CHARACTER FUNCTIONS
- Protagonist- Kristina
- Opponent- Ollie
- Ally- The close group of girls that are her friends at college- they are the “hero” or protagonists helper because they are all looking for their soulmates and encourage Kristina along the way. As The Anatomy of Story would put it, these allies add “power” to Kristina finding herself.
- Fake-Ally Opponent- One of Kristina’s friends who is in her close group of friends seems to be supportive of Kristina finding her soulmate until she finds her own after few hints. Once she finds her own soulmate she challenges and pressures Kristina into finding hers.
- Fake-Opponent Ally- Kristina’s inner conscious seems to be a challenging opponent throughout the story. Towards the end of the story, once Kristina realizes she must love herself in order to find love elsewhere, her inner conscious becomes an ally as she learns to care and trust herself. It gives her power to finding her real soulmate (tbd).
- Subplot Character- These are all the other college students her age that receive their hints. This makes these characters identify in the subplot because they track a similar line (goal) as the hero but have a different end result (finding their true soulmates without difficulty).
CHARACTER ARCHETYPES
- King/Father-
- Queen/Mother
- Mentor/Teacher/Wizard- Some of the protagonist allies could play a mentor role when it comes to the plot of this story. Kristina’s friends at college pass on knowledge of finding true love as she is challenged to this task. Her friends are supportive and want Kristina to have a happy life. They call her when Kristina stays home from school, and talk her through the challenges she must overcome.
- Warrior
- Trickster/Clown- One of Kristina’s closest friends (one of them showing the character function fake ally opponent, acts supportive of Kristina. Once she receives her hint, and Kristina doesn’t, she makes fun of or uses her confidence (way of words) against Kristina. This character ends up only looking out for herself, when she unfriends Kristina after finding her own soulmate.
- Artist
- Lover
- Rebel- Oliver can be categorized as rebel archetype because when he receives his hint, he pushes the thought of Kristina being his soulmate onto her. When Kristina tells him he’s wrong, he backlashes and ends up destroying the “system” or relationship between them.
ARCHETYPE DESCRIPTION
The archetype that defines the protagonist best is the lover. One reason this is the case because Kristina (in the end) was able to be understanding and sensual in order to make herself complete and happy. She provides this to a few other allies along the way. Another way she identifies with the lover is because she is capable of tearing herself down due to the fantasy of perfection. Lastly, she is correctly categorized as the lover because she does provide the care for others. The protagonist displays the want to attend to others well being.
The protagonist although providing care for others, struggles with taking care of herself. This gives her a sense of identity because although she may identify as a lover type, she is challenged with inner-conflict along the way. According to the inherent weaknesses of a lover (The Anatomy of Story), it is easy for one of this archetype to become so lost in the person they love. Lost- or caring for another person to an extreme. Kristina doesn’t care about another person in the utmost, not even herself. Which makes her deviate from this archetype further making this story unique. As her beneficial role is caring for others, and her probable weakness is allowing others to stand in her shadow, Kristina learns that sometimes caring for your own inter-personal conscious and well being forces you to not stand in the shadows. Unlike other lover archetypes, Kristina is prompted into tending her own needs which later results in her breaking the type by standing in the light rather than hiding in the shadows. These instances make the lover in this story specific and unique.
Fitting as well as deviating from the archetype are both essential to a catching story. Fitting the archetype is important because it provides the character with a sense of identity and adds depths to the characters profile (like identifying a characters shadow or negative tendency as well as their strengths).Deviating from the archetype however is also key to writing a unique story. By following an archetype the character submits to the descriptions of their actions (character web). To show change, or character arc a character may have to step outside of their typical tendencies. In this case, it becomes important for Kristina to not other learn to care for others (which is submitting to the archetype), but more importantly learn to care for herself (deviating from the archetype). By fitting and deviating the characters evolve into their own unique characters and the readers/audience can further understand what the archetypes of this story are.
This is super interesting Parker! I can really appreciate and connect with your protagonist in the sense that before committing to your partner, you should commit to yourself first. This archetype was a good choice for your main character in regards to it deviating and fitting, because the audience can relate to love, and relate to hating love.