Mono-Myths

It is a common theory that all myths, legends and fairy tales across different cultures are the same stories just interpreted differently by a collective subconscious. Joseph Campbell's book titled The Hero With A Thousand Faces, studies the idea of how people continuously reinvent the same characters and stories in new contexts. Campbell's work is based on Carl Jung's research on archetypes. In particular Campbell looked at Jung's study of the psychological aspect of archetypes, in how people categorize personalities and character traits to give a generalized and quick description of other people or characters. The link made here was how in these different cultures, across different continents, people envision the same archetypes in their stories. Campbell focused mainly on how the hero archetype is reinvented the most with little innovation to evolve the character. Just looking at different mythologies you can very obvious parallels. The stories of the Theseus and the Minotaur and David and Goliath really are the same stories just with the specific characters and locations changed. Both tell the story of a reluctant/unlikely hero attempting to bring down an oppressive/terrifying monster and overcoming them with intelligence and skill. This hearkens back to Campbell's focus on the hero's journey, a specific list of events and the order they occur in which he called the 12 stages of the hero's story. 

1. Building the world. Before meeting the protagonist, the world he/she exists must be built up first, be the real world, or a fictional one with specific rules and nuances. It also has to show case the protagonists ordinary life so we can reflect later on how the hero's life has changed.
2. The call to adventure. Here the protagonist is given a motive or ultimatum on which they are challenge to leave or change everything they know and are used in order to do good.
3. Refusal of the call. Here the protagonist reflects on their commitments and how they cannot just abandon their loved ones and way of life and go to adventure.
4. Motivation. At this point the protagonist is affected or hurt by something or someone they care about being in pain or murdered/destroyed and give the hero a sense of necessary justice to be had.
5. The mentor. It is here where the protagonist does not know where to go or how to proceed, so seeks the wisdom of a mentor to guide or train them in the right direction.
6. Crossing the threshold. Now the hero is ready to leave behind the life they once knew in order to begin on their quest for justice.
7. Trials/Allies/Enemies. The protagonist must face hurdles and hardship through physical abuse and mental, knowing who to and who to not trust. Being forced to forge new alliances and overcome enemies for the first time.
8. Entering hostile territory. Here the hero is truly out of their depth. Be it real or psychological conflict they approach, our protagonist is reminded of what they left behind and fear what is to come.
9. The supreme ordeal. Here the protagonist faces their greatest obstacle. They will be challenged physically and mentally to brink, but will overcome this ordeal with strength, skill and intelligence.
10. The reward/goal. Now our hero retrieves their prize/accomplishes their goal. Here the protagonist has changed not by what they have now acquired but upon what they have done to complete their task, and is wiser and stronger because of it.
11. Return/Escape. The protagonist must journey back to their homeland, echoing the voyage from it. This still may be no easy task as enemies may still be present or the hero may need to escape a hazardous environment.
12. Reconciliation. Once all returned, our protagonist reflects on all they have accomplished and what they have had to overcome in order to achieve what they have now, focusing on either celebration or relief that the ordeal is over.

Now this template is of course without nuance and often writers utilizing this formula will shift certain events around to surprise audiences. But look to most games and films and you can easily recognize this progression of character throughout the narrative. This however does not make all characters following this arc the same though. It is the unique details and personal charisma of every different character that sets them apart. That is why this template is so frequent throughout history as many different personalities can be projected onto this narrative arc.