Of Pop-Culture Trios

Ninety’s babies (and kids) might remember these three characters:

Ron, Harry and Hermione. We knew these characters as if they were our own friends, or even better than our friends sometimes. I was never a big Harry Potter fan myself, but its difficult to stay hidden from an oncoming tsunami that defined a generation. It was easy to get engaged in the magical world of Harry Potter, but for me these characters defined several archetypes that attracted me to them. As I grew up, I noticed several of these archetypes in other franchises. It almost seemed as if there was a predetermined formula to have a story become popular. Here I take a look at trios from Harry Potter, Star Wars, and the Percy Jackson franchises and analyze their archetypes.

The male lead

Harry Potter falls into the archetype of a strong male lead who represents the side of good in the battle against evil. He is courageous, makes morally right decisions and becomes the leader of his own group of people. His upbringing is not normal; he could be an orphan, raised by his aunt or uncle or at least have a shady past involving his parents. They also are personally linked to the villain in some way, and/or have a quality which completely contrasts to the villain.

Some other examples are Luke Skywalker from the Star Wars Franchise, and Percy Jackson from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians franchise. All three represent the side of good in their story, have troubled childhoods and a personal connection to the villain. Harry Potter is an orphan raised by his aunt and uncle and is branded by Voldemort, symbolized by the lightning shaped scar on his forehead. Luke Skywalker was also raised by his aunt and uncle, and his dad is the villain of the original trilogy. Percy Jackson’s villain, Luke Castellan, is the Camp Leader of Camp Half Blood.

The female lead

Hermione follows an archetype of a strong female lead who represents female empowerment in a movie which is otherwise dominated by male characters. This person widely overpowers other characters in one skill: it could be power, studies, or charisma.

Hermione is a smart girl who knows a lot, gets good grades and her knowledge often brings the trio out of a bind. Annabeth Chase is the daughter of Athena and a warrior with a lot of physical prowess. Princess Leia was raised in an environment which was conducive to her political career, eventually earning the position of a senator before the beginning of the story.

The third wheel

The third lead is something of a wild card, but his contrast and/or loyalty to the male lead could be a common thread. Ron is Harry’s best friend and his loyalty to the main character was his defining feature for much of the series. He is slightly cowardly as compared to Harry, and also leaves much of the decision-making two his partners as opposed to doing some himself. He has had a generally normal childhood with loads of brothers and sister unlike Harry; also while Harry was left with a fortune from his parents, Ron’s family is not particularly rich. Han Solo is everything Luke isn’t: independent, witty, can use guns, and has Chewbacca as his companion. He was also a nobody who grew up in the streets and rose through the ranks on his own merit while Luke’s descent and affinity to the Force guaranteed his life to be quite promising in retrospect.

Grover Underwood is also quite similar in that regard. Grover was aware of his mythological origins, as opposed to Percy who didn’t know he was a demigod at the beginning of the story. On the other hand, he is a Satyr as opposed to Percy who descended from Poseidon himself. He has an empathy link with Percy, which means if one dies the other dies as well. In spite of this, he has his own ambitions, initially to win a searcher’s license and later to search for the demigod Pan, and works hard to attain both.

In recap

While writing a story, it is important to build well-rounded characters who are able to naturally form good relations. In this regard, following well-defined archetypes and tropes is a great way to write a story and mold the characters organically. A male lead, a female lead, and a third wheel provide a solid base for character development and story progression, and can lead to dynamic storytelling.