concept
also: Philosophy & Psychology
The Hero's Journey
Joseph Campbell's universal storytelling template: call, refusal, mentor, threshold, trials, return.
Origin
Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) argued that myths worldwide share a single narrative structure. George Lucas used it explicitly when writing Star Wars; Hollywood has used it constantly since.
Modern usage
Standard vocabulary in screenwriting, game design, branding, and self-help.
Tags
storytelling
structure