Briar Bond, Journal Entry 9 - The Hero's Journey in Different Genres

 An idea I established in some of my previous blog posts is that the hero's journey can be redefined as a structure for character growth rather than a plot structure. Using this framework, we can look at many stories as multiple overlapping hero's journeys following several characters as the plot progresses.

However, I have come across a hole in my own theory. As I was thinking about this idea, I was using it to analyze several of my favorite stories and I came across something interesting. One of my favorite genres is murder mysteries. A common thread in this type of story is the unmovable, unchangeable, almost detached from reality detective. Think Hercule Poirot from Agatha Christie or Benoit Blanc from the Knives Out franchise. A key trait of these characters is that they do not progress much as characters. They are stagnant so they can lend each installment of the series with the same familiar charm. So how do they fit in to the idea of the Hero's Journey?

As I was giving this more thought, I think I've come up with a solution. These stagnant archetypes, like the detectives, must be playing a different role in the journey, instead making room for one of the secondary characters to be the hero. This is common in murder mysteries, a character specific to the setting of that book in the series will step up to take charge in the case, taking on the role of hero. In these instances the "protagonist" of the book, being the detective, functions more like supernatural aid or a mentor to the book-specific hero.

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