Archtypes in Genre: The Wise Old Man
Of all of the archetypes used to give authors and screenwriters the skeletal structure from which to further develop a beloved Full Persona, it is the Wise Elder who is perhaps the most easily recognized for what they are at their core. The reasons for this are actually more obvious than most of us care to admit. Typically, this character is older, sometimes in sci-fi and fantasy they can be hundreds or even thousands of years old. Secondly, the Wise Elder character is, more often than not, a long-time practitioner or veteran of the same sort of pursuits as the primary protagonist. I speak here not of skills or abilities specifically; after all, in the example I will point to later on for the fantasy genre, the Wise Elder possesses abilities that the protagonist of those tales would never even dream of having. However, he does share in the protagonist’s sense of adventure, friendship, and duty.
In sci-fi, the Wise Elder is typically a veteran of military forces or a former pioneer or statesman who serves as a guide or mentor to the protagonist. For this genre, I immediately think of Captain Anderson, from the Mass Effect series of video games. No matter what sort of Commander Shepherd players construct throughout the playing of the series’ various installments, Anderson starts off the very first game as not only the strongest advocate for Shepherd and his crew, but is his direct commanding officer aboard the Normandy vessel. No longer taking direct action in the field, Anderson nevertheless stands by as a confidante, advocate, and occasional source of old war stories for Shepherd, passing along what wisdom he can, and helping to propel events behind the scenes of the main narrative.
In the horror genre, the Wise Elder is often revealed to be a scholar or cultural leader with either experience with the threat at hand, or at the very least they have access and knowledge of its lore and background. Whether it be providing informational support to the story’s main hero, material support, or participating in the struggle directly themselves, the Wise Elder in horror often ends up on the slab themselves. In this genre, my mind goes once again to that wonderful, long-running program, ‘Supernatural’, and Bobby Singer. Bobby is one of my all-time favorite characters in any form of fiction, from his surly, sarcastic one-liners, to his ability to serve occasionally as a comedic foil to the Winchester boys, to the respect and care he takes with familiarizing himself with the lore of all things occult. He not only helps Sam and Dean by providing resources and intel, he also gets off of his butt and takes a personal hand in dealing with their enemies. I always felt terrible about what happened to him while dealing with Dick Roman and the leviathans, but found it to be a fitting end for this particular Wise Elder character- taken down while personally engaging against a world-ending threat.
In fantasy, well, the Wise Elder is typically a much-respected sage, wizard, or veteran swordsman who has ‘seen it all’ as it were, and wants to help the protagonist ‘avoid the mistakes [they] made’. Many folks might immediately think of Dumbledore in this context, but recall that we’ve already pointed at him as a prime example of a Manipulator at his Archetype layer. No, here, we’re going to go for another long-time favorite, and take aim at Gandalf, from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings tales. True, Bilbo and Frodo have very little in common with the mysterious magic-wielder who routinely comes to visit the Shire; he’s a tall, old human by all appearances, while they’re stout hobbits. He’s a wandering, nomadic sort who doesn’t set down roots, while most hobbits don’t seem inclined to stray too far from the very territories that they were born and raised into. Gandalf will hurl spells and swing a sword against orcs, uruk-hai and flame-riddled beasts from the deep, while hobbits strike me as more likely to run shrieking at the sight of so much as a wild dog.
Yet Gandalf not only accompanies young Frodo on the quest to take the One Ring toward Mount Doom, he attempts to pass on the history of the cursed talisman to the hobbit, including the betrayals it seems to inspire in all who come into contact with it. He holds council with Aragorn regarding how best to continue to lead the small fellowship, and later on, how to rally the peoples of Rohan and Gondor. Despite the betrayal that comes from Saruman, even at the last, Gandalf tries to reach out to and reason with his fellow sorcerer to turn aside from service to Sauron.
The Wise Elder does have one other aspect that, while not universal, seems to be pretty prevalent across the Genre Triad. This aspect, on occasion, serves as the reason why I sometimes pull away from getting too attached to these characters- they often end up getting killed off in service to furthering the narrative or a primary character’s growth arc. Think Yoda in Star Wars, Bobby Singer in Supernatural, and Commander Mormont in A Song of Ice and Fire (yes, I almost went with him as the fantasy genre’s example to point to above). While each passing was handled, I feel, in a fitting manner, it doesn’t take away from the fact that the chances are good that if you get hooked to one of these character types, you’re in for some heartache.
Let’s hope that this character type doesn’t go away anytime soon, though, because regardless of their ultimate fate in their own individual tales, they serve a vital function to storytelling; helping the protagonist get their feet under them, and get the story moving forward.
Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for stopping in and taking the time to read through this piece. I ask that you take care of yourselves, and as always-
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