Sideways: Miles knows about Jack’s second thoughts regarding the wedding; conversely, Jack knows Miles’s dark side and how to manage it. They both act as mentors of each other.
Dodgeball: Patches O’Houlihan explains how to win a dodgeball match: “You’ve gotta grab it by its haunches and hump it into submission. That’s the only way.”
Related:
034 – The Mentor’s Faith
017 – Denial of the Premise
The reason behind the world’s problem is denied or ridiculed.
Description:
Ordinary People are in denial. Some can’t see the truth; some choose not to.
In this stage, some Ordinary World characters scoff at the truth. If the story is about ghosts, for example, someone will say, “Ghosts don’t exist,” or “UFO’s are not real,” or “There’s no such thing as demonic possession”.
Immediately after that, something happens that proves them wrong.
Examples:
Star Wars: Admiral verbally attacks Vader. “Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes,” he says. Then Vader Force-chokes him for that comment.
The Matrix: Neo himself refuses to believe the truth. “I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it,” he says after Morpheus reveals to him the truth about the world.
Harry Potter: Uncle Vernon screams, “There’s no such thing as magic!” Seconds later, and to Harry’s amusement, Hagrid uses his magic umbrella to put an actual pig’s tail on Dudley’s butt. The three Dursleys run around screaming.
Sideways: Miles tells his ex-wife, Victoria, “I just heard about you getting married, and I was taken aback. Hard to believe.”
Dodgeball: Peter doesn’t believe that playing a game will save the gym. He says, “You know what’s sad? Six grown men playing dodgeball.”
Related:
014 – The World in Decline
016 – The Mentor’s Knowledge
018 – Attack 1: Insult
Either the Hero or the Mentor are insulted or called names.
Description:
The decadence of the world also shows in the way people treat each other: Kindness is replaced by callousness, or even insults.
The Hero experiences such change first hand, but the provocation goes unanswered either because the insulted character is absent, or because he doesn’t care, or because he can’t risk an escalation of the problem.
Examples:
Star Wars:Ben Kenobi is calledin absentia a “strange hermit,” “crazy,” and “old” half a dozen times.
The Matrix:The police lieutenant tells the Agents, “You give me that ‘juris-my-dick-tion’ crap, you can cram it up your ass.” Luckily for the policeman, the Agents don’t answer to that.
Harry Potter: Harry is verbally abused by his surrogate family. They also call Dumbledore a “crackpot old fool.” Harry can’t answer to them.
Sideways: Jack opens a bottle of a rare champagne inside the car, spilling the best part of it. Miles says, “you fucking derelict!” Jack doesn’t care—he just want to celebrate his last week of freedom before the wedding.
Dodgeball:White Goodman tells Peter, “In thirty days I’ll be bulldozing that shit-heap you call a gym into permanent nothingness.” Peter ignores the provocation.
Related:
028 – Attack 2: Physical Damage
019 – Selfishness is on the Rise
The world has become an egoistic place.
Description:
This is yet another symptom of the general decadence. We see a theft, a denial to share, unfair competition, or some other selfish attitude.
How dramatic this stage is depends on the genre. It can simply be represented by someone trying to take a potato chip from a friend’s plate and getting playfully reprimanded for it.
Sometimes the selfishness is showed by contrast, presenting an act of kindness or generosity that’s perceived as a rare event.
Examples:
Star Wars: The Sand People (criminals, thieves, and assassins) lurk around, as do the Jawas, who steal and sell droids.
The Matrix: A messenger delivers a parcel to Neo. Before leaving, the guy cheerfully says, “Have a nice day!” Neo looks at him and tries to decide if the guy was mocking him.
Harry Potter: Harry’s spoiled brat of a cousin makes a scene: He only got thirty-six birthday presents. “Last year I got thirty-seven!”
Sideways: In the movie script, Christine calls Jack on the cell phone just five minutes after he left; she insists in discussing some unimportant seating arrangement for the wedding. They have an argument.
Dodgeball:During the cheerleading auditions, Jason is paired with a hyper-obese girl by his rival, Derek. When she falls butt-first on Jason’s face, Derek laughs at him.
Related:
014 – The World in Decline
015 – Cheating to Get By
022 – The Hero’s Goal
020 – The Hero’s Day Job
A lion among the sheep.
Description:
Destiny has something reserved for the Hero, but right now, the Hero is engaged in a mundane job—most commonly, continuing in the Surrogate Parent’s profession.
The Hero is pretty good at it, but is also underutilized and underappreciated.
Examples:
Star Wars: The Rebellion will find Luke soon. For the time being he has to deal with humidifiers, droids, and harvests.
The Matrix: The Resistance will find Neo soon, but right now he works in a generic cubicle in a non-descript office building.
Harry Potter: Harry Potter is just another suburban kid. Hagrid will come for him soon.
Sideways: Miles works as a high-school literature teacher. His dream of becoming a published author must wait for another time.
Dodgeball: Peter La Fleur is the owner of the crappiest gym in town, but he will end up owning much more than that.
Related:
021 – Stuck in the Ordinary World
032 – Resistance to the Separation
021 – Stuck in the Ordinary World
There is no change in sight, or so the Hero thinks.
Description:
The Hero longs to leave, but such longing is unconscious. In fact, later on, the Hero will refuse the offer to go into the adventure.
The Mentor and the Heralds are still out of the Hero’s sight. The feeling that the Hero may never be up to the circumstance must sink in the audience’s mind for now.
Examples:
Star Wars: Luke is denied the chance to go to the Academy. He stands up and motions to leave the room. His aunt asks, “Where are you going?” Luke complains, “It looks like I’m going nowhere.”
The Matrix: Neo sits still in his cubicle, in front of his spent computer. He just sits in there, doing nothing.
Harry Potter: Harry is just a kid. Where would he go?
Sideways: Miles is divorced and childless. His novel keeps getting rejected, and his job sucks. He is stuck in a totally human situation.
Dodgeball: Peter La Fleur spends his days thinking, “If you don’t have goals, you are never disappointed. And I tell you: It feels phenomenal.” Yep, he’s going nowhere.
Related:
008 – It’s a Hard-Knock Life
032 – Resistance to the Separation
022 – The Hero’s Goal
The Hero only wants to solve some immediate problem.
Description:
The Hero’s current goal is nothing transcendental, but it’s enough to put the Hero on the path to adventure. The Inciting Event (stage029) will render both the goal and the associated problem irrelevant.
Examples:
Star Wars: Luke’s goal is to attend the Academy, become a pilot, and join the Rebellion. Uncle Owen won’t let him.
The Matrix: Neo’s goal is to answer the question that drives him mad.
Harry Potter: Harry just wants to read the letter from Hogwarts. In this story, howev
er, the strongest goals are Dumbledore’s versus Voldemort’s.
Sideways: Miles’s goal is to go on vacation and forget his love wounds.
Dodgeball: Peter La Fleur has no goals at all. He expects nothing from life. Well, sex, maybe.
Related:
023 – The Hero’s Desire
029 – The Inciting Event
023 – The Hero’s Desire
The root of the Hero’s problem.
Description:
This early in the story, the Hero’s desire is either primal (revenge, money, escape, etc.), or mundane (avoiding ridicule, achieving fame, keeping a job, etc.)
Such desire will eventually evolve into something transcendental, but not just yet. Any higher, noble pursuit is only expressed in broad terms: To defend the country, to find love, etc.
Examples:
Star Wars: Luke wants to be free. Soon he will be fighting for freedom at a scale he doesn’t imagine.
The Matrix: Neo wants to know what the Matrix is. Little does he know that the Matrix is the battlefield in which he will fight for humanity.
Harry Potter: Harry lacks friends, family, and knowledge—precisely the things he will find in his new school.
Sideways: Miles’s failures put his desire in retreat: He increasingly finds pleasure only in wine.
Dodgeball: Peter has no desires. But he will end up betting it all for friendship.
Related:
022 – The Hero’s Goal
024 – A Warning and a Threat
The Ordinary World reveals its controlling nature.
Description:
An Ordinary World’s authority demands compliance with a rule. Should the warning be ignored, some form of punishment will ensue.
The Hero acquiesces silently; the moment to go into full rebellion mode hasn’t arrived yet.
Examples:
Star Wars:Uncle Owen orders Luke to clean up the droids before dinner: “You can waste time with your friends when your chores are done.” Luke doesn’t answer.
The Matrix: “Either you choose to be at your desk on time from this day forth,” Neo’s boss warns him, “or you choose to find yourself another job.” Neo says he understands.
Harry Potter: “I’m warning you now, boy,” threatens Uncle Vernon before the visit to the zoo. “Any funny business, any at all, and you won’t have any meals for a week.” Harry doesn’t answer.
Sideways:Jack asks why pinot noir is white. Miles warns him: “Jesus. Don’t ask questions like that up in the wine country. They’ll think you’re a moron.” Jack doesn’t answer.
Dodgeball: White Goodman threatens, “You’ve got 30 days to make $50,000, or your gym becomes my gym.” Peter condescends, which only irritates White more.
Related:
018 – Attack 1: Insult
028 – Attack 2: Physical Damage
025 – The Hero’s Ghost
We learn about what happened to the Hero’s real parents.
Description:
The story about the Hero’s Ghost is usually told in three steps:
1) In this stage we learn about a traumatic event (a lost love, an accident, a crime, etc.) that happened to the Hero or to the Hero’s parents. However, this account is either false or incomplete.
2) Later on, in stage048 – Historic Battle, we hear a second version that is closer to the truth, but still incomplete.
3) Somewhere in Act 3, the full truth and how intimately connected it is to the Hero’s existence and mission is revealed.
This stage represents the first step in the sequence.
Examples:
Star Wars: Luke was told that his father was a navigator on a freighter. Luke knows nothing about his mother.
The Matrix: (Not applicable).
Harry Potter: Harry believes his parents died in a car accident.
Sideways: Miles sees a picture of his deceased father. Actor Paul Giamatti’s subtle expression of guilt and nostalgia cannot be put into words. Nothing else is said on the matter.
Dodgeball: (Not applicable).
Related:
009 – Mutual Creation
048 – Historic Battle
026 – The Hero’s Weakness
Nobody’s perfect.
Description:
The Weakness shows the childish side of the Hero: Immaturity, irresponsibility, and stubbornness. It symbolizes the inner dimension of the theme, the Hero’s internal struggle.
In any case, the Weakness has to be something the audience can identify with; don’t make your Hero a pervert or a coward, and don’t make the Weakness morally disgusting.
The Weakness will be overcome in stage171 – The Hero Lets Go.
Examples:
Star Wars: Luke’s overconfidence interferes with his trust in the Force. That same cockiness will make him wander alone through the desert, getting attacked by the Sand People.
The Matrix: Neo’s Weakness is disbelief. He doesn’t believe Morpheus’ explanation, nor the Oracle’s prediction, nor that he is The One.
Harry Potter: Harry’s Weakness is ignorance and a disregard for authority, which gets him in nine kinds of trouble.
Sideways: Miles is like a kid: He lies, steals from his mother, and uses avoidance strategies.
Dodgeball: Peter’s Weakness is his total lack of motivation. If nothing is worth taking risks for, how can anything have any value at all?
Related:
027 – The Lie the Hero Believes
171 – The Hero Lets Go
027 – The Lie the Hero Believes
The Hero’s paradigm is wrong.
Description:
The most basic assumptions of the Hero about who he is and what the world is like are simply wrong.
This mistaken paradigm is a consequence of the fundamental lie he believes in, which in turn is a consequence of his Weakness (stage026).
The Lie is not refuted here; it will be taken care of by the Hero’s character arc.
Examples:
Star Wars: Luke trusts his abilities as a pilot and little else. He ignores everything about the Force, including how intertwined the Dark Side is in his own personal history.
The Matrix: The Lie Neo believes in is: “I’m just another guy. I’m not The One.”
Harry Potter: Harry is not wrong but ignorant: He doesn’t know anything about the magic world.
Sideways: Miles sees the World through the somber glasses of his depression and negativity.
Dodgeball: Peter believes that taking risks doesn’t pay. He doesn’t realize that avoiding risks pays even less.
Related:
026 – The Hero’s Weakness
028 – Attack 2: Physical Damage
The Hero suffers a physical attack.
Description:
We established that the Ordinary World is a mediocre and selfish place, but now it also becomes violent. This attack fuels the Hero’s unconscious need to do something about it.
The Hero tries to fight back but is overpowered.
Examples:
Star Wars: Luke is attacked by the Sand People; he is hit and left unconscious.
The Matrix: Neo gets arrested, pinned down, and a tracking device is inserted in his body.
Harry Potter: Uncle Vernon pulls Harry’s hair.
Sideways: Miles and Jack almost get hit by a golf ball shot at them by some bullies.
Dodgeball: Plenty of physical pain is shown throughout the movie. My favorite part is when the mean Girl Scouts wipe the floor with the guys during the regional qualifying match. I cringed a lot.
Related:
018 – Attack 1: Insult
033 – Attack 3: The Hero Resists
029 – The Inciting Event
Things start to move faster.
Description:
Something happens to the Hero; something intriguing, related to the core of the premise. This event sets everything in motion.
This stage doesn’t answer any questions; it creates them.
Examples:
Star Wars: Luke discovers a holo-message hidden in a droid his uncle just bought. He thinks the message is for the Rebellion.
The Matrix: The police and the Agents arrive at Neo’s office to arrest him. The cell-phone brought by the FedEx messenger rings. It is Morpheus, who offers to help Neo escape.
Harry Potter: Uncle Vernon destroys a letter directed to Harry. Then thousands of owls bring more copies. The letters fly around the house, and more of them come flying through the windows, the door’s mail slot, and even the fireplace.
Sideways: Jack, who’s getting married in a week, arranges a date with two attractive women for him and his (depressed and recently divorced) friend. How’s that ever going to work well?
Dodgeball: The bank assigned Kate Veatch, a beautiful and intelligent lawyer, to work on Average Joe’s foreclosure.
Related:
030 – The Goddess
059 – Pushing Event
030 – The Goddess
The Inciting Event has a woman at its center.
Description:
The feminine is associated with creative energy, with the origin of life. And in fiction, too, there is usually a woman at the center of the story, setting things in motion.
If the Goddess happens to be the romantic interest for the Hero, don’t rush things between them, no matter the initial attraction.
Note that at this point the Hero and the Goddess haven’t met, yet—except in romantic fiction.
Recurring motif: The concept of hope.
Examples:
Star Wars: Leia’s holographic message starts it all. The message talks about hope.
The Matrix: Trinity watches Neo. Everyone hopes he is The One, but she doesn’t have to hope: She knows it. The other Goddess in the story, the Oracle, knows it as well.
Harry Potter: Harry’s power comes from the love of Lily, his mother. Thanks to her, Harry is The Boy Who Lived. But Harry will meet two additional goddesses: Professor McGonagall and Ginny Weasley. (Hermione acts a Goddess mainly in relation to Ron).
The Ultimate Hero's Journey Page 3