The Ten Basic Stories
Any cursory inquiry into the nature of writing stories will show you that all stories are formed from the Monomyth, the ultimate structure of reality and human experience. Joseph Campbell’s work, later revised by Christopher Vogler, provides us a roadmap for understanding how humans behave, dream, hate, love, fail, and achieve.
The Hero’s journey is not only the skeleton of every story every told, but also every marriage, every society, every decision, every great act of good and evil, love and hate, selflessness and selfishness, the key to understanding our most distant forerunners and even the decision and actions humans will make thousands of years into the future too.
In my attempts to understand the Monomyth, I’ve discovered some common themes of different aspects of the Universal Story, which I’ve listed below, with their fundamental ancient example and modern manifestations listed alongside each other. This list is not attempting to replace the Monomyth, but compliment it, and I recommend you familiarize yourself with the Monomyth prior to reading on.
The Ten Basic Stories:
Cinderella
Someone discovers their true nature and is restored to their place.
(Prey, the Gospels of Jesus, Mata Nui’s fall and rise, the DaVinci Code, Hereditary)
Romeo and Juliet
Forbidden love/ friendship, when doing the right thing often causes suffering.
(How to train your dragon, Final Fantasy VIII, Brokeback Mountain, the Emperor’s New Groove, the Green Mile)
Beauty and the Beast
Enemies to friends/lovers, often because of a situation they can’t control and become better people because of it.
(Wicked, The Taming of the Shrew, Tangled, Cloverfield Lane, Halo 3)
Macbeth
In trying to stop a destiny, they end up fulfilling it, often involving a hero falling from grace.
(Oedipus Rex, Revenge of the Sith, Attack on Titan, the Thing, Ocarina of Time)
Hua Mulan
One person makes a stand against insurmountable odds, usually because of something or someone they love.
(The Hunger Games, Ghost of Tsushima, Avatar, To Kill a Mockingbird, V for Vendetta)
Epic of Gilgamesh
A discovery/ mistake leads to an adventure, often in a world that the hero would have never experienced in their normal life beforehand.
(Indiana Jones, Alien, Bioshock, the Blair Witch Project, the Lego Movie)
The Ring of Gyges
By being forced into responsibility for someone or something, they change as a person, for better or worse.
(God of War, Spider-Man, Lord of the Rings, Terminator, Finding Nemo)
David and Goliath
An underdog defies all odds, often by a unique means that only the underdog themself is capable of .
(Shaun of the Dead, Rocky, the Notebook, Portal, It)
The War of the Roses
Close bonds are eroded, and hate, pain, and loss take their place.
(Transformers One, the Prince of Egypt, Julius Ceaser, Marriage Story, the Godfather Part 2)
Spartacus
Rags to riches stories when people of no particular destiny achieve amazing things regardless.
(Count of Monte Cristo, Forrest Gump, Good Will Hunting, An Officer and a Gentleman, Stardew Valley)
These stories aren’t simply static structures, they are living, breathing, growing among and inside us at this very moment. Our own lived and history itself oscillate between them. Understanding them helps us understand everything. Which of these stories have you already embarked on, and which still await?