- Apr 2, 2019
- 3,012
- 10,790
Interesting. I like it.Ok so I had a post a little while ago mentioning traditional story-structure (ie The Hero's Journey). This got me thinking about WVM's MC and his relation to that. So far, we have the humble small-town boy with a lot of potential. He's going off on a journey to find a greater destiny (basketball stardom). Along his journey our hero has a mentor/guide (in this case Rachael/Harper/Damien?). Now a part of the Hero's Journey is losing that mentor. You can see this in a lot of other mediums that follow that structure, Star Wars, Lords of the Rings, etc. Which got me thinking, one of these mentor/guide figures is going to either be potentially eliminated, or have their guidance cut off in some way. Now we see this in Star Wars with Obi-Wan getting killed, and in LOTR with Gandalf having to leave the fellowship to duel the Balrog of Morgoth. Now who does MC have that has been the most mentor-like to him so far? I think one of these people, are going to be diminished...at least for a time.
This brings me to back to Star Wars and LOTR. When Obi-Wan and Gandalf effectively were taken away from being able to assist the hero directly, who stepped in to assist? They had their usual pals, R2D2/C3P0 and Samwise Gamgee to help them move long. MC has the girls. Now this does step a little out of line with the traditional Hero's Journey, but who else assisted the hero? A scoundrel or potential antagonist who turned out to be a good guy, or turned out to be not as much of a dick as you thought. In Star Wars you had the scruffy nerf herder Han Solo, and in LOTR you had the sons of Denethor.
Which brings me to this idea. Since Damien, who was at the beginning was the taking up the mentor role, who could be this nerf herder. What character, who was seemingly a dick, could come back at the last minute and blast Darth Vader off of MC's tail?
Now I ask you...would a Ryker redemption even happen? Could it happen? SHOULD it happen?
I've had a lot of coffee and whiskey.
*edited for a couple of grammar hiccups, and spelling.
But I don't see Ryker as either Han or Boromir, let alone Faramir. To my mind he plays a role akin to Vader or Saruman. He is in a position of power and can hope to one day overthrow his ruling master. I think that both their redemption story lines could fit his character. While the original motivation of Vader wouldn't work for Ryker, it could still be constructed by means of a hidden love to one of the girls for instance. As for the Saruman one: I can easily see the MC offering redemption to a beat down Ryker only to have the latter turn him down, accepting a much darker fate. Personally, I prefer the Vader one as it adds another facet to his character. But going by the recent posts regarding Ryker, the majority will probably prefer the Saruman one.