Hero’s Journey

The Hero’s Journey & The Lion King

  • Call To Adventure
  • Simba is a teenager, and Nala comes to tell him that the once wonderful land he used to live in is now a wasteland and overrun by his evil uncle. 
  • Refusal of the Call
  • He refuses at first because he's been gone for a long time and is embarrassed because he ran away. He also still thinks he is responsible for his father's death. 
  • Supernatural Aid
  • Rafiki the baboon does a little magic to allow Simba to talk to his father in the stars. Rafiki also shows Simba his reflection and Simba realized it is time for him to take responsibility for the kingdom. 
  • Crossing of the First Threshold
  • Simba is leaving paradise for his homeland that has now become a wasteland run by Scar and the hyenas. He must be ready to fight his uncle and face his family, as well as take responsibility for the entire kingdom. He eventually goes because he can't bear the thought of his suffering mother. 
  • Threshold Guardians
  • The hyenas work to prevent Simba from getting to his ultimate enemy – Scar.
  • Belly of the Whale
  • Simba leaves behind his childhood and chooses to enter the belly of the whale, moving towards his right to be king. 
  • Road of Trials / Brother Battle
  • Simba will face his family and fight his Uncle Scar. He doesn't really want to fight, but is not afraid of anything except facing his family. He receives help from Nala, Timon, and Pumba.  
  • Atonement with the Father
  • Simba is told the truth about his father's death not being his fault. He realizes that the only way to make his father truly proud is to take on his responsibility of king. 
  • Sacred Marriage
  • Simba and Nala are united together.
  • Ultimate Boon
  • Simba becomes the rightful ruler of the kingdom.
  • Freedom To Live
  • Simba does achieve the ability to let go of the fear and anger due to his father's death. He certainly does not regret the past, and he anticipates the future to be bright with his new family and kingdom.

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Last updated on Aug 10, 2023

The Hero's Journey: 12 Steps to a Classic Story Structure

The Hero's Journey is a timeless story structure which follows a protagonist on an unforeseen quest, where they face challenges, gain insights, and return home transformed. From Theseus and the Minotaur to The Lion King , so many narratives follow this pattern that it’s become ingrained into our cultural DNA. 

In this post, we'll show you how to make this classic plot structure work for you — and if you’re pressed for time, download our cheat sheet below for everything you need to know.

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What is the Hero’s Journey?

The Hero's Journey, also known as the monomyth, is a story structure where a hero goes on a quest or adventure to achieve a goal, and has to overcome obstacles and fears, before ultimately returning home transformed.

This narrative arc has been present in various forms across cultures for centuries, if not longer, but gained popularity through Joseph Campbell's mythology book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces . While Campbell identified 17 story beats in his monomyth definition, this post will concentrate on a 12-step framework popularized in 2007 by screenwriter Christopher Vogler in his book The Writer’s Journey .

The 12 Steps of the Hero’s Journey

A circular illustration of the 12 steps of the hero's journey with an adventurous character in the center.

The Hero's Journey is a model for both plot points and character development : as the Hero traverses the world, they'll undergo inner and outer transformation at each stage of the journey. The 12 steps of the hero's journey are: 

  • The Ordinary World. We meet our hero.
  • Call to Adventure. Will they meet the challenge?
  • Refusal of the Call. They resist the adventure.
  • Meeting the Mentor. A teacher arrives.
  • Crossing the First Threshold. The hero leaves their comfort zone.
  • Tests, Allies, Enemies. Making friends and facing roadblocks.
  • Approach to the Inmost Cave. Getting closer to our goal.
  • Ordeal. The hero’s biggest test yet!
  • Reward (Seizing the Sword). Light at the end of the tunnel
  • The Road Back. We aren’t safe yet.
  • Resurrection. The final hurdle is reached.
  • Return with the Elixir. The hero heads home, triumphant.

Believe it or not, this story structure also applies across mediums and genres (and also works when your protagonist is an anti-hero! ). Let's dive into it.

1. Ordinary World

In which we meet our Hero.

The journey has yet to start. Before our Hero discovers a strange new world, we must first understand the status quo: their ordinary, mundane reality.

It’s up to this opening leg to set the stage, introducing the Hero to readers. Importantly, it lets readers identify with the Hero as a “normal” person in a “normal” setting, before the journey begins.

2. Call to Adventure

In which an adventure starts.

The call to adventure is all about booting the Hero out of their comfort zone. In this stage, they are generally confronted with a problem or challenge they can't ignore. This catalyst can take many forms, as Campbell points out in Hero with a Thousand Faces . The Hero can, for instance:

  • Decide to go forth of their own volition;
  • Theseus upon arriving in Athens.
  • Be sent abroad by a benign or malignant agent;
  • Odysseus setting off on his ship in The Odyssey .
  • Stumble upon the adventure as a result of a mere blunder;
  • Dorothy when she’s swept up in a tornado in The Wizard of Oz .
  • Be casually strolling when some passing phenomenon catches the wandering eye and lures one away from the frequented paths of man.
  • Elliot in E.T. upon discovering a lost alien in the tool shed.

The stakes of the adventure and the Hero's goals become clear. The only question: will he rise to the challenge?

Neo in the Matrix answering the phone

3. Refusal of the Call

In which the Hero digs in their feet.

Great, so the Hero’s received their summons. Now they’re all set to be whisked off to defeat evil, right?

Not so fast. The Hero might first refuse the call to action. It’s risky and there are perils — like spiders, trolls, or perhaps a creepy uncle waiting back at Pride Rock . It’s enough to give anyone pause.

In Star Wars , for instance, Luke Skywalker initially refuses to join Obi-Wan on his mission to rescue the princess. It’s only when he discovers that his aunt and uncle have been killed by stormtroopers that he changes his mind.

4. Meeting the Mentor

In which the Hero acquires a personal trainer.

The Hero's decided to go on the adventure — but they’re not ready to spread their wings yet. They're much too inexperienced at this point and we don't want them to do a fabulous belly-flop off the cliff.

Enter the mentor: someone who helps the Hero, so that they don't make a total fool of themselves (or get themselves killed). The mentor provides practical training, profound wisdom, a kick up the posterior, or something abstract like grit and self-confidence.

Harry holding the Marauder's Map with the twins

Wise old wizards seem to like being mentors. But mentors take many forms, from witches to hermits and suburban karate instructors. They might literally give weapons to prepare for the trials ahead, like Q in the James Bond series. Or perhaps the mentor is an object, such as a map. In all cases, they prepare the Hero for the next step.

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5. Crossing the First Threshold

In which the Hero enters the other world in earnest.

Now the Hero is ready — and committed — to the journey. This marks the end of the Departure stage and is when the adventure really kicks into the next gear. As Vogler writes: “This is the moment that the balloon goes up, the ship sails, the romance begins, the wagon gets rolling.”

From this point on, there’s no turning back.

Like our Hero, you should think of this stage as a checkpoint for your story. Pause and re-assess your bearings before you continue into unfamiliar territory. Have you:

  • Launched the central conflict? If not, here’s a post on types of conflict to help you out.
  • Established the theme of your book? If not, check out this post that’s all about creating theme and motifs .
  • Made headway into your character development? If not, this character profile template may be useful:

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6. Tests, Allies, Enemies

In which the Hero faces new challenges and gets a squad.

When we step into the Special World, we notice a definite shift. The Hero might be discombobulated by this unfamiliar reality and its new rules. This is generally one of the longest stages in the story , as our protagonist gets to grips with this new world.

This makes a prime hunting ground for the series of tests to pass! Luckily, there are many ways for the Hero to get into trouble:

  • In Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle , Spencer, Bethany, “Fridge,” and Martha get off to a bad start when they bump into a herd of bloodthirsty hippos.
  • In his first few months at Hogwarts, Harry Potter manages to fight a troll, almost fall from a broomstick and die, and get horribly lost in the Forbidden Forest.
  • Marlin and Dory encounter three “reformed” sharks, get shocked by jellyfish, and are swallowed by a blue whale en route to finding Nemo.

The shark scares Marlin and Dory in Finding Nemo

This stage often expands the cast of characters. Once the protagonist is in the Special World, he will meet allies and enemies — or foes that turn out to be friends and vice versa. He will learn a new set of rules from them. Saloons and seedy bars are popular places for these transactions, as Vogler points out (so long as the Hero survives them).

7. Approach to the Inmost Cave

In which the Hero gets closer to his goal.

This isn’t a physical cave. Instead, the “inmost cave” refers to the most dangerous spot in the other realm — whether that’s the villain’s chambers, the lair of the fearsome dragon, or the Death Star. Almost always, it is where the ultimate goal of the quest is located.

Note that the protagonist hasn’t entered the Inmost Cave just yet. This stage is all about the approach to it. It covers all the prep work that's needed in order to defeat the villain.

In which the Hero faces his biggest test of all thus far.

Of all the tests the Hero has faced, none have made them hit rock bottom — until now. Vogler describes this phase as a “black moment.” Campbell refers to it as the “belly of the whale.” Both indicate some grim news for the Hero.

The protagonist must now confront their greatest fear. If they survive it, they will emerge transformed. This is a critical moment in the story, as Vogler explains that it will “inform every decision that the Hero makes from this point forward.”

The Ordeal is sometimes not the climax of the story. There’s more to come. But you can think of it as the main event of the second act — the one in which the Hero actually earns the title of “Hero.”

9. Reward (Seizing the Sword)

In which the Hero sees light at the end of the tunnel.

Our Hero’s been through a lot. However, the fruits of their labor are now at hand — if they can just reach out and grab them! The “reward” is the object or knowledge the Hero has fought throughout the entire journey to hold.

Once the protagonist has it in their possession, it generally has greater ramifications for the story. Vogler offers a few examples of it in action:

  • Luke rescues Princess Leia and captures the plans of the Death Star — keys to defeating Darth Vader.
  • Dorothy escapes from the Wicked Witch’s castle with the broomstick and the ruby slippers — keys to getting back home.

Luke Sjywalker saves Princess Leila

10. The Road Back

In which the light at the end of the tunnel might be a little further than the Hero thought.

The story's not over just yet, as this phase marks the beginning of Act Three. Now that he's seized the reward, the Hero tries to return to the Ordinary World, but more dangers (inconveniently) arise on the road back from the Inmost Cave.

More precisely, the Hero must deal with the consequences and aftermath of the previous act: the dragon, enraged by the Hero who’s just stolen a treasure from under his nose, starts the hunt. Or perhaps the opposing army gathers to pursue the Hero across a crowded battlefield. All further obstacles for the Hero, who must face them down before they can return home.

11. Resurrection

In which the last test is met.

Here is the true climax of the story. Everything that happened prior to this stage culminates in a crowning test for the Hero, as the Dark Side gets one last chance to triumph over the Hero.

Vogler refers to this as a “final exam” for the Hero — they must be “tested once more to see if they have really learned the lessons of the Ordeal.” It’s in this Final Battle that the protagonist goes through one more “resurrection.” As a result, this is where you’ll get most of your miraculous near-death escapes, à la James Bond's dashing deliverances. If the Hero survives, they can start looking forward to a sweet ending.

12. Return with the Elixir

In which our Hero has a triumphant homecoming.

Finally, the Hero gets to return home. However, they go back a different person than when they started out: they’ve grown and matured as a result of the journey they’ve taken.

But we’ve got to see them bring home the bacon, right? That’s why the protagonist must return with the “Elixir,” or the prize won during the journey, whether that’s an object or knowledge and insight gained.

Of course, it’s possible for a story to end on an Elixir-less note — but then the Hero would be doomed to repeat the entire adventure.

Examples of The Hero’s Journey in Action

To better understand this story template beyond the typical sword-and-sorcery genre, let's analyze three examples, from both screenplay and literature, and examine how they implement each of the twelve steps. 

The 1976 film Rocky is acclaimed as one of the most iconic sports films because of Stallone’s performance and the heroic journey his character embarks on.

Sylvester Stallone as Rocky

  • Ordinary World. Rocky Balboa is a mediocre boxer and loan collector — just doing his best to live day-to-day in a poor part of Philadelphia.
  • Call to Adventure. Heavyweight champ Apollo Creed decides to make a big fight interesting by giving a no-name loser a chance to challenge him. That loser: Rocky Balboa.
  • Refusal of the Call. Rocky says, “Thanks, but no thanks,” given that he has no trainer and is incredibly out of shape.
  • Meeting the Mentor. In steps former boxer Mickey “Mighty Mick” Goldmill, who sees potential in Rocky and starts training him physically and mentally for the fight.
  • Crossing the First Threshold. Rocky crosses the threshold of no return when he accepts the fight on live TV, and 一 in parallel 一 when he crosses the threshold into his love interest Adrian’s house and asks her out on a date.
  • Tests, Allies, Enemies. Rocky continues to try and win Adrian over and maintains a dubious friendship with her brother, Paulie, who provides him with raw meat to train with.
  • Approach to the Inmost Cave. The Inmost Cave in Rocky is Rocky’s own mind. He fears that he’ll never amount to anything — something that he reveals when he butts heads with his trainer, Mickey, in his apartment.
  • Ordeal. The start of the training montage marks the beginning of Rocky’s Ordeal. He pushes through it until he glimpses hope ahead while running up the museum steps.
  • Reward (Seizing the Sword). Rocky's reward is the restoration of his self-belief, as he recognizes he can try to “go the distance” with Apollo Creed and prove he's more than "just another bum from the neighborhood."
  • The Road Back. On New Year's Day, the fight takes place. Rocky capitalizes on Creed's overconfidence to start strong, yet Apollo makes a comeback, resulting in a balanced match.
  • Resurrection. The fight inflicts multiple injuries and pushes both men to the brink of exhaustion, with Rocky being knocked down numerous times. But he consistently rises to his feet, enduring through 15 grueling rounds.
  • Return with the Elixir. Rocky loses the fight — but it doesn’t matter. He’s won back his confidence and he’s got Adrian, who tells him that she loves him.

Moving outside of the ring, let’s see how this story structure holds on a completely different planet and with a character in complete isolation. 

The Martian 

In Andy Weir’s self-published bestseller (better known for its big screen adaptation) we follow astronaut Mark Watney as he endures the challenges of surviving on Mars and working out a way to get back home.

Matt Demon walking

  • The Ordinary World. Botanist Mark and other astronauts are on a mission on Mars to study the planet and gather samples. They live harmoniously in a structure known as "the Hab.”
  • Call to Adventure. The mission is scrapped due to a violent dust storm. As they rush to launch, Mark is flung out of sight and the team believes him to be dead. He is, however, very much alive — stranded on Mars with no way of communicating with anyone back home.
  • Refusal of the Call. With limited supplies and grim odds of survival, Mark concludes that he will likely perish on the desolate planet.
  • Meeting the Mentor. Thanks to his resourcefulness and scientific knowledge he starts to figure out how to survive until the next Mars mission arrives.
  • Crossing the First Threshold. Mark crosses the mental threshold of even trying to survive 一 he successfully creates a greenhouse to cultivate a potato crop, creating a food supply that will last long enough.
  • Tests, Allies, Enemies. Loneliness and other difficulties test his spirit, pushing him to establish contact with Earth and the people at NASA, who devise a plan to help.  
  • Approach to the Inmost Cave. Mark faces starvation once again after an explosion destroys his potato crop.
  • Ordeal. A NASA rocket destined to deliver supplies to Mark disintegrates after liftoff and all hope seems lost.
  • Reward (Seizing the Sword). Mark’s efforts to survive are rewarded with a new possibility to leave the planet. His team 一 now aware that he’s alive 一 defies orders from NASA and heads back to Mars to rescue their comrade.
  • The Road Back. Executing the new plan is immensely difficult 一 Mark has to travel far to locate the spaceship for his escape, and almost dies along the way.
  • Resurrection. Mark is unable to get close enough to his teammates' ship but finds a way to propel himself in empty space towards them, and gets aboard safely.
  • Return with the Elixir. Now a survival instructor for aspiring astronauts, Mark teaches students that space is indifferent and that survival hinges on solving one problem after another, as well as the importance of other people’s help.

Coming back to Earth, let’s now examine a heroine’s journey through the wilderness of the Pacific Crest Trail and her… humanity. 

The memoir Wild narrates the three-month-long hiking adventure of Cheryl Strayed across the Pacific coast, as she grapples with her turbulent past and rediscovers her inner strength.

Reese Witherspoon hiking the PCT

  • The Ordinary World. Cheryl shares her strong bond with her mother who was her strength during a tough childhood with an abusive father.
  • Call to Adventure. As her mother succumbs to lung cancer, Cheryl faces the heart-wrenching reality to confront life's challenges on her own.
  • Refusal of the Call. Cheryl spirals down into a destructive path of substance abuse and infidelity, which leads to hit rock bottom with a divorce and unwanted pregnancy. 
  • Meeting the Mentor. Her best friend Lisa supports her during her darkest time. One day she notices the Pacific Trail guidebook, which gives her hope to find her way back to her inner strength.
  • Crossing the First Threshold. She quits her job, sells her belongings, and visits her mother’s grave before traveling to Mojave, where the trek begins.
  • Tests, Allies, Enemies. Cheryl is tested by her heavy bag, blisters, rattlesnakes, and exhaustion, but many strangers help her along the trail with a warm meal or hiking tips. 
  • Approach to the Inmost Cave. As Cheryl goes through particularly tough and snowy parts of the trail her emotional baggage starts to catch up with her.  
  • Ordeal. She inadvertently drops one of her shoes off a cliff, and the incident unearths the helplessness she's been evading since her mother's passing.
  • Reward (Seizing the Sword). Cheryl soldiers on, trekking an impressive 50 miles in duct-taped sandals before finally securing a new pair of shoes. This small victory amplifies her self-confidence.
  • The Road Back. On the last stretch, she battles thirst, sketchy hunters, and a storm, but more importantly, she revisits her most poignant and painful memories.
  • Resurrection. Cheryl forgives herself for damaging her marriage and her sense of worth, owning up to her mistakes. A pivotal moment happens at Crater Lake, where she lets go of her frustration at her mother for passing away.
  • Return with the Elixir. Cheryl reaches the Bridge of the Gods and completes the trail. She has found her inner strength and determination for life's next steps.

There are countless other stories that could align with this template, but it's not always the perfect fit. So, let's look into when authors should consider it or not.

When should writers use The Hero’s Journey?

3jQDdq8HREc Video Thumb

The Hero’s Journey is just one way to outline a novel and dissect a plot. For more longstanding theories on the topic, you can go this way to read about the ever-popular Three-Act Structure or here to discover Dan Harmon's Story Circle and three more prevalent structures .

So when is it best to use the Hero’s Journey? There are a couple of circumstances which might make this a good choice.

When you need more specific story guidance than simple structures can offer

Simply put, the Hero’s Journey structure is far more detailed and closely defined than other story structure theories. If you want a fairly specific framework for your work than a thee-act structure, the Hero’s Journey can be a great place to start.

Of course, rules are made to be broken . There’s plenty of room to play within the confines of the Hero’s Journey, despite it appearing fairly prescriptive at first glance. Do you want to experiment with an abbreviated “Resurrection” stage, as J.K. Rowling did in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone? Are you more interested in exploring the journey of an anti-hero? It’s all possible.

Once you understand the basics of this universal story structure, you can use and bend it in ways that disrupt reader expectations.

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When your focus is on a single protagonist

No matter how sprawling or epic the world you’re writing is, if your story is, at its core, focused on a single character’s journey, then this is a good story structure for you. It’s kind of in the name! If you’re dealing with an entire ensemble, the Hero’s Journey may not give you the scope to explore all of your characters’ plots and subplot — a broader three-act structure may give you more freedom to weave a greater number story threads. ​​

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Whether you're a reader or writer, we hope our guide has helped you understand this universal story arc. Want to know more about story structure? We explain 6 more in our guide — read on!

6 responses

PJ Reece says:

25/07/2018 – 19:41

Nice vid, good intro to story structure. Typically, though, the 'hero's journey' misses the all-important point of the Act II crisis. There, where the hero faces his/her/its existential crisis, they must DIE. The old character is largely destroyed -- which is the absolute pre-condition to 'waking up' to what must be done. It's not more clever thinking; it's not thinking at all. Its SEEING. So many writing texts miss this point. It's tantamount to a religions experience, and nobody grows up without it. STORY STRUCTURE TO DIE FOR examines this dramatic necessity.

↪️ C.T. Cheek replied:

13/11/2019 – 21:01

Okay, but wouldn't the Act II crisis find itself in the Ordeal? The Hero is tested and arguably looses his/her/its past-self for the new one. Typically, the Hero is not fully "reborn" until the Resurrection, in which they defeat the hypothetical dragon and overcome the conflict of the story. It's kind of this process of rebirth beginning in the earlier sections of the Hero's Journey and ending in the Resurrection and affirmed in the Return with the Elixir.

Lexi Mize says:

25/07/2018 – 22:33

Great article. Odd how one can take nearly every story and somewhat plug it into such a pattern.

Bailey Koch says:

11/06/2019 – 02:16

This was totally lit fam!!!!

↪️ Bailey Koch replied:

11/09/2019 – 03:46

where is my dad?

Frank says:

12/04/2020 – 12:40

Great article, thanks! :) But Vogler didn't expand Campbell's theory. Campbell had seventeen stages, not twelve.

Comments are currently closed.

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The hero’s journey breakdown: everything everywhere all at once.

By Ken Miyamoto from ScreenCraft · April 12, 2023

The Hero's Journey Breakdown: Everything Everywhere All At Once

How does Everything Everywhere All at Once follow Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey breakdown?

Welcome to another installment of our new series  A Hero’s Journey Breakdown  where we explore Joseph Campbell’s mythological storytelling structure and how iconic films fit into that mold.

Hollywood development executive and screenwriter Christopher Vogler ( The Lion King ) created a screenwriting guide from Campbell’s classic story structure by breaking it into twelve stages. For this series, we define the stages in simplified interpretations:

The 12 Stages of the Hero’s Journey

  • The Ordinary World : We see the hero’s normal life at the start of the story before the adventure begins.
  • Call to Adventure : The hero is faced with an event, conflict, problem, or challenge that makes them begin their adventure.
  • Refusal of the Call : The hero initially refuses the adventure because of hesitation, fears, insecurity, or any other number of issues.
  • Meeting the Mentor : The hero encounters a mentor that can give them advice, wisdom, information, or items that ready them for the journey ahead.
  • Crossing the Threshold : The hero leaves their ordinary world for the first time and crosses the threshold into adventure.
  • Tests, Allies, and Enemies : The hero learns the rules of the new world and endures tests, meets friends, and comes face-to-face with enemies.
  • The Approach : The initial plan to take on the central conflict begins, but setbacks occur that causes the hero to try a new approach or adopt new ideas.
  • The Ordeal:  Things go wrong and added conflict is introduced. The hero experiences more difficult hurdles and obstacles, some of which may lead to a life crisis.
  • The Reward : After surviving The Ordeal, the hero seizes  the sword  — a reward that they’ve earned that allows them to take on the biggest conflict. It may be a physical item or piece of knowledge or wisdom that will help them persevere.
  • The Road Back : The hero sees the light at the end of the tunnel, but they are about to face even more tests and challenges.
  • The Resurrection : The climax. The hero faces a final test, using everything they have learned to take on the conflict once and for all.
  • The Return : The hero brings their knowledge or the “elixir” back to the ordinary world.

Here we turn to the Oscar-winning, mind-bending Everything Everywhere All at Once to track the hero’s journey.

The Hero's Journey Breakdown: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

The Hero’s Journey Breakdown: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Note: As with any application of story structure or formula, this is just a hindsight interpretation and implementation of The Hero’s Journey to this cinematic tale. There can and will be variances. 

The Ordinary World

Evelyn Wang is caught in a stressful world as she juggles multiple responsibilities and stressors, all while dealing with an IRS audit. She struggles with the relationship with her daughter (and trying her best to accept her daughter’s sexuality), being a caretaker for the father, Gong Gong, that had previously disowned her when he didn’t approve of her marriage and dealing with the daily duties of running a laundromat. Her kind-hearted husband Waymond does his best to offer levity within Evelyn’s busy and anxiety-filled life. However, it’s become too overwhelming for him. He loves Evelyn, but he can no longer continue playing second fiddle to her anxieties. Meanwhile, their daughter Joy is struggling with Evelyn’s anxieties as well. She feels suffocated by her mother’s high expectations.

Evelyn, Waymond and Gong Gong go to the IRS for an audit meeting with IRS agent Deirdre.

Call to Adventure

While in the elevator headed up to Deirdre’s audit cubicle, Waymond’s body is suddenly taken over by Alpha-Waymond, a version of Waymond from the Alphaverse, which is a parallel universe (one of millions) where Alpha-Evelyn created technology to allow travel between all of the parallel universe within the multiverse. Waymond explains that Evelyn is in great danger. He gives her strange instructions to follow (along with strange tech that allows her to tap into the multiverse) and says that he’ll talk to her soon. Waybond regains control of his body, and Evelyn is left confused.

During the IRS audit meeting with Deirdre, Evelyn, stressed, decides to follow the instructions Alpha-Waymond gave her. She is transported to a closet where Alpha-Waymond explains that many parallel universes exist because every choice a person makes creates a new alternative universe. His wife, the late Alpha-Evelyn, discovered the existence of these universes and developed “verse-jumping” technology, which enables one to transfer their consciousness to a parallel-universe self and gain their skills and memories by performing a bizarre and “statistically improbable” action, such as eating a tube of chapstick. The multiverse is threatened by Jobu Tupaki, the Alphaverse version of Joy, whose mind was splintered after Alpha-Evelyn pushed her to extensively verse-jump. Jobu is nigh-omniscient due to experiencing all universes at once and can verse-jump and manipulate matter at will.

Evelyn sees a glimpse of Deirdre’s alternate being, an evil subservient of Jobu Tupaki, attack her and Alpha-Waymond, which launches Evelyn back into her current universe. Alpha-Waymon had told her she’ll know when it was time to fight for her life.

After the audit meeting, Evelyn, Waymond, and Gong Gong are by the elevator when Evelyn sees Deridre rushing toward her. She mistakenly thinks this is the evil Deirdre and punches her in the face. Deirdre calls IRS security officers, and Alpha-Waymond takes over Waymond’s body and begins to fight off the officers with force as the IRS building goes on security lockdown.

Refusal of the Call

During the chaos as they try to escape the IRS building, Alpha-Waymond asks her:

“You can either come with me and live up to your ultimate potential or lie here and live with the consequences.”

A terrified Evelyn doesn’t hesitate when she responds:

“I want to lie here.”

She refuses the call to adventure. However, Waymond picks her up and takes her with him.

Meeting the Mentor

An important part of the hero’s journey, this stage is when the mentor shows up. It occurred the moment Alpha-Waymond revealed himself. Alpha-Waymond is Evelyn’s guide through the idiosyncracies of the multiverse. She learns everything from him. He teaches her how to harness the power of verse-jumping. And he also warns her of Jobu Tupaki.

Crossing the Threshold

Evelyn crossed the threshold into the strange world of the multiverse the moment that Alpha-Waymond appeared during her call to adventure. Even her refusal of the call occurred when she was well past the threshold, having semi-verse-jumped into the closet with Alpha-Waymon. She truly crosses the threshold when she hits Deirdre and finally sees Alpha-Waymond’s abilities. Later in this scene, Deirdre’s evil parallel universe version of herself takes over Deirdre’s body and attacks them.

Read More: 8 Lessons the Daniels Can Teach You About Writing Absurd and Moving Stories

Test, Allies, and Enemies

Throughout the IRS building sequences, we learn who Evelyn’s allies and enemies are. We’ve met two versions of Deirdre, both of whom are antagonists of hers. We have discovered that Jobu Tupaki, the villain of this story, is also the Alpha-version of Evelyn’s daughter Joy. We also see the Alpha version of Gong Gong, as he helps to save them. Evelyn has been going through countless tests as she and Alpha-Waymond struggle to survive.

The Approach

Evil Deirdre beats Alpha-Waymond in battle, forcing Evelyn to complete a task (telling Deirdre that she loves her) so she can verse-jump and learn Kung Fu to defend herself.

It works. It now looks as if this will be the way for Evelyn to succeed in destroying the evil Deirdre, and Jobu Tupaki. She no longer has to depend on Alpha-Waymond.

Alpha-Waymond returns and informs Evelyn that they surely have Jobu Tupaki’s attention now.

And that is the ordeal. Jobu Tupaki is revealed as Alpha-Joy after Evelyn and Alpha-Waymond are arrested and briefly detained within the building. Alpha-Joy/Jobu Tupaki reveals that she has created the ultimate weapon, an “everything bagel” that appears as a toroid singularity that could destroy the multiverse.

Alpha-Waymond tells Evelyn the reason that he believes she is the one to save the multiverse. He says that she’s so capable of anything because this version of her is so bad at everything. Every other version of her has excelled in whatever thing or dream they pursued. But Evelyn has never fully gone through with anything in her life, partly because she’s been “stuck” with Waymond, struggling to be a good mother, and running the stressful laundry business. Because of this, she has untapped potential. She now believes in everything Alpha-Waymond has been telling her. And soon realizes that the only way to defeat Alpha-Joy/Jobu Tupaki is to become just like her. If she can be able to see and travel the multiverse as Alpha-Joy/Jubu Tupaki does, she can save it.

The Road Back

Alpha-Gong Gong is later convinced that Evelyn’s mind has been compromised, especially after she refuses to kill Joy to avoid Alpha-Joy/Jobu taking over her body. He sends Alphaverse soldiers after Evelyn, which causes more tests and challenges. While they fight, Alpha-Joy/Jobu Tupaki locates and kills Alpha-Waymond in the Alphaverse. As Alpha-Joy/Jobu Tupaki confronts Evelyn in her universe, Evelyn’s mind splinters, and she collapses.

The Resurrection

Evelyn’s consciousness is now uncontrollably verse-jumping alongside Jobu Tupaki’s across a multitude of bizarre universes. Jobu tells Evelyn that she has been searching for an Evelyn who can see what she sees — that human existence is pointless and that nothing matters. Evelyn is brought to the everything bagel. Jobu Tupaki explains that she wants to use the everything bagel to allow them to die across all of the multiverses. Evelyn is tempted. She begins to act cruelly and nihilistically in other universes, hurting those around her.

However, Waymond, not fully understanding what is taking place but clearly seeing that something is happening, watches the chaos around him. He pleads for everyone to stop fighting. He says the secret to everything he stands for is just being kind. Especially when life doesn’t make sense. Evelyn has an epiphany and follows Waymond’s advice. She uses her multiverse powers to find what hurts those around her and bring them happiness throughout all of the multiverses. This repairs her damage in the other universes and non-violently neutralizes Alpha-Gong Gong and Jobu Tupaki’s fighters.

In the hero’s journey, the Return is when everything resets. Evelyn and Waymond decide to stay together. Evelyn proudly tells Gong Gong of Joy’s sexuality. Waymond convinces Deirdre to give them another week to situate their taxes. As Alpha-Joy/Jobu Tupaki enters the bagel alone, Joy begs Evelyn to let her go.

Evelyn tells Joy that even when nothing makes sense and even though she could be anywhere else in the multiverse, she would always want to be with Joy. Evelyn and the others save Alpha-Joy/Jobu Tupaki from the bagel, and Evelyn, Joy, and Waymond embrace. They are being kind to each other.

If you want to dive in deeper, check out our other Hero’s Journey Breakdowns !

Ken Miyamoto has worked in the film industry for nearly two decades, most notably as a studio liaison for Sony Studios and then as a script reader and story analyst for Sony Pictures.

He has many studio meetings under his belt as a produced screenwriter, meeting with the likes of Sony, Dreamworks, Universal, Disney, and Warner Brothers, as well as many production and management companies. He has had a previous development deal with Lionsgate, as well as multiple writing assignments, including the produced miniseries Blackout, starring Anne Heche, Sean Patrick Flanery, Billy Zane, James Brolin, Haylie Duff, Brian Bloom, Eric La Salle, and Bruce Boxleitner, the feature thriller Hunter’s Creed, and many produced Lifetime thrillers. Follow Ken on Twitter  @KenMovies  and Instagram  @KenMovies76 .

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The Hero's Journey: Applying The Twelve Stage Structure

Monday 13 january 2020.

lion king hero's journey 12 stages

Most of us have heard of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces or Christopher Vogler’s Twelve Stage Hero’s Journey.  Today's post is about helping you visualise & break down each step so you're able to easily apply this structure to your own writing - if you fancy it! When rewatching Disney’s The Lion King for the 52nd time, I noticed what a great example the film was to help portray Vogler's theory, so here we are. Let’s go!

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THE LION KING :: The Hero’s Journey

lion king hero's journey 12 stages

Joseph Campbell, an American mythologist, found a recurring pattern in the mythologies of the world. He compiled all of his studies in his 1949 book: The Hero with a Thousand Faces . Campbell found that all the mythologies with a single, well-defined protagonist (or the ‘hero’) had the same skeleton i.e. the structure of all these narratives had a single recurring pattern if studied from the point of view of the protagonist. He divided the now very popular ‘The Hero’s Journey’ into twelve stages which follows the protagonist from beginning to end in the story’s time frame. These twelve stages first influenced the auteurs Stanley Kubrick and George Lucas in their projects 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Star Wars (1977) respectively. If this template is matched with the story structures of modern single protagonist stories (e.g. movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Bahubali movies), we would come to a conclusion that writers still use this template, consciously or unconsciously,  in order to structure their narratives. And this is what makes it an important study.

joseph campbell

But then, why only The Lion King (1994) ? One could’ve picked any modern story, Black Panther (2018) for example, to explain this template. The reason for this is the careful or rather a very conscious application of this template to Simba’s journey. The writers of this film have acknowledged Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1609) and the Biblical stories of Joseph and Moses as being the inspiration for the film’s story. All of these stories, if not strongly, adhere to Campbell’s template. So, let us look at how Simba’s journey to the throne is guided by Campbell’s twelve stages. The Lion King (1994), screenplay by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts & Linda Woolverton, directed by Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff.

Heros-Journey

1. The Ordinary World

In myth: The hero is oblivious to the adventures to come. It’s the safe place, the everyday life where we learn crucial details about our hero.

In The Lion King: Simba is born in the Pride Lands, which is a comfortable atmosphere for him to get nurtured. We come to know of his character traits and ‘life need’ which is to become as brave as his father Mufasa so that one day he could succeed him as the king.

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2. Call To Adventure

In myth: The hero’s adventure begins when they receive a call to action. It may not be very dramatic but arrives when they least expect it. Whatever the call is, it ultimately disrupts the comfort of the hero’s ordinary world.

In The Lion King: The film’s clear antagonist, Scar, pokes our protagonist Simba’s self beliefs of bravery. He tricks him to go on an adventure, to a forbidden elephant’s graveyard, where he is attacked by a trio of hyenas to be ultimately saved by Mufasa. It is important to note that, this moment in the story is a portrayal of Simba’s first loss, because he is not supposed to be ‘ready’ yet! The ‘call’ is actually a call of ‘ portrayal of bravery’  which brings the first hard strike to our hero’s beliefs about himself.

3. Refusal of the Call

In myth: Although the hero may be eager to accept the quest, at this stage they will have fears that need to be overcome.

In The Lion King: Simba realizes his mistake and apologizes before Mufasa. This apology is a sub-textual indication of refusal to the call of ‘portrayal of bravery’ .

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4. Meeting the Mentor

In myth: At this crucial turning point where the hero desperately needs guidance, they meet a mentor figure who gives them something they need. It could be wise advice, practical training, or even self-confidence. The mentor’s offering helps dispel their doubts and fears, giving them the strength and courage to begin their quest.

In The Lion King: Mufasa is clearly Simba’s mentor. He educates him about the true meaning of bravery. This valuable piece of advice adds to Simba’s brain which will later help him in his quest.

5. Crossing the Threshold

In myth: The hero is now ready to act upon the call to adventure and truly begin their quest, whether it be physical, spiritual, or emotional. This action signifies the hero’s commitment to their journey and whatever it may have in store.

In The Lion King: After Scar kills Mufasa(a very emotional plot point in the story), Simba is forced to leave his ‘ordinary world’ and begin a journey of self-discovery. The journey although physical, is sub-textually emotional.

6. Tests, Allies, Enemies

In myth: Now finally out of their comfort zone, the hero is confronted with an ever more difficult series of challenges that test them in a variety of ways. The hero needs to find out who can be trusted and who cannot. They may earn allies and meet enemies who will, each in their own ways, help prepare them for the greater ordeals yet to come.

In The Lion King: Simba meets Timon and Pumbaa, who are fellow outcasts, and adopts their motto of ‘Hakuna Matata’ i.e. living their life without any worries and leaving their past behind them. Although, this goes against Simba’s kingly teachings, he still adopts it. Perhaps because it provides him much needed comfort after the bad times he has been through. Although Timon and Pumbaa might seem allies as of now, they will turn into enemies(don’t approach the word very strongly) as the story progresses, simply because their care-free philosophy is very poisonous to Simba’s ‘life need’.

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7. Approach to the Inmost Cave

In myth: At the threshold to the inmost cave, the hero may once again face some of the doubts and fears that first surfaced upon their call to adventure. They may need some time to reflect upon their journey and the road ahead in order to find the courage to continue.

In The Lion King: After Nala(hero’s love interest) unceremoniously discovers a grown-up Simba, she pushes him to think about his past and his original goals, which he seems to have forgotten. Simba repels all the thoughts at first but he must and does enter his inmost cave where he must confront his fears so that he could come out to a bright morning on the other side.

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8. The Ordeal

In myth: The hero must draw upon all of their skills and experiences gathered upon the path to the inmost cave in order to overcome their most difficult challenge. Only through some form of “death” can the hero be reborn, experiencing a metaphorical resurrection that somehow grants them greater power or insight necessary in order to fulfill a destiny.

In The Lion King: In a marvelous cinematic moment, Simba sees his father in the skies, who makes him remember the purpose of his life. Because of this emotionally challenging moment, Simba, who allowed himself to drown in his new beliefs, resurfaces to face the reality!

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9. The Reward

In myth: After defeating the enemy, surviving death, and finally overcoming their greatest personal challenge, the hero is ultimately transformed into a new state, emerging from battle as a stronger person and often with a prize.

In The Lion King: After his encounter with Mufasa, Simba now strongly believes that he is as brave as his father. And this is his reward after the resolution of his personal conflicts. The enemy which established itself as self doubt, loses the battle, because our hero proves himself to be stronger than it.

10. The Road Back

In myth: Now they must return home with their reward but, this time, the anticipation of danger is replaced with that of acclaim and perhaps vindication, absolution, or even exoneration. However, the hero’s journey is not yet over and they may still need one last push back into the Ordinary World.

In The Lion King: Simba begins his journey back home. But he can’t really go back, because he still has to defeat Scar, the main antagonist of the story.

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11. Resurrection

In myth: This is the climax during which the hero must have their final and most dangerous encounter with death. The final battle also represents something far greater than the hero’s own existence, with its outcome having far-reaching consequences for their ordinary world and the lives of those they left behind.

In The Lion King: Simba learns that it was Scar who murdered his father Mufasa. After a duel with Scar, Simba emerges as the winner which proves his worth to be a king of the Pride Lands. This resurrection is established by a dramatic sequence in which Simba roars on the Pride Rock to be joined by the members of his pack.

12. Return with Elixir

In myth: The final reward that the hero obtains may be literal or metaphoric. It could be a cause for celebration, self-realization, or an end to strife, but whatever it is, it represents three things: change, success, and proof of the journey.

In The Lion King: Simba restores the prosperity that his father’s kingdom once had. He wins Nala’s love and the respect of his kingdom. All in all, it is a happy ending to our hero’s journey! 🙂

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This recurring template of The Hero’s Journey, for me, instills a belief that how life and movies go hand in hand. Even though this film is animated and characters are fictional, the emotional connect of it with the audience is never undermined. The Lion King has some very emotionally striking moments. It also inculcates humour by introducing vividly memorable characters of Timon and Pumbaa in the narrative so that the story remains interesting. The content is suitable for audience members of all ages and varying maturity. Everyone will have something to take back from this movie. I hope you liked this piece on The Lion King, if you haven’t checked out the other posts, I recommend you to! Please subscribe to the blog by scrolling down to the end of page. If you have any suggestions, please don’t forget to comment. See you next time!

The following article was referred to while writing this blog post: https://skift.com/2016/10/28/the-heros-journey-a-human-framework-for-building-modern-travel-brands/

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Budding engineer, a movie buff and a student of film! View all posts by Ravish Pathan

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The Hero’s Journey: The 12 (or 17) Steps for Writers

  • by Sam Howard

In this article, you will learn all about the hero’s journey – the common template seen in many myths, legends, and stories across cultures that involves a hero going on an adventure, overcoming challenges, and returning home transformed. Specifically, we will cover:

  • What the hero’s journey is and why it’s so prevalent in storytelling
  • The origins of the hero’s journey concept by Joseph Campbell
  • The 12 main stages of the journey outlined by Christopher Vogler
  • Examples of the hero’s journey in famous myths, films, novels, and stories
  • Tips for using the hero’s journey structure in your own writing

When I first learned about the hero’s journey, I was fascinated by how this template seems to capture the essence of storytelling and the universal human experience. In this article, I’ll share my own excitement and perspectives on this captivating concept as we explore what makes the hero’s journey such a timeless and powerful narrative structure. Let’s begin our own adventure into the world of the monomyth!

What Is the Hero’s Journey And Why Do People Talk About it All The Time?

The hero’s journey, also referred to as the monomyth, is essentially the common template of stories that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, faces various challenges, comes through a crisis or major ordeal, and returns home transformed in some fundamental way.

This basic narrative arc can be traced back centuries and is found in myths, legends, folklore, and religious tales across vastly different cultures. For example, the epic of Gilgamesh from ancient Mesopotamia, the Odyssey by Homer, the legend of the Buddha’s enlightenment, the Bible stories of Moses and Jesus, and medieval Arthurian legends, all follow this fundamental template.

The hero’s journey was popularized in the 20th century by American mythologist Joseph Campbell. In his seminal 1949 book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell analyzed myths across cultures and found this common throughline structure he called the monomyth. He summarized the journey in this way:

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

Ever since Campbell published his work, the hero’s journey concept has been applied extensively in understanding myths, legends, films, novels, plays, video games, and all types of stories. Writers, directors, storytellers, and artists have latched onto this idea because it seems to resonate with universal themes about human experience.

We all face trials and challenges in life. We go on both physical and emotional journeys to overcome obstacles and grow. In stories, we get to live vicariously through the heroic protagonist. The hero’s journey allows us to relate to them and be inspired by their perseverance. At its core, this monomythic cycle ties into concepts like love, sacrifice, courage, transformation, and fulfilling one’s destiny. These timeless themes and character arcs continue to captivate audiences and new generations.

The 12 Stages of the Hero’s Journey (as outlined by Christopher Vogler)

While Joseph Campbell originally outlined 17 stages of the monomyth in his book, screenwriter Christopher Vogler simplified it into 12 stages in a popular guidebook for writers. Known as the hero’s journey model, these 12 steps are:

  • Ordinary World
  • Call to Adventure
  • Refusal of the Call
  • Meeting the Mentor
  • Crossing the Threshold
  • Tests, Allies, Enemies
  • Approach to the Inmost Cave
  • The Road Back
  • Resurrection
  • Return with the Elixir

Let’s look at each of these 12 stages in more detail:

1. Ordinary World

The hero exists in the ordinary world, their normal environment, when we first meet them. This allows us to see what their daily life is like before the adventure begins. In The Matrix, we see Neo living an ordinary life as a computer programmer before he is called to his destiny. In Harry Potter, we witness Harry’s difficult life with the Dursleys until he’s summoned to Hogwarts.

The ordinary world establishes the status quo that will eventually be disrupted as the journey unfolds. It lets us relate to the hero as an everyday person like us before they embark on something extraordinary.

2. Call to Adventure

The hero receives a call to go on an adventure that disrupts their ordinary world. It may come in the form of a threat to the hero or their community. This call could come from a herald like Gandalf summoning Frodo in Lord of the Rings. Or it may be adventure itself that calls to the hero, spurring them to seize new opportunities.

However it arrives, the call ignites the hero’s journey as they are drawn into a new world of possibilities. But hearing the call is just the beginning of their transformation.

3. Refusal of the Call

When presented with the call to adventure, the hero may initially refuse or express reluctance to embark on the journey. Refusing the call hints at their fears or shortcomings that must be overcome.

At this stage, heroes might believe they are unfit for the journey ahead. Bilbo Baggins tries refusing Gandalf’s request for him to join the dwarves in reclaiming their home. Other times, refusal comes from a sense of duty preventing the hero from leaving home.

4. Meeting the Mentor

The hero needs guidance to answer the call, which comes in the form of a mentor figure. The mentor prepares the hero for the journey ahead by training, advising, and empowering them.

The mentor can appear as a wise old wizard like Merlin or Dumbledore. Or they may impart wisdom in less obvious ways. In The Karate Kid, the unassuming maintenance man Mr. Miyagi mentors Daniel through karate lessons and life advice that transform him. Whatever form they take, the mentor molds the hero toward being ready to face their destiny.

5. Crossing the Threshold

The hero commits wholeheartedly to the adventure by crossing the threshold into the special world beyond their ordinary one. There is often an actual threshold representing the boundary between worlds.

Dorothy leaves Kansas behind by squinting through the door of her tornado-blown house into the colorful Land of Oz. By committing to the journey, the hero enters Act Two, facing tests in the special world. The threshold marks the point of no return.

6. Tests, Allies, Enemies

In the special world of Act Two, the hero faces a series of tests that allow them to gather allies and enemies. The tests are part of the training the hero must undergo to prepare for the bigger ordeals yet to come.

The hero discovers new abilities, but also weaknesses that they seek to overcome. Allies join the hero on the journey and work with them to pass tests. Enemies create obstacles and complications for the hero. Through these trials and relationships, we see the hero change and grow.

7. Approach to the Inmost Cave

The inmost cave may be an actual location in the special world, but really represents the innermost darkness of the hero’s psyche, their deepest fear they must face. As they approach this critical juncture, they prepare themselves for facing this ultimate ordeal.

On the approach, the hero may appear to be reaching their goal or think the journey is coming to an end, only to find this is yet another prelude to a more difficult confrontation with death ahead.

8. The Ordeal

Here, the hero undergoes the supreme ordeal of facing their greatest fear in the hope of being rewarded or resurrected anew. This is the climactic central confrontation often representing facing death and rebirth both metaphorically and literally.

The ordeal allows the hero to conquer their enemies or shadowy aspects of themselves once and for all. By dying to their old self, they can be reborn as their true heroic self.

After surviving death in the ordeal, the hero gains the reward they’ve sought like the holy grail or some elixir to save their people. It may come in the form of new knowledge or insight. This rest period lets us see the hero enjoy the fruits of their labor and sacrifice.

10. The Road Back

Carrying the reward, the hero begins their return journey home to the ordinary world. But the adventure isn’t over yet. New dangerous obstacles arise that imperil the hero’s journey home.

The stakes are raised once more as the hero must stay resilient on the road back, holding onto the reward and wisdom gained from their difficult trials. The journey is about mastery of two worlds.

11. Resurrection

As the hero nears the threshold home, they must endure one last test where everything learned so far is put to the ultimate test. Facing mortal danger, they may need rescue from without. This final trial leads to the hero’s resurrection and ascension as a superior being.

12. Return with the Elixir

This brings the hero full circle as they return to the ordinary world, but able to bestow gifts on that world as a powerful guide ready to lead others. Their elixir is the wisdom gained from the ordeal. The hero comes back from death transformed and enlightened.

By mastering and balancing both worlds, the hero is a carrier of boons to help renew their community. They return wiser and more enlightened than when they started.

The Original 17 Stages of the Hero’s Journey (as outlined by Joseph Campbell)

Joseph Campbell’s original 1949 outline of the monomyth actually had more stages – 17 steps versus the simplified version’s 12 steps. Campbell’s 17 stages, grouped into a three act structure, are:

Act I – Departure

  • The Call to Adventure
  • Supernatural Aid
  • Crossing the First Threshold
  • Belly of the Whale

Act II – Initiation

  • The Road of Trials
  • Meeting with the Goddess
  • Woman as Temptress
  • Atonement with the Father
  • The Ultimate Boon

Act III – Return

  • Refusal of the Return
  • Magic Flight
  • Rescue from Without
  • Crossing the Return Threshold
  • Master of Two Worlds
  • Freedom to Live

While containing more steps, Campbell’s outline aligns with Vogler’s simplified version covering departure, initiation, and return. The expanded 17 stages provide more details about certain phases of the journey. Both models offer a guide to crafting an archetypal heroic story.

My Favorite Examples of the Hero’s Journey

The hero’s journey monomyth structure has been analyzed in many myths, legends, films and stories. Here are some of my personal favorites:

  • The Odyssey – This classic epic by Homer shaped much of the hero’s journey template through Odysseus’s long difficult voyage home after the Trojan War.
  • Star Wars – Luke Skywalker’s journey follows the hero template faithfully, one reason the film resonates so powerfully.
  • The Matrix – Neo’s journey from hacker to hero/savior closely aligns with the monomyth. Facing Agent Smith is akin to an ordeal and resurrection.
  • Harry Potter – Harry progresses through each stage, mentored by Dumbledore, gaining allies like Hermione and Ron, facing enemies like Voldemort, dying and returning to defeat evil.
  • The Lion King – Simba’s epic quest contains numerous stages like crossing a threshold into the elephant graveyard, undergoing an ordeal facing his evil uncle, and returning to restore the kingdom.

Each example above takes the universal monomyth template and makes it singular and unforgettable by creating iconic heroes, mentors, allies and villains. The hero’s journey is infinitely malleable.

How to Use the Hero’s Journey in a Novel

If you want to employ the hero’s journey structure in your own novel or screenplay, here are some tips:

  • Have a clear vision of your hero and their ordinary world before disrupting it with the call to adventure.
  • Make your mentor, allies and enemies dimensional, memorable characters that impact the hero.
  • Structure key events like the ordeal, the climax, and the hero’s resurrection around the middle and end to shape the emotional arc.
  • Customize the template to fit your unique story needs. Not all 17 stages must be included.
  • Outline the stages before writing, but also allow some to emerge organically from story and characters.
  • Include symbolic thresholds like crossroads, gates, bridges, or actual magical portals marking transitions into new worlds.
  • Use tests in the special world to allow your hero to grow incrementally through small wins and losses.
  • Consider how bringing back the “elixir” transforms not just the hero but also their community.

In essence, incorporating a monomyth structure provides a time-tested narrative arc while leaving plenty of room for your own imaginative embellishment. Allow the template to guide, not limit, your creativity.

That concludes my personal guide to the hero’s journey draws from myths, films and literature! I hope relaying my own perspectives and enthusiasm brought this monomyth template to life. Now that you’ve completed your own vicarious adventure through the world of the hero’s journey, you have all the tools to craft an epic tale full of memorable characters, riveting ordeals and triumphant returns. Wishing you the best as you set forth on your own writing journey ahead!

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Hero's Journey

Ever notice that every blockbuster movie has the same fundamental pieces? A hero, a journey, some conflicts to muck it all up, a reward, and the hero returning home and everybody applauding his or her swag? Yeah, scholar Joseph Campbell noticed first—in 1949. He wrote The Hero with a Thousand Faces , in which he outlined the 17 stages of a mythological hero's journey.

About half a century later, Christopher Vogler condensed those stages down to 12 in an attempt to show Hollywood how every story ever written should—and, uh, does —follow Campbell's pattern. We're working with those 12 stages, so take a look. (P.S. Want more? We have an entire Online Course devoted to the hero's journey.)

Ordinary World

Simba is a little cub who gets to live in his ordinary world doing ordinary-world things. You know, just stuff like being a prince and using the entire African savanna as his playground. Super ordinary.

Call to Adventure

Scar banishes Simba from the Pride Lands.

Refusal of the Call

Instead of challenging Scar, Simba runs away with his tail between his legs. He lives for many peaceful and wondrous years in a jungle sanctuary with his friends, Timon and Pumbaa.

Meeting the Mentor

Simba has a fateful conversation with the ghost of his father, who tells him fatherly things like "be responsible" and "seek revenge on your evil uncle."

Crossing the Threshold

Simba returns to the Pride Lands.

Tests, Allies, Enemies

Simba does battle with Scar's henchmen. Scar tries to deceive the other lions into thinking that Simba is a patricidal maniac, but Simba corrects that misconception quickly.

Approach to the Inmost Cave

Simba and Scar circle each other, preparing for their final showdown. Simba tries to banish Scar from the Pride Lands, but Scar kicks some flaming embers into Simba's eyes, starting a fight.

Simba fights Scar and wins, throwing his uncle into a pack of hungry hyenas.

Reward (Seizing the Sword)

Simba climbs Pride Rock, his role as king restored.

The Road Back

The Pride Lands return to their normal lush and green state.

Resurrection

Simba is accepted as the rightful king of the Pride Lands.

Return with the Elixir

Simba and Nala welcome a son, the new prince, into the world.

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W hy's T his F unny?

Exploring the 12 Stages of the Hero’s Journey Part 5: Crossing the Threshold

lion king hero's journey 12 stages

Welcome to Part 5 of our 12-part series ScreenCraft’s Exploring the 12 Stages of the Hero’s Journey , where we go into depth about each of the twelve stages and how your screenplays could benefit from them.  Please see the bottom of this post for a refresher on the stages of The Hero's Journey.

The first stage — The Ordinary World — is one of the most essential elements of any story, even ones that don't follow the twelve-stage structure to a T.  Showing your protagonist within their Ordinary World at the beginning of your story offers you the ability to showcase how much the core conflict they face rocks their world. And it allows you to foreshadow and create the necessary elements of empathy and catharsis that your story needs.

The next stage is the Call to Adventure . Giving your story's protagonist a Call to Adventure introduces the core concept of your story, dictates the genre your story is being told in and helps to begin the process of character development that every great story needs.

When your character Refuses the Call to Adventure , it allows you to create instant tension and conflict within the opening pages and first act of your story. It also gives you the chance to amp-up the risks and stakes involved, which engages the reader or audience even more. Additionally, it adds depth to your protagonist, which in turn creates more empathy towards them.

Along the way, your protagonist — and screenplay — may need a mentor. Meeting the Mentor offers the protagonist someone that can guide them through their journey with wisdom, support, and even physical items. Beyond that, they help you to offer empathetic relationships within your story, as well as ways to introduce themes, story elements, and exposition to the reader and audience.

At some point at the end of the first act, your story may showcase a moment where your protagonist needs to Cross the Threshold between their Ordinary World and the Special World they will be experiencing as their inner or outer journey begins.

Here we offer three ways Crossing the Threshold affects your story.

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lion king hero's journey 12 stages

1. It Shifts Your Story Into Gear

If we've been introduced to your protagonist through their Ordinary World, and have watched them finally accept the call to adventure — whether it be an inner or outer emotional or physical journey — it's always nice to offer a moment within the story that shifts everything to the next gear.

We've gotten to know the protagonist and their world. We've maybe seen their insecurities, struggles, and fears when they initially refused the Call to Adventure. Once they've decided that they're going to take the conflict on, we're at the turning point of the story, shifting gears from the first act and into the second.

In Cast Away , when Chuck goes into the cockpit of the FedEx jet, he sees the danger at hand. We've shifted gears from his regular FedEx routine to something dire. He doesn't cross the threshold when he says goodbye to Kelly or gets on the jet. Everything is still within his comfort zone. He's still in his Ordinary World.

It's when things go wrong that he steps out of his normal work routine and into the Special World he's about to experience — and it is vastly different from what he is used to.

In The Lord of the Rings , Frodo and Sam literally cross the threshold between the world they've known, The Shire, to a world they are unfamiliar with — beyond The Shire.

In Stand By Me , the boys walk onto the train tracks leading away from their hometown of Castle Rock — and it's both a literal and metaphorical threshold they are crossing. The tracks represent a physical path away from their home. And once they embark on their adventure, the boys are crossing the threshold from boyhood towards adulthood.

These moments within stories allow the reader or audience to switch their own mindsets, knowing that the characters are going to be facing the central conflict, as well as many trials and tribulations throughout. It is the moment that truly captures our attention going into the second act.

2. Introduces the Differences Between the Ordinary World and the Special World to Come

The Special World is the world that the protagonist is about to come across as they deal with the conflict they've been forced to — or have chosen to — take on.  And it's vital to the story to present a world that is very different from what the protagonist is used to. Yes, some great stories simply showcase a window of time within a character's world. But if you want to truly engage a reader and audience, you need to inject as much tension and conflict as you can. And you do that by taking them out of their element.

In Cast Away , Chuck is a character that is used to a routine, a schedule, and the technology that can help him maintain all of that. When he's stranded on an island, he's out of his comfort zone.

In Stand By Me , when the boys embark on their adventure, there are no parents to guide them, and they've escaped the constraints of their life in Castle Rock. It's just them, the tracks, a long and intimidating bridge, a murky swamp, and the coming-of-age conflicts and realizations that comprise the new world they've entered.

In The Lord of the Rings , the Hobbits are in a dark, strange, and dangerous world. Everyone is bigger than they are. They don't know who to trust. And they certainly don't have enough food. They're out of their element.

The threshold represents the difference between the known and the unknown. And there's a thrill — not just for the protagonist, but for the reader and audience as well — to the unknown.  So presenting a moment or scene where we see the protagonist crossing that threshold is  impactful. It's subtle but powerful.

3. Begins Your Protagonist's Character Arc

Character arcs are a must. Most people want to see a character change throughout a story — a transformation that they undergo as they take on the conflict at hand.  When your protagonist physically or emotionally crosses a threshold, you're letting the reader or audience know that their character arc has begun.

We've hopefully learned a little bit about them within their Ordinary World. We've maybe learned a little more as they refused the Call to Adventure, divulging their fears, insecurities, and reservations. Now we know that despite all of that, they're willing to take on whatever challenge they have been presented with — their arc has begun.

This shift allows the reader and audience a brief moment to feel the empathetic impact of the protagonist crossing the threshold. And the power of that moment pulls them into the story. They're invested. They're curious and want to know how this character is going to survive the conflict. They know the baggage that the protagonist is carrying. They empathize with them. And they are ready to go on this character's journey.

Crossing the Threshold is about shifting from the first act to the second, and allowing the reader and audience to feel that shift so they can prepare for the journey to come. It showcases the difference between the protagonist's Ordinary World and the Special World to come. And, even more important, we're introduced to the first shift in the character arc of the protagonist as they decide to venture out into the unknown.

And remember...

"The Hero's Journey is a skeleton framework that should be fleshed out with the details of and surprises of the individual story. The structure should not call attention to itself, nor should it be followed too precisely. The order of the stages is only one of many possible variations. The stages can be deleted, added to, and drastically shuffled without losing any of their power."   — Christopher Vogler, The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers

_________________________________________________________________________

Joseph Campbell's 17-stage Monomyth was conceptualized over the course of Campbell's own text, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, and then later in the 1980s through two documentaries, one of which introduced the term The Hero's Journey .

The first documentary, 1987's The Hero's Journey: The World of Joseph Campbell , was released with an accompanying book entitled The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work .

The second documentary was released in 1988 and consisted of Bill Moyers' series of interviews with Campbell, accompanied by the companion book The Power of Myth .

lion king hero's journey 12 stages

Christopher Vogler was a Hollywood development executive and screenwriter working for Disney when he took his passion for Joseph Campbell's story monolith and developed it into a seven-page company memo for the company's development department and incoming screenwriters. The memo, entitled A Practical Guide to The Hero with a Thousand Faces , was later developed by Vogler into The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers and Screenwriters in 1992. He then elaborated on those concepts for the book The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers .

This work established him as the film industry's go-to story analyst, leading to a rich career at Disney, Fox and more where he influenced the screenplays of movies from THE LION KING to FIGHT CLUB to THE THIN RED LINE.

Vogler's approach to Campbell's structure broke the mythical story structure into twelve stages . We define the stages in our own simplified interpretations:

  • The Ordinary World : We see the hero's normal life at the start of the story before the adventure begins.
  • Call to Adventure : The hero is faced with an event, conflict, problem, or challenge that makes them begin their adventure.
  • Refusal of the Call : The hero initially refuses the adventure because of hesitation, fears, insecurity, or any other number of issues.
  • Meeting the Mentor : The hero encounters a mentor that can give them advice, wisdom, information, or items that ready them for the journey ahead.
  • Crossing the Threshold : The hero leaves their ordinary world for the first time and crosses the threshold into adventure.
  • Tests, Allies, and Enemies : The hero learns the rules of the new world and endures tests, meets friends, and comes face-to-face with enemies.
  • The Approach : The initial plan to take on the central conflict begins, but setbacks occur that cause the hero to try a new approach or adopt new ideas.
  • The Ordeal: Things go wrong and added conflict is introduced. The hero experiences more difficult hurdles and obstacles, some of which may lead to a life crisis.
  • The Reward : After surviving The Ordeal, the hero seizes the sword — a reward that they've earned that allows them to take on the biggest conflict. It may be a physical item or piece of knowledge or wisdom that will help them persevere.
  • The Road Back : The hero sees the light at the end of the tunnel, but they are about to face even more tests and challenges.
  • The Resurrection : The climax. The hero faces a final test, using everything they have learned to take on the conflict once and for all.
  • The Return : The hero brings their knowledge or the "elixir" back to the ordinary world.

Ken Miyamoto has worked in the film industry for nearly two decades, most notably as a studio liaison for Sony Studios and then as a script reader and story analyst for Sony Pictures.   He has many studio meetings under his belt as a produced screenwriter, meeting with the likes of Sony, Dreamworks, Universal, Disney, Warner Brothers, as well as many production and management companies. He has had a previous development deal with Lionsgate, as well as multiple writing assignments, including the produced miniseries  Blackout , starring Anne Heche, Sean Patrick Flanery, Billy Zane, James Brolin, Haylie Duff, Brian Bloom, Eric La Salle, and Bruce Boxleitner. Follow Ken on Twitter  @KenMovies

For all the latest ScreenCraft news and updates, follow us on  Twitter,   Facebook , and  Instagram .

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The Write Practice

The Hero’s Journey: 12 Steps That Make Up the Universal Structure of Great Stories

by David Safford | 0 comments

At some in your writer's life, you've probably come across the term Hero's Journey. Maybe you've even studied this guide for storytelling and applied it to your own books—and yet, something about your own application felt off. You wanted to learn more, but didn't know where to start.

Maybe you needed a resource that would simplify the hero's journey steps and all the other major details instead of complicate them.

The Hero's Journey: The Ultimate Guide to the Universal Structure of Great Stories

The Hero's Journey is as old as humanity itself. And through history, this single story form has emerged over and over again. People from all cultures have seemed to favor its structure, and its familiar types of characters (archetypal hero, anyone?), symbols, relationships, and steps.

If you want to build or strengthen your writing career and win a following of many happy readers, you want this particular tool in your writer's toolbox.

Let's dive in.

Need help applying The Hero's Journey to your story outline and manuscript? Download this free Hero's Journey worksheet now!

Why I Love the Hero's Journey (And You Will, Too)

Like many, I grew up loving Star Wars. I especially loved the music and bought the soundtracks at some point in middle school. When my parents weren't home and I had the house all to myself, I'd slip one of the CDs into my stereo, crank the volume up, and blast the London Symphony Orchestra. I even pretended I was conducting the violins and timpani myself.

I know it's nerdy to admit. But we love what we love, and I love the music of great movies.

In a way, the Hero's Journey is like a soundtrack. It follows familiar beats and obeys age-old principles of human emotion. We can't necessarily explain why a piece of music is so beautiful, but we can explain what it does and simply acknowledge that most people like it.

As I've come to understand Joseph Campbell's groundbreaking monomyth theory, commonly known as the Hero's Journey, I've fallen deeper and deeper in love with it.

But it's important to make sure you know what it is, and what it isn't.

The Hero's Journey isn't a formula to simply follow, plugging in hackneyed characters into cliched situations.

It's not “selling out” and giving up your artistic integrity

The Hero's Journey is a set of steps, scenes, character types, symbols, and themes that tend to recur in stories regardless of culture or time period. Within these archetypes are nearly infinite variations and unique perspectives that are impacted by culture and period, reflecting wonderful traits of the authors and audiences.

Also, the Hero's Journey is a process that your reader expects your story to follow, whether they know it or not. This archetype is hard-wired into our D.N.A. Let's look at how to use it to make your own stories stronger.

How to Use This Hero's Journey Post

In the beginning, there were stories. These stories were told by mothers, soldiers, and performers. They were inscribed on the walls of caves, into tablets of stone, and on the first sheets of papyrus.

This is how the Hero's Journey was born.

In this post, I'll walk you through the Hero's Journey twelve steps, and teach you how to apply them into your story. I'll also share additional resources to teach you some other Hero's Journey essentials, like character archetypes, symbols, and themes. By the end of this post, you'll be able to easily apply the Hero's Journey to your story with confidence.

And don't skip out on the practice exercise at the end of the post! This will help you start to carve out the Hero's Journey for your story with a practical fifteen minute exercise—the best way to really retain how the Hero's Journey works is to apply it.

Table of Contents: The Hero's Journey Guide

What is the Hero's Journey?

Why the Hero's Journey will make you a better writer

The Twelve-Step Hero's Journey Structure

  • The Ordinary World
  • The Call to Adventure
  • The Refusal of the Call
  • Meeting the Mentor
  • Crossing the Threshold
  • Trials, Allies, and Enemies
  • The Approach
  • The Road Back
  • The Resurrection
  • Return With the Elixir

5 Essential Hero's Journey Scenes

A Guide to Structuring Your Hero's Journey

Bonus! Additional Hero's Journey Resources

  • 5 Character Archetypes
  • 5 Hero's Journey Symbols
  • 5 Hero's Journey Themes

What Is the Hero's Journey?

The Hero's Journey is the timeless combination of characters, events, symbols, and relationships frequently structured as a sequence of twelve steps. It is a storytelling structure that anyone can study and utilize to tell a story that readers will love.

First identified and defined by Joseph Campbell, the Hero's Journey was theorizied in The Hero With a Thousand Faces . Today, it has been researched and taught by great minds, some including Carl Jung and Christopher Vogler (author of The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers ).

This research has given us lengthy and helpful lists of archetypes , or story elements that tend to recur in stories from any culture at any time.

And while some archetypes are unique to a genre, they are still consistent within those genres. For example, a horror story from Japan will still contain many of the same archetypes as a horror story from Ireland. There will certainly be notable differences in how these archetypes are depicted, but the tropes will still appear.

That's the power of the Hero's Journey. It is the skeleton key of storytelling that you can use to unlock the solution to almost any writing problem you are confronted with.

Why the Monomyth Will Make You a Better Writer

The Hero's Journey is the single most powerful tool at your disposal as a writer.

But it isn't a “rule,” so to speak. It's also not a to-do list.

If anything, the Hero's Journey is diagnostic, not prescriptive. In other words, it describes a story that works, but doesn't necessarily tell you what to do.

But the reason you should use the Hero's Journey isn't because it's a great trick or tool. You should use the Hero's Journey because it is based on thousands of years of human storytelling.

It provides a way to connect with readers from all different walks of life.

This is why stories about fantastical creatures from imaginary worlds can forge deep emotional connections with audiences. Hollywood knows this, and its best studios take advantage. As an example, The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien, contains mythical creatures like elves and hobbits. Yet it is Frodo's heroic journey of sacrifice and courage that draws us to him like a magnet.

Learn how to easily apply the Hero's Journey 12 Steps to your books in this post. Tweet this

David Safford

You deserve a great book. That's why David Safford writes adventure stories that you won't be able to put down. Read his latest story at his website. David is a Language Arts teacher, novelist, blogger, hiker, Legend of Zelda fanatic, puzzle-doer, husband, and father of two awesome children.

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Advanced Novel Plot Structure: Joseph Campbell & The Hero’s Journey

by Calling Card Books and Z Girls Press | Jul 3, 2020 | Books , Writing | 0 comments

lion king hero's journey 12 stages

In his book The Hero With A Thousand Faces , Joseph Campbell lays out “The Hero’s Journey” inspired by psychoanalyst Carl Jung’s take on myths from various cultures around the world. Much more complicated than Freytag’s Pyramid , this framework for storytelling takes a mystical look at story structure.

Campbell developed The Hero’s journey after noticing similar themes and beats in different myths from around the world. The concept of Campbell’s Hero’s Journey became so popular that several different people have refined it to create their own versions. The most notable are by David Adams Leeming, Phil Cousineau, and Christopher Vogler.

The Hero’s Journey can be quite complex and hard to understand since Campbell’s original version had seventeen separate steps . We’ve chosen to describe Christopher Vogler’s relatively accessible twelve-step variation instead.

The hero’s journey lends itself to sweeping tales of mythic proportions like Hunger Games , Lord of the Rings , Game of Thrones , or Star Wars . However, the structure can also tell more delicate or nuanced stories, when using the twelve steps to describe internal desires and conflicts rather than external forces.

The Three Acts

The Hero’s Journey takes place withing two realms, the “ordinary world” that the protagonist has always known, and the “special world” that the hero discovers on their journey. The special world can be an alternate reality or literal new world, but it generally represents the unknown or undiscovered.

The various steps of the journey take place during three phases, sometimes called acts. In the departure , the protagonists first exists in, and then leaves, the comfort of the ordinary world. During the initiation , they begin to adapt to the special world they have entered, learning and growing as they go. Finally, the wiser, more experienced hero emerges back into the ordinary world during the return .

lion king hero's journey 12 stages

The Hero’s Journey in The Lion King

Most notably, the hero’s journey was used by George Lucas to write the behemoth Star Wars . Since nearly everyone (including Campbell himself) uses Star Wars to explain the concept, we’ll break down this complex, rich story structure using The Lion King instead.

First we’ll explain the beats of the Hero’s Journey, then in italics we’ll describe the corresponding scene from The Lion King .

1. The Ordinary World

The hero happily exists in the world they’ve always known, which sets the scene and is often boring but provides contrast for the protagonist’s future growth.

Mufasa, the king of Pride Rock, shows his son Simba (the hero),  the savannah and teaches him about the delicate balance of the Circle of Life.

2. The Call of Adventure

Something new beckons the hero to expand their horizons where the hero will have an internal or external problem to grapple with throughout the story.

Scar plans to become king by killing Simba and Mufasa in a fabricated stampede. Mufasa saves Simba, but Scar betrays his brother,  sending him to his death by falling from a cliff face.

3. Refusal of the Call

The new horizons are too frightening, so the hero refuses to leave their secure world.

With his father dead, Simba is the heir presumptive of the Pride Lands. Scar convinces him that everyone will blame Simba for his father’s death.

4. Meeting the Mentor

The hero meets someone or something that can help guide them through the unknown. They don’t necessarily receive wisdom, or a training montage, from their mentor at this point, but the mentor will play an important role down the road.

After hearing the news that Mufasa and Simba have died, the wise baboon, Rafiki, sits in his tree and grieves.

5. Crossing the First Threshold

Once the hero takes a step away from what they’ve always known, and realize that they can never go back. Often this is the start of a literal journey, but it can also be an emotional one.

Scar convinces his nephew to flee rather than face the blame for his father’s death. Simba is chased by three hyenas who are in league with his uncle Scar. They nearly kill young Simba, but he escapes into a tangle of brambles and runs off into the desert alone.

6. Tests, Allies, Enemies

The hero’s journey starts to get mildly treacherous as the hero encounters new enemies and challenges, but they find friends to lean on along the way.

Simba nearly perishes in the heat of the desert and is saved by strangers, Timon and Pumba, who decide to befriend him. Hakuna Matta ensues.

7. Approach to the Inmost Cave

The hero comes face to face with the issue that sent them on the journey, not equipped to conquer it just yet. However, the experience they gain here will help give the protagonist the insight or inspiration to move forward in the future.

His childhood friend, Nala, arrives in search of food for the starving inhabitants of Pride Rock. She’s shocked to find Simba alive. Our hero is distressed to learn what Scar has done to his home.

8. The Ordeal

The hero hits their biggest stumbling block yet. It might be external enemies or inner demons that threaten to destroy the protagonist. The night is always darkest before the dawn, and things certainly look very bleak right now.

  Nala confronts Simba about why he won’t return to Pride Rock and claim his rightful role as king. Haunted by his father’s death, he continues to refuse destiny.

9. Reward (Seizing the Sword)

Trials the hero has experienced, all of the lessons they’ve learned, and the allies they have made equip the hero to finally face what they have been dreading or running from. The protagonist finally finds the resolve needed to overcome the final hurdles in his adventure.

After learning that Simba is still alive, Rafiki literally knocks some sense into him. Simba communes with the spirit of his father and decides to face his fears by heading home to take his rightful place as king.

10. The Road Back

Though the protagonist now knows what they need to do, they struggle to complete their mission. The hero fights the greatest literal or metaphorical enemies that they’ve faced so far, and come close to death or failure. In some extreme cases, the hero does fail or die, but not in The Lion King.

As Simba returns to Pride Rock, he sees the landscape is devastated by Scar’s careless greed and overrun with hyenas loyal to his uncle. Simba must find a way to retake Pride Rock and defeat Scar. His friends Nala, Timon, and Pumba arrive to help him fight the many hyenas defending Simba’s uncle and Pride Rock.

11. Resurrection

Our hero faces the final test. This pivotal event or showdown will complete the journey that started at the beginning of the story. All of the protagonist’s internal growth enables them to face the challenge they have been grappling with throughout the story.

Simba fights his uncle, but Scar nearly kills his nephew in the same way he killed Mufasa. Simba’s rage gives him the strength to pull himself from the ledge and finally accuse Scar of murdering his father. Now exposed as a liar, Scar’s allies turn against and destroy him, thus returning order to Pride Rock.

12. Return with the Elixir

The protagonist returns to the world or situation they left at the beginning of the story. While the surroundings may have stayed the same, the hero is enormously changed. What was once familiar might now seem foreign, but that is our hero’s new normal. Simba marches to the top of Pride Rock and roars his kingship, answered by a chorus of roars from his family and friends. Order has returned to the savannah, and (the circle of) life is once again stable and safe.

Closing Thoughts

The Hero’s Journey is the quintessential story structure, especially for sweeping, epic tales of good versus evil. Compared to a simple structure like Freytag’s Pyramid , it might seem a bit overwhelming or too structured. However, it’s a tried and true formula for creating a rich and complex plot.

In the next post of this series, we’ll explore the Story Circle, made popular by Community and Rick & Morty creator Dan Harmon. It’s an elegant, and streamlined version of the Hero’s Journey that consists of only eight steps.

If you found this post useful, please share it with other storytellers or aspiring writers that might like it too.  Or if you have any questions about writing, designing, or publishing books leave a comment below and we might write our next blog post just for you!

Let us know in the comments what other book related topics you’d like us to blog about.

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The Hero's Journey & the 12 Transformative Stages

This week's entry of mastering magic covers the hero's journey. i keep it short, sweet, and to the point, providing examples from some of the most popular stories of all time. let's dive in.

lion king hero's journey 12 stages

Greetings, fellow storytellers! Today we cover the Hero's Journey—a narrative pattern that traces its roots back to ancient myths, captivating audiences for centuries. Though stories from around the globe share these timeless themes, it was Joseph Campbell, a brilliant mythologist, who distilled the essence of these tales into the monomyth. In his seminal work, "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" (1949), Campbell unveiled the twelve transformative stages that guide our heroes on their quests. Uncover this powerful pattern to elevate your storytelling abilities and enchant readers with your own epic tales.

What are the 12 Transformative Stages?

Collectively, the twelve transformative stages of the Hero's Journey serve as a blueprint for storytelling, reflecting the universal human experience of growth and self-discovery. This narrative pattern taps into our innate understanding of struggle, transformation, and triumph. The monomyth echoes the trials and tribulations faced by individuals throughout life, making it a powerful tool for crafting stories that resonate deeply with audiences, transcending cultural boundaries and invoking a profound emotional response.

Ordinary World: The hero's mundane life before the adventure begins.

Call to Adventure: The hero is presented with a challenge or problem.

Refusal of the Call: The hero initially hesitates or declines the challenge.

Meeting with the Mentor: The hero encounters a guide or mentor who offers advice.

Crossing the Threshold: The hero commits to the adventure and enters the new world.

Tests, Allies, and Enemies: The hero faces various challenges and meets new friends and foes.

Approach to the Inmost Cave: The hero prepares for the central crisis of the adventure.

Ordeal: The hero faces their greatest fear or challenge.

Reward (Seizing the Sword): The hero acquires a valuable prize or new insight.

The Road Back: The hero begins the journey back to the ordinary world.

Resurrection: The hero faces a final, transformative test.

Return with the Elixir: The hero returns home, sharing their newfound wisdom or treasure.

To illustrate the stages of the Hero's Journey more effectively, consider these examples from well-known stories or movies (potential spoiler warning!):

Ordinary World: Peter Parker's life as a high school student (Spider-Man)

Call to Adventure: Simba learns about his destiny as king (The Lion King)

Refusal of the Call: Neo denies his role as "The One" (The Matrix)

Meeting with the Mentor: Katniss Everdeen encounters Haymitch Abernathy (The Hunger Games)

Crossing the Threshold: Alice falls down the rabbit hole (Alice in Wonderland)

Tests, Allies, and Enemies: Dorothy navigates the challenges of Oz (The Wizard of Oz)

Approach to the Inmost Cave: Harry Potter searches for Horcruxes (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)

Ordeal: Captain Ahab confronts Moby Dick (Moby Dick)

Reward (Seizing the Sword): Indiana Jones retrieves the Ark of the Covenant (Raiders of the Lost Ark)

The Road Back: E.T. attempts to return to his spaceship (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial)

Resurrection: Mulan saves China from the Huns (Mulan)

Return with the Elixir: Bilbo Baggins brings the One Ring back to the Shire (The Hobbit)

In the end, the Hero's Journey is a narrative structure that has withstood the test of time, guiding our protagonists through twelve metamorphic stages. Whether you choose to embrace it, subvert it, or dance around it, there's no denying the allure of its mythic blueprint.

Later this week I will be breaking down the structure of one of my favorite animated films of all time. You won’t want to miss it!

Yours in creative mischief,

For more insights on the writing process, and to stay up-to-date on my personal projects, follow me on Twitter

lion king hero's journey 12 stages

Ready for more?

Unraveling The Concept of The Hero’s Journey in Filmmaking

This podcast featuring christopher vogler opens up a lot of storytelling ideas..

Unraveling The Concept of The Hero’s Journey in Filmmaking

Many great stories, whether told through the written word or on the silver screen, share a common thread—a hero's journey. The Hero's Journey is a narrative structure that has been a fundamental part of storytelling for centuries, and it continues to be a powerful tool in filmmaking.

One of my favorite screenwriting books is ' The Writer’s Journey ', which details Joseph Campbell's journey through storytelling and takes the writer's POV.

This was the first book I read on screenwriting and one of the best.

Christopher Vogler wrote the book, and he was recently on the Film Crux podcast talking about these concepts. So check out the podcast and we'll talk after.

What is the Hero's Journey?

'Star Wars'

I figured that after the podcast you may need a refresher on Joseph Campbell and his concept of The Hero's Journey. This not a new concept; it dates back to ancient mythology and has been used by countless cultures throughout history.

Campbell was a scholar of comparative mythology and wrote a book called "The Hero with a Thousand Faces." He identified a common pattern in myths and stories from around the world, a pattern he called the monomyth or the Hero's Journey .

The Hero's Journey is a template that outlines the stages a hero typically goes through in a story. While there may be variations and adaptations, the core structure remains consistent.

It begins with the hero's ordinary world, followed by a call to adventure, a journey into the unknown, encounters with allies and enemies, a transformation or revelation, and finally, a return to the ordinary world with newfound wisdom or gifts.

A Diagram of The Hero's Journey

The Hero's Journey Diagram

Wikipedia Commons

The Hero's Journey is often depicted as a circular diagram, with each stage connected to the next in a cycle. there are many different names for the story beats in the circle.

The image above is from Wikipedia.

Here's a linear representation of Campbell's idea with beats I use when writing.

Examples of The Hero's Journey in Film

'The Matrix'

Warner Bros.

Many iconic films have embraced the Hero's Journey structure to great effect. Here are a few examples:

How Filmmakers Utilize the Hero's Journey

More Reading on The Hero's Journey

The Lion King (2019)

This is No Film School, of course we've written about this concept many times before. so here are some articles for you to peruse as well...

The Hero's Journey is a storytelling archetype deeply embedded in our collective consciousness. It provides filmmakers with a powerful tool to engage and captivate audiences.

By understanding and utilizing this narrative structure, filmmakers can create compelling stories with relatable characters, tension, and emotional depth.

Whether you're crafting a space opera or an intimate drama, the Hero's Journey remains a timeless blueprint for successful storytelling in filmmaking.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

How to Make a Bonkers Low Budget Sci-fi Gem With 'Tim Travers'

Filmmakers stimson snead, sam dunning, and felicia day discuss recycling props, investing in the right equipment, and mastered genre for their indie sci-fi masterpiece tim travers and the time traveler's paradox ..

What happens when an egotistical scientist filled with malaise decides to test the paradoxical theory of a time traveler traveling back in time one minute to kill the younger version of themself? I'm sure you've all been wondering. And, lucky for you, writer-director Stimson Snead's Tim Travers and the Time Traveler's Paradox exists in our current timeline and is seeking wider distribution.

It's also a ton of fun and a true testament to sci-fi filmmaking .

I caught Tim Travers (forgive the shorthand you get it) at its world premiere at Cinequest and had an absolute blast. Snead and his leading performance cohorts Sam Dunning and Felicia Day (along with the rest of the crew of course) craft a low budget sci-fi movie that is tonally pitch perfect. It's funny, goes off the rails in all the best ways, and has some killer bit parts that I can't wait to find a wider audience. Also, in a very No Film School friendly way, looks incredible for a low budget sci-fi piece of this caliber.

It's impressive! In fact, it won the jury prize for best comedy feature at Cinequest. Wow.

Below, writer-director Stimson Snead, Executive Producer and actor Felicia Day, as well as (one of very many) Tim Travers himself Sam Dunning discuss the process of making Tim Travers . They're charming and funny and have lots of great insight into indie filmmaking.

Please, please do enjoy the read.

Editors Note: The following interview is edited for length and clarity.

No Film School :Tell me a little bit about making a low budget sci-fi genre extravaganza.

Stimson Snead: I'm not sure it's that different from making any other low budget film. You don't want to feel the low budget. You want to make a good film. It's just that because we're doing sci-fi and stuff like that, we're having to deal with certain extra challenges. How do we make effects work? We don't want our effects to be jokey and silly, so we have to be really judicious about where we're going to apply it, so we can get the most bang for our very limited dollar. A lot of that stuff doing practicals, where it's actually going to be most financially reasonable.

Because a lot of the film takes place in one big room, it's a huge room. It's a warehouse. What we did was we did no CG in there. We built out everything we needed in this warehouse. We tried to make each corner of the room its own very specific vibe and area, so that it would feel like more locations, than it actually is.

The other thing we do is we recycled props like nobody's business. The production team that did it was the same guys who produced the show Z Nation , which was running for several years. We borrowed a bunch of old retired props from their folks on it. I had just done a short about a group of people trapped inside a human sized rat cage, with a hamster wheel. We took that entire set, which still existed, turned it inside out, made that into the radiation chamber, and reused the hamster wheel, because damn it, I've got a seven-foot tall, fully functioning human hamster wheel. I am going to get my money's worth out of it.

Sam Dunning: I need to throw Sam in it.

Stimson Snead: Yes. Sorry about that, because the thing is a death trap, absolute death trap. You get some speed going, it'll take your arm off.

Naturally, the entire crew was playing with it, whenever myself and the producers weren't looking.

NFS: How could you not?

Stimson Snead: I don't fault the impulse. I mean, if I saw a giant human hamster wheel, and I wasn't the one paying for the insurance, I would be in that thing so fast, just immediately.

NFS : How was working on Tim Travers different or similar to other, I guess, genre projects that you've been a part of?

Sam Dunning: Well, I mean that's an easy one, and a hard one, because it's incomparable to any other genre stuff I've done, because it's fucking insane.

Felicia Day: It's a hot fever dream.

Sam Dunning: Yeah. I mean, there was basically no time I was not on set. There was one of me everywhere at all times in this thing, and most of the time I'm acting against myself, or I'm acting against Babbitt, my wonderful body double, who's doing his best to keep up. But it's not totally his job, but he's still doing everything he can, or I'm acting against nothing. Our script supervisor doing his best, from 50 feet over there yelling, "What do you mean by that?" Me reacting to that as if I'm saying it to Felicia right now. It's just that... yeah, so very different from most things.

It was a lot of fun, but what I tried to make it most similar to in my head, as it's like when you're a little kid. I was an only child growing up, just making up playing by yourself, and so you're making up characters and situations, everything, and so it's akin to that feeling, in a weird way.

I don't think I was doing that intentionally. I wasn't like, "Ah, I'm going to be this." It was just like a, "Well, I have to imagine all this shit is happening around me, plus all the visual effects we don't have going on, so I'm fully in." Yeah. I imagine it's similar to what everybody goes through on big green screen productions where they're like, "The Dragons coming now."

Felicia Day: You're really prepped for a Marvel movie right now. You really have the skill.

Sam Dunning: Tell them.

Felicia Day: I will. We'll send a note.

I mean, it's crazy what he had to do, because he's acting with 20 different versions of himself, and it's just pretty phenomenal. I mean, again, I haven't seen it, but when I read the script I was like, "I don't know how this guy's going to pull this off." From all the other reviews, and the people who've seen it, I'm like, "It got pulled off," and I'm really excited.

Stimson Snead: Yeah. One of the things I have just found, especially on a project like this, it has really made me love the faith of actors. Because you guys basically, on 90% of this production, there's nothing beyond me just saying, "Trust me, it's going to work."

Sam Dunning: Well, I had the advantage of working with you in the short, so I knew it was going to work.

Felicia Day: Yeah, the short was great. You have a proof of concept.

Stimson Snead: Had you seen the short before we did?

Felicia Day: Yeah, I did. Oh, yeah. I wasn't just going to fly. No offense, but I mean, I'm from the world of red video. I've seen badly edited things. I've seen badly executed things. I've done badly executed things. You've got to be careful. But at the end of the day, yeah, it is a trust call, because you can make or break anybody's performance, good or bad in the moment, with editing, and you can... production value, CGI, everything. The director and the post team really have a lot of control in making actors look good or bad, and you just have to be like, "I think this person doesn't have a vendetta against me. I think they're going to make me look good."

NFS: Yeah, I like that. I've never really thought about that before, but that does make a ton of sense that actors really are just like, "Well, I hope this is good."

Felicia Day: Yeah, yeah. I mean, it is a nice like, "Okay, I'm going to do my best. I can't control it." I know we've all seen movies where great actors were bad, or in our opinion bad, and we don't know. We don't if that was all these filmmakers making them look good, up until that point, or it's just that one filmmaker just didn't have the right instincts to tailor that performance. That's why a lot of actors do theater, because at least you have control over that. But you've got to show up physically multiple times in a row. That seems unappealing to me.

Sam Dunning: This is as close to theater as I've ever gotten, myself.

NFS: On a tight budget, what camera kit are you using? You're in a warehouse, and everything is pretty controlled?

Stimson Snead: I heard an expression on a short that I was AD-ing on years and years ago, "We are too poor to be cheap." There is a point where trying to save money will cost you more money in the long run, to do it wrong. When you're getting to something as major as literally the camera itself, that is the wrong place to save money. That is, you get the very best one you possibly can get your hands on, if the DPs... DPs are going to ask you for a lot of stuff you have to say no to, because they want everything. But get them the best camera you can, and the best lens package you can get.

With this one, we actually had to go with a fairly boring lens package for it, the Sigma series, which are great lenses, but they don't have a lot of character. We had to go with that specifically, because we knew of the just ridiculous amount of effects work that was going to be done on this project, because of all this. I think we clocked in somewhere around 540 something effect shots, and half of them are split screens of Sam. It's like, "All right, picking the right package for that."

But that's the wrong place to save money. What's the best camera you have access to? That one. Assuming you have a DP who knows how to operate it, because you can create a whole bunch of different problems for yourself.

Save money on the catering, not the camera.

Felicia Day: No, wrong, wrong. Use an iPhone, and get good burritos.

NFS: It sounds like you probably were in a lot of makeup and prosthetics, but was that for the practical effects? I don't know your characters, because I haven't seen it yet.

Sam Dunning: There is a point at which I do have, that's not... it was mostly contacts and a wig.

Stimson Snead: We went out of our way to not alter his look between the Tims more than we had to. Because we would have these scenes, where you'll have 9 to 10 him on camera. It's already a nightmare keeping track of whose who, as it is, and each one of them does have a name tag, which is not random. You can actually track each Tim throughout the film, if you're being eagle eyed about the name tags.

Felicia Day: Wow.

Stimson Snead: We labeled them. But it would've been... the closest we got to altering their appearance is we had Sam, depending on the Tim it was, he would make minor adjustments to how that particular Tim would wear his clothing. One Tim, for example, who is the most asshole-y, always has his collar popped and his sleeves rolled up. Later on, just as a nod to that, there's a bit where another Tim is starting to act like the asshole-y Tim, and Sam signified it with him rolling up his sleeves, in that moment.

Felicia Day: Oh, wow.

NFS: Are there also multiple Felicias, not just multiple Sams?

Felicia Day: I'm not going to spoil anything. I do get to scream really loud, which everybody was complimenting me after that, and it seemed like to be the height of my performance. I don't know if that really reflects on my abilities, but you take it where you can get it.

NFS: Yeah. That's cool. Danny Trejo is also in the film.

Stimson Snead: He is.

NFS: And Keith David, that's cool.

Stimson Snead: Oh, my god. Keith David's one of those people where when I met him, we gave him this tour around set. He actually has this very lovely soft speaking voice, and I was in the room when he switched into acting mode. I had to take a step back. He shook the foundations of the building with his voice.

I had a good 40 minutes to an hour of just talking to him, so it took me off guard when it happened. Holy shit.

Sam Dunning: The funniest was whenever you'd get him to laugh about anything. You'd say something to him, he was, "Ha, ha."

Felicia Day: It was. It was large.

NFS: I'd normally do this closer to the end, but I don't want to run out of time, and I want to give everyone a chance to say their take. But I always like to ask the question, "What's your advice to filmmakers?"

Sam Dunning: My advice to filmmakers, well, as someone who went to film school and got absolutely nothing out of it, don't do it. Just make a movie.

I'd say, I mean, I got into making things, because I was an actor and I wasn't getting the roles that I wanted. My advice usually goes to other actors who are feeling beholden to the industry, but I think it's the same for filmmakers, especially if somebody's waiting for a directorial project, or something like that. It's like, don't fucking wait. Just go fucking make something. It doesn't matter what it is, just do it.

Because the only reason I am on this movie, is because I made a short, because I was tired of waiting around for roles. This man saw it, at a tiny little first year festival that there was more people on our panel than there were in the fucking crowd. He was like, "This is the guy to play Tim in my short that I wrote," and now we're here. It's just like, that's my advice. It doesn't matter if you're neck, or doesn't matter what part of the field you're in, just make stuff, because you never know where it's going to launch you to.

Felicia Day: I mean, that's great advice. I mean, I'm here the same way. I wasn't getting the roles I wanted, and I started making web series back in the day, and it really was my excuse to make television, that no one else would let me make. Right? I guess given that is my background, I would say the best thing a filmmaker can do is to put themselves in everybody's shoes, like work on another short as Kraft service, work on another short as a DP, work on a short as an actor. That's going to give you a lot of empathy for the process, and be able to let you see everything from everybody's point of view, and make you a better leader. I think everything trickles down from the person who has that vision, and yeah, it's really important to get your vision out, but you have to be sympathetic to everybody in your filmmaking, but also in your writing.

As a woman, I have a lot of auditions that I turned down, because I'm just like, "This is trash. This guy obviously doesn't think of women as people." I think half the time it's just not putting themselves in somebody they consider, others', shoes. When you're writing, you're already creating roles. Put yourself in the mindset of the cashier, and the girlfriend. Is it fun? Is this a real person?

That empathy behind the camera, before it's even rolling, I think it really goes a long way, and it makes you understand yourself as an artist more, too.

Stimson Snead : Yeah, I love that you took that actually into writing advice as well with empathy, because honestly, I'm just going to be echoing the two of them for this. Don't wait for permission, because no one is going to give you permission, and unless you've got some insider connection, you're probably never going to get it. Just find a way to do it. One of the traps I would avoid, is don't wait for someone to tell you you're talented enough, or good enough, because a bad movie that exists is better than a perfect film that doesn't exist, and if you keep at it, you will get better. If you're kind to the people you work with, if you consider yourself lucky to have the opportunity to work with others, even when you're doing the little non-pay projects, people will want to continue working with you, and that can turn into something down the road. Just don't fall into the trap of waiting for outside approval, and definitely don't think you're upgrade, you're a diva.

Felicia Day: Don't be a diva. Yeah, it trickles down. It definitely... both of my assistants I ever had in my career are both executives now, and they've both gotten me jobs, because I'm nice to them. I was nice. I treated them like people. I'm like, "Woo, I passed the test." A lot of people probably wouldn't. You never know.

Stimson Snead: That actually has a lot to do with how we got Felicia on this, actually. One of the main reasons I was able to reach out to talent of her caliber, was I had this phenomenal casting director named Ronnie Yeskel, who did films like Pulp Fiction .

Felicia Day: She's amazing.

Stimson Snead: Oh my god, the woman's a legend. The only reason she was willing to help me out, I interned for her back in the day, as an unpaid intern.

Felicia Day: Oh, my gosh, I didn't know that. That's a great story.

Stimson Snead: We became friends, and eventually she had me stop interning. I just started being her script reader, to filter out bad projects that would come across her desk.

When I knew it was time to do this film, it's like part of one of the things of casting directors is they serve as a filter to make sure it's... so agents know that it's not a complete lunatic reaching out to their talent.

I was able to call Ronnie and say, "Hey, I'm ready to do this. Can you help me out?"

Felicia Day: Yeah, I mean, yeah, and that does come from a point of privilege, in that you have to be able to afford not to work, and I realize that too. When sometimes I give advice, I'm like, "Well, you just make what you want." I'm like, "Some people have... are barely paying rent." I get it. But you have to find what's in yourself, and what you can do for free, to give yourself the tools to at least take a step. Because every step will lead to something.

Stimson Snead: To touch on that note, I've got to say the biggest piece of advice, I would say, be rich.

Felicia Day: Yes. Absolutely. Independent wealth is the best.

Sam Dunning: I can't wait to be rich, so I can make all the stuff I want, or just not do that.

Stimson Snead: That's my number one piece of advice. Be rich, it will figure itself out.

Felicia Day: It really will. That's the best advice ever.

Sam Dunning: Akin to Paris Hilton's just be hot.

Felicia Day: Be hot and rich. If you can be hot and rich, why are you reading this website?

Stimson Snead: Are you getting it kids?

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12 Hero’s Journey Stages Explained (+ Free Templates)

From zero to hero, the hero’s journey is a popular character development arc used in many stories. In today’s post, we will explain the 12 hero’s journey stages, along with the simple example of Cinderella.

The Hero’s Journey was originally formulated by American writer Joseph Campbell to describe the typical character arc of many classic stories, particularly in the context of mythology and folklore. The original hero’s journey contained 17 steps. Although the hero’s journey has been adapted since then for use in modern fiction, the concept is not limited to literature. It can be applied to any story, video game, film or even music that features an archetypal hero who undergoes a transformation. Common examples of the hero’s journey in popular works include Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Hunger Games and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Stage 1: The Ordinary World

Stage 2: call of adventure, stage 3: refusal of the call, stage 4: meeting the mentor, stage 5: crossing the threshold, stage 6: tests, allies, enemies, stage 7: the approach, stage 8: the ordeal, stage 9: reward, stage 10: the road back, stage 11: resurrection, stage 12: return with the elixir, cinderella example, campbell’s 17-step journey, leeming’s 8-step journey, cousineau’s 8-step journey.

What is the hero’s journey?

The hero’s journey, also known as the monomyth, is a character arc used in many stories. The idea behind it is that heroes undergo a journey that leads them to find their true selves. This is often represented in a series of stages. There are typically 12 stages to the hero’s journey. Each stage represents a change in the hero’s mindset or attitude, which is triggered by an external or internal event. These events cause the hero to overcome a challenge, reach a threshold, and then return to a normal life.

The hero’s journey is a powerful tool for understanding your characters. It can help you decide who they are, what they want, where they came from, and how they will change over time. It can be used to

Hero's Journey Stages

In this post, we will explain each stage of the hero’s journey, using the example of Cinderella.

You might also be interested in our post on the story mountain or this guide on how to outline a book .

12 Hero’s Journey Stages

The archetypal hero’s journey contains 12 stages and was created by Christopher Vogler. These steps take your main character through an epic struggle that leads to their ultimate triumph or demise. While these steps may seem formulaic at first glance, they actually form a very flexible structure. The hero’s journey is about transformation, not perfection.

Your hero starts out in the ordinary world. He or she is just like every other person in their environment, doing things that are normal for them and experiencing the same struggles and challenges as everyone else. In the ordinary world, the hero feels stuck and confused, so he or she goes on a quest to find a way out of this predicament.

Example: Cinderella’s father passes away and she is now stuck doing chores and taking abuse from her stepsisters and stepmother.

The hero gets his or her first taste of adventure when the call comes. This could be in the form of an encounter with a stranger or someone they know who encourages them to take a leap of faith. This encounter is typically an accident, a series of coincidences that put the hero in the right place at the right time.

Example: An invite arrives inviting the family to a royal ball where the Prince will choose a wife.

Some people will refuse to leave their safe surroundings and live by their own rules. The hero has to overcome the negative influences in order to hear the call again. They also have to deal with any personal doubts that arise from thinking too much about the potential dangers involved in the quest. It is common for the hero to deny their own abilities in this stage and to lack confidence in themselves.

Example: Cinderella accepts the call by making her own dress for the ball. However, her stepmother refuses the call for her by not letting her go to the ball. And her step-sisters ruin her dress, so she can not go.

After hearing the call, the hero begins a relationship with a mentor who helps them learn about themselves and the world. In some cases, the mentor may be someone the hero already knows. The mentor is usually someone who is well-versed in the knowledge that the hero needs to acquire, but who does not judge the hero for their lack of experience.

Example: Cinderella meets her fairy godmother who equips her with everything she needs for the ball, including a dress and a carriage.

The hero leaves their old life behind and enters the unfamiliar new world. The crossing of the threshold symbolises leaving their old self behind and becoming a new person. Sometimes this can include learning a new skill or changing their physical appearance. It can also include a time of wandering, which is an essential part of the hero’s journey.

Example: Cinderella hops into the carriage and heads off to the ball. She has transformed from a servant into an elegant young lady. 

As the hero goes on this journey, they will meet both allies (people who help the hero) and enemies (people who try to stop the hero). There will also be tests, where the hero is tempted to quit, turn back, or become discouraged. The hero must be persistent and resilient to overcome challenges.

Example: At the ball, Cinderella meets the prince, and even see’s her stepmother and stepsister. She dances with Prince all night long making her step-sisters extremely jealous.

The hero now reaches the destination of their journey, in some cases, this is a literal location, such as a cave or castle. It could also be metaphorical, such as the hero having an internal conflict or having to make a difficult decision. In either case, the hero has to confront their deepest fears in this stage with bravery. In some ways, this stage can mark the end of the hero’s journey because the hero must now face their darkest fears and bring them under control. If they do not do this, the hero could be defeated in the final battle and will fail the story.

Example: Cinderella is having a great time at the ball and nearly forgets about the midnight rule. As she runs away in a hurry, her glass slipper falls off outside the palace.

The hero has made it to the final challenge of their journey and now must face all odds and defeat their greatest adversary. Consider this the climax of the story. This could be in the form of a physical battle, a moral dilemma or even an emotional challenge. The hero will look to their allies or mentor for further support and guidance in this ordeal. Whatever happens in this stage could change the rest of the story, either for good or bad. 

Example: Prince Charming looks all over the kingdom for the mysterious girl he met at the ball. He finally visits Cinderella’s house and tries the slippers on the step-sisters. The prince is about to leave and then he sees Cinderella in the corner cleaning.

When the hero has defeated the most powerful and dangerous of adversaries, they will receive their reward. This reward could be an object, a new relationship or even a new piece of knowledge. The reward, which typically comes as a result of the hero’s perseverance and hard work, signifies the end of their journey. Given that the hero has accomplished their goal and served their purpose, it is a time of great success and accomplishment.

Example: The prince tries the glass slipper on Cinderella. The glass slipper fits Cinderella perfectly, and they fall in love.

The journey is now complete, and the hero is now heading back home. As the hero considers their journey and reflects on the lessons they learned along the way, the road back is sometimes marked by a sense of nostalgia or even regret. As they must find their way back to the normal world and reintegrate into their former life, the hero may encounter additional difficulties or tests along the way. It is common for the hero to run into previous adversaries or challenges they believed they had overcome.

Example: Cinderella and Prince Charming head back to the Prince’s castle to get married.

The hero has one final battle to face. At this stage, the hero might have to fight to the death against a much more powerful foe. The hero might even be confronted with their own mortality or their greatest fear. This is usually when the hero’s true personality emerges. This stage is normally symbolised by the hero rising from the dark place and fighting back. This dark place could again be a physical location, such as the underground or a dark cave. It might even be a dark, mental state, such as depression. As the hero rises again, they might change physically or even experience an emotional transformation. 

Example: Cinderella is reborn as a princess. She once again feels the love and happiness that she felt when she was a little girl living with her father.

At the end of the story, the hero returns to the ordinary world and shares the knowledge gained in their journey with their fellow man. This can be done by imparting some form of wisdom, an object of great value or by bringing about a social revolution. In all cases, the hero returns changed and often wiser.

Example: Cinderella and Prince Charming live happily ever after. She uses her new role to punish her stepmother and stepsisters and to revitalise the kingdom.

We have used the example of Cinderella in Vogler’s hero’s journey model below:

lion king hero's journey 12 stages

Below we have briefly explained the other variations of the hero’s journey arc.

The very first hero’s journey arc was created by Joseph Campbell in 1949. It contained the following 17 steps:

David Adams Leeming later adapted the hero’s journey based on his research of legendary heroes found in mythology. He noted the following steps as a pattern that all heroes in stories follow:

In 1990, Phil Cousineau further adapted the hero’s journey by simplifying the steps from Campbell’s model and rearranging them slightly to suit his own findings of heroes in literature. Again Cousineau’s hero’s journey included 8 steps:

As you can see, every version of the hero’s journey is about the main character showing great levels of transformation. Their journey may start and end at the same location, but they have personally evolved as a character in your story. Once a weakling, they now possess the knowledge and skill set to protect their world if needed.

Free Hero’s Journey Templates

Use the free Hero’s journey templates below to practice the skills you learned in this guide! You can either draw or write notes in each of the scene boxes. Once the template is complete, you will have a better idea of how your main character or the hero of your story develops over time:

The storyboard template below is a great way to develop your main character and organise your story:

lion king hero's journey 12 stages

Did you find this guide on the hero’s journey stages useful? Let us know in the comments below.

Hero’s Journey Stages

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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  1. Exploring the 12 Stages of the Hero's Journey

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  2. 12 stages of the hero s journey

    lion king hero's journey 12 stages

  3. The Lion King: A Hero's Journey by Emily Grunthal

    lion king hero's journey 12 stages

  4. call to adventure lion king

    lion king hero's journey 12 stages

  5. 12 Steps of the Hero's Journey (The Lion King) by Betssy V on Prezi Next

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  6. Hero's Journey: Get a Strong Story Structure in 12 Steps

    lion king hero's journey 12 stages

VIDEO

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  2. The Lion King: Majestic Journey of Simba

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  6. A Hero's Journey-Lion King

COMMENTS

  1. The 'Hero's Journey' Narrative Structure in Lion King

    The Lion King follows the 'hero's journey' of Simba. As a cub, he is forced into exile after his father's death. In exile, he learns vital life lessons and ultimately chooses to return and reclaim his place as king. This journey, full of trials, transformation, and ultimate victory, mirrors the stages of the 'hero's journey'. 🦁.

  2. The Lion King Hero's Journey

    Yeah, scholar Joseph Campbell noticed first—in 1949. He wrote The Hero with a Thousand Faces, in which he outlined the 17 stages of a mythological hero's journey. About half a century later, Christopher Vogler condensed those stages down to 12 in an attempt to show Hollywood how every story ever written should—and, uh, does —follow ...

  3. 12 Steps of the Hero's Journey (The Lion King)

    Simba decides to go back to Pride Rock to take his throne back, and ready to face his past and the consequences. Hero - Simba. Mentor- Mufasa, Rafiki. Trickster- Timon and Pumba. Shadow - Scar. Shapeshifter - Scar. Herald- Nala. Threshold Guardians- Simba's past and the hyenas.

  4. Hero Journey Steps

    The Hero's Journey & The Lion King. Crossing of the First Threshold. Simba is leaving paradise for his homeland that has now become a wasteland run by Scar and the hyenas. He must be ready to fight his uncle and face his family, as well as take responsibility for the entire kingdom. He eventually goes because he can't bear the thought of his ...

  5. PDF Exploring the 12 Stages of the Hero's Journey

    3. Refusal of the Call: The hero initially refuses the adventure because of hesitation, fears, insecurity, or any other number of issues. 4. Meeting the Mentor: The hero encounters a mentor that can give them advice, wisdom, information, or items that ready them for the journey ahead. 5.

  6. 12 Steps of The Hero's Journey EXPLAINED (Episode 12: Return ...

    Learn about the twelfth and last stage of the Hero's Journey story structure by Joseph Campbell. In this video, I break down the last step of the Hero's Jour...

  7. Hero's Journey: Get a Strong Story Structure in 12 Steps

    9. Reward (Seizing the Sword) In which the Hero sees light at the end of the tunnel. Our Hero's been through a lot. However, the fruits of their labor are now at hand — if they can just reach out and grab them! The "reward" is the object or knowledge the Hero has fought throughout the entire journey to hold.

  8. The Hero's Journey Breakdown: Everything Everywhere All At Once

    Hollywood development executive and screenwriter Christopher Vogler (The Lion King) created a screenwriting guide from Campbell's classic story structure by breaking it into twelve stages. For this series, we define the stages in simplified interpretations: The 12 Stages of the Hero's Journey

  9. The Hero's Journey: Applying The Twelve Stage Structure

    The Hero comes back to the Ordinary World, stronger and more experienced than before they left. Simba becomes king and reforms the kingdom Scar had almost destroyed in his lust for power. Image Source. I hope this helped to visualise the famous Hero's Journey for you! It can really be a useful tool when you are struggling with structure, so ...

  10. 12 Steps of The Hero's Journey EXPLAINED (Episode 2: The Call to

    Learn all about the second stage of The Hero's Journey story structure by Joseph Campbell in this video on the call to adventure. I am making a video series ...

  11. THE LION KING :: The Hero's Journey

    The Lion King (1994), screenplay by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts & Linda Woolverton, directed by Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff. Diagrammatic Representation of the twelve stages in 'The Hero's Journey'. 1. The Ordinary World. In myth: The hero is oblivious to the adventures to come.

  12. The Hero's Journey: The 12 (or 17) Steps for Writers

    The 12 Stages of the Hero's Journey (as outlined by Christopher Vogler) ... The Lion King - Simba's epic quest contains numerous stages like crossing a threshold into the elephant graveyard, undergoing an ordeal facing his evil uncle, and returning to restore the kingdom.

  13. The Lion King: Hero's Journey

    Yeah, scholar Joseph Campbell noticed first—in 1949. He wrote The Hero with a Thousand Faces, in which he outlined the 17 stages of a mythological hero's journey. About half a century later, Christopher Vogler condensed those stages down to 12 in an attempt to show Hollywood how every story ever written should—and, uh, does —follow ...

  14. 5.2 The Monomyth: Understanding the Seventeen Stages of the Hero's Journey

    The easiest example of this is Mufasa from Disney's animated Lion King (1994), where the spirit of Mufasa appears to remind Simba who he is and to tell him to go back to fight Scar. ... "The Monomyth: Understanding the Seventeen Stages of the Hero's Journey." Colorado Community College System, 2023. Previous: 5.1 Joseph Campbell in Context

  15. Exploring the 12 Stages of the Hero's Journey Part 5: Crossing the

    Welcome to Part 5 of our 12-part series ScreenCraft's Exploring the 12 Stages of the Hero's Journey, where we go into depth about each of the twelve stages and how your screenplays could benefit from them. Please see the bottom of this post for a refresher on the stages of The Hero's Journey. The first stage — The Ordinary World — is one of the most essential elements of any story ...

  16. The Hero's Journey: 12 Steps That Make Up the Universal Structure of

    Frequently the Hero is itching for some kind of adventure or change; this is why they are primed for what is to come. When the danger comes in Step 2, the Hero is ready to take the next step due to their eager, adventurous, or frustrated spirit. Learn more: Hero's Journey Step #1: Ordinary World. Step 2.

  17. Plot Strucutre: Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey

    The Hero's Journey in The Lion King. Most notably, the hero's journey was used by George Lucas to write the behemoth Star Wars.Since nearly everyone (including Campbell himself) uses Star Wars to explain the concept, we'll break down this complex, rich story structure using The Lion King instead.. First we'll explain the beats of the Hero's Journey, then in italics we'll describe ...

  18. Hero's Journey

    The Road Back. - After the battle, Simba takes back his spot upon pride rock and reclaims his rightful place as king. Making him much more stronger. -Simba finally is able to take back his throne. -He also gets the respect and intellect on becoming a better king because of his honesty and the will of taking up the consequences when he admits ...

  19. The Hero's Journey & the 12 Transformative Stages

    To illustrate the stages of the Hero's Journey more effectively, consider these examples from well-known stories or movies (potential spoiler warning!): Ordinary World: Peter Parker's life as a high school student (Spider-Man) Call to Adventure: Simba learns about his destiny as king (The Lion King)

  20. The Hero's Journey Explained

    The Hero's Journey is a template that outlines the stages a hero typically goes through in a story. While there may be variations and adaptations, the core structure remains consistent. It begins with the hero's ordinary world, followed by a call to adventure, a journey into the unknown, encounters with allies and enemies, a transformation or ...

  21. 12 Hero's Journey Stages Explained (+ Free Templates)

    The very first hero's journey arc was created by Joseph Campbell in 1949. It contained the following 17 steps: The Call to Adventure: The hero receives a call or a reason to go on a journey. Refusal of the Call: The hero does not accept the quest. They worry about their own abilities or fear the journey itself.

  22. The Lion King

    Step 7: The Meeting with the Goddess. While standing on the rock, Simba realizes his love for Nala. He also becomes one with himself; he becomes whole in his love for Nala and also in his love and acceptance for himself. Step 8: Woman as Temptress. There was no woman as temptress in The Lion King. Step 9: Atonement with the Fatehr.