Sunday, May 6, 2007

The Hero Cycle in Dynast

When I wrote the story based on Asvin's data, I hadn't even known about the hero cycle of Campbell!
Now, after this knowledge, and hopefully, wisdom, I find that unknowingly the story follows some of the ideals of the monomyth concept. Maybe there always would be the hero cycle in every saga. Or there is magic in the air!
I can't reveal all the details here, or Asvin will throw a spear at me or something, but let me try to look at the 'hero cycle' influences.
There is a call to adventure, a mentor, an oracle, death of parents, trials, training, heralds, nemesis...
For example, in The Matrix, Starwars, Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter, or The Godfather, the protagonist lives in an ordinary world; he is everyman. Or everywoman, as in the case of Alice or Dorothy. Then there's a call to adventure and he enters a new world, a world he will be the ultimate master of, one day. Bherek is an ordinary bumpkin, who has special virtues that will make him the master of the world of Arthika, and beyond.
The trilogy of books is a hero cycle by itself, though each book is a minicycle. In the first, Bherek becomes king; in the second he becomes an emperor; by the third, he is more than an emperor, and the dynast.