Discover the flip side of Joseph Campbell with the Villain's Journey--structure of films like Malificent, Star Wars, Joker, etc. Accompanies the Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6diSBaEvY24

1. The Villain’s Journey

2. Campbell’s Hero’s Journey Frankel's Villain’s Journey
The World of Common Day Condemned by Society
The Call to Adventure The Scarring
Tainted Vision
Refusal of the Call Refusal of the Call
Supernatural Aid The Mentor Tempts
Constructing the Talisman
The Crossing of the First Threshold
The Belly of the Whale
The Slippery Slope
The Villain’s Stronghold
The Road of Trials The Road of Failed Tests
The Meeting with the Goddess
Woman as the Temptress
Sacrificing the Anima
Atonement with the Father
Apotheosis
Competing with the Hero-Shadow
Murder of the Weak Father
Epiphany
The Ultimate Boon Twisted Success
Refusal of the Return
The Magic Flight
Rescue from Without
The Crossing of the Return Threshold
Refusal of the Return
Turned by Love
The Magic Chase
The Crossing of the Return Threshold
Master of the Two Worlds Master of the Two Worlds
Freedom to Live Embraced by Society

3. The Villain Grows…
 In the ordinary world, he is often an outcast or monster.
 Frankenstein never had loving parents, nor did Tom Riddle
 Spurned, he creates a vision of how he wants to transform the world.

4. Minions, Not Friends

5. Scarring
 The call to adventure is a moment of
wounding, often accompanied by
physical trauma.

6. Evil Mentor
 The evil mentor guides the
younger man down the evil path

7. Talisman
 The adolescent hero is
given a talisman by the
mentor. The villain,
usually older, is likely to
construct his own.
 Mad scientists, evil
inventors…

8. Slippery Slope
 The most common path is the slippery slope—a small
sin, then another to compensate, then another until
one is so compromised that evil seems the only choice.
 The villain often doesn’t realize when the point of no
return has been crossed.
 When stories begin with a good character, fans
sympathize as he slips into evil.

9. The Harry-
Draco Split
 Most often the villain’s
shadow is his perfect rival
and peer:
 Elphaba vs Glinda,
Buffy/Faith, Draco Malfoy
and Harry Potter (or Tom
Riddle and Harry Potter).
 X-Men and Game of
Thrones are all brother
rivalries.
 Each villain knows the hero
gets all the admiration, so
he goes the other way.

10. Sacrificing the Anima
 The hero may be tempted by the bad girl but he chooses the good girl. The villain
occasionally has a bad girl partner but is drawn to the good girl too. This puts him
in competition with the hero and also shows his awareness of what he lacks. When
he wins her, he’s often quite cruel.

11. Belly of the Whale: Villain’s Stronghold
 While the hero descends into death itself or its symbolic substitute from a
graveyard to the villain’s treacherous stronghold, the villain already dwells in
such a place.
 Darth Vader, the Phantom of the Opera, Saruman, Sauron, Hades, transforms
the villain too.
 The villain has already journeyed there (or rarely, been born there) and
learned the lessons of the dark side. He embodies society’s subconscious – all
they’ve rejected or repressed. This is his place of power, one that feeds his
strength and darkness in a reflection of the self.

12. Alternate Belly
of the Whale
 Other options include a
rival’s stronghold where they
are powerless.
 Some villains force a massive
battle in public, endangering
civilians.
 In this moment, the villain
drags all the daylight society
has rejected into the light,
forcing everyone to confront
those they’ve criminalized
and demonized.

13. Killing the Father
While the hero destroys the father-tyrant,
the villain, like Mordred, kills the weak
father to take his throne and reimagine
the kingdom as he desires.

14. The Journey
is just part
of the
lifecycle…

15. Epiphany

16. …or Death

17. Escape
with the
Treasure

18. Master of Both Worlds

19. HeroinesJourney.net
More on the journey