The Heroes and Heroine’s Journey

1. The Heroes and Heroine’s Journey On the Disc

3. The tale begins in the humdrum world of kitchen chores and powerlessness. The heroine lives with an absent mother and brutal stepmother. The father figure, if there is one, is equally obstructive. More than anything, the girl longs for an escape, an adventure. Here the story begins. Common Day

4. Call to Adventure Without a catalyst, Cinderella might remain in her kitchen forever. Some event, either a chance at freedom and happiness or a devastating act of destruction propels the heroine from her place of safety and into the frightening world of the spirit.

5. The Call And it came to pass that in time the Great God Om spake unto Brutha, the Chosen One: "Psst!"

6. The Call • Nanny: You mean you weren’t Chosen? • Granny: Me? No. I chose.

7. The Call • She could follow the rat. • Soppy people in books did that sort of thing. They ended up in some idiot world with goblins and talking animals. And they were such sad, wet girls. They always let things happen to them without making any effort. “You're not going to say something like ‘Oh, my paws and whiskers," are you?’”

8. The Call 'Quick, you must come with me,' she said. 'You're in great danger!''Why?''Because I will kill you if you don't.'

9. Refusing the Call Here, the hero is faced with the unknown. By contrast, home represents safety and security, a place the child is loathe to leave.

10. Rincewind Does this involve a perilous journey into unknown and probably dangerous lands? Encounters with exotic creatures? Almost certain death? Well, I wish you every success in your search. I’d help you myself, only I’m not going to.

12. Carrot • My father says being king’s too much like hard work. All the surveying and assaying and everything. It’s not the thing for the likes of us. Us guards. • If there was a king, then the best thing he could do would be to get on with a descent day’s work. But if there was some pressing need…then perhaps he’d think again.

13. Brutha 'The God speaks to a chosen one and he becomes a great prophet,' said Nhumrod. 'Now, I am sure you wouldn't presume to consider yourself one of them? Mmm?'

14. Others • Vimes doesn’t want to be a knight, or duke. • Vimes: What good would a statue be? It'd just inspire new fools to believe they're going to be heroes. They wouldn't want that. Just let them be. For ever." • Cohen wants to retire • Mort doesn’t marry the princess, and names his daughter Susan. • Even Vetinari doesn’t want to be king—prefers the modern “one man one vote” system.

15. Hero • Heroes quest to defeat the Dark Lord and rule as the High King

16. …and Heroine The heroine quests to save loved ones, a quest as dangerous as any journey of the hero.

17. The Quest • Tiffany seeks her stolen brother: • “He willna grow up. He’ll get sweeties. Forever. • He willna be any older. Nothing grows old here. Nothing grows. Nothing at all.” • “I’m going to find the Queen and get my brother back, whatever you say. Understand? I’ve got this far.” • "Tell me why you still want to be a witch bearing in mind what happened to Mrs. Snapperly.""So that sort of thing doesn't happen again." said Tiffany

18. The Quest • A nine-year-old girl armed with a frying pan couldn’t possibly have rescued a thirteen-year-old boy with a sword. • Someone must go into the Underworld to find the real Summer Lady. That is a Story. It has happened before. It works. • Tiffany [in Wintersmith] 'This I choose to do,' she croaked her breath leaving little clouds in the air. She cleared her throat and started again. 'This I choose to do. If there is a price, this I choose to pay. If it is my death, I choose to die. Where this takes me, I choose to go. I choose. This I choose to do.' It wasn't a spell, except in her head. But, as Granny Weatherwax said, if you can't make a spell work in your own head, what good is it?

19. The Quest • While the children hope to rescue Tumnus (the traditional heroine’s quest), at the Beavers’ home they receive more compelling missions: • “When two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve sit in those four thrones, then it will be the end, not only of the White Witch’s reign, but of her life.” Thus, Peter has his hero quest to rule Narnia and so destroy the witch. • Moments later, Edmund vanishes, and the children’s quests parallel: They can best save Edmund and Mr. Tumnus (the heroine’s quest) by defeating the White Witch and ruling Cair Paravel (the hero’s quest).

20. The Quest • Magrat: I remember a folksong about a situation just like this. This girl had her fiancé stolen by the Queen of the elves and she didn’t hang around whining, she jolly well got on her horse and went and got him. Well, I’m going to do that too. • [The Queen] looked like Magrat. Or at least like Magrat wished she looked and maybe as Verence always thought of her. Granny nodded. As one expert to another, she recognized accomplished nastiness when she saw it. • The eyes if the Queen were all she could see. All she wanted to do was lose herself in them. And the ablation of Magrat Garlick roared on, tearing at the strata of her soul …exposing the core. She bunched up a fist and hit the queen between the eyes.

21. Granny as Child-Savior • Granny: “Do you not even begin to know what being a witch IS? Is a witch someone who would look round when she heard a child scream?” • Lords and Ladies: Granny chases Diamanda into the circle to save her. She sacrifices herself as distraction and bodily carries Diamanda out. • Carpe Jugulum: She chases vampires to save Magrat and her baby • Maskerade: She plays poker with death for an infant

22. Mentor

23. Tiffany’s Mentors People didn't respect Miss Level. They liked her, in an unthinking sort of way, and that was it. Mistress Weatherwax was right, and Tiffany wished she wasn't."Why did you and Miss Tick send me to her, then?" she said."Because she likes people," said the witch, striding ahead. "She cares about 'em. Even the stupid, mean drooling ones, the mothers with the runny babies and no sense, the feckless and silly fools who treat her like some kind of a servant. Now that's what I call magic — seein' all that, dealin' with all that, and still goin' on." • "The thing about witchcraft," said Mistress Weatherwax, "is that it's not like school at all. First you get the test, and then afterward you spend years findin' out how you passed it. It's a bit like life in the respect."

24. Ruthless Mentor, Bladeless Talisman While heroes almost always receive a sword (wand, lightsaber…) from their kindly old mentor, girls walk away with household objects. All of the heroines accomplish their quests without violence, needing cleverness and fortitude more than Excalibur. Actions in the so-called “women’s domain” frequently save the men and allow the heroines to accomplish their goals.

25. Tiffany’s Treasures There was a gust of Jolly Sailor tobacco, and sheep, and turpentine.Sparkling in the dark, light glittering off the white shepherdess dress and every blue ribbon and silver buckle of it, was Granny Aching, smiling hugely, radiant with pride. In one hand she held the huge ornamental crook, hung with blue bows.She pirouetted slowly, and Tiffany saw that while she was a brilliant, sparkling shepherdess from hat to hem, she still had her huge old boots on.

26. The Heroine’s Treasures Feminine symbols: amulet, apple, bag, ball, bird, cauldron, cave, circle, cloak, clothing, comb, crown, cup, egg, eye, flowers, forest, girdle, grail, helmet, home, hoop, jewelry, keys, mirror, moon, night, oven ring, rose, serpent, slippers, spindle, spiral, thread, tree, vase, veil, voice, water, web, well. Magrat says a broomstick is one of them sexual metaphor things.† † Although this is a phallusy.

27. A Sword that Goes Ting We need a talisman, a moustache, a birthmark, a magic spell, camel-flage and a magic sword.

28. Threshold The heroine must surrender her reliance on logic and willingly enter the world of emotion and fantasy.

29. Threshold • Magrat: I remember a folksong about a situation just like this. This girl had her fiancé stolen by the Queen of the elves and she didn’t hang around whining, she jolly well got on her horse and went and got him. Well, I’m going to do that too.

30. Sidekicks, Trials, Adversaries Animal helpers and advisers generally represent part of the heroine’s psyche, pointing out things she doesn’t notice and teaching her how to outwit her adversary. They guide her along her path, bolstering her courage when the quest seems daunting.

31. Aspects of the Psyche

32. The Feegles • "Nac Mac Feegle! The Wee Free Men! Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willna be fooled again!" • "We are a famously stealin' folk. Aren't we, lads? Whut's it we're famous for?""Stealin'!" shouted the blue men."And what else, lads?""Fightin'!""And what else?""Drinkin'!""And what else?"There was a certain amount of thought about this, but they all reached the same conclusion."Drinkin' and fightin'!""And there was summat else," muttered the twiddler. "Ach, yes. Tell the hag, lads!""Stealin' an' drinkin' an' fightin'!" shouted the blue men cheerfully.

33. Prince Charming: The World of Eros In the game of love, the hero and heroine each view their partner as a shapeshifter. This “other half” they must cleave to like themselves has frightening mood swings and unpredictable desires. Physically, the two people are opposites, with contrasting desires and emotions. Hence, many tales appear about enticing swan maidens from the sea or taming beastly monsters into Prince Charmings.

34. Prince Charming: The World of Eros

35. Bluebeard …Father’s very impressed with you witches. He says we should make you all vampires. You’re halfway there already. But I’d much rather you came to see how marvelous it could be. 'Will it be enough to know that the world is your oyster?'Her forehead wrinkled in perplexity. 'Why should I want it to be some nasty little sea creature?' she said.'Because they get eaten alive,' said the Count.

36. Wintersmith • “How may I serve you, my lady?” “No more icebergs looking like me. I don’t want to be a face that sinks a thousand ships.” • He wants never-ending winter, said her Third Thoughts. Everyone you know will die!

37. Villains: The Destroyer • The witch is anti-life, killer of children. She freezes the world into sterility, forbidding growth or change.

38. Villains: The Elves • They always take more than they give. And what they give has less than no value. And they end up taking everything. What they like to get from us is our fear. What they want from us most of all is our belief. • An elf's strength lay in persuading others they were weak. • Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder.Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels.Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies.Elves are glamorous. They project glamour.Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment.Elves are terrific. They beget terror.The thing about words is that meaning can twist just like a snake, and if you want to find snakes look for them behind words that have changed their meaning.No one ever said elves are nice.Elves are bad. Nanny: They used to carry off babbies. I ain’t having that again.

39. Villains: The Auditors • Intelligent life, was, therefore, an anomaly. It made the filing untidy. The Auditors hated little things like that. Periodically, they tried to tidy things up a little.

40. Descent into Death There’s no’ a lot of laughs in a underworld. This one used tae be called Limbo, ye ken, ‘cuz the door was verra low. The heroine descends into the realm of darkness, seeking initiation and wisdom, seeking her own elusive darkside. There she will find her greatest challenge…herself.

42. Battling the Father

43. Dark Lord I’m evil Harry, right? First chance I get, I’ll betray you all, stab you in the back or something…I’d have to, see Cohen: Me and evil Harry go way back. I knew him when he was starting up with just two lads and his Shed of Doom.

44. Facing Death

45. Facing the Self • A Hat Full of Sky: Something that called itself Tiffany flew across the treetops…It peered from her own eyes, tried to hear with her own ears, think with her own brain. • Wintersmith: Tiffany and summer lady start mirroring each other. She also meets her second and third thoughts.

46. Facing the Self • Her horrified gaze rose to meet a reflection. • It glared back at her • Granny Weatherwax stepped through the empty frame. • Lily: You know, you’re really just like me. Don’t you know that? There isn’t a thought that’s gone through my head that you haven’t thought too.

47. Facing the Self Such strength you could have… Embrace the dark… Give in to me… No. I know you. I’ve always known you. The count just let you out to torment me, but I’ve always known you were there. I’ve fought you every day of my life and you’ll get no victory now. I knows who you are, Esmeralda Weatherwax. You don’t scare me no more.

48. Atonement with the Mother Like the witch-queen of Snow White, the crone is enraged that she is no longer fairest in the kingdom. Therefore, she plots the destruction of the heroine. Our heroine descends to the darkest place of all, and there, confronts her.

49. Fighting Back • "The secret is not to dream," she whispered. "The secret is to wake up. Waking up is harder. I have woken up and I am real. I know where I come from and I know where I'm going. You cannot fool me any more. Or touch me. Or anything that is mine." • I have woken up and I am real…You cannot fool me anymore. Or touch me. Or anything that is mine. • The Queen was light as a baby…small and grey, like a monkey.

50. Reward Triumphant, the heroine wins what she has sought for so long. She snatches her lover from the Fairie Queen’s horse, or saves her child from certain death. She may find the brief romance she’s sought for so long. Still, the quest has not ended, until she returns safely home.