The Hero’s Journey: The Return Part 1: The Road Back
Introduction
The hero must now make a choice. He has to decide if he wants to stay in the special world or go back to his ordinary world. While the special world may have its charms, it’s rare for the hero to decide to stay there. Most will elect to begin the journey home, some will take on a brand new destination.
The Road Back
This part of the story represents the resolve the hero has to return to the ordinary world. He’ll want to put the lessons he’s learned to use.
Motivation
The hero has just finished celebrating, and he has to re-dedicate himself to the journey. The hero is currently in a place of comfort, and he must now pry himself away from it. He must remind himself of his ultimate goal, and cross another threshold. This new threshold may cause of change of focus for the story. Nevertheless, the hero has to work up the motivation to cross it.
Retaliation
If the hero did not completely defeat the villain, the villain may come back angry, and even stronger than before. This will eventually result in a sort of “final battle” and a climax to the story.
The Chase
The hero may be forced to leave the special world because of a chase that ensues after the hero defeats the villain in the Ordeal.
Escape
A chase scene can ensue because the villain attempts to escape. In this scenario, the hero(s) are doing the chasing.
Setbacks
The hero may experience a number of setbacks and challenges on his journey home, as if his luck has been reversed. These challenges may even appear to doom the adventure, as if the hero won’t be able to attain his goal and make it home after all.
For more information, try reading:
The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, 3rd Edition
or
Categories: Character Development, Story Development Tags: character development, climax, climax of the story, conflict, hero, hero's journey, heroes journey, ordeal, ordinary world, return, reward, road back, special world, the climax of the story, the hero, the hero's journey, the heroes journey, the ordeal, the resurrection, the return, the reward, the road back, the villain, villain
The Hero’s Journey: Phase 3, The Return
Introduction:
The Return is the third and final phase of the Hero’s Journey. This blog post will outline the three parts of The Return, including: The Road Back, The Resurrection, and The Return with the Elixir.
The Return
This phase involves the hero’s journey home, and the powers and knowledge that he acquired during the journey.
Part 1: The Road Back
After The Reward part of the story has been celebrated, the hero must make a choice. He needs to decide if he wants to remain in the Special World, or make the journey back to the Ordinary World. The majority of hero’s will make the decision to return home, even though the Special World has its charms. Some hero’s will do neither. They’ll either continue their journey or seek a completely new destination.
Part 2: The Resurrection
This part of the story is challenging for both the hero and the writer. The hero must experience another sequence of death and rebirth in order for the story to feel complete. It’s fairly similar to The Ordeal, with subtle differences. Essentially, this is where the climax of the story occurs, and it will be the final, most dangerous meeting with death.
Part 3: Return with the Elixir
This is the final part of the story, where the hero has lived through death, and survived all ordeals. The hero’s have made a decision, either to return home, stay where they are, or continue their journey. They will feel as if they are commencing a new life that will never be the same because of what the hero has experienced. The hero will always bring something back with him.
For more information, try reading:
The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, 3rd Edition
or
Joseph Campbell – The Hero’s Journey
