The Hero’s Journey: A Simplified 12 Step Guide
Hero’s Journey Explained - An Introduction
How much can plot and character structure improve your writing? How do you link plot and character? Should you link them? Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey reveals all.
Every great story follows a path—a journey of transformation, struggle, and ultimately, triumph. The Hero’s Journey, first defined by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, appears throughout history in myths, plays, novels, and films.
The term “Hero with a Thousand Faces” comes from the universal idea proposed by Campbell that all great heroes from ancient storytelling, myth, religions, and any great figure follows generally the same steps toward power, fall, rise, and understanding.
Christopher Vogler, in his book The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, breaks down Campbell’s philosophy into 12 easy, applicable steps. This is the form of the hero’s journey that has become popular, especially in screenwriting, and it’s the version we’ll be looking at today.
The Hero’s Journey in 12 Steps:
Step #1: Ordinary World
Our hero begins living their normal life, unaware of the adventure ahead. We see fun moments with friends and family and even controversies. We plant seeds for potential allies and opponents. Above all, we create an interesting world for our hero to inhabit and let them live in it momentarily. Not everything is perfect, but it’s not too bad either.
Example:
Frodo Baggins reads in the meadows of the Shire and celebrates his uncle Bilbo’s birthday in The Lord of the Rings.
Step #2: Call to Adventure
The Call to Adventure disrupts the hero’s ordinary world and sets it off balance. An opportunity arises, or a confrontation or problem presents itself. This is something the hero must deal with or cannot ignore.
Example:
In The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen is chosen for the Hunger Games.
Step #3: Refusal of the Call
The hero registers the Call to Adventure, but they feel unworthy or don’t feel up to facing the challenge. The hero hesitates and rationalizes. We could also refer to this section as the “making excuses” bit. Or perhaps, the risks of the adventure really do appear to be too great.
Example:
For example in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet waits before taking revenge for his father’s murder.
Step #4: Meeting the Mentor
The hero receives a mentor, either by their own choice, by the mentor’s choice, or by chance.
At this point, the hero has either decided or not decided to accept the call. They either are embracing the journey and need advice on how to proceed, or they need help in making the decision to answer the call.
Example:
In Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi presents Luke Skywalker with the opportunity to become a Jedi. Luke refuses until he sees his home destroyed and his aunt and uncle murdered.
Step #5: Crossing the First Threshold
The hero departs from their familiar world and embraces the adventure ahead. They commit to the “journey.” This is where the story really begins. The excitement, tension, and fun rise up a level. The hero realizes there’s life beyond their hometown. They’re not sure about it yet, but they’re intrigued.
Example:
In The Matrix, Neo takes the red pill and becomes part of the team. He then wakes up to his true reality in the real world.
Step #6: Tests, Allies, and Enemies
During this stage, the hero faces trials, makes friends, and encounters foes. This is where the action starts. The journey presents many ups and downs. The hero gets knocked off her feet. She needs to reorient herself to match the stride of the challenges coming at her one by one.
Example:
In The Odyssey, Odysseus faces numerous challenges, including outwitting the Cyclops, Polyphemus, resisting the enchanting Sirens, and navigating past the deadly Scylla and Charybdis. Each trial tests his cunning, resilience, and determination to return home to Ithaca.
Step #7: Approach to the Inmost Cave
The “inmost cave” is the place of the hero’s greatest trial, both physically and emotionally. It may be a literal cave or a symbolic one.
Here, the hero faces their greatest fear and prepares for the ordeal ahead.
Example:
In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry descends into the underground chamber to face Professor Quirrell and Voldemort, fully realizing the stakes of his journey. This is the moment of reckoning where the hero gathers their strength for the ultimate battle.
Step #8: Ordeal
This is the hero’s greatest crisis—their darkest, most intense moment. It’s a life-or-death situation, either literally or metaphorically, where everything is on the line. The hero must face their deepest fears, push past their limits, and emerge transformed. They learn something new about themselves.
Campbell calls this moment the “belly of the whale.”
Example:
In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Frodo and Sam reach Mount Doom, where Frodo, exhausted and consumed by the Ring’s power, nearly succumbs to its influence. Only through Gollum’s intervention does the Ring finally meet its destruction, marking the climax of Frodo’s struggle and transformation. The ordeal is the moment that defines the hero.
Step #9: Reward (Seizing the Sword)
"Seizing the Sword" is a metaphor drawn from mythology and classic storytelling. It represents the hero's moment of victory following the ordeal, where they claim a reward (like a literal sword, for example.) Maybe they get the girl or receive a prize. Or maybe they gain knowledge, newfound strength, or a personal revelation. This moment symbolizes the hero's completed transformation and their readiness to complete their journey.
Example:
In Will Wonka, Charlie wins Wonka’s chocolate factory.
Step #10: The Road Back
The hero is ready to return home to their ordinary world. However, now, they prove what they’ve learned and that they deserve the reward. A final obstacle blocks their path.
Example:
In The Matrix, now that Neo begins to believe he is “the one,” he’ll have to fight Agent Smith one last time to truly prove what he now knows.
Step #11: Resurrection
The final test. The hero is seemingly defeated, even dead. The enemy is seemingly victorious. The hero is then reborn into their new self and their fulfilled character.
Example:
Again, The Matrix is a perfect example of this. After Neo is shot dead by Agent Smith, Trinity breathes him back to life, and he is reborn anew, one with the Matrix code.
Step #12: Return with the Elixir
The hero finally makes it back home. Life is exactly the way it was, but they are much different. The “elixir” represents either something physical or figurative or both. The reward they received made it back with them. It’s the evidence of their suffering and their journey.
Example:
In Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows: Part 2, Harry returns to Platform 9 and ¾ but now as a father. His wisdom from his many experiences at Hogwarts allows him the greatest joy in sending his son there.
Check out our next article as we apply the Hero’s Journey to the movie Lawrence of Arabia.
The Hero’s Journey - Final Thoughts
Every story follows some version of the same structure, but it’s how you use that structure to your advantage. Practice it, understand it, mold it, then work it in a new way.
Made popular by George Lucas and Star Wars in 1977, the Hero’s Journey has become synonymous with Hollywood and its heroes. But don’t assume every film has to follow this structure.
We’ll continue to break down other structure methods as we move to the Save the Cat structure, Dan Harmon’s Story Circle, and John Truby’s Anatomy of Story.
