An archetype (pronounced: /ˈɑːkɪtaɪp/ (Brit.) or /ˈɑɹkɪtaɪp/ (Amer.)) is an original model of a person, ideal example, or a prototype after which others are copied, patterned, or emulated; a symbol universally recognized by all. In psychology, an archetype is a model of a person, personality, or behavior.

In the analysis of personality, the term archetype is often broadly used to refer to

1. a stereotype—personality type observed multiple times, especially an oversimplification of such a type; or
2. an epitome—personality type exemplified, especially the "greatest" such example.
3. a literary term to express details.

Archetype refers to a generic version of a personality. In this sense "mother figure" may be considered an archetype and may be identified in various characters with otherwise distinct (non-generic) personalities.

Archetypes are likewise supposed to have been present in folklore and literature for thousands of years, including prehistoric artwork. The use of archetypes to illuminate personality and literature was advanced by Carl Jung early in the 20th century, who suggested the existence of universal contentless forms that channel experiences and emotions, resulting in recognisable and typical patterns of behaviour with certain probable outcomes. ("A Critical Dictionary of Jungian Analysis," Samuels, Shorter and Plaut) Thus, in fictional narratives, it is assumed characters with strong archetypal features will automatically and unconsciously resonate with a large audience.

Archetypes are cited as important to both ancient mythology and modern narratives, as argued by Joseph Campbell in works such as The Hero With a Thousand Faces. A number of cinematic and dramatic formulae have been devised based on these notions, including books like Carol S. Pearson's The Hero Within: Six Archetypes We Live By. Such formula typically describe fixed categories into which a work may fall, or narrative stages guided by archetypal figures. A more helpful text is Allan G. Hunter's Stories We Need to Know which locates six archetypes firmly in the repeated forms seen in the western Canon's literature from Homer onwards.

Etymology

The word archetype appeared in European texts as early as 1545. It derives from the Latin noun archetypum and that from the Greek noun αρχέτυπον (archetypon) and adjective αρχέτυπος (archetypos), meaning "first-moulded". The Greek roots are arkhe- ("first" or "original") + typos ("model," "type," "blow," "mark of a blow").

Pronunciation note: The "ch" in archetype is a transliteration of the Greek chi ( ) and is most commonly articulated in English as a "k".

Origins

The origins of the archetypal hypothesis date back as far as Plato. Jung himself compared archetypes to Platonic ideas. Plato's ideas were pure mental forms, that were imprinted in the soul before it was born into the world. They were collective in the sense that they embodied the fundamental characteristics of a thing rather than its specific peculiarities.