Archetypes Vs Stereotypes
In true form I decided to take an extremely methodical approach towards the iteration and development process for my character of choice, Mudra. I found an extremely insightful article on fantasy-fiction.com by Aaron Miles about the differentiation between character archetypes and stereotypes and wanted to implement my new found knowledge into a shorter more concise summary of the article and into the development process of Mudra. There is a blurry line drawn between archetype and stereotype when one describes stereotypes as 'a wildly held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing' and compares it to the vague description of archetypes 'a very typical example or a certain person or thing; types that fit fundamental human motifs'.
Miles's article draws a much more clear distinction between the two. The article is aimed at fantasy fiction writers in particular however I can also decipher the main points and implement it into visual character creation. In the most simple form the article suggests to draw away from stereotype territory by adding unconventional details to your character.
'An archetype is a recurring character type that corresponds to a specific purpose in the story'. Miles's elaborates and explains that archetypes could be considered as base models for the further development of a character. This theory relates to Propp's structuralist perspective on character design. Propp disassociates the character's aesthetics to gain a raw meaning and purpose to the character and from doing this he created several archetypes based on what characters do within stories rather than who they are. Propp's main criticisms were that he oversimplified the archetypes, and although Miles's acknowledges that literary critics had studied strenuously the common traits and patterns of archetypes he continues to state that there is great room for variation.
Miles identifies why falling into the trap of a character stereotype is bad and states that it can make a story feel flat and derivative. Miles also states, 'The author really needs to be familiar with the development of the genre, so they know what to avoid.' which I can see a direct link with the games industry. I think that it is essential to have a background knowledge in current games to gauge what direction games themselves are going in but also any breakthrough character developments or new archetypes. You don't want to be redesigning an existing character after all. Miles suggests, '..try to spend some time making them original and unique'.
Miles encourages the reader to think about the history of the character and to develop characteristics based on the history and 'feel' of your character. This could be compared to Robert McKee's take on true character and characteristics in his book, Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting, "True character is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure - the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation, the truer the choice to the character's essential nature." Miles encourages to add as much back story and interesting features as possible suggesting changing the place of a character in the novel, an interesting mannerism or giving them a serious flaw.
In conclusion, Miles offers a well thought out and more distinguishable meaning of archetypes and stereotypes. He offers great advice on how to avoid making stereotype characters which can be easily translated into the development of characters for games. Miles implies that adding idiosyncrasies to characters helps to produce more interesting character archetypes. Since reading this article I have decided to use the basis of my original idea as a small influence that will inform a more dynamic design. I will be incorporating the key ideas within the article when considering more character design choices.
Interesting facts:
- The term "archetype" has its origins in ancient Greek. The root words are archein, which means "original or old"; and typos, which means "pattern, model or type". The combined meaning is an "original pattern" of which all other similar persons, objects, or concepts are derived, copied, modeled, or emulated.
- (on archetypes) 'something moulded first as a model’
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