When I went to writing school, not too long ago, there were 16 hero archetypes, 8 for men and 8 for women. Let’s see if I can list them:
8 Hero Archetypes / 8 Heroine Archetypes
The Chief / The Boss
The Bad Boy / The Seductress
The Best Friend / The Spunky Kid
The Charmer / The Free Spirit
The Lost Soul / The Waif
The Professor / The Librarian
The Swashbuckler / The Crusader
The Warrior / The Nurturer
I think we have to add some more from our present world. How about the following who have achieved some heroic status or cult following: the serial killer, the serial shopper, the rabid consumer, the nerd, the corporate lackey, the drug addict, the serial married man (or woman), the single mom (or dad), the battered wife (or husband), the senior citizen sidelined by society after her purported contribution to society is deemed over, the welfare case (or is this similar to the drug addict, there is a dependency of sorts?), the immigrant that no one wants to hire or the 50+ guy who falls into the same bracket, the abandoned child who could turn out into any of the above, the mentally ill person, the obese one fed on too many hamburgers and pop, the cancer patient, the religious fundamentalist, and the mad poet? I am sure there are more, but I thought I would list those that are symptomatic of our times. I am also sure that if we try real hard we can fit them into one or more of the 16 master archetypes – maybe they are all in the “lost soul” category. However, there is so much written about these newer “types” that I think they warrant their own status within the pantheon of archetypes.
I think our problem is that we want to categorize everyone into an archetype. We feel safe that way. The world is predictable and everyone fits into a known box. And as the world gets more globalized and standardized, why not? But that seems to be the paradox. The more we standardize the larger society, the more diversity we seem to create within in its component parts.