How to use this Course


Below you will find the rubric that will be used to present information about each of the archetypal characters on the Red Square. You will find it helpful to have already read the articles in NP101 and NP201 in order to understand what is going on here. The final article has several complete analyses of Red Square stories of varying degrees of complexity as well as some exercises that will help the student to become more fluent with the Red characters and their stories.

Alternate Titles: These are other names for the same character, each emphesizing a different aspect of the character. There are actually eight aspect names for each character, but not all of them are known. Sometimes there are also specific archetypal words for resonances, shadows, split characters and other variants. For the purposes of this basic introduction we list only a few of these, in no particular order.


Examples: We have tried to provide a variety of strong examples from a wide range of different sources for each archetype. These appear colour coded by the type of source according to the scheme below. The example character's name is followed by the name of the work in which they appear, or in the case of works named after the character, by the name of the author or source.

Plays
Literature
Genre Fiction
Classic Film
Modern Film
Poetry
Mythology
Fairy Tale
Music
Non-Western
Children's
Other


Archetypal Events: Each character has ten archetypal events: five that take place in relation to another character, and five that take place when the character is alone. As these are not all known for most characters, we have listed those that we have already discovered, and will continue to add to the lists as time goes on.

Common Plots: A few examples of plots that frequently occur from the perspective of this character.

Resonances & Shadows: Each character has two corresponding characters from non-adjacent squares whose archetypal events and traits they may 'borrow.' These are called "resonant" characters. A character's shadows are the two characters of opposite moral alignment from the two adjacent squares; a character may act as one of these in a sub-plot in order to darken or lighten the way that the audience perceives them.

Next there is a list of the most important symbols of the character being described. There are many, many variants for each of these and the student will learn how to generate these in a later course. The version given here is the purest form currently known, in the Concrete Aspect and the Royal Scale. A Supply is something which the character has in limited quantities, when it runs out this usually prompts a major plot development -- often the end of the story. The Prize is a thing that this character is liable to go questing after. The Monument is a symbolic commemoration of the hero and his/her deeds. The others are self-explanatory.

Home
Supply
Weapon
Clothing
Prize
Monument
Minor Symbols

Finally, we include the Red Square as it looks built from the perspective of the character being studied.

Perspective

 Sidekick
 Lover
Lieutenant
 *
 Hapless Love

Enemy
Ball & Chain
Nemesis


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