Khaled: The Hero's Journey

"The Hero's Journey," pictured above.  Photo located at lincoln.debbieyoon.com.  Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership of this graphic.

Ever the fantasy and graphic novel aficionado, Khaled (affectionately known as "K.") has been researching American mythologist, lecturer, and writer Joseph Cambell (@jcf_org).  Until his death in 1987, Campbell explored comparative mythology and comparative religion in such works as The Masks of God, The Power of Myth, and The Hero with a Thousand Faces.  K. found the latter particularly fascinating in that Campbell proposes a sort of pattern according to which, hypothetically, all fantasy narratives unfold.  He termed this form "the hero's journey" or "the monomyth"; this second term is especially meaningful in that it imbues this structure with progenitive power as a sort of "parent" to all fantasy stories across the world. 

Theoretically, "the monomyth" holds that fantasy narratives consist of twelve to seventeen steps:  (1) the call to action, (2) refusal of the call, (3) supernatural aid, (4) crossing the threshold, (5) belly of the whale, (6) the road of trials, (7) the meeting with the goddess, (8) woman as temptress, (9) atonement with the father, (10) apotheosis, (11) ultimate boon, (12) refusal of the return, (13) the magic flight, (14) rescue from without, (15) the crossing of the return threshold, (16) master of two worlds, and (17) freedom to live.  As the following graphic shows, this journey occurs between two worlds:  the "known," or ordinary, world and the "unknown," or supernatural, world.  Though various scholars and writers warn that "the hero's journey" can act as a catch-all that prevents genuine literary analysis, "the monomyth" does seem to support such well-known narratives as George Lucas's Star Wars and J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

"The Hero's Journey," pictured above.  Image located at en.wikipedia.org.  Kildonan and its IP program do not claim any ownership of the graphic above.

How will K. incorporate this structure into his own evolving fantastical narrative? Any questions or recommendations for K.? Please post in the comments below.

For an "IPian"-esque graphic of "the hero's journey" resembling an octopus, please see below.  Picture located on thethinkingbusiness.com.