Of the three archetypes for this journal the one I most commonly put emphasis on tis he mentor. A threshold guardian seems like a character that generally only lasts for a short while in prose, while a herald may last but could be there just to initiate change. Mentors seem like a necessity to me. I enjoy seeing the relationship with the protagonist and his mentor, especially when the mentor ends up being more on the dark side. Probably the most powerful threshold guardians are when they are the heroes allies rather than when they are the enemies. It's difficult to stand up to someone who has shared in the hero's journey.
I think the quest for these archetypes is how to deepen them. How might the mentor be leading the hero down the wrong path? How can a threshold guardian be more than just a wall? How can the herald betray the hero? All these characters can be predictable, so I think what is needed is to turn them upside-down to keep the audience guessing and intrigued. Of course all of these tropes can be internalized into the protagonist herself.
As for adaptation, with Chrono Trigger I'm trying to place where these tropes take place. Lucca is obviously a mentor as without her Crono would struggle to find his grounding in 600AD. In truth, the villain I have at the end of the story is actually a threshold guardian for a much larger story. There are puzzles which stand in the way of the heroes as well as monsters (which are more the actants of threshold guardians for this portion of the story). As for a herald, I don't see this as a noticeable character but perhaps broken into portions: Frog signals something is wrong by stating that Leene is already saved, Marle's disappearance is a herald that the timeline's been altered, and Lucca's teleporter itself is a herald. The pieces are there, but I feel certain aspects are being more directly characterized than others, and I think that's okay. I don't think every type of archetype needs to be super fleshed out, obviously the hero needs to be defined or it's going to be a rough narrative to make relatable.
As with the giant thesis I've got brewing, I would say Aspen Donner (the father figure), Chippiko, and Lyulf act as mentors. Lyulf is obviously a manipulative mentor. Francis and Lise act as threshold guardians at differing times in what I have in store. Francis I think will have a more tragic end than Lise, but he will step in the way of the greater plot ahead. Lise is key in being able to step forward in the narrative; without her presence then being able to speak to the cryogenic godess would be impossible...
Anyway, I feel that it's important to take note that these archetypes are in stories. I think remembering these roles helps to keep narrative structure in line. From reflection, the threshold guardian tends to be in an interesting segment in stories where to me it tends to relatively break away from the main arch and can allow for emotional development that helps to be fostered so as to help the characters level up and defeat the boss. Without the threshold guardian(s), the heroes might not be ready to taken on the final chapter.
And with heralds -- I think of montages and voiceovers. I feel like it's that sequence where the tension grows and not only are problems announced but we also see the different plots and characters connecting to each other. Sometimes this definitely a catalyst for going into the second act, but I think heralds can appear in other parts of a story.
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