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Greek

Archetype

A recurring template โ€” character, image, story โ€” held to be shared across cultures.

Origin

Jung borrowed the term from Plato and used it to describe universal patterns in the human unconscious: the Hero, the Mother, the Trickster, the Shadow. Joseph Campbell turned these into the 'hero's journey' framework that now powers most Hollywood blueprints.

Modern usage

Used in psychology, screenwriting, branding, and casual personality talk ('he's a classic mentor archetype').

Tags

psychology
storytelling