What is 'The Hero's Arc'
As told by Joseph Campbell in The Hero With a Thousand Faces (1949), The Hero's Arc is the process a character tends to go through. During these twelve stages, the Hero learns of the quest, completes the voyage, and returns. Throughout these stage, the Hero changes and develops in a particular way. These developmental path the Hero takes is so ingrained into our culture, many authors use this template without realizing. While not every stage may fit into every story, this is the general pattern used by many stories.
The Twelve Stages;
1. Ordinary World
The Ordinary World is where the reader and audience learn about where the Hero comes from. Here, the reader learns about the Hero and his flaws and strengths. This sets the backstory for the Hero and often becomes instrumental later during the quest.
2. Call to Adventure
Bilbo Baggins is a typical Hobbit in every aspect except one, he is both a Baggins and a Took. The Baggins family is a very respected one in the Shire where as the Tooks are ostracized because they are known to go on adventures. Due to this buried yearning for adventure of his heritage, Gandalf chooses Bilbo as the fourteenth member for Thorin’s company. In the typical sequence of the ‘Hero’s Arc’, the Call to Adventure, is a stage in which the Hero, in our case Bilbo, is disrupted in his Ordinary World and is faced with a challenge. This Call to Adventure is given by both Gandalf and Thorin. After Bilbo’s first encounter with Gandalf, his world is set askew. Dwarf after dwarf arrive at his house, thus further driving Bilbo outside of normalcy, however it is Thorin who officially tells Bilbo of the journey ahead. Although in the typical Hero’s Arc, it is necessary for the Hero to accept this call, however Bilbo does not. It is only his drive for adventure from the Tooks that spurs him to accept. Sometimes, according to the Hero’s Arc, a Hero may need “two conflicting calls” to spur and answer. This is true for Bilbo. He must choose between the Baggins in him and stay in the Shire in order to remain respected among his fellow hobbits or to leave with Gandalf and Thorin’s company in order to fulfill his Tookish thirst for adventure. This is the stage that Bilbo later questions due to uncomfortable situations down the road. This is the point that Bilbo wishes he can go back to.
3. Refusal of the Call
The Hero may not wish to go through with the quest. Here is where the Hero may learn why he must complete the quest and the consequences if he does not.
4. Meeting the Mentor
The Hero meets a mentor. This mentor may give the Hero a weapon, training, advice, or just courage to complete his task.
5. Crossing the Threshold
When the Hero crosses the threshold from his Ordinary World to the Special World, in which the task will be completed, the Hero shows that he is ready to complete the quest. This final push forces the Hero to commit to his quest.
6. Test, Allies, and Enemies
The stage of Tests, Allies and Enemies, is the point in which Bilbo learns his place in the Special World. Bilbo and the dwarves are taken into the heart of the mountain by goblins. They are soon threatened and in dire danger by the goblins and it is Gandalf that saves them. Here Bilbo’s courage and faith in Gandalf are reiterated and strengthened. However, during the escape, the dwarf carrying Bilbo drops him. From this experience, Bilbo realizes that although he is a part of the company, the dwarves will not look out for him as they would another dwarf. Bilbo must look out for himself in order to stay safe, because the dwarves may not. Then, after he is left behind by the dwarves, Bilbo explores the goblin caves. He comes across Gollum. In a game to learn of a exit out of the mountain, Bilbo must use his knowledge and experience from the Shire to solve and pose riddles. At this point, both the reader and Bilbo realize that it is the skills and morals that contrast him from the dwarves and are the reason that Gandalf choose him. He becomes aware that even in this new and strange environment, he must still rule with his wit and compassion.
7. Approach
The Hero prepares to face the ordeal. Having learned about his Special World and already faced some danger, the Hero may feel as if he could rest and both mentally and physically prepare for the ordeal ahead.
8. Ordeal, Death, Rebirth
The Hero enters the ordeal, the reason for entering the Special World. The Hero may witness a death, of either himself or a mentor or friend, therefore heightening the stake for the Hero.
9. Reward, Seizing the Sword
The Hero has survived the ordeal and now he will reap the rewards for completing the ordeal. He now receives the treasure or elixir he has left his Ordinary World to find.
10. The Road Back
Finally, the Hero decides to return back to the Ordinary World, leaving the Special World and all of the allies he has met there.
11. Resurrection
The Resurrection of the Hero can either be his last face with death or a healing process.
12. Return with the Elixir
In the typical Return of the Hero, his homecoming is welcomed and celebrated. The Hero has earned his right to come back to the Ordinary World and helps those who live there. However, Bilbo’s arrival is neither welcomed or celebrated. He has been presumed dead. All of Bilbo’s creditability is long gone and is now pitied by all those around him. Typically, the Hero comes back changed, always impacted by his time in the Special World. For Bilbo a loss of respect from his fellow hobbits is exactly the change. In the beginning of his journey, Bilbo fears the opinions of the other hobbits and disregards the the opinions of the dwarves. Now, it is the hobbits who disrespect Bilbo and the dwarves, elves, and men who hold Bilbo in high regard.