Characteristics of anEpicEPIC
Epic HeroEpic PlotEpic SettingArchetypesEpic Themes
Epics have Five Things
Has superhuman strength, intelligence and confidence
Is helped or harmed by interfering godsEmbodies ideals or values a culture thinks is
admirableEmerges victorious from dangerous situations
Epic Hero
Involves a long journey, full of complications, such as:Strange CreaturesDivine InterventionLarge-Scale EventsTreacherous Weather
Epic Plot
Includes fantastic or exotic landsInvolves more than one nation
Epic Setting
Characters, situations, and images that are widely recognizedSea monstersWicked temptressesBuried treasureSuitors’ contestEpic heroLoyal servant
Archetypes
CourageThe fate of a nationA homecomingBeautyLoyaltyLife and death
Epic Themes
Jake Sully emerges from many dangerous situations
All the creatures on Pandora are strangePandora is a fantastic setting, and includes
the Humans and Na’viUnobtainium is the buried treasureFate of a nation, courage, loyalty
Avatar
The basic steps a hero takes in their journey
Hero Cycle
The point in a person’s life when they are first given notice that everything is going to change, whether they know it or not.
Call to Adventure
Once the hero has committed to the quest, their guide and magical helper appears, or becomes known.
Helper
The point when the person first goes into the field of adventure
They leave their known world and venture into an unknown and dangerous realm where the rules and limits are not known.
Crossing the Adventure Threshold
The hero must undergo a series of tests, trials, tasks, or ordeals in order to begin a transformation.
Often the person fails one or more of these tests.
Tests
The hero is often accompanied on the journey by a helper who assists in the series of tests and generally serves as a loyal companion.
Alternately, the hero may encounter a supernatural helper in the world of adventure who fulfills this function.
Helpers
Here the fortunes of the hero hit bottom in a direct confrontation with his greatest fear.
He faces the possibility of death and is brought to the brink in a battle with a hostile force.
The audience does not know if the hero will live or die.
The Supreme Ordeal
After accomplishing the mission, the hero must return to the threshold of adventure and prepare for a return to the everyday world.
If the hero has angered the opposing forces by stealing the elixir or killing a powerful monster, the return may take the form of a hasty flight.
If the hero has been given the elixir freely, the flight may be a benign stage of the journey.
Flight
The hero again crosses the threshold of adventure and returns to the everyday world of daylight.
The return usually takes the form of an awakening, rebirth, resurrection, or a simple emergence from a cave or forest.
Sometimes the hero is pulled out of the adventure world by a force from the daylight world.
Return
The benefit, favor, or blessing that is bestowed on the hero figure.
The hero wants to share the boon with humankind.
Boon