Story Basics Part IV: The Mentor Archetype

The name Mentor comes from a character in the Odyssey. Telemachus, Odysseus' son, goes on a quest to find his father. The goddess Athena takes the guise of Mentor (a human male) to give Telemachus advice, training, aid, or necessary gifts to finish the search.

The Mentor is a very rich archetype. Joseph Campbell named this role as The Wise Old Man or Woman. The Mentor's job is to represent our highest selves, the part of the heroine who is wise and far seeing.  A mentor decides if the heroine has earned gifts to help her, or can act as her conscience. The Mentor motivates and initiates the heroine, too.

Mentors can be kindly  parental figures or they can be dangerous, teaching the Heroine through hard knocks. A Dark Mentor is one who starts a character on a tragic arc, leading her into danger or destruction. Fallen Mentors have lost their own way, and part of the Hero's story is to make the Mentor pull herself together. There are often multiple Mentors in a story, as well.

After all, James Bond not only has M, he has Moneypenny and Q to help teach him what he needs. Arthur has Merlin, but also his brother Kaye, his father, and even his half-sister to teach him lessons.

Mentors can be funny, mystical, young, old, or even part of the Heroine's inner landscape as a memory or code of honor. They can show up in the beginning, middle, or end of the story. Don't get stuck thinking your Mentor has to be Obi Wan with a beard and a nifty sword. Anyone and anything can teach your Heroine what she needs to know.

Story Basics Part IV: Archetypes and Joseph Campbell

Last year (to the day!), I said I would do a series on various archetypal thought systems that can inspire a writer. Today (and until I get done with it), I'm going to discuss Joseph Campbell's breakdowns according to Christopher Vogler .
Vogler names the most useful, basic archetypes for writers:

• Hero
• Mentor
• Threshold Guardian 
• Herald
• Shapeshifter
• Shadow
• Trickster

First things first. According to Vogler,

The concept of archetypes is an indispensable tool for understanding the purpose or function of characters in a story. If you grasp the function of the archetype which a particular character is expressing, it can help you determine if the character is pulling her full weight in the story. The archetypes are part of the universal language of storytelling, and a command of their energy is as essential to the writer as breathing.  (p. 29, emphasis his)

It's very easy to call character A the Mentor, and that is her only function - to mentor and educate the Hero, then to let her go into the world on her own. But in order to make a story character interesting and three dimensional, the Mentor will most likely play many roles, just like real people. Someone can give you excellent advice one day, then the next tie your shoelaces together. This person has embodied both the Mentor and the Trickster/Shapeshifter archetypes.

For the next few days, I'll breakdown each individual archetype. This is going to be fun!