230 Examples of Archetypes

An archetype is an abstract person type that is used in literature to develop characters and social sciences to model behavior. These are also an element of culture that appear in religion, philosophy, literature, myths and legends. These can serve as abstract role models or as cautionary tales that examine painful character flaws and failures. The following are common examples of archetypes.

Absent Father / Mother	Absent-minded Professor
Adventurous Child	Aloof Boss
Amateur Detective	Angry Loner
Annoying Neighbor	Anthropomorphic Animals
Anti-Hero	Audience Surrogate
Author Surrogate	Authority Figure
Awkward Nerd	Backstabbing Friend
Bad Boss	Bad Boy
Beautiful Loner	Big Wheel at the Cracker Factory
Black Knight	Black Widow
Blind Seer	Boy / Girl Next Door
Career Criminal	Caregiver
Chooser of the Chosen One	Chosen One
Class Clown	Clumsy Hero
Con Artist	Concept Personification
Crazy Cat Lady	Crooked Cop
Damsel in Distress	Dark Lord
Dilettante	Disaffected Detective
Don Juan	Drill Sergeant
Dumb Jock	Dumb Muscle
Egomaniac	Enchantress
Everyman	Evil Matriarch
Evil Twin	Fairy Godmother
Fall Guy	Fallen Angel
Father Figure	Femme Fatale
Ferryman	Gentle Giant
Gentleman Thief	Girl / Boy Genius
God / Goddess	Good King / Queen
Good Samaritan	Gossiping Servant
Grande Dame	Grandstander Bully
Great Imposter	Guardian Angel
Hardboiled Gangster	Hardboiled Private Investigator
Henchman / Thug	High Chair Tyrant
Hillbilly	Hopeless Romantic
Incompetent Gangster	Incubus
Ingenue	Intelligent / Deep Loner
Jester / Harlequin	Kindhearted Princess
Last Man	Liberator
Logical Leader	Logical Nerd
Lone Hero	Loose Cannon
Lovable Rogue	Loyal Friend
Loyal Servant	Loyal Skeptic
Machiavellian Villain	Mad Scientist
Magician	Maiden
Mama's Boy	Man Alone
Manic Pixie Dream Girl	Mary Sue / Gary Stu
Mean Popular Girl	Mother Figure
Nefarious King / Queen	Nemesis
Noble Savage	Old Wise One
Oppressed Princess	Out-of-Towner
Outcast	Outlaw
Overinvolved Mother or Father	Peacemaker
Personification of Joy	Personification of Mother Earth
Personification of National Character (e.g. The American)	Personification of Old Age / Youth
Personification of Peace	Personification of Sadness / Despair
Personification of War	Precocious Child
Preppy	Prince Charming
Prodigal Son	Rebel Without a Cause
Rebellious Teen	Redeemable Villain
Redneck	Reluctant Hero
Reluctant Monster	Reluctant Private Investigator
Rightful Heir or Ruler	Robin Hood
Ronin	Scorned Goddess
Scribe	Scrooge
Seeker	Shadow Leader
Shallow Rich Girl	Shape-shifter
Sibling Rivalry (e.g. The More Successful Brother / Sister)	Side Kick
Sleazy Politician / Lawyer / Businessperson	Slow Burn
Social Climber	Soubrette
Star-Crossed Lover	Starving / Tortured Artist
Straight Man	Strong Silent Type
Succubus	Superfluous Man
Superhero	Superhero Alter Ego
Supervillain	Swashbuckler
The Addict	The Advocate
The Alchemist	The Beggar
The Brilliant Detective	The Builder
The Conspiracy Theorist	The Creator
The Crone	The Crusader
The Curmudgeon	The Cursed & Unlucky
The Diplomat	The Eccentric Foreigner
The Environmentalist	The Eternally Young
The Foil	The Gigolo
The Giver	The Glutton
The Gourmet	The Healer
The Imposter	The Improbable Survivor
The Innocent	The Likable Troublemaker
The Lucky	The Martyr
The Muse	The Mystic
The Narcissist	The Nice Guy
The Nonconformist	The Novice
The Orphan	The Perfectionist
The Pessimist	The Philosopher
The Pilgrim	The Pioneer
The Psychopath	The Reformer
The Ruthless	The Saboteur
The Sage	The Savant
The Scapegoat	The Shrew
The Sloth	The Sociopath
The Stickler	The Storyteller
The Therapist	The Trickster
The Usurper	The Vagabond
The Victim	The Vigilante
The Weakling	The Workaholic
Tomboy	Town Fool / Village Idiot / Town Drunk
Tragic Hero	Troubled Vet
True Believer	Tsundere
Turncoat	Ubermensch
Underdog Contender	Underling
Unseen Character	Useful Idiot
Voice of Reason	Wannabe Hero
Weakling Prince	Whisky Priest
Wicked Stepmother	Wingman
Wise Fool	Witch / Warlock
Yokel	Yuppie

An audience / author surrogate is a character in a story that represents the audience or the author.

A Big Wheel at the Cracker Factory is an individual who feels powerful due to a management position in a company but struggles because people outside this context don't respect them. Originates with a line from the animation series The Simpsons in which a character brags that his father is a "big wheel at the cracker factory."

Concept personification is a character that represents an abstract concept such as "freedom."

A Dilettante is an enthusiast for something for which they have little ability and knowledge. For example, a wealthy patron of the arts who can't recognize artistic talent.

Everyman is a protagonist who is a completely ordinary and humble person.

Grande Dame is a female socialite who is upper class and influential.

The High Chair Tyrant makes demands, gives nothing, is overly sensitive and lashes out at anyone who doesn't serve their immediate wants.

The Hopeless Romantic is tragically optimistic and trusting.

The Last Man cares only for safety, security and basic needs such as entertainment. They fear and punish risk-takers, individualism and freedom seekers.

Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a female character who is overwhelmingly positive, outgoing, innocent and cute.

Mary Sue is a female lead that has no flaws and far more talent/ability/power than anyone else in the story. Male characters of this flavor are rare, as male characters are often given tragic or comical flaws, but are known as Gary Stu.

Noble Savage is a character that represents the humble wisdom and goodness of humankind in a supposedly more innocent time / society / culture / community. Historically extremely common in myth, literature and film.

A Ronin is a samurai without a master. These are outcasts who are highly capable and dangerous to an elite.

Slow burn is a character that is exceptionally plain to begin with that is slowly revealed to be extraordinary.

A Soubrette is a lively and flirtatious character.

A Strong Silent Type is a humble character who doesn't say much but is unbelievably resilient and capable.

Superfluous Man is a privileged character who causes trouble and pursues vice out of boredom and a lack of purpose / moral fiber.

A Swashbuckler is witty, good at fighting and reluctantly virtuous.

The Trickster is an extremely common archetype of religion, legend and myth that uses superior intelligence to trick people or gods. Typically more mischievous than evil.

Tsundere is a Japanese term for a character that is initially stern, cold and harsh who slowly reveals that they have great emotional depth.

Ubermensch is an individual who is completely free of social and cultural constraints who bravely seeks self-fulfillment.

An unseen character is a person who is often mentioned but never appears in a story or film.

A useful idiot promotes a cause they don't understand because they have been manipulated by powerful and shadowy elements.

A straight man is a serious character who serves to make comical situations more funny.

A foil is a situation where two characters are opposites in order to highlight their character traits. For example, a married couple where one is obsessed with social status and appearances and the other is humble and aloof.

Summary

Archetypes are recurring characters and themes found across cultures in religion, myths and literary works. Many of these can be traced back for hundreds or in some cases thousands of years and are still commonly used in modern works. Due to their familiarity and presence in important cultural artifacts, people may use archetypes in their view of the world and in constructing their identity.

Overview: Archetypes
Type	Literature
Definition	An abstract person type that is used in literature to develop characters and social sciences to model behavior.
Flavors	Personality Archetype Character Archetype
Related Concepts	Literature » Develop Characters » Behavior » Character Flaws » Last Man » Virtue »

230 Examples of Archetypes

Summary

Archetypes

Character Development

Macguffin

Slice Of Life

Atmosphere

Storytelling

Humor

Social Tension

Descriptive Words

Traditional Knowledge

Personal Experience

Emperors New Clothes

Read Between The Lines

Trending

New Articles