Character Web

Character Functions

Protagonist: Adrastus Laelius – Sun lord for the Church of the Sun and hunter of lycanthropes, who has a crisis of identity and conscience when he discovers he’s a werewolf.

Antagonist: Brownfur – leader of the werewolves, whom he wants to protect at all costs.

Fake-Ally Opponent: Linus Aelianus – the leader of the Church of the Sun, known as the “Voice of the Sun King”, who wants to exterminate all lycanthropes.

Character Archetypes

Adrastus fits perfectly into the Warrior archetype, in almost every way imaginable. He wields a holy sword and carries a shield into the heat of battle and kills lycanthropes, particularly werewolves, on behalf of the Church and his master, the Voice of the Sun King.

Brownfur also perfectly encapsulates the Rebel archetype. He consistently butts heads with Adrastus, either via combat or words, due to their conflicting politics/values and being on opposite sides of a centuries-long war.

Aelianus is very much the King/Father archetype. He constantly manipulates Adrastus’ fears of being a werewolf and being found out in order to keep Adrastus under his control, whether he’s aware of it or not. When he does find out Adrastus is a werewolf, he has him arrested and paraded through the streets, while planning to publicly execute him as well.

Archetype Descriptions

Adrastus fits the Warrior archetype because not only he is a literal warrior, but his personality fits as well, both in good and bad ways. For example, 1.) He is loyal and completely devoted the to the Church, 2.) his role in the Church is as a defender and crusader of the Church and 3.) his loyalty and devotion are also his biggest flaws, as he’s willing to do absolutely anything for them, including really awful things such as killing innocents. Later, he ends up subverting this archetype by 1.) putting the needs of the Church over his own needs, 2.) being the very thing he had previously sworn to destroy and 3.) rebelling against the Church after being found out as a werewolf by going with Brownfur when he rescues Adrastus and living among the werewolves, thus taking on the Rebel archetype as well.

Brownfur fits the Rebel archetype because 1.) he experiences oppression from the dominant religion on the island by virtue of his mere existence, 2.) he actively goes against the Church by living freely out in the woods with the rest of his kin and 3.) combats the Church by violent means, including killing and harming. At the same time, he deviates from this archetype by being the Queen/Mother archetype, too, by 1.) having a bunch of other people that he needs to look out for, not just himself, 2.) having deep respect and love for the people he leads and 3.) being willing to do absolutely anything to protect the people he loves.

Aelianus fits the King/Father archetype because 1.) he is the leader of the dominant religion on the archipelago, 2.) he is seen as a kingly figure, not only by the clergy, but also the commoners that follow the Church’s doctrine and 3.) he strictly enforces the rules put in place by the church, with offenders receiving retaliation from him, either via imprisonment or death. Where he deviates from the archetype, though, is that he embodies two other archetypes as well: the Queen/Mother and the Shaman/Magician. For the Queen/Mother archetype, he 1.) he as seen as a parental figure that protects the people from “sin and impurity”, 2.) he manipulates everyone in order to maintain that image and keep people close to him and 3.) he manipulates people by using their fears, hopes and aspirations to his advantage. For the Shaman/Magician archetype, he 1.) is an undead being who was the Voice of the Sun King for almost 100 years until his death, in which he was resurrected and continued to be Voice of the Sun King for another 100 years, 2.) because he died and came back to life, he has insights into death and the afterlife that no one else has and 3.) jealously guards and uses to manipulate people through their religious anxieties and the want to be good people.

These conformations to and deviations from everyone’s archetypes are important to the story, because they show that the antagonist and the protagonist are not as different as they think they are, while also showing that not everyone who is your superior and/or mentor/parental figure are on your side.