Ever heard of the Hero's Journey? Confused by the mythological-sounding terms? Never fear! This article will provide you with a basic understanding of the origin, concept, and use of the Hero’s Journey in modern storytelling.

What Is the Hero’s Journey?

Originally proposed by an American mythological researcher named Joseph Campbell, the Hero’s Journey is an all-embracing metaphor for the deep inner journey of transformation that heroes from all eras seem to share. Years of research lead Campbell to discover several basic stages that almost every hero endures regardless of origin or culture. He called this common structure the “monomyth.” In his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell explained:

"A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder; fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won. The hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man."

There are 17 stages to the Hero’s Journey in Campbell’s original monomyth, which are often displayed in diagrams like this:



But not all stories contain every stage, and the concept of the Hero’s Journey is often condensed and simplified to look something more like this:


At its core, the Hero's Journey is simply a pattern or chain of events that transform the hero from who he was at the beginning of the story to who he is at the end, often referred to as character arc. This video by TED-Ed provides a clear and succinct explanation of this cycle of events.


Some of these stages are open to a interpretation and imagination, but give it some thought. When was the last time you watched a movie or read a book with a main character that didn’t go through at least some of these stages? Is this because writers are intentionally using the Hero’s Journey as a formula for storytelling, or could it be because all stories are part of the same universal, human language? 

Why Is the Hero’s Journey Important?

The reason anyone interested in storytelling should care about the monomyth is because it attempts to connect all stories — and therefore all people. If humans have always told the same stories throughout time and place, that says something very important about people.

Even though we’re divided by cultures, time, religions, wealth, politics, and oceans, we all understand ourselves in the same way. In his book Writers Journey, Christopher Vogler said, “Campbell discovered that [hero myths] are all basically the same story — retold endlessly in infinite variations.”

That’s the point. Stories are universal because the human condition is universal. What is storytelling if not an exploration of the human condition—what we desire, what we fear, what we need? Stories bring us together and remind us of universal truths about ourselves we might have forgotten or that we need to see in a new light.

What Does the Hero’s Journey Look Like in Modern Storytelling?

After completing two drafts of a screenplay for Star Wars in the 70s, George Lucas still wasn’t happy with the storyline. He turned to Joseph Campbell’s work for insight, and the monomyth became the underlying structure of one of the most famous movies of all time.


Since Star Wars, many other popular movies have directly employed the Hero’s Journey including The Matrix, Finding Nemo, The Lion King, Shrek, The Wizard of Oz, and The Hunger Games. There’s an entire list on IMDB.com dedicated to movies the exemplify the Hero’s Journey.

What the Hero’s Journey Is Not

Does all this mean the Hero’s Journey is some magic plot formula for success? Of course not! The important thing to remember about the Hero’s Journey is that it was not created by any one person but was instead recognized as a common thread through many, many works of fiction and myth. I love the way Australian screenwriter and story consultatnt Allen Palmer put it:

"The Hero’s Journey was not invented. It was merely identified. Joseph Campbell read stories from all over the world, across all time, and found that every culture was telling the same story over and over and over again. The Hero’s Journey is not the get-rich-quick gimmick of some San Fernando Valley shyster. It’s the timeless storytelling blueprint of all humankind."

Before the Hero's Journey was identified, people from across cultures were using it to tell stores. That hasn't changed since it was identified and popularized. But now we have a tool that can help guide writers and storytellers through the story development process in a way that helps to ensure its resonance and emotional impact. 

One important distinction to make is that, while the Hero's Journey may say something about the human need for change, it does not dictate the theme of a story. No matter how you use the Hero's Journey in your writing process, it can't provide a powerful or compelling theme in and of itself. That's something you have to determine independently, and theme is the axis upon which your plot, character arcs, and every other part of your story revolve.

Your Challenge

Use any number of stages from the Hero's Journey to outline/develop your protagonist's character arc.

Then take a step back and think about it. Did using this method help you develop character arc? Did you feel like it was a useful tool, or did you find it to be confining, limiting, or formulaic? Do you believe having a character arc plotted into your story helps give it emotional impact and universal appeal? Would you use this method again, or do you have other tools and methods you prefer? 

Bonus Challenge: Start paying attention to the stories you consume every day. Can you identify stages of the Hero's Journey? Does this at all impact the quality of the story, or is that determined more by other factors like concept, theme, characterization, plot, conflict, tension, etc.? 

The more you train yourself to analyze the stories around you, the better you'll get at seeing how all the elements of storytelling work together and how you can leverage the brilliant aspects of master storytelling for yourself. The Hero's Journey is just one small piece of the puzzle, and there's a lot to discover!

Upload your completed challenge as a deviation and submit it to the March 2016 Workshops folder.

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