45 Master Characters (57 page)

An Order:
It's the hero's job to answer the call. He will lose his job and possibly his identity if he doesn't step up to the plate and accept the call.

Either way the hero is asked or pushed toward action at this point. Calls can serve several purposes:

Foreshadowing:
He achieves a small goal similar to that of the larger main goal of the story, like the man who runs in a marathon now and later runs to save a child.

To Wake Up the Hero:
The hero faces the first obstacle toward the main goal. He thinks things are easy and doesn't pay much attention to the goal or the villain until he faces the first tough obstacle. This is seen in action films where the hero comes up against the villain in the beginning, but much to the hero's dismay the villain manages to get away to fight again.

A Plot Twist:
The hero doesn't understand what's going on. He thought everything was all right, but the entire world seems to have abruptly changed around him. He's not sure who the good guys are anymore. Like Joe Turner (Robert Redford) in
Three Days of the Condor
, he goes out for coffee and returns to his office to find everyone dead.

In this stage what the hero cares about may be put in jeopardy by the villain or by the hero himself when he decides to go for the goal on his own.

Supporting characters may come out of the woodwork to laugh and ridicule him, telling him he's wrong, washed up and can't possibly accomplish what he's setting out to do.

Examples of Stage 3

Gilgamesh
translated by Maureen Kovacs

Gilgamesh creates his own call. He is so praised by everyone that he feels invincible and at times bored. He decides that he and Enkidu will go to the cedar forest, cut down the sacred cedar tree, slay its guardian and become famous.

Star Wars

Luke Skywalker first receives a call in the message he finds from Princess Leia. He goes to see Obi-Wan Kenobi, who tells Luke, “You must learn the ways of the force if you're to come with me.” Luke is still reluctant to leave his family, but when he returns home he finds his family and home destroyed by the Empire's forces.

Three Kings
The gold is

The gold is the call for all the men in this film. The desire for money and the hope of securing their futures drives them. The call comes first and then the men team up together to achieve their goal.

Moby Dick
by Herman Melville

Captain Ahab comes out of his quarters for the first time. He tells the men the story of Moby Dick and how he's driven to kill the whale. He says all the men on the ship are bound with him in his quest. He offers a gold piece to the first man who spots the white whale. All the men are enthusiastic.

Gender-Bending:
The Long Kiss Goodnight

A group of carolers shows up at Samantha/Charly's house. When she answers the door a man with a gun steps out and tries to kill her and her family. She fights the man and manages to kill him. She has no idea where she learned how to kill as skillfully as she does. She has to find out why someone wants her dead, and she must leave to protect her family.

What he cares about is put in jeopardy in this stage.

The hero is pushed into action by his own desires or by a villain.

Remember to show the call instead of just telling it. What visual image can represent the goal at the end of the story? What will the hero need to learn to reach his goal in the end, and how can this be shown in this stage?

Do any supporting characters laugh at him or try to stop him at this point? Or do they all support him?

Stage 4: Small Success

John is working his way up the mountain. The one man ahead of him falls, putting John in first place. Without wondering about the fallen friend John makes it to the top of the next peak hours before everyone else.

He sits happy in his accomplishment. He looks around and sees he has a lot farther to go to get to the top then he thought, but he's pumped now, invincible.

In this stage the hero has a small taste of success, which adds fuel to his desire to reach a much larger goal. He has answered the call and started on his journey. He met his first major obstacle and overcame it.

Pay attention to how this success affects the supporting characters around him. Are they happy for him? Jealous? Does this mean he'll be leaving them behind for a while as he sets out on a large challenge? Are they afraid for him? Do they try to make him feel guilty? Or do they ridicule him, trying to take the taste of victory from him?

He may have received warnings as he set out to complete this task, but he has ignored them and succeeded in spite of them. He feels he is invincible, that he is enough and doesn't need anyone else's help. His ego gets a boost, and he is pushed further from his center and further from self-awareness. Failure would push him to reexamine things; it would teach him humility.

If he lives more in tune with nature and is driven to protect others he may be very humble and down to earth on the one hand and very confident on the other as the heroes in
The Last of the Mohicans
are. They know they can overcome anything and are quick to take chances and risks for the things they hold dear.

Nathaniel (Daniel Day-Lewis) is successful in saving Cora Munro (Madeleine Stowe) and her sister Alice (Jodhi Max). He feels good about what he and his father and brother have done. He's secure in who he is and what he's capable of. Then he comes upon his friend's home and sees an entire family of women and children destroyed. He has failed them, and this both angers and humbles him.

Either way the hero wants more success:

He knows he can do more.