The Hero Cycle Every Students Guide to Understanding
Heroes
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Background Epic Heroes appear in many places Books Poems Movies
Myths Stories
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The Hero Cycle What do you think the title Hero Cycle means? Is
it a bike that Heroes ride? Is it a circle that Heroes stand in?
What else might it mean?
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Super Qualities In order to be a Hero, the character has to
have some quality that makes him or her stand out or appear
different Qualities might be great strength, wisdom, power or
ability in an area Who are some Heroes you can think of with
amazing powers? Superman The Bionic Woman The Fantastic Four The
characters on Heroes
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You know, like nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, computer
hacking skills... Like a liger. It's pretty much my favorite
animal. It's like a lion and a tiger mixed... bred for its skills
in magic. Special Skills
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Stage One: Innocence The first stage is at the beginning of the
journey, when the character is just a person living a normal life.
S/he is at that point The center of the universe.(COTU), and is in
a familiar and comfortable setting
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Stage Two: Initiation The character is dislocated (moved) from
COTU, and at this point unsettling or even scary things start to
creep in and destroy innocence- some examples are: death; evil;
love
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The Quest Every Hero has a quest they must complete Usually
this quest sounds impossible or at least very challenging What are
some examples of quests? Save the world Save a life Solve a mystery
Find the ______ and save _____
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The Test On the Journey or The Quest, the Hero is tested in
some way Sometimes the test is of their power, strength, wisdom and
commitment They have to prove they are worthy to be a hero Some
examples might include: Proving their power Staying true to their
commitment Having to make a moral choice to do the right thing
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MULAN
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Add a little Help from a Friend Almost all Hero stories have
some kind of mythical beings, magical and helpful animals, or human
helpers and companions Examples might include: Donkey in Shrek The
droids in Star Wars Robin (of Batman and Robin)
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Batman & Robin
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Lost in Space The journey almost always takes the Hero into a
place that humans rarely go This place is usually challenging,
scary, dark or dangerous Sometimes is it is supernatural place
heaven, the underworld, outer space Examples might include: The
castle in Shrek The castle in The Little Mermaid The Island in The
Incredibles
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Bill & Ted
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Stage Three: Chaos The character receives some sort of
knowledge from the initiation- but doesnt know what to do with it
There is confrontation and conflict, usually between the good and
evil forces It can be a time of darkness, trial, and self-doubt.
Sometimes a character will go backward or into denial, or need
saving by an ally. It can be a time of darkness, trial, and
self-doubt. Sometimes a character will go backward or into denial,
or need saving by an ally.
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The Dark Hour All Heroes hit a LOW POINT in their journey This
is the place where we are not sure they are going to make it During
this low point the hero nearly gives up his quest or appears
defeated Examples might include: When Superman appears dead When
Harry Potter is in the maze
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Luke & Darth
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A Resurrection The Hero SUCCEEDS! Just when we think that a
Hero will fail TA-DAH! They succeed, come back to life, rise again
or get up off the mat! This is the part of the story in which we
CHEER! Examples might include When any underdog sports team gets
the win Your guess???
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Miracle
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Stage Four: Resolution At the end of the cycle, the Hero takes
his or her proper place or gains the recognition that they deserve
They have SUCCEEDED in their challenge In the end, you know that
another challenge might come and the cycle starts again (this is in
the sequel)