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The Hero's Journey

Twelve stages (Vogler).

Where it comes from

Christopher Vogler, The Writer's Journey (1992), from a memo he wrote as a Disney story analyst distilling Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949).

Who uses it

Hollywood studio films, animation and fantasy above all. Disney used the memo directly; George Lucas credited Campbell for Star Wars before the memo existed.

What it is good for

Best for adventure, fantasy, coming-of-age and any story where the hero leaves home and comes back changed. Poorly suited to stories that stay in one world or have no single hero. Its critics note that it describes myths, not necessarily good films.

The stages

1
Ordinary world
Show the life about to be left, with something missing. The contrast with the special world later is the point.
2
Call to adventure
A messenger, a message, a disaster. The call names the stakes and the goal.
3
Refusal of the call
Refusal makes the journey a choice rather than an accident. Sometimes another character refuses on the hero's behalf.
4
Meeting the mentor
The mentor prepares the hero and then steps back; if the mentor could solve the problem, there would be no story.
5
Crossing the threshold
The point of no return, often marked by a threshold guardian who must be got past. The rules change on the other side.
6
Tests, allies, enemies
A run of smaller challenges that teach the rules and assemble the team. Often set in a bar, a market, a school.
7
Approach to the inmost cave
The team nears the dangerous place. Pace slows; relationships are tested; a romance may bloom.
8
Ordeal
The central crisis, not the climax. Everything before was preparation. The audience must believe the hero could be lost.
9
Reward
A celebration or a moment of love, and the seizing of the sword. Also the moment the hero may become arrogant.
10
The road back
Act 3 begins. A chase, a deadline or a fresh disaster forces the hero to head home, the goal now redefined.
11
Resurrection
The climax. A second death-and-rebirth, larger than the ordeal, where the hero uses what was learned and is transformed.
12
Return with the elixir
The elixir may be treasure, love, freedom, wisdom or simply the story itself. Without it, the hero is doomed to repeat the journey.

Seen in

Star Wars (1977)
Ordinary world: Tatooine. Call: Leia's message. Refusal: the harvest. Mentor: Obi-Wan. Threshold: leaving with Han. Tests: the cantina. Approach: the Death Star. Ordeal: the trash compactor and Obi-Wan's death. Reward: Leia and the plans. Road back: the pursuit. Resurrection: the trench run, trusting the Force. Elixir: the medals.
The Matrix
The red pill is the threshold; Morpheus the mentor; the Oracle a second one. Ordeal: Neo dies in the hallway. Resurrection: he rises and sees the code.
The Lion King
Written at Disney while Vogler's memo circulated. Refusal is Simba's exile and "hakuna matata"; the mentor returns as Rafiki; the resurrection is the return to Pride Rock.

Try it

Add these 12 stages to your film as plot beats

Start your film

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