45 Master Characters (37 page)

Katherine Parker (Sigourney Weaver) in
Working Girl.
She tells the hero to trust her and then gives the boss the hero's ideas as if they were her own.

The Positive Mentor

A good mentor will openly guide the hero on his quest and make herself available twenty-four hours a day. She'll see herself in the hero and enjoy reliving her past through him. She wants to give her advice and expertise. If the hero succeeds then so does the mentor. She feels no competition with the hero and at times seems very patient while the hero learns. Many times the mentor has a goal she never reached that's similar to the hero's goal. If she helps the hero she can reach that goal through him.

A lot of karate and action films follow this relationship, where the hero will successfully do what the mentor has never been able to do, be it winning a fight or finding the bad guy before he kills again — all with the mentor's help.

The Positive Mentor in action:

Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) in
The Matrix
knows he'll never be as skilled as Neo but he'll win the war with him.

Mickey (Burgess Meredith) in
Rocky
knows he can't fight and never was as great as he can help Rocky to be.

The Mentor can create conflict for the hero:

By thinking he knows best (which he sometimes does), so he tries to reach the hero's goal himself, messing everything up in the process.

By resenting the hero for growing past him and causing the hero emotional turmoil. He may leave the hero on his own just when he's needed the most. In this way the Mentor shows just how much he is needed.

The hero may feel bad for the Mentor and allow him to come along, compromising the mission.

The hero may become upset at having to leave the Mentor behind while he reaches for his goal and wastes valuable time in leaving. The hero sees himself years later in the Mentor's eyes.

Examples of the Mentor:

The old high school teacher the hero tracks down to ask advice.

Someone accomplished in the hero's line of work who takes him under his wing.

The expert on whatever information the hero needs, as long as he's excited to share the information and help.

The Best Friend is the hero's confidant. She's the character who's always there, ready, willing but not always able to help. The Best Friend means well even if she messes up. She loves the main hero and wants to be there for her. If she sees the hero drifting away from her she'll try everything in her power to repair the friendship, even faking sickness to get attention. The Best Friend lives for this friendship whether she appreciates it in the beginning of the story or not.

Sometimes if the hero changes drastically, the Best Friend will feel threatened because she knows she must change with the hero or risk drifting apart from her. Some Best Friends don't like change.

The Best Friend can create conflict for the hero:

By giving bad advice without realizing it.