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Section 008, Jason Simpson, pg. 1

Joseph Campbell described the path that all epic heroes undergo, what he calls the

Departure, the Initiation, and the Return. First, the hero is called awa !rom his or her seemingl

mundane li!e into the realm o! the e"traordinar. #his is accomplished b crossing a gatewa

between the worlds, o!ten with the help o! some person or ob$ect. Second, the hero $ournes

through the ad%enture world, !acing challenges, con!ronting the nemesis, and obtaining the

ultimate goal o! the ad%enture. Finall, the hero returns to their seemingl mundane world !rom

the ad%enture world b some magical !light bac& through the gatewa between worlds 'o!ten

with the help o! some supernatural being(. )s a result o! his ad%enture, the hero gains the abilit

to sa%e both worlds and !ind a balance between the two.

1

In the epic stor o! the hero, there must

alwas be a call to ad%enture, some !orm o! aid 'occasionall supernatural(, a threshold crossing,

a series o! trials, and a con!rontation, all resulting in the hero sa%ing both ad%enture and

mundane world, returning home while mastering both worlds.

#he hero*s $ourne alwas begins with a departure. In Ste%en +isberger*s Tron, the

character o! )lan, whose digital representation is #ron, begins his $ourne at the same time as the

main character, Flnn. In the room abo%e Flnn*s arcade, +ora con%inces both Flnn and )lan to

hac& into the -C/ computer sstem. #his call to ad%enture is the most important step o! an

epic hero*s ad%enture without it, the hero would ne%er e%en begin the $ourne. #he second most

important aspect o! the hero*s $ourne is the choice to cross the !irst threshold into the world o!

ad%enture. In the case o! Tron, the threshold is literal doorwa guarded b the unnecessaril large

bac& door o! the -C/ building. #his is the !irst turning point in the $ourne the hero chooses

to go on, e%en when gi%en a per!ectl good reason to go home. #hough Campbell places the

section on Supernatural )id in the Departure chapter, a more appropriate location would be

1 Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces '-o%ato -ew 2orld +ibrar, 3008(, 456

305.

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Section 008, Jason Simpson, pg. 3

!loating anwhere be!ore he 7ltimate oon section o! the Initiation chapter.3In Tron, the ma$or

supernatural aid does not happen until a!ter #ron has met the 9goddess: and e"perienced two o!

his three trials. #ron and ;ori tra%el to a place the can meet #ron*s user, where )lan gi%es #ron

a data disc with the abilit to destro the master computer program '/C

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Section 008, Jason Simpson, pg. >

ibliograph

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. -o%ato -ew 2orld +ibrar, 3008.

Tron. Directed b Ste%en +isberger. 1583. 2alt Disne