Carl Gustav Jung was a famous Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist who lived from 1875 until 1961. Aside from being the founding father of analytical psychology, Jung also devoted much of his time to studying religious and mythological symbology. In the course of his inquiry, he noticed similar patterns and themes emerging even though the subject matter had very different origins. From this observation, he put forward his theory that we are not born as 'a blank slate' but that we all carry a set of elements ‘pre-programmed’ into our psyche. Jung labelled these elements ‘archetypes’ and argued that they are 'universally' human and represent the sum of our experience as we have evolved. Because they are common to all of us, we can recognise and identify with them on an emotional level. In total, Jung identified 12 separate archetypes. Before we look at them in more detail, please pause for a moment and think of some of your favourite stories and the characters portrayed in them. It shouldn’t take you too long to realise that characters with similar traits recur time and time again in storytelling. For this reason, archetypes can be a helpful tool for characterisation when telling your own stories. Now let’s take a look at what defines each one... 1. The Hero Characteristics: Strength, courage Weaknesses: Arrogance, delusions of grandeur 2. The Sovereign Characteristics: Order, stability, control Weaknesses: Entitlement, greed 3. The Magician Characteristics: Powers of perception, intuition Weaknesses: Hubris, trickery 4. The Sage Characteristics: Wisdom, intelligence Weaknesses: Passiveness, arrogance 5. The Creator Characteristics: Nonconformity, imagination Weaknesses: Over dramatisation, perfectionism 6. The Jester Characteristics: Humour, irreverence Weaknesses: Being misunderstood, inefficiency 7. The Innocent Characteristics: Trust, honesty Weaknesses: Naïveté, denial 8. The Explorer Characteristics: Independence, bravery Weaknesses: Aimlessness, alienation 9. The Rebel Characteristics: Risk-taking, individuality Weaknesses: Lawlessness, fanaticism 10. The Lover Characteristics: Belonging, self-sacrifice Weaknesses: Obsession, jealousy 11. The Citizen Characteristics: Fairness, accountability Weaknesses: Righteousness, recklessness 12. The Caregiver Characteristics: Compassion, empathy Weaknesses: Arrogance, delusions of grandeur As you can see from the list above, each archetype has its own set of qualities that propel the story’s character forward. By the same token, they possess weaknesses which provide an opportunity for them to face a set of challenges which they must overcome in order to complete their own journey of transformation. To learn more about storytelling from the world’s experts, check out our popular course on the topic. It will teach you all you need to know about how to tell stories that have a lasting impact.