The most common and frankly, most versatile of all the archetypes: ‘The Hero’. The most important attribute here is the character’s arc, and how they go from one state to another, since you can mix a bunch of other attributes to ‘The Hero’ to make it an antihero, a superhero, a reluctant hero, an everyman hero, etc... the archetype is your oyster! Share your version of a hero archetype in the comments or in a fresh post!

Rolling into the next archetype this April, it's 'The Hero' archetype! I'm pretty confident I don't need to overly explain this one since it really is one of, if not the most, popular of all the archetypes. Even if it isn't your favorite, or the most popular to you, as storytellers it is certainly the one we are the most familiar with. So much so that 'The Hero's Journey' is an extremely helpful tool in structuring a solid and compelling story. (I do go into 'The Hero's Journey' in my 90-Day Comic Course, so if you are more interested in learning more about it, consider the course!) So what the deal? Why do we use this archetype so often? One of the answers is because it is so relatable. The hero often comes from an area of humble beginnings, and often with some sort of potential they either do or do not entirely know about. Whether you are looking at a character like Luke Skywalker as a simple farm boy who is destined to learn from an old space wizard on how to also become a space wizard or even characters from classic mythology like Odysseus, a warrior-king who came to aid in a bronze age epic and simply wants to go home, but must use every bit of his strength, intelligence and ingenuity to make it home, the thing that unifies those hero archetypes with us is their relatability and their more down-to-earth nature, and that we see them go from one condition at the beginning of the story, to a new and wiser/stronger condition at the end, thus completing a character arc. Another answer is, at least the way I like to think of it is :'The Hero' is a 'flex' or 'modifier' archetype. You can use 'The Hero' and its general structure of story elements and strengths and weaknesses and add a second 'flex' or 'modifier' to 'The Hero.' Things like: The Everyman Hero The Anti-Hero The Tragic Hero The Epic Hero The Superhero All these narrow the storytelling elements down and help direct your character's journey, and ultimately give you a more well rounded and interesting character to lead your story. 'The Hero' really is a versitle archetype, hence why it is so widely used in storytelling!

Starting off ‘An April of Archetypes’ with ‘The Lover’ archetype. Now it may seem like this is a character solely made for romantic love stories, but there really is much more to this type of character, and using them right can honestly have a huge impact to your story and your audience! So let’s get into it!

To kick off the list of the 12 most common archetypes, I'm starting with 'The Lover.' The quick description is: A 'romantic' lead who is guided by their heart. Strengths - humanism, passion and conviction Weaknesses - naïvety, irrational (emotional decision making) Now, I know it's easy to immediately think of a romantic lead and while that would definitely fit the bill for a 'Lover' character or characters, it's doesn't always have to only take place in the midst of a romantic story. The lover is all about being an emotional center. Whether they are the emotional guide for the story, or just a trusted loyal companion to another protagonist, this archetype (like many) is versatile in how you want to define 'romantic.' Some examples of characters that fit the 'Lover' archetype: Romeo and Juliet (Romeo and Juliet) Wesley and Buttercup (The Princess Bride) Princess Anna (Frozen) Jack and Rose (Titanic) Jay Gatsby (The Great Gatsby) Timone and Pumba (The Lion King) Samwise Gamgee (Lord of the Rings Trilogy) As you can see, there is a pretty good amount of variety in those characters, but a commonality between them all is they all have a desire to create relationships and will help evoke feelings in your audience as well! Now I want to hear from you about your thoughts on the 'Lover' archetype, and better yet, I want to see your drawings! Stay tuned for 'The Lover Archetype' video where I'll talk even more about our first archetype of the challenge!

Time for another monthly challenge! I’ve had a lot of requests for videos on character design, so I thought spending a whole month on characters would be a great way to do that! An April of Archetypes, where we will talk about the 12 most common archetypes, what they are and how they enhance your story and helpful tips for drawing them. Also we will make a couple of them battle, but more on that later this month! First archetype for everyone to share their version of will be posted later today!