats the dragon at a battle of wits and riddles, and now receives his reward. He keeps the gifts he has earned, both the dagger and the gold ring. He is also granted his slice of the treasure, and the Lonely Mountain is returned to Thorin. The party at large is rewarded for completing the quest and challenge they set out to do.

However, Tolkien writes the reward to be more complex than it first appears. The party remains trapped and hungry within the Mountain as events unfold outside of it. Laketown has been attacked by Smaug, and the defenders will want compensation for the damage to their homes and for their having to kill the dragon. Bilbo discovers, and then hides, the Arkenstone (a symbolic double edged reward) to protect it from Thorin’s selfishness and greed.

10. The Road Back

The road back in the Hero’s Journey is the beginning of the third act, and represents a turning point within the story. The hero must recommit to the journey, alongside the new stakes and challenges that have arisen from the completion of the original goal.

The road back presents roadblocks—new and unforeseen challenges to the hero that they must now face on their journey back to the ordinary world. The trials aren’t over yet, and the stakes are raised just enough to keep the story compelling before the final and ultimate conflict—the hero’s resurrection—is revealed in the middle of the third act.

The hero has overcome their greatest challenge in the Ordeal and they aren’t the same person they were when they started. This stage of the story often sees the hero making a choice, or reflecting on their transformed state compared to their state at the start of the journey.

The writer’s purpose in the third act is not to eclipse the upcoming and final conflict, but to up the stakes, show the true risk of the final climax, and to reflect on what it will take for the hero to ultimately prevail. The road back should offer a glimmer of hope—the light at the end of the tunnel—and should let the reader know the dramatic finale is about to arrive.

Step Ten example

What was once a journey to steal treasure and slay a dragon has developed new complications. Our hero, Bilbo, must now use all of the powers granted in his personal transformation, as well as the gifts and rewards he earned on the quest, to complete the final stages of the journey.

This is the crisis moment of The Hobbit ; the armies of Laketown are prepared for battle to claim their reward for killing Smaug; the fearless leader of their party, Thorin, has lost reason and succumbed to greed; and Bilbo makes a crucial choice based his personal growth: he gives the Arkenstone to the king as a bargaining chip for peace. Bilbo also briefly reconnects with the mentor, Gandalf, who warns him of the unpleasant times ahead, but comforts Bilbo by saying that things may yet turn out for the best. Bilbo then loyally returns to his friends, the party of dwarves, to stand alongside them in the final battle.

11. Resurrection

The resurrection stage of the Hero’s Journey is the final climax of the story, and the heart of the third act. By now the hero has experienced internal and external transformation and a loss of innocence, coming out with newfound knowledge. They’re fully rooted in the special world, know its rules, and have made choices that underline this new understanding.

The hero must now overcome the final crisis of their external quest. In an epic fantasy tale, this may be the last battle of light versus darkness, good versus evil, a cumulation of fabulous forces. In a thriller, the hero might ultimately face their own morality as they approach the killer. In a drama or romance, the final and pivotal encounter in a relationship occurs and the hero puts their morality ahead of their immediate desires.

The stakes are the highest they’ve ever been, and the hero must often choose to make a sacrifice. The sacrifice may occur as a metaphoric or symbolic death of the self in some way; letting go of a relationship, title, or mental/emotional image of the self that a hero once used as a critical aspect of their identity, or perhaps even a metaphoric physical death—getting knocked out or incapacitated, losing a limb, etc.

Through whatever the great sacrifice is, be it loss or a metaphoric death, the hero will experience a form of resurrection, purification, or internal cleansing that is their final internal transformation.

In this stage, the hero’s character arc comes to an end, and balance is restored to the world. The theme of the story is fully fleshed out and the hero, having reached some form of self-actualization, is forever changed. Both the reader and the hero experience catharsis—the relief, insight, peace, closure, and purging of fear that had once held the hero back from their final transformation.

Step Eleven example

All the armies have gathered, and the final battle takes place. Just before the battle commences, Bilbo tells Thorin that it was he who gave the Arkenstone to the city of men and offers to sacrifice his reward of gold for taking the stone. Gandalf, the mentor, arrives, standing beside Bilbo and his decision. Bilbo is shunned by Thorin and is asked to leave the party for his betrayal.

Bilbo experiences a symbolic death when he’s knocked out by a stone. Upon awakening, Bilbo is brought to a dying Thorin, who forgives him of his betrayal, and acknowledges that Bilbo’s actions were truly the right thing to do. The theme of the story is fully unveiled: that bravery and courage comes in all sizes and forms, and that greed and gold are less worthy than a life rich in experiences and relationships.

12. Return with the Elixir

The elixir in the Hero’s Journey is the final reward the hero brings with them on their return, bridging their two worlds. It’s a reward hard earned through the various relationships, tests, and growth the hero has experienced along their journey. The “elixir” can be a magical potion, treasure, or object, but it can also be intangible—love, wisdom, knowledge, or experience.

The return is key to the circular nature of the Hero’s Journey. It offers a resolution to both the reader and the hero, and a comparison of their growth from when the journey began.

Without the return, the story would have a linear nature, a beginning and an end. In bringing the self-actualized hero home to the ordinary world, the character arc is completed, and the changes they’ve undergone through the journey are solidified. They’ve overcome the unknown, and though they’re returning home, they can no longer resume their old life because of their new insight and experiences.

Step Twelve example

The small yet mighty hero Bilbo is accompanied on his journey home by his mentor Gandalf, as well as the allies he gathered along his journey. He returns with many rewards—his dagger, his golden ring, and his 1/14th split of the treasure—yet his greatest rewards are his experience and the friends he has made along the way. Upon entering the Shire Bilbo sings a song of adventure, and the mentor Gandalf remarks, “My dear Bilbo! Something is the matter with you, you are not the hobbit you were.”

The final pages of The Hobbit explore Bilbo’s new self in the Shire, and how the community now sees him as a changed hobbit—no longer quite as respectable as he once was, with odd guests who visit from time to time. Bilbo also composes his story “There and Back Again,” a tale of his experiences, underlining his greatest reward—stepping outside of the Shire and into the unknown, then returning home, a changed hobbit.

Books that follow the Hero’s Journey

One of the best ways to become familiar with the plot structure of the Hero’s Journey is to read stories and books that successfully use it to tell a powerful tale. Maybe they’ll inspire you to use the hero’s journey in your own writing!

The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien.

The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling.

The Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin.

The Odyssey by Homer.

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Writing tips for the Hero’s Journey

Writing a Hero’s Journey story often requires planning beforehand to organize the plot, structure, and events of the story. Here are some tips to use the hero’s journey archetype in a story:

Use a template or note cards to organize and store your ideas. This can assist in ensuring that you tie up any loose ends in the plot, and that the cadence of your story is already outlined before you begin writing.

Use word count goals for writing different sections of your story. This can help you keep pace while you plan and write the first draft. You can always revise, edit, and add in detail at later stages of development, but getting the ideas written without bogging them down with details can assist in preparing your outline, and may perhaps provide additional inspiration and guidance along the way.

Lean into creativity and be flexible with the 12 steps. They don’t need to occur in the exact order we’ve listed above, but that ordering can offer great checkpoint moments for your story.

Invest in characterization and ensure that your main character is balanced with credible strengths and weaknesses. A perfect, pure hero has no room to grow. A one-dimensional villain who relies on the trope of “pure evil” without any motivations for their actions is boring and predictable.

Ensure tension and urgency is woven into the story. An epic tale to the grocery store for baby formula may still be fraught with danger, and the price of failure is a hungry child. Without urgency, tension, and risk, a Hero’s Journey will fall flat.

Be hard on your characters. Give them deep conflicts that truly test their nature, and their mental, physical, and spiritual selves. An easy journey isn’t a memorable one.

Have a balance of scenes that play on both positive and negative emotions and outcomes for the hero to create a compelling plot line that continues to engage your reader. A story that’s relentlessly positive doesn’t provide a pathway for the hero to transform. Likewise, a story that’s nothing but doom, strife, and turmoil, without a light at the end of the tunnel or an opportunity for growth, can make a story feel stagnant and unengaging.

Reward your characters and your reader. Personal transformation and the road to the authentic self may be grueling, but there’s peace or joy at the end of the tunnel. Even if your character doesn’t fully saved the world, they—and the reader—should be rewarded with catharsis, a new perspective, or personal insight at the end of the tale.

Hero’s Journey templates

Download these free templates to help you plan out your Hero’s Journey:

Download the Hero’s Journey template template (docx) Download the Hero’s Journey template template (pdf)

Prompts and practices to help you write your own Hero’s Journey

Use the downloadable template listed below for the following exercises:

Read a book or watch a movie that follows the Hero’s Journey. Use the template to fill in when each step occurs or is completed. Make note of themes and symbols, character arcs, the main plot, and the subplots that drive complexity in the story.

When writing, use a timer set to 2—5 minutes per section to facilitate bursts of creativity. Brainstorm ideas for cadence, plot, and characters within the story. The outline you create can always be modified, but the timer ensures you can get ideas on paper without a commitment; you’re simply jotting down ideas as quickly as you can.

Use the downloadable template above to generate outlines based on the following prompts.

A woman’s estranged mother has died. A friend of the mother arrives at the woman’s home to tell her that her mother has left all her belongings to her daughter, and hands her a letter. The letter details the mother’s life, and the daughter must visit certain places and people to find her mother’s house and all the belongings in it—learning more about her mother’s life, and herself, along the way.

The last tree on earth has fallen, and technology can no longer sustain human life on Earth. An engineer, having long ago received alien radio signals from a tower in their backyard, has dedicated their life to building a spaceship in their garage. The time has come to launch, and the engineer must select a group of allies to bring with them to the stars, on a search for a new life, a new home, and “the others” out there in the universe.

A detective is given a new case: to find a much-talked-about murderer. The twist is, the murderer has sent a letter to the detective agency, quietly outing a homicidal politician who is up for re-election and is a major financial contributor to the police. In the letter, the murderer states that if the politician doesn’t come clean about their crimes, the murderer will kill the politician on the night of the election. The detective must solve the case before the election, and come to terms with their own feelings of justice and morality.

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The Hero's Journey: Stages, Steps, and Examples

Remember when you were younger, probably around middle school age, and your teacher introduced the Greek mythology lesson? It was such an exciting time of reading books like Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief . Maybe you fell in love with Percy, a lovable and relatable young boy struggling with his identity. Or maybe you were a part of the dystopian crave and fell in love with Katniss Everdeen from Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games . Either way, this may have been your first introduction to the hero's journey (we're sure you've seen the templates). After all, the hero's journey is all around us!

If you fell in love with reading a hero's journey archetype and want to try to create your own modern hero, then you've come to the perfect place. We're going to explore the crucial steps of a hero's journey and what they entail, so you can have a template through which to write your own story. Your questions act as our call to action (you'll understand what we mean by that shortly). But first, let's define a hero's journey. After all, how can we possibly evaluate the steps of a hero's journey if we don't even have a solid definition?

The hero's journey

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: The hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man. The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

The hero's journey is the story of a hero who leaves the ordinary world to go on an adventure full of peril. On it, the hero will gain both adversaries and allies, and will face a great evil. The hero will also face his shadow self, which is perhaps the most frightening antagonist of all.

Campbell references 17 total steps in the hero's journey. Wait a minute, 17 steps? That seems like a lot. Don't worry! Depending on who you ask, the number of steps and what those steps look like will differ, though they all follow a similar template. The hero's journey is commonly accepted to have 12 main steps. To make it even simpler on you, these steps can actually be broken down into three stages: the departure, the initiation, and the return.

Stage 1: the departure

The departure is just as you might expect. This is the stage where the protagonist is introduced, typically in a modern, realistic setting, and we are introduced to some struggles the protagonist may be experiencing or questions they may have about their own identity. This stage can be broken into our first four steps.

The ordinary world : As we said, we are first introduced to our protagonist and soon-to-be hero in the reality we know. It is just as the first step is listed: the ordinary world. There is no magic, mayhem, or supernatural creatures evident in this ordinary world. It is the world the protagonist has known all their life.
Call to adventure : This is one of the steps you may be most familiar with, as it's one of the most commonly known phrases in literature. Regardless of what genre you are writing, your hero has a call to action. After all, there must be a reason why the protagonist leaves the mundane, comfortable lifestyle they've lived up until now. This is the moment where the journey or quest is initiated: a problem, challenge, or quest is presented to the protagonist, and they must decide to leave behind their ordinary lives to face new challenges. Whether the protagonist is immediately threatened, a family member is threatened, or they see something they shouldn't have, it is up to the protagonist to respond to the call.
Refusal of the call : Wow, isn't it so cool that the hero was discovered by some other world (or they discovered it!) and now they get to embark on this awesome journey? Yes, well, sometimes. Despite how amazing it may seem to be called to accept a quest (hence the reason why this archetype is so popular in literature), the protagonist may not be feeling that excitement. In fact, it's likely that the protagonist is feeling nervous, anxious, scared, hesitant, and thus, resistant to the call at first (don't worry, they'll give in eventually).
Meeting the mentor/supernatural aid : Okay, so the protagonist is done refusing the call. Maybe they've gotten over their fears, or maybe something happened that makes it impossible for them to continue to deny their inevitable quest. Yay! Now it's time for our protagonist to meet their mentor. The mentor can be supernatural or not, but they act as a teacher, trainer, and instructor for the protagonist. After all, the protagonist is going to need some serious guidance once they've been booted out of their ordinary world. This step involves a lot of trust, though, as the protagonist may barely know their mentor. This step also involves the passing on of certain tools and equipment the protagonist may need to succeed on their journey. These can be special powers or physical instruments.

Stage 2: the initiation

figure standing beneath the light coming in from a save hole

Now that you've spent a decent chunk of time introducing your protagonist (and hero!) and their conflict, it's time to head into the second stage of the hero's journey: the initiation. Before you do this, though, ensure you've checked off the first four items on the previous list. It is crucial that you meet these criteria for a successful hero's journey. After all, the hero can't be truly initiated into their new world if you have not established their old world, their main conflict, and the introduction of their next steps.

This next stage will take up the largest portion of your story. You should fill it with lots of new characters, settings, and trials and tests for your protagonist to endure. This is also a stage where you should focus a lot on character development for your protagonist. No person is going to go through a massive journey and end up the same person they once were when everything is said and done. Take this time to think about how you want your protagonist to change and what it's going to take to accomplish that change.

Crossing the first threshold : This is the point at which the hero decides to embark on the adventure and cross over into the unknown, leaving his or her ordinary world behind. This is called the threshold because there is something or someone acting as a literal barrier between the protagonist's ordinary world and their new world. Beyond the threshold lies trials and tribulations and potential risks and dangers. Once the protagonist takes that first step beyond this threshold, there is no returning to the life they once knew. This is where the hero's actual journey truly begins.
Introduction to tests, friends, and foe : This is the step of the story where the cast of characters expands and a new setting, the new world, is introduced. The protagonist may be lost in their new world, so they must evaluate the new people around them to identify potential allies, enemies, or morally ambiguous characters. Trust is established or denied. Just like anyone would struggle with encountering anew environment, the protagonist will endure some struggles of their own, but this is how they'll determine who is friend and who is foe, establishing other character roles in the process. The rules of the ordinary world do not apply to this new world, so hopefully the protagonist meets some good people who will teach him the new ways of life.
Approaching the innermost cave : At this point on the hero's journey, they have left all semblance of the ordinary world behind. This step marks the preparation for the main event of the journey. The protagonist may gather materials and even other characters, if they're trustworthy enough, to take on the rest of the steps of the quest with them. The cave acts as a metaphor for what the protagonist is about to endure: risk, danger, darkness, and even potential loss. This step also includes some of the tests leading up to the large test yet, which happens to be the next step in the hero's journey.
The ordeal : Buckle up, this is about to be a wild ride! That's right, your hero has finally made it to one of the biggest challenges of all. The protagonist is no longer approaching the innermost cave. Rather, the protagonist is now fully in the belly of the beast, and what a beast it is! The ordeal is usually not the climax of the story, but this is the moment where the protagonist truly transforms from an ordinary character into a true hero. It may involve their greatest fear or a physically or mentally demanding task.
The reward : If your protagonist, now hero, succeeds in their greatest challenge, then they will be given a reward that makes the journey worth so much time, effort, and challenge. If they can succeed, then there is hope for them, that bright light that shines through the top of a dark cave and promises fulfillment and a future. This is what the hero has been fighting for this whole time. As for the reward itself, you should make sure it makes sense in the context of your story. It can be an object, a piece of knowledge, or even something entirely different, so long as its value matches the degree of the journey.

Stage 3: the return

a man stands at the top of a hill with his fist raised and a reflection of his face overlaying the figure

Wahoo, your hero has endured so much and has finally gotten their reward! It's over, right? They can return to their ordinary life and reap the benefits of all their hard work? Wrong! Things are never as easy as they seem, especially in a hero's journey, so why would the road back to the ordinary world be any different for your hero?

On the road again : This is the turning point, literally. The hero turns back around, hoping to return to their normal life after receiving their reward. But thing's are never that simple, so be sure to make sure that road is blocked. Traffic cones, stoplights, maybe a supernatural villain or catastrophic natural disaster! That should do the trick. If the road back home was easy, we'd be bored, so maintain the stakes with challenges for the hero to face as they make their way back home.
The resurrection : Congratulations, you've finally reached the climax of your story. Remember how we said the ordeal was the moment where your protagonist transformed from an ordinary character into an actual hero, this is the moment where they can prove to us that they deserve the hero title, after all. The stakes become extremely high, as the hero does not want to fail after having endured so much already. This is the final test for the hero and the final opportunity for the villain or opposing forces to defeat the hero. If the hero comes out on top, then they will finally be able to reach that light at the end of the tunnel.
Return with the elixir : The hero has finally completed all their challenges and is able to return home with their reward. Their transformation is complete, and they've most likely become a better person because of the journey. Or, if you want to add a twist to this step, you can always have the hero fail to return without they set out to receive, but you better be prepared to write a sequel and a whole other journey!

Following the template

Since we mentioned The Hunger Games at the very beginning, let's use Katniss Everdeen and her hero's journey as a model for this template.

The ordinary world : Katniss Everdeen is introduced as a citizen on District 12, a poor mining district. She spends her days hunting in the woods to provide food for her family.
The call to action : Every year, a reaping takes place where a male and female tribute from each district is randomly chosen to take place in the Hunger Games, a fight to the death. During the reaping, Katniss' sister Primrose is selected, so Katniss volunteers to take her place as the female tribute from District 12.
Refusal of the call : As we mentioned, you may not include all 12 steps of the hero's journey in your own story. Katniss does not actually refuse the call, as she volunteered herself to save her sister. A refusal of the call is slightly seen in Peeta, Katniss' fellow tribute, as he is visibly nervous and shaken up. The nature of this story makes it so that a refusal is impossible.
Meeting the mentor : Katniss meets Haymitch Abernathy, a previous Hunger Games victor from her District. He is her literal mentor and is meant to teach her how to make allies, get sponsors, and survive in the arena. She also finds a mentor in Cinna, the person in charge of her appearance for promotions.
Crossing the threshold : Katniss is whisked out of District 12 and on the train to the gaudy, wealthy Capitol.
Introduction to tests, friends, and foe : Katniss must attempt to learn who to trust while also earning sponsors and impressing the Game Makers. Katniss makes a reluctant alliance with Peeta and admires Rue from District 11. During training, it is evident that the Careers (tributes from the wealthier districts) are enemies.
Approaching the innermost cave : Katniss enters the physical arena.
The ordeal : The arena is full of challenges: tracker jackers, mutant wolves, poisonous berries, and other tributes trying to survive. The games themselves are the whole ordeal.
The reward : Katniss and Peeta are the last tributes standing.
On the road again : Although Katniss and Peeta have survived, there can only be one winner, and the Capitol wants to force them to select who lives and who dies.
The resurrection : Katniss' bold attempt at a mutual suicide leads to both of them being allowed to live as victors, lest they become martyrs in front of the whole country.
Return with the elixir : Katniss and Peeta return to District 12 as victors, allowing them to live lives of wealth and luxury. If you've read the books, you'll know this is nowhere near the end of Katniss' journey.

Reaping the rewards

If you've managed to check off all 12 steps on our hero's journey checklist, then you've got yourself an awesome hero's journey. If you're just starting out on your own journey of writing for a hero, then be sure to follow this template for maximum results. Be the hero in your own journey and remember to never give up as you face those roadblocks and challenges while buckling down and writing a story of your own!

Header photo by Zoltan Tasi .

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Percy Jackson's Hero's Journey in The Lightning Thief

In this activity, activity overview, template and class instructions, more storyboard that activities, this activity is part of many teacher guides, use this lesson plan with your class.

Related to both plot diagram and types of literary conflict, the ” Hero’s Journey ” is a recurring pattern of stages many heroes undergo over the course of their stories. Joseph Campbell, an American mythologist, writer, and lecturer, articulated this cycle after researching and reviewing numerous myths and stories from a variety of time periods and regions of the world. He found that they all share fundamental principles. This led to the Hero’s Journey , also known as the Monomyth.

Percy Jackson has his own Hero’s Journey, just like the great heroes of old. He is, after all, a demigod born of Poseidon. Have students work together to discover the important events that fit into each category. This activity may be very challenging, so consider breaking up the Hero’s Journey components among groups of students, or working together as a class to identify them. There are different interpretations, depending on whether you focus on Percy’s main quest or his entire journey in his new world.

Example Hero's Journey for The Lightning Thief

(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)

Student Instructions

Use the story of The Lightning Thief and map it to the narrative structure of the Hero's Journey.

Click "Start Assignment".
Depict and describe how the chosen character's story fits (or does not fit ) into each of the stages of the Hero's Journey.
Finalize images, edit, and proofread your work.

Lesson Plan Reference

Grade Level 6-8

Difficulty Level 4 (Difficult / Complex)

Type of Assignment Individual, Partner, or Group

Type of Activity: The Hero's Journey

(You can also create your own on Quick Rubric .)

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The hero’s journey breakdown: ‘star wars’.

By Ken Miyamoto · October 11, 2019

How does Star Wars: A New Hope follow Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey breakdown?

Welcome to the inaugural installment of our new series A Hero’s Journey Breakdown where we explore Joseph Campbell’s mythological storytelling structure and how iconic films fit into that mold.

First up is Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope . Let’s break down the plot and structure of George Lucas’ 1977 space-opera, the first in what would become an epic franchise spanning nearly 40 years, and see how it fits within The Hero’s Journey. You can download the script below to follow along.

But before we do that, let’s make sure we have the basics down, including what the Hero’s Journey is, where it originated, and who created it.

The Hero’s Journey 101

The “hero’s journey” is a common narrative archetype that features the different stages of a protagonist’s journey in a story. It has been studied and analyzed by many scholars from a multitude of disciplines, but one interpretation has found its way into the minds of almost every writer studying the craft.

The Monomyth

In 1949, writer and professor of literature Joseph Campbell wrote one of the most influential works in storytelling, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, in which he theorizes that stories often share a basic structure. Dubbed the “monomyth” or “the hero’s adventure,” Campbell lays out 17 stages of this narrative archetype, from but some have crafted their own interpretations and renditions that the writing community has used as guides in their own work.

Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth

Vogler: The Writer’s Journey

Christopher Vogler’s approach to Campbell’s structure broke the mythical story structure into 12 stages. For this series, we define the stages in simplified interpretations:

The Ordinary World : We see the hero’s normal life at the start of the story before the adventure begins.
Call to Adventure : The hero is faced with an event, conflict, problem, or challenge that makes them begin their adventure.
Refusal of the Call : The hero initially refuses the adventure because of hesitation, fears, insecurity, or any other number of issues.
Meeting the Mentor : The hero encounters a mentor that can give them advice, wisdom, information, or items that ready them for the journey ahead.
Crossing the Threshold : The hero leaves their ordinary world for the first time and crosses the threshold into adventure.
Tests, Allies, and Enemies : The hero learns the rules of the new world and endures tests, meets friends, and comes face-to-face with enemies.
The Approach : The initial plan to take on the central conflict begins, but setbacks occur that cause the hero to try a new approach or adopt new ideas.
The Ordeal: Things go wrong and added conflict is introduced. The hero experiences more difficult hurdles and obstacles, some of which may lead to a life crisis.
The Reward : After surviving The Ordeal, the hero seizes the sword — a reward that they’ve earned that allows them to take on the biggest conflict. It may be a physical item or piece of knowledge or wisdom that will help them persevere.
The Road Back : The hero sees the light at the end of the tunnel, but they are about to face even more tests and challenges.
The Resurrection : The climax. The hero faces a final test, using everything they have learned to take on the conflict once and for all.
The Return : The hero brings their knowledge or the “elixir” back to the ordinary world.

Breaking Down the Journey: A New Hope

Here we turn to George Lucas’s Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope .

Note: As with any application of story structure or formula, this is just a hindsight interpretation and implementation of The Hero’s Journey to this cinematic tale. There can and will be variances.

The Ordinary World

Luke Skywalker is living a normal and humble life as a farm boy on his home planet of Tatooine.

Call to Adventure

Luke is called to his adventure by two individuals — R2-D2 and Ben Kenobi. Luke triggers R2-D2’s message from Princess Leia and is intrigued by her and the message.

When R2-D2 escapes to find Ben Kenobi, Luke follows and is later saved by Kenobi, who goes on to tell Luke about his Jedi heritage. Kenobi suggests that he should come with him to Alderaan.

Refusal of the Call

Luke refuses Kenobi, telling him that he can take Kenobi and the droids as far as Mos Eisley Spaceport — but he can’t possibly leave his Aunt and Uncle behind for some space adventure.

Crossing the Threshold

When Luke discovers that the stormtroopers searching for the droids would track them to his farm, he rushes to warn his Aunt and Uncle, only to discover them dead by the hands of the Empire.

When Luke returns to Kenobi, he pledges to go with him to Alderaan and learn the ways of the Force like his father before him.

Tests, Allies, and Enemies

After Luke, Kenobi, and the droids hire Han Solo and Chewbacca to transport them off of Tatooine and onto Alderaan, Kenobi begins Luke’s training in the ways of the Force.

Wielding his father’s lightsaber, Kenobi challenges him to block the shots of a small training remote. At first, he can’t do it. But then Kenobi gives him a helmet to wear that has a blast shield that blocks his view of the remote. Kenobi teaches him to reach out and trust his feelings.

Luke blocks three shots from the remote — blind.

The Approach

The plan to defeat the Galactic Empire is to bring the Death Star plans to Alderaan so that Princess Leia’s father can take them to the Rebellion. However, when they arrive within the system, the planet is destroyed. They come across the Death Star and are pulled in by a tractor beam, now trapped within the metaphorical belly of the beast — The Galactic Empire.

As Kenobi goes off to deactivate the tractor beam so they can escape, Luke, Han, and Chewbacca discover that Princess Leia is being held on the Death Star with them. They rescue her and escape to the Millennium Falcon, hoping that Kenobi has successfully deactivated the tractor beam.

Kenobi later sacrifices himself as Luke watches Darth Vader strike him down. Luke must now avenge his fallen mentor and carry on his teachings.

Luke has saved the princess and retrieved the Death Star plans. They now have the knowledge to destroy the Galactic Empire’s greatest weapon once and for all.

The Road Back

Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, and the droids are headed to the hidden Rebellion base with the Death Star plans. They are suddenly pursued by incoming TIE-Fighters, forcing Han and Luke to take action to defend the ship and escape with their lives — and the plans.

When they are triumphant, they realize that the Galactic Empire must be tracking them. But they have no choice but to race against time to take the plans to the Rebellion and prepare for battle.

The Resurrection

The Rebels — along with Luke as an X-Wing pilot — prepare to take on the Death Star.

The Rebellion and the Galactic Empire wage war in an epic space battle. Luke is the only X-Wing pilot that was able to get within the trenches of the Death Star. But Darth Vader and his wingmen are in hot pursuit. Just as Darth Vader is about to destroy Luke, Han returns and clears the way for Luke.

Luke uses the Force to guide his aiming as he fires upon the sole weak point of the deadly Death Star, destroying it for good.

Luke and Han return to the Rebellion base, triumphant, as they receive medals for the heroic journey. There is peace throughout the galaxy — at least for now.

Hopefully now you have a better idea of what the Hero’s Journey looks like in the wild. Be sure to check out our other Hero’s Journey Breakdowns for more examples from cinema’s greatest films.

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Going Solo in World of Warcraft: A Hero’s Journey

With the release of The War Within there are more ways than ever to carve your own path through the challenges and tales of World of Warcraft— and you can choose to take them on as a solo player. Whether you jump into Follower Dungeons or take on bite-sized challenges in Delves, you can experience more of World of Warcraft your own way.

Getting Started on Your Solo Career

If you're new to World of Warcraft , your first foray into Azeroth is through the Exile's Reach solo experience which will help guide you through the various skills and abilities of your new character and set you on the path to becoming a champion of Azeroth. At the end of the experience on Exile’s Reach you’ll be tasked with your first dungeon! Don’t worry, you’ll have some help from some NPCs.

Solo Play Quick Start List Get In the Game: Create Your Account or download and install the Battle.net App to try the Starter Edition Recommended Leveling Path: Exile’s reach (Levels 1-10), Dragonflight (Levels 10-70), The War Within (Levels 70-80) Turn off Chat Channels: Type /Leave and the channel you would like to leave to avoid player chat and notifications. (General, Trade, Local Defense, services, and LookingForGroup) Block Any Unwanted Interactions: Turn off Invitations to Guilds or Groups in the game settings. (Escape->Options ->Social->Check the following options- Block Trades, Block Guild Invites, Restrict Calendar Invites, Block Chat Channel Invites

Once you reach level 10, you can continue Azeroth’s story through Dragonflight as a solo player , undertaking a series of campaign and side-story quests as you discovery the evolving tales in the Dragon Isles. Quests that take you into Normal difficulty dungeons can also be completed using Follower Dungeons.

Veteran and returning players who create a new character will have the choice to start out in Exile’s Reach or in their character’s racial starting area. Upon reaching level 10, you can continue into  Dragonflight  or speak with Chromie in your capital city to choose a Timewalking Campaign. If you’re going solo, we strongly suggest choosing to continue through Dragonflight which allows you to engage in Follower Dungeons.

Tracking Quests and Objectives You can easily track quests and objectives by opening the Map (Hotkey-M) to get a quick snapshot of the quests you’re on, their status, and any other objectives you are interested in. When you open the map, you’ll see a list of the quests you’re undertaking and the type of quest each is right within the interface. For more information on the various map indicators, you can click on the Map Legend (exclamation point) to learn more. You can also use the map filter to show or hide specific types of content.

From level 70 to level 80, players will then journey into Khaz Algar to continue Azeroth’s story as The War Within kicks off the beginning of an epic three-part Worldsoul Saga taking you further into Azeroth’s narrative. Whether you enjoy getting right into the campaign at the heart of the expansion or doing all of the side quests, discovering treasures, and exploring the world, you can take your time and the sights as you go at your own pace.

Follow the Leader— Or Not

Both the Dragonflight and The War Within expansions provide opportunities to experience the storyline through the dungeons within them. Follower Dungeons provide the opportunity to play through Normal difficulty dungeons with a little help from four additional NPC teammates. You can queue for this type of dungeon right within the Group Finder (Hotkey- I) tool by selecting Follower Dungeons in the drop-down menu. You will also choose your role before entering the dungeon whether that’s as a healer, a tank, or as a damage dealer. Your NPC teammates will fill in the rest of your party of five.

Once in the dungeon, you’ll be able to choose whether you’d like to have an NPC teammate lead or do the leading yourself. Toggle "Dungeon Assistance" when you want to let go of the reins and let them lead the way. Your new followers, whether supporting or leading, will go at your pace, allowing you to explore and get comfortable in your role within the group.

Are You Experienced? There are more ways to earn experience beyond questing or taking part in dungeons. Simply exploring the map will reward some experience along with taking on a profession or two. Many an experienced adventurer has been caught picking herbs, mining ore, or fishing along the way.

When you want to retake the lead, turn off the Dungeon Assistance by clicking on the updated icon in the center of your screen. You can also drag the button to your toolbar.

To the victor go the spoils, and as you complete these dungeons, you’ll earn experience and appropriate level gear for your specialization.

Here are the available Follower Dungeons in Dragonflight and The War Within :

You’re Getting a Delve!

Take your adventures in The War Within to a new level with Delves. At level 70, you’ll be able to begin learning about these bite-sized world instances, gain experience, and earn epic rewards! You’ll be joined on these adventures by an NPC companion—Brann Bronzebeard— you customize through their talent tree.

These replayable, seasonal, role-agnostic adventure experiences offer a way to enjoy the leveling and endgame progression in short 10–15-minute adventures completely solo.

Delves can be found in any of the available zones of Khaz Algar while questing and exploring, and they offer quick combat, puzzles, platforming challenges, and bosses to defeat. As you progress, you can find chests and supplies with impactful special abilities and powers for immediate use that can help you in the Delve.

Delves have 11 levels of difficulty called Tiers to challenge yourself. Tiers 1, 2, and 3 are available to players right from the start. Tiers 4 and above arrive with The War Within Season 1. Successfully completing a higher Tier unlocks access to the next tier for your Warband.

Delves to Explore

Completing a Delve will reward you with experience and you can earn epic endgame rewards similar to those from group raiding, but done all on your own!

Each new season will introduce you to a new NPC companion to join you on your adventures.

Finish It! in Story Mode

The War Within introduces a new way to experience the story within a raid dungeon with Story Mode. This mode of play offers players a way to see the epic conclusion of the storyline in Azj-Kahet allowing you to face Queen Ansurek without assistance of other players. When entering this mode as a solo player, you'll be joined by nine NPC companions to aid you in battle. Story Mode will continue to be available in future raid dungeons within The War Within and the Worldsoul Saga for players looking for a relaxed and engaging way to take part in the narrative story without the intensity of playing with a group.

But Wait! There’s More!

There are so many ways you can play World of Warcraft , whether you want to collect pets through Pet Battling, becoming a master artisan and selling your wares on the Auction House, or creating more than one character to take advantage of the Warbands feature. The choice is yours on how you want to spend your time.

A Little More Help for Our Friends

If you’re completely new to the World of Warcraft , we’ve rounded up a few additional resources to help to guide you on your way to becoming a true hero of Azeroth.

New and Returning Player Guide
World of Warcraft Overview
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Hero's Journey Lesson
The Hero's Journey: A Human Framework for Building Modern Travel Brands
The Hero's Journey
The Hero's Journey
H.E. Arc 1

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The Hero's Journey, but it's a Game
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A Hero's Journey
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The Hero's Journey Explained: A Breakdown of its Different Stages
The Hero's Journey Explained: A Breakdown of its Different ...
The Ordinary World: The First Step in the Hero's Journey
To put your hero at a disadvantage, remove one of life's most common advantages: A solid set of parents, traditionally one's first allies. Doing this will instill your story with readymade conflict from page one. 3. A Principled but Boring Life. Many elements of the Ordinary World are obvious.
Hero's Journey: A Complete Guide to the Hero's Journey Steps
The hero's journey ends where it begins, back at the beginning after a quest of epic proportions. ... special world. Psychological symbol. Many of us embark on inner-journeys following hardship in life — the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, physical or mental illness. This stage occurs when it becomes apparent that, to move through ...
The Hero's Journey: Step-By-Step Guide with Examples
How to Use the Hero's Journey to Plot Your Story
12 Steps to the Hero's Journey
The hero will face tests, allies, and enemies during this stage of the journey. These are all part of the hero's growth process and they help to build the hero up for what lies ahead. 7. The Approach. The hero and his newfound companions get ready for the ultimate conflict in the Special world. This is the hero's final push for his goal.
PDF Exploring the 12 Stages of the Hero's Journey
The first documentary, 1987's The Hero's Journey: The World of Joseph Campbell, was released with an accompanying book entitled The Hero's Journey: ... face conflict within — or outside of — that Ordinary World, they enter the Special World that the rest of the film takes place within. A world that is new or challenging to the
Exploring the 12 Stages of the Hero's Journey Part 1: The Ordinary World
The first documentary, 1987's The Hero's Journey: The World of Joseph Campbell, was released with an accompanying book entitled The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work. The second documentary was released in 1988 and consisted of Bill Moyers' series of interviews with Campbell, accompanied by the companion book The Power of Myth.
5.2 The Monomyth: Understanding the Seventeen Stages of the Hero's Journey
Understanding the Seventeen Stages of the Hero's Journey
The Hero's Journey: The 12 Steps of Mythic Structure
The Hero's Journey: The 12 Steps of Mythic Structure
The Hero's Journey (Explained in 4 Minutes)
The Hero's Journey (Explained in 4 Minutes)
Hero's Journey: Get a Strong Story Structure in 12 Steps
Hero's Journey: Get a Strong Story Structure in 12 Steps
Hero's journey
Hero's journey
12 Hero's Journey Stages Explained (+ Free Templates)
12 Hero's Journey Stages Explained (Free ...
The Hero's Journey Examples
The Hero's Journey: Use this structure when you want to tell a story of personal growth, transformation, and adventure. It works well for epic tales, fantasy, and science fiction, but it can be adapted to other genres as well. Three-Act Structure: This is a versatile structure suitable for a wide range of genres, from drama to comedy to action.
The 9 Stages of the Hero's Journey and How to Use Them
1 What Is the Hero's Journey? 2 Using the Hero's Journey in Your Own Novel; 3 The 9 Stages of Campbell's Monomyth. 3.1 The Ordinary World: 3.2 The Call to Adventure and Refusing the Call: 3.3 Overcoming Resistance and Meeting the Mentor: 3.4 Crossing the First Threshold: 3.5 Tests and Trials: 3.6 The Major Ordeal: 3.7 The Road Back: 3.8 ...
The 12 Steps of the Hero's Journey, WIth Example
The 12 Steps of the Hero's Journey
Hero's Journey Steps: Campbell's 12 Vital Stages Explained
The stages of the hero's journey are the common sequence of events that occurred in the monomyth motif. Technically speaking, Campbell outlined 17 stages in his The Hero with a Thousand Faces: 1: The Call to Adventure. 2: Refusal of the Call. 3: Supernatural Aid.
What Is the Ordinary World in the Hero's Journey?
The ordinary world generally conjures a mood, image, or metaphor that suggests a theme and gives the reader a frame of reference for the rest of the story. The mythological approach to story boils down to using metaphors or comparisons to convey the hero's feelings about life. The ordinary world is sometimes set in a prologue and often strains ...
The Hero's Journey Ultimate Writing Guide with Examples
This Hero's Journey ultimate writing guide thoroughly explains the character archetypes and the 12 stages with examples, templates, tips, and prompts. ... make allies, and inevitably confront enemies. All these elements force the hero to learn the new ways of the special world and how it differs from the hero's ordinary world—i.e. how the ...
The Hero's Journey: Stages, Steps, and Examples
The hero's journey is the story of a hero who leaves the ordinary world to go on an adventure full of peril. On it, the hero will gain both adversaries and allies, and will face a great evil. ... This step also involves the passing on of certain tools and equipment the protagonist may need to succeed on their journey. These can be special ...
12 Stages of Percy Jackson's Hero's Journey with Activity
Student Instructions. Use the story of The Lightning Thief and map it to the narrative structure of the Hero's Journey. Click "Start Assignment". Depict and describe how the chosen character's story fits (or does not fit ) into each of the stages of the Hero's Journey. Finalize images, edit, and proofread your work.
The Hero's Journey Breakdown: The Lord of the Rings
Here we turn to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. This breakdown is unique because the whole journey of the hero (Frodo) is told throughout the course of three films. However, The Hero's Journey can still be applied to the first installment. Download the screenplay for THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP ...
The Hero's Journey Breakdown: 'Star Wars'
The "hero's journey" is a common narrative archetype that features the different stages of a protagonist's journey in a story. It has been studied and analyzed by many scholars from a multitude of disciplines, but one interpretation has found its way into the minds of almost every writer studying the craft.
Going Solo in World of Warcraft: A Hero's Journey
From level 70 to level 80, players will then journey into Khaz Algar to continue Azeroth's story as The War Within kicks off the beginning of an epic three-part Worldsoul Saga taking you further into Azeroth's narrative. Whether you enjoy getting right into the campaign at the heart of the expansion or doing all of the side quests ...
Apalachee student describes emotions texting loved ones
Apalachee High Shooting Apalachee student who saw teacher get shot texted her mom she loved her during school shooting

The Ordinary World: The First Step in the Hero’s Journey

What Is the Hero's Journey?

Hero's Journey Step #1: Start Ordinary

Returning with the Elixir:

Understanding the Monomyth

How does the Hero’s Journey impact your stories? Let me know in the comments!

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A Practical Guide to Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey

What is the Hero’s Journey?

What is the Monomyth?

What is the Hero?

What is a Myth?

What is the Power of Myth?

What is this Process Within the Hero’s Journey?

A Quick Note About Gender: Masculine vs Feminine

The 3 Main Stages of the Hero’s Journey

Stage 1: Departure