The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes and Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes by

Tami Cowden, Caro LaFever and Sue Viders, (Lone Eagle Publishing, 2,000) also uses
Jungian theory to posit clusters of human behavior and tendencies in eight male and
eight female “types.” While Jungian in theory, like the three previously mentioned
systems of personality, the current volume dwells more in practical applications and
examples of these archetypes than in the theory that underlies their construction.
References to literature, film, television drama and more create a richly textured
panoply from which to draw material for characterization.
The two sets of male and female archetypes include:
Male: The Chief
The Warrior
The Charmer
The Lost Soul
The Professor
The Best Friend
The Bad Boy
The Swashbuckler
Female:
The Boss
The Spunky Kid
The Crusader
The Waif
The Librarian
The Nurturer
The Seductress
The Free Spirit
Consider, the authors suggest, the interactions of a Chief, as exemplified by Ricky
Ricardo, and The Free Spirit, as exemplified by Lucy. Or, in another example, Kevin
Spacey as Lester Burnham, playing out the life of a Best Friend, and Annette Benning,
as Carolyn Burnham, a good example of The Boss, in American Beauty. In literature,
Jane Austen’s Emma gives two good examples, the Best Friend archetype of Mr.
Knightly, and the Free Spirit of Emma. Many more examples abound in this work.
Archetypes in Literature, Film and Life are the stuff of conflict, growth, development and
drama. There are many routes to understanding them, and to ignore their existence
precludes a rewarding avenue of growth both in self knowledge and the creative
possibilities of character-making in the arts.