The Heroes Archetypes

A romantic hero, particularly a Romance Novel hero, usually has certain characteristics:
  • While heroes come in various shapes and sizes, a romantic hero is always physically fit. Specifically, he is fit as a result of leading an active life, not as a result of attending a gym. He is always at least toned and nicely muscled.
  • A romantic hero never has a boss. That is, although there may be person whom he answers to, he is never supervised on a day-to-day basis. He is always more or less a free agent. (See also: Conveniently an Orphan.)
  • A romantic hero has useful female relatives. He always has in-laws, sisters, a mother, etc. whom it is useful for the heroine to know. When the heroine becomes emotionally involved with the hero, she is hooking into an entire social network. Although the hero might seem to be a loner, in fact he never is.
  • A romantic hero's subordinates have women. When the heroine becomes romantic with the hero, she becomes boss of the women whose men the hero is boss of. More generally - to a woman, a man (even a romantic hero) is a non-entity. The real focus is on other women and the relationships between the heroine and them.
  • A romantic hero has shiny shoes. Particularly in historical romances. He might be stranded on a desert island or in a remote windswept Scottish castle, but his shoes are always immaculately buffed (God knows by whom). More generally, a romantic hero is a snappy dresser—subject to the whims of fashion. Eddie Vedder was a snappy dresser in his own way.
  • Before romance, the clothes. Before the characters establish any level of physical intimacy—whether a kiss and a hand-hold or a marathon sex session, we are always told exactly what the hero and heroine are wearing. It can be instructive to get a cheap romance novel and highlight all passages that concern themselves with descriptions of clothing. The completeness and economy with which these authors can describe an outfit is amazing.
  • A romantic hero has a Lost Lenore, whose place the heroine can now occupy. The heroine almost never has to carve out a place of her own, because a romantic hero always has an emotional vacancy. He may be a widower, he may have been hurt in some way by a woman who is no longer around, he may have cared for a female relative who slowly died of tuberculosis. The heroine always has to battle this woman—sometimes literally—and become his Second Love. The climax of a romantic novel is when the hero somehow - in some manner - says "I love you more than I ever loved her."

Simona Ahrnstedt follows a lot of these stereotypes, of course. But she also has a few interesting variations.
  • Överenskommelser: Seth Hammerstaal is a blend of a cynical Bad Boy, a chivalrous but still womanizing Charmer and a heroic Swashbuckler. Johan Stierneskanz, one of his two best friends, is a much calmer and well-respected person, who of course is The Best Friend.
  • De skandalösa: Gabriel Gripklo is a blend of a rebellious Bad Boy, a chivalrous but still womanizing Charmer and a heroic Swashbuckler. Magdalena Swärd, with her cynical demeanor and troubled past, is really a female example of The Lost Soul. Ossian Bergman, a nerdy scholar, is a Professor.

The eight Hero archetypes presented are as follows:
Their villainous versions are as follows:

Comments

Post a Comment