U72&74 - As1 - 12 Steps to a Hero

12 STEPS TO A HEROS ADVENTURE

There are twelve steps that help an audience dictate what happens during a story that revolves around a Hero, to help explain the steps in more detail i'm using Disney's Finding Nemo to break down the steps even further.

1. The Ordinary World

The beginning of a Heros adventure starts with the protagonist basking in his normal, everyday life. For example, in Finding Nemo the Hero of the story (Marlin) and his son (Nemo) are content and enjoying the safe life they live in the comfort of their own.

2. The Call to Adventure

This is when the opportunity to embark on the adventure arises for the protagonist. The main character is normally faced with an obstacle or challenge that deems it necessary to leave the comfort of their home. In Finding Nemo, the situation arises because Nemo gets captured by scuba divas while trying to prove that he's independent to his father (as well as show off to his new friends) which results in him touching a boat and ending up in what his father considers grave danger.

3. Refusal of the Call

A majority of the time during a heroic movie plot the Hero attempts to avoid the call for help and the journey all together, such as in Harry Potter when Harry blatantly refuses to even acknowledge he could be a wizard let alone believe it, however Finding Nemo doesn't conform to this specific part of the storyboard. Nemo's father immediately accepts the danger that he may face such as foreign seas, confronting humans and other predators in order to rescue his son from harms way.

4. Mentor Help

A mentor is someone the Hero of the story meets that aides them in either becoming strong enough to overcome any trials and endeavors that they may face, like in Hercules when Phil trains him rather than joins him on his journey, or the mentor stays with them during their trials and endeavours and aides them when its deemed necessary and helps the Hero with their character development like with Dory in Finding Nemo.

5. Crossing the First Threshold

This step revolves around the Hero leaving the comfort of their normal, safe world and throwing themselves into a world of danger and unknown struggles. This step is completed in Finding Nemo when Marlin first goes into the open sea, unaware of the trials and endeavours he will face in the change of scenery.

6. Test, Allies and Enemies 

The characters that the Hero comes across during the story can be sorted into three categories. An example of a testing character could be the school of fish that the two main protagonists come across while attempting to find Nemo, they refuse to help Marlin as he lacks patience and understanding, but they help his mentor, Dory, because of her friendly personality. Encountering these testing characters aided in Marlins personal growth, making him more thankful for the help that he receives and forcing him to become more gentle which aides him massively further along the story.

Allies are characters that help the Hero of the story with no questions asked such as the sea turtles. They aide an injured Dory and a panic stricken Marlin on their journey by helping them travel safely through the East Australian Current to Sydney Harbour and befriends the two protagonists to the point where him and his son make another appearance at the end of the film.

Enemies are the characters that attempt to disrupt and put a stop to the Hero quest, whether because of their own agenda or because the journey the Hero is taking will result in something they don't want to happen. For example, an enemy character in Finding Nemo would be the three sharks as they purposely attempt to sabotage their journey by eating them however, the protagonist discover clues as to where the Hero son is during their ordeal, benefiting them greatly.

7. Approach

In a Heros story at some point a setback will occur resulting in the Hero nearly giving up or having to reevaluate the situation. In Finding Nemo, its Nemo the experiences a setback. Nemo attempts to escape the fish tank that he and several other fish are trapped in, ultimately he fails after after a near death experience, disappointing not only himself, due to the fact that he won't be able to be reunited with his father, and the other fish because their last chance at freedom was not a success. However Nemo reevaluates the situation and realises what went wrong and attempts to gain freedom again by applying a new outlook on the ordeal and organising a new plan.

8. Ordeal

An Ordeal is where the characters experience a major obstacle that commonly involves a life or death

situation. An example of this is how Marlin risks his life to save his companion fro thousands of Jellyfish after realising she's been hurt and has collapsed. Marlins selfless act not only saved Dory and aided major character development but also resulted in the heroes meeting a collection of characters that progressed their journey even further, taking them that little bit closer to the Hero son.

9. Reward

A  majority of Hero films end in the protagonist being rewarded with money, jewels or a love interest however in Finding Nemo the reward that comes at the end of the film is Marlins chance to be a father again after being reunited with his son and Nemos reward is not only being reunited with his father but also managing to escape from Darla, an enemy type character Nemo came across during his time trapped in the tank.

10. The Road Back

The next step is when the Hero believes his journey is finally coming to an end as he's accomplished his goal and is making his way back to his previous home, however this is generally a false ending ass there is another endeavour that the Hero must partake in before the story can come to a close.

11. Resurrection Hero

The resurrection part of the story is when the hero must throw himself back into the dangers and

partake in a final test where everything he knows and loves is at stake. This happens towards the end of Finding Nemo when Dory and Nemo become trapped in a fishing net with several hundred other fish, Marlin has to apply everything that he's learnt throughout his journey to rescue all of the innocent animals involved, and get his son back once more so that they can finally return to the safety of their home.

12. Return with Elixir 

The Hero eventually returns home after his struggles and uses everything he's learned on his journey to make his home a better and safer place. Over the course of his journey Marlin learnt that trust and love are far more important than anything he previously thought were, so he applies what he learnt which resulted in the strength and love between father and son to become even more powerful which provided the story with a strong moral.