The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Many things are Older Than They Think, and This Very Wiki is no exception. In the days of yore where the mere idea of the Internet was a pipe dream, and the secrets of the first computers were either lost to history or covered up by nervous post war governments, one Joseph Campbell published his seminal work in 1949: The Hero with a Thousand Faces, a comparison of classical mythology that focused on the archetypal hero and his journey.


 * Mahou Sensei Negima: Jack Rakan's Pactio Artifact is named after the Greek translation of this work's name. Ironically, the literal meaning of the name fits him, as he's an Idiot Hero (Obfuscating Stupidity, though) whose Artifact consists of


 * Belly of the Whale - Itself named for the story of Jonah.
 * The Dragon - In addition to naming it he speculated that it was a metaphor for the hero's struggle before finally confronting the Big Bad
 * Hero's Journey - Later refined by Christopher Vogler's "The Writer's Journey".
 * Refusal of the Call
 * Supernatural Aid


 * Back from the Dead - The hero usually dies and returns, either literally or figuratively.
 * Big Bad - Every journey needs one to drive the plot.
 * Deity of Human Origin - Buddha, Jesus, and others become this after apotheosis.
 * Eternal Recurrence - In many cosmologies the world is in cyclical decline and improvement.
 * I Choose to Stay - The hero is tempted to but usually doesn't and instead brings the boon back to their people.
 * Messianic Archetype - The classical hero is often one or at least aids one.
 * Standard Hero Reward - The boon they find is often represented by a woman.
 * The Underworld - The hero might wind up here, either while spending time dead or entering it themselves without dying.
 * Vision Quest - Again, the hero might find themselves on one.