Going Trope-ical n.1: The Hero's Journey

As someone who loves The Lord of the Rings and classic Star Wars as much as I do, you think I'd be all about The Hero's Journey in my own writing, but to be honest I've never used it much. The closest I've gotten to it was more like an unintentional subversion of it. Don't open the spoiler here if you ever plan on reading Digimon fanfic:

The thing about The Hero's Journey is that because it's so integral to the backbone of so many myths and stories across cultures I'm not sure I'd even call it a "trope." It's more like a general type of story. Using the Hero's Journey effectively is no different than using the basic framework for a romantic comedy or a mystery effectively. The important thing is to not treat the genre like a checklist and call it a day, rather to make changes and additions to the framework as necessary to support what you're ultimately trying to say. A great example of this is The Lord of the Rings of all things, specifically the original novel.

(Spoilers for Lord of the Rings, lol. By the way, if you haven't watched/read LotR but really want to and don't want to be spoiled, get on it already.)

Original creator Ice
1. Leave your familiar hometown/hobbit hole/ moisture farm
2. Learn to deal with the unfamiliar world that unveiled itself
3. Return to the familiar world, wiser and stronger

Click to expand...

Sorry, still trying to get better with the quoting system.

My answers below:

Most of my favorite fantasy stories follow that archetype I suppose, and most people that write do end up going along with it it seems since it is the most common and easiest to use. Though there's only 3 steps listed, any number of conflict and any amount of years can take place throughout those 3 steps. A hero's journey might take place over a few weeks, months or even dozens of years.

Would it be safe to argue The Legend of Zelda follows the Hero's Journey too? Think about it (using Ocarina of Time as my example):

The Call to Adventure--The Deku Tree summoning Link

2. Refusal of the Call--I could argue that Mido refusing Link access to the Deku Tree is an example of this because Mido never accepts Link as a true Kokiri

3. Supernatural Aid--Zelda has this in spades, but the most literal interpretation is Navi, for better or worse

4. Crossing the First Threshold--Stepping into Hyrule Field for the first time

5. Belly of the Whale--While Link literally does this by going through Jabu-Jabu's Belly, the best example I remember is when Link pulls the Master Sword

6. The Road of Trials--Awakening the six Sages

7. The Meeting with the Goddess--This happens twice--Link and Zelda meet as kids, and the more literal encounter as adults

8. Woman as Temptress--The whole bit with Ruto would probably count as this

9. Atonement with the Father--Meeting the Deku Sprout after clearing the Forest Temple

10. Apotheosis--resting and running around doing sidequests?

11. The Ultimate Boon--The Master Sword

12. Refusal of the Return--This one's hard--Link looking for Navi (or what we assume is Navi) during the beginning of Majora's Mask

13. The Magic Flight--Fleeing Ganon's Castle

14. Rescue From Without--Hm...not sure if Zelda has any moment that would fit this

15. Crossing the Return Threshold--Returning the Master Sword and sealing the Door of Time at the end of the game.

16. Master of Two Worlds--Traveling in time between a child and an adult

17. Freedom to Live--Link is forever known as the Hero of Time.

As you can see, Zelda follows the hero's journey very closely (some steps are out of order, and there are some iffy places).