The wizard archetype is a common character in fantasy fiction, often serving as a mentor with magical abilities. Examples include Gandalf, Dumbledore, and Merlin. This archetype can also be devious, as shown by Saruman and Morgan Le Fey. The Merlin-style archetype serves a higher purpose and looks towards the bigger picture. However, the “parachute mage” archetype, such as Pug, can undermine the story’s conclusion. The wizard’s abilities often control their personality, actions, and motivations.
The wizard archetype is one of many common archetypes found in fantasy fiction, art, and film. It is often related to the mentor archetype found in other types of stories, but with the extra addition of magic. The wizard is often known for great wisdom and kindness, but is not always reliable and can make the good guy, the bad guy, or the duplicitous that no one trusts. Classic examples of the wizard archetype include Gandalf, Pug, Dumbledore, and especially Merlin.
An archetype is a preconception of how a certain type of person acts. Carl Jung realized that archetypes are not based on other people’s actual human experience, but on simplifications. These streamlined characters play roles essential to human understanding of stories and the world.
Gandalf and Dumbledore are classic examples of the wizard-as-mentor archetype. Merlin can also be seen like this by young Arthur, but he is much more ambiguous. This archetype takes the key protagonist(s) under its wing and nurtures them, protecting them if possible. The protagonist may be a wizard like Harry Potter, but he doesn’t have to be. In stories like King Arthur and “The Lord of the Rings,” the wizard leads a succession of non-magical characters like Frodo Baggins and Aragorn.
Saruman is a much harder cookie to crumble. The wizard archetype can also be more devious, if not downright evil. This archetype, also shown by Morgan Le Fey in the Merlin/Arthur stories, demonstrates the corrupting nature of magic. This is also a metaphor for the sheer corruption that power brings.
Merlin is more ambiguous because he serves a higher purpose. This type of wizard archetype looks towards the bigger picture. Gandalf does to some extent, but is still essentially pro-good. Merlin has shown no loyalty to Uther when he has proven himself unworthy, and is often absent when Arthur needs him. For the Merlin-style archetype, the higher duty trumps any duty to specific individuals. Such wizards are even more eternal.
Pug is a good example of a major flaw in the wizard archetype. He is a major character in Raimond E. Feist’s “Rift War Saga” and associated books. He is also the “Don’t worry, we have a wizard who can solve any problem” archetype. Such parachute mages brought in at the last moment to vanquish evil often undermine the threat of the villain and provide an unsatisfactory conclusion to a story.
Other fictional stories may define the wizard archetype by what the wizard does. This means that a number of conventions have built up around how a necromancer, who resurrects and controls the dead, behaves in comparison to an illusionist who provides ethereal images and distractions. These roles and abilities often control the mage’s personality, actions, and motivations.
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