Hero Archetypes

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Tessa Daley Erin Dick English 15 28 April 2024 Life is Strange: From Innocent to Hero Life is strange. There’s no doubt about it. But life is especially strange for Maxine Caufield. Set in what seems to be the small, almost nowhere town of Arcadia Bay, the episodic choice-based game Life is Strange invites the player to a world where every choice, no matter how minor, matters. The innocent archetype is commonly characterized by purity, optimism, or morality. The Hero archetype, on the other hand, is where the Hero is courageous and strong, often overcoming great odds and self-sacrificing. Initially embodying the Innocent archetype, the main character, Max, was shy and didn’t have the bravery to stick up for herself or be seen in the spotlight. …show more content…
Chloe Price is first introduced as an unknown person to Max. Early on, Max has a vision of the storm about to hit Arcadia Bay, after which she heads to the restroom to calm down. While in the restroom, a girl with blue hair, later revealed to be Chloe, Max’s childhood friend, and a boy named Nathan walked in. They get into a heated argument about money, and he pulls a gun. At the exact moment Chloe is shot, Max discovers she can rewind time, and does so to save Chloe’s life when she gets a chance to stop the gunshot before it even happens. This trend continues throughout the game as Max and Chloe grow close once again, and Max is consistently thrown in a position to save Chloe. In the worst cases, without rewinding, Chloe could, or would, die. Miranda points out that the game is more than just trying to save the day, and that it's also about thinking deeply about the choices one can make, similar to Sartre's philosophy. As he explains, “The imminence of a more or less personal form of autonomy—suggested not only by the fact that she is 18 but also by the progressively refined ‘superpower’ of traveling to her past and changing it—challenges her sense of responsibility. Sartre suggests that freedom can be frightening because of the burden of choice that it assigns to humans.” (de Miranda 828-829). Ultimately, there is a single choice left at the end of the game, and it cannot be rewound. She is given the choice to let Chloe die as she should have in the restroom, or sacrifice her town. While this can be seen as an actual sacrifice, this also is a self-sacrifice, as either way Max will lose a part of herself: her best friend, or her home. That is, in essence, the hero