Initiation Archetype

(Rite of Passage)

The HERO who undergoes a series of ordeals, an INITIATION, in passing from ignorance or innocence to social, physical, spiritual, or intellectual adulthood. This often involves three distinct phases:

Separation

Transformation

Return

This new identity, characterized by growth in individual or human awareness, is often considered a second birth. Occasionally a protagonist will undergo an ordeal and will NOT learn or transform, will NOT come to a new awareness.