I find this more useful than the often mentioned 1949 classic The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Cambell’s. Vogler’s contemporary style is more accessible for the modern reader, and his many examples from well-known movies (‘Star Wars’, ‘Titanic’, ‘The Lion King’) really help to demonstrate the Heroic Quest Formula.
- Heroes are introduced in the ORDINARY WORLD
- they receive the CALL TO ADVENTURE
- They are RELUCTANT at first or REFUSE THE CALL, but
- are encouraged by a MENTOR to
- CROSS THE THRESHOLD and enter the Special World, where
- they encounter TESTS, ALLIES, AND ENEMIES.
- They APPROACH THE IN-MOST CAVE, cross a second threshold
- where they endure the ORDEAL
- They take possession of their REWARD and
- are pursued on THE ROAD BACK to the Ordinary World.
- They cross the third threshold, experience a RESURRECTION, and are transformed by the experience.
- They RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR, a boon or treasure to benefit the ORDINARY WORLD.