Messianic Archetype: Difference between revisions

In media, the [[Messianic Archetype]] is a character whose role in the story (but not necessarily personality) echoes that of Christ. They are portrayed as a savior, whether the thing they are saving is a person, a lot of people or the whole of humanity. They endure a sizable [[Heroic Sacrifice|sacrifice]] as the means of bringing that salvation about for others, a fate they do not deserve up to and including death or a [[Fate Worse Than Death]]. Other elements may be mixed and matched as required but the [[Messianic Archetype]] will include one or more of them, not limited to: being the [[Chosen One]], gaining a group of devoted followers, being betrayed by one of these followers, persecution by non-believers, parallels to the [[Passion Play]], obvious [[Crucified Hero Shot]], a figurative or literal resurrection, and even a [[Second Coming]]. Bonus points if the character has the initials J. C. in their name.

 

 

It's also not necessary for the archetypal character to be even remotely Christian. The [[Ur Example|Ur Examples]] include Osiris (Egyptian) and Inanna (ancient Mesopotamia and the actual city of Ur) making this trope [[Older Than They Think]].

* [[Monster (Anime)|Tenma]], who literally takes him upon himself to save everyone around him through great personal sacrifice.

** Justified, in that the [[Big Bad]] of the series, Johan, really is the [[Complete Monster|worst person ever]], and is sometimes referred to by other characters in the series as the Second Hitler, [[The Antichrist]] and even the Devil himself.

* Yugi Mutou of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh]]'' is a clever deconstruction of this. Everyone who knows him agrees that he's basically [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|pure light]] and they would do virtually anything for him, but against the world as a whole, he's a tragically misunderstood innocent - his pacifism gets him beaten up by school bullies on a regular basis, for example.

** Pharaoh Atem could also with the trope. Seeing as he sealed his soul away in an 'unsolvable' puzzle for 5000 years (or 3000 years depending)in order to save the world from being consumed by the shadow realm.

** Arguably Galt is an ''inversion'' of at least some components of the trope. His plan of {{spoiler|going on strike in order to bring economic activity to a halt, and thus causing civilization to collapse and rebuild itself}} involves ''witholding'' a "salvation" and forcing society to confront the actual consequences of its morality of Comtean altruism (the morality which is basically at the core of the [[Messianic Archetype]]). Applying [[Fridge Logic]] to his plan's obvious consequences (i.e. lots of people die as a result of {{spoiler|civilization's collapse}}) had led to some readers seeing Galt as a [[Dark Messiah]] instead of a [[Messianic Archetype]].

* Brutha in the ''[[Discworld]]'' book ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Small Gods|Small Gods]]''.

* Rand al'Thor from Robert Jordan's ''[[Wheel of Time]]'', a [[Chosen One]] hated and beloved. Prophecy states that his blood will spill to free mankind from the Dark One, most people think to mean that Rand must die, including himself (the insanity doesn't help him not to think such a thing). ([[Like You Would Really Do It|Yeah, right, sure he will.]])

* [[Harry Potter]]. {{spoiler|To finally vanquish Voldemort, Harry realises that he must sacrifice himself in order for the Horcrux within him to be destroyed. However, once he has "died", he chooses to come back to life to finish the job and kill Voldy in person. Phew - it is a tad complicated!}}

** It is believed that the introduction of Christianity to Germany/Scandinavia led to a re-write of many of the myths of [[Norse Mythology]] (Thor's wedding, for one, is believed to have been written after said introduction as a way of mocking the old gods). It is possible the myths about Baldur were written or re-written to better fit the Christian faith, as was the part where Odin hung himself and was impaled by a spear much like Jesus.

* Quetzacoatl - martyred, will rise again. Unfortunately for the Mesoamericans, they thought he had. What they got instead were just [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens|Sufficiently Advanced Spaniards]].

* [[Egyptian Mythology]] brings us Horus. Revered as a SUN GOD and a god of royalty, he was betrayed and killed by his uncle Set, and thus was revered as a martyr. He would later be resurrected by his mother, Isis, the goddess of reincarnation. His symbol, the Eye of Horus, was seen as a sign of royal protection.

* The Arthurian legends are, to a great extent, a retelling of the David story from the Bible, complete with the idea that Arthur will return to save Britain in her greatest hour of need.

 

== Web Animation ==

 

 

* [[Avatar: The Last Airbender|Avatar Aang]]. He's a [[Physical God]], he [[The Messiah|has a love of all life, even his enemies]], and {{spoiler|is temporarily killed at the hands of Azula}}.

* ''[[Argai the Prophecy]]''

 

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[[Category:Tropes of the Divine]]

[[Category:Messianic Archetype]]