The Crucial Element and Archetypes

questions
#1

1 I don’t understand why the IC Crucial Element is on the MC, and why the MC Crucial Element is on the Antagonist. The IC is not the Antagonist.

2 It’s also unintuitive to me that the Crucial Elements are in the Evaluation set.

I just read the formulation for Crucial Element - if change and success, MC CE is Problem, so that actually checks out here. But his Problem is assigned to another character.

I guess I just don’t understand how to read this graphic.

… a few minutes later…

ok, I think I am making this too complicated in my head.

  1. the MC CE is indeed unproven. That is all that red triangle means. There’s no relationship to the Antagonist just because its being labeled in the Antagonist’s tile. it’s a separate piece of information.

  2. Ditto the IC characteristic. Also, the that it has not been listed in the IC’s problem/solution is fine. The IC CE is the Dynamic pair’s other element, the Solution. Just the way it works. And as with Antagonist, it’s just a labeling of the element -There’s no relationship to the Protagonist just because its being labeled in the Protagonists tile. it’s a separate piece of information.

IOW the triangles are just saying, very simply, ‘hey! these are the Crucial Elements! Right here! Look no further!’

MC crucial element stolen by another character?
#2

The archetypal elements for Antagonist are really only useful/helpful under the Motivation set (Avoid, Reconsider). Everything else is an approximation.

You likely have complex characters and not strict Archetypes - this is a good thing.

The Crucial Elements end up in the same set as to which you set the Concerns for your story - as those are the elements “crucial” to your narrative.

Don’t think of them as Evaluations, Purposes, Methodologies, or Motivations. When it comes to working with Crucial Elements, they are ALL motivations.

1 Like
#3

Is that true for every archetype except Protagonist?

#4

It’s true for every Archetype including the Protagonist. Archetypes are approximations and generally less helpful than some think. They’re training wheels that eventually take you off course.