Some general info
Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 9:50 pm
First, I’d like to remind everyone that I wrote these during the time after Love Lasts Forever had aired. I’m posting them here without updating them for information that came after that episode. Any updates were basically done during discussions online, and unfortunately, I don’t have copies of those. Also, I may have edited my posts online and don’t have copies of that, either. So put your mind where it was after watching Love Lasts Forever… and before the events of The Mortal Cure…
Let me also explain that there are many different versions of archetypes – maybe infinite versions. I’ll start with a couple of definitions:
Webster’s Dictionary: an inherited idea or mode of thought …present in the unconscious of the individual
Encarta: an image, ideal, or pattern that has come to be considered a universal model
The best book I've found to explain character archetypes is 45 Master Characters: Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt. Her models are so very close to the way the main Moonlight characters have been written that I ended up using them as the basis for my analysis. What I've tried to do is pull examples of our Moonlight characters’ behaviors and show how they fit into these models. I refrain from discussing the complete aspects of the models, because I feel I'd be pulling information from her book (which would involve copyright law)...so I highly recommend this book if anyone is interested in further reading. There are plenty of other books on archetypes out there, but this one seems to fit these characters best. Plus I really like the way Ms. Schmidt approaches the models, as well as her attention to the female archetypes.
Also, the archetypes are presented as the heroic/villainous side of each archetype. For example, Beth as both the heroic Amazon and the villainous Gorgon. And as I had to explain after posting the original write-ups, the terms “hero” and “villain” are meant only from a literary perspective and are not meant to offend anyone. And that these are perfectly acceptable terms to use, by the way. The overall point in using both to describe the characters is that even though a character may be predominantly heroic, he/she will sometimes stray across the line into the villainous side of the archetype, and the same goes for predominately villainous characters.
Let me also explain that there are many different versions of archetypes – maybe infinite versions. I’ll start with a couple of definitions:
Webster’s Dictionary: an inherited idea or mode of thought …present in the unconscious of the individual
Encarta: an image, ideal, or pattern that has come to be considered a universal model
The best book I've found to explain character archetypes is 45 Master Characters: Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt. Her models are so very close to the way the main Moonlight characters have been written that I ended up using them as the basis for my analysis. What I've tried to do is pull examples of our Moonlight characters’ behaviors and show how they fit into these models. I refrain from discussing the complete aspects of the models, because I feel I'd be pulling information from her book (which would involve copyright law)...so I highly recommend this book if anyone is interested in further reading. There are plenty of other books on archetypes out there, but this one seems to fit these characters best. Plus I really like the way Ms. Schmidt approaches the models, as well as her attention to the female archetypes.
Also, the archetypes are presented as the heroic/villainous side of each archetype. For example, Beth as both the heroic Amazon and the villainous Gorgon. And as I had to explain after posting the original write-ups, the terms “hero” and “villain” are meant only from a literary perspective and are not meant to offend anyone. And that these are perfectly acceptable terms to use, by the way. The overall point in using both to describe the characters is that even though a character may be predominantly heroic, he/she will sometimes stray across the line into the villainous side of the archetype, and the same goes for predominately villainous characters.