#component:container height: auto width: 100% background: transparent padding: 24 #component:reactive height: auto background: #17151F padding: 22 accent: #E0B24C persistAs: hero-journey-wheel state: step = 0 data: {"stages":[{"n":1,"name":"Ordinary World","act":1,"actName":"Act I — Departure","x":290,"y":90,"desc":"The hero is shown in their mundane, everyday life — the baseline world we must see before it is disrupted.","ex":"Luke Skywalker toils as a farm boy on Tatooine, restless and dreaming of a life beyond the moisture farm."},{"n":2,"name":"Call to Adventure","act":1,"actName":"Act I — Departure","x":390,"y":116.8,"desc":"A problem, challenge, or summons disturbs the ordinary world and sets the story in motion.","ex":"A hidden message from Princess Leia surfaces inside R2-D2 — a desperate plea for help against the Empire."},{"n":3,"name":"Refusal of the Call","act":1,"actName":"Act I — Departure","x":463.2,"y":190,"desc":"The hero hesitates or refuses, gripped by fear, duty, or doubt about leaving the known behind.","ex":"Luke insists he cannot go — there is too much to do on the farm, and Tatooine still holds him."},{"n":4,"name":"Meeting the Mentor","act":1,"actName":"Act I — Departure","x":490,"y":290,"desc":"The hero encounters a guide who offers wisdom, training, or a gift needed for the road ahead.","ex":"Obi-Wan Kenobi reveals the Force, begins to train Luke, and gives him his father's lightsaber."},{"n":5,"name":"Crossing the Threshold","act":1,"actName":"Act I — Departure","x":463.2,"y":390,"desc":"The hero commits — leaving the ordinary world and stepping fully into the special world of the adventure.","ex":"With his home destroyed, Luke leaves Tatooine aboard the Millennium Falcon. There is no going back."},{"n":6,"name":"Tests, Allies, Enemies","act":2,"actName":"Act II — Initiation","x":390,"y":463.2,"desc":"In the new world the hero learns its rules, gains companions, faces rivals, and is tested.","ex":"Aboard the Millennium Falcon, Luke begins training with the Force, clashes with Han's skepticism, and learns to trust his new companions."},{"n":7,"name":"Approach to the Inmost Cave","act":2,"actName":"Act II — Initiation","x":290,"y":490,"desc":"The hero prepares for the central ordeal, drawing near the place of greatest fear or danger.","ex":"Caught in the Death Star's tractor beam, the crew slips aboard and plans to reach the captured princess."},{"n":8,"name":"The Ordeal","act":2,"actName":"Act II — Initiation","x":190,"y":463.2,"desc":"The supreme crisis — a brush with death from which the hero must emerge changed.","ex":"Trapped in the trash compactor; then Obi-Wan falls to Darth Vader's blade before Luke's eyes."},{"n":9,"name":"Reward","act":2,"actName":"Act II — Initiation","x":116.8,"y":390,"desc":"Surviving the ordeal, the hero seizes the prize — an object, knowledge, or reconciliation.","ex":"They rescue Leia and escape with the Death Star plans intact — the key to the Empire's hidden weakness."},{"n":10,"name":"The Road Back","act":3,"actName":"Act III — Return","x":90,"y":290,"desc":"The hero recommits to completing the journey and begins the return, often pursued.","ex":"The Falcon flees the Death Star, fighting off TIE fighters in a desperate run toward the Rebel base."},{"n":11,"name":"Resurrection","act":3,"actName":"Act III — Return","x":116.8,"y":190,"desc":"A final, climactic test — the hero is reborn, proving the transformation is complete.","ex":"In the trench run, Luke switches off his targeting computer and trusts the Force to guide the shot."},{"n":12,"name":"Return with the Elixir","act":3,"actName":"Act III — Return","x":190,"y":116.8,"desc":"The hero returns transformed, bearing a boon that restores or renews the ordinary world.","ex":"The Death Star destroyed, Luke returns with victory and renewed hope for the Rebellion, and is honored in the great hall."}]} derive: cur = stages[step] prog = step + 1 pct = roundTo(prog / 12 * 100, 1) ax = cur.x ay = cur.y ux = (ax - 290) / 200 uy = (ay - 290) / 200 inx = roundTo(290 + ux * 132, 1) iny = roundTo(290 + uy * 132, 1) curCol = "#E0B24C" if cur.act == 2 { curCol = "#C85A54" } if cur.act == 3 { curCol = "#6FA8A0" } nodes = [] for s in stages { c = "#E0B24C" if s.act == 2 { c = "#C85A54" } if s.act == 3 { c = "#6FA8A0" } isA = s.n == cur.n rr = 12 fs = 11 fcol = "#26222F" tcol = c if isA { rr = 19 fs = 15 fcol = c tcol = "#17151F" } nodes = push(nodes, {x:s.x, y:s.y, r:rr, n:s.n, ring:c, fill:fcol, tcol:tcol, ty:roundTo(s.y + fs * 0.34, 1), fs:fs}) } template:

Christopher Vogler’s 12-stage adaptation of Joseph Campbell

The Hero’s Journey, as a wheel

The monomyth turns like a clock: the hero descends from the known world, is tested and transformed in the unknown, and climbs back changed. Select a numbered stage or use the arrows to move around the journey.

Act I — DepartureAct II — InitiationAct III — Return

Stage {{ prog }} of 12

Stage {{ cur.n }}{{ cur.name }}

In Star Wars{{ cur.ex }}

Journey progress{{ pct }}%

#end #end

The Hero's Journey Interactive