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From Flynn:

I. From the Monomyth, first step: Call To Adventure

When did your pup know that they weren't like everyone else? What was the first step on their path? Was your character forced onto this path or was it something they chose? How far outside their realm of comfort did it take them? Did they resist the path when it was presented to them? Did they have a guide or a mentor? At what point did they realise, they were committed and there was no going back?

(To make up for the Darkest Hour.)

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Mine was actually the same as his Darkest Hour: just after the Twin City was destroyed, a young Guardian by the name of Bob showed up to help control the damage and restore hope. This is when Enzo first learnt of the world beyond his system and of the existence of Guardians, and when he met his hero and mentor.

Mwahaha.

So. As (somewhat) explained in my first rebooting OOM, there was a storm. Felix, along with his parents and another villager, ended up in the river. The survivors of the people who accidentally caused the storm rescued them and took them back to their (the survivors') town in the far North.

Once there, my best guess (since all of this happened offscreen) is that there was a great deal of discussion among the Proxians, who decided they ought to have a Venus Adept working with them. They suspected that Felix would be young enough to be persuaded to join them. It took some convincing, but eventually he recognized the validity of their case and began training in earnest for what was to come.

As for your specific questions... I don't know that he actually does think of himself as different, before the end of the second game. After that is a whole different adventure, though. First step, see above. It was definitely not by choice. Way outside, at the beginning, but he got very used to it. Ohhhh, yes, he did. A guide... arguably, Saturos or Kraden could fit this category, but neither really does on-screen. No turning back... Either when Saturos and Menardi died, or when Alex made it clear he didn't intend to travel with them, Felix knew he was the only one who could complete the quest.

Kait worked out she wasn't like everyone else when she worked out that her parents and siblings couldn't Shift. I think she was fourish, although I'd have to go and look up when Theory of Self develops to narrow it down. And then when she was about nine, she worked out that that not many people got as excited as she did about tales from other lands and languages and wanting to go and talk to other people, which was a slightly more positive realization. Her first step would be at the age of thirteen, when her Uncle Dughall sponsored her to start diplomatic training. Her second step isn't until canon (two years in the future), but Dughall has been her guide both pre-canon and during, in diplomacy and magic and most things.

Camille fairly quickly worked out that the other little girls in the orphanage didn't wake up screaming. Also, they talked. :S In my head, her first step towards the revenge obsessed young lady she is today happened in her teens, when she read that Medrano was allowed to slip away into exile instead of spending time in prison for the normal Bolivan dictator crimes of drug trafficking, corruption and genocide. And she's never really considered STOPPING her path, either. Her guide/mentor...hmmm, she has several, all men connected to her father who are keeping something of an eye on her out of friendship/loyalty/guilt/some-combination-thereof. One former officer - who found her in Colombia - one former solider - her current landlord - and a drug-baron - who takes her out to lunch. :D?

Marlowe was different in that he was a boy in a family of girls, and then at school he worked out that he was a hell of a lot smarter than most of the other boys. He still had to work damn hard, though, so it didn't really matter until he hit Cambridge.

Medusa and Esfir don't really consider themselves different from other people, really. For Meda, she has her triplets and her family, and she's a monster like her mother and most of her full siblings - main difference being she's alive while a lot are dead. And Fira just realized that she was more driven than a lot of her peers; but she had friends who liked maths like her, and friends she could talk about flying with, and then she was in the air force.

Ah, most of the pups don't actually think they get one.

Their mistake.

Ako says, in canon, that she's a supporting character. The thing is she keeps turning up on the edges of adventure. Possibly when she gets blasted to the Magical World. I have high hopes.

Tyler's would be when the attractive woman he'd been talking to could, and would if necessary, tear his throat out. He has adrenaline issues.

Jerry's came on the deck of one of Odysseus's ships. He reacted by lying, manipulating and cheating. The myths never really give anyone an even break, so Jerry returned the favor.

Yuuno points out that he was just being responsible and trying to recollect a number of dangerous artifacts at the beginning of the series. That makes point when there really was no turning back when he works the teleporter in the first series. Really, if you didn't want the nine year olds to work it, you should have used a better password.

Robo was built with a call. Tesla doesn't leave out the important parts when he builds something.

This doesn't apply to Knox. He might be a really good reporter and all, but he has never thought of himself as special in the Campbellian way. (That's part of why I love playing him. He's so utterly normal and yet he's not.)

It could apply to Gibbs. He chose to leave England for the sea, and to leave the navy for life as a pirate. But he's never really thought about this at all. And since he met Jack's he's really just been part of Jack's call to adventure less than his own.

Charlie probably starting his first steps off the beaten path when he was expelled from college. Conventional career choices were denied him, and that led to a job as a TV reporter based totally on his looks and attitude and not his skills. That in turn led to his career as a hero. While Prof. Rodor was a father figure, Rodor at no time encouraged Charlie to chose this path (though he did little to dissuade him, either). It was all Charlie's doing. He occasionally tried to leave the life of a hero behind, but knew after a decade that he would not only die a hero but have to find an heir.

Cyborg isn't all that far down the path, but I think once he helped form the Titans, he was sure this was the life for him. Everything came together as he went from an outcast with robot parts to a hero with cool friends in a matter of hours. And he's never regretted it.

And then there's Kirk. I could spend far more time than I have taking Jim through the Campbell list and even through Lord Raglan's hero pattern. The child of destiny whose whole career is mythic, who actually gets even more mythic with his retconned birth in nuTrek (even if he's not the child of destiny anymore). His whole life in original continuity is the call to adventure. He has many mentors (including his father). He tries to leave his calling more than once. And he returns to his first, best destiny (a phrase I use far too much for Jim, but one I love). The call to adventure came early, came often, and never stopped.

And, BTW, adventure is out there!!!

Gordon didn't really realize it until all hell had already broken loose, but it started to intrude on his consciousness that something unusual was going on here. One of the other scientists' reactions to the whole situation literally had him thinking 'are you even the same species as me?'.

And he laughs bitterly in the direction of anything to do with guides or mentors.

Corporal Shephard says, very firmly, that his call was pretty much the day the Marine Corps recruiter showed up at Preston County Regional High School. Never mind the events at Black Mesa. Everything started then and there, period, end of fuckin' sentence.

Elle was six years old when her hands started sparking and wouldn't stop, leading her to cause a fire that burned down her grandmother's house, nearly killing her grandmother and certainly killing her pet hamster. There wasn't really much choice in that, or when her father picked her up, revealed his own ability to her, and took her to a place that was going to take care of her. Or in whatever happened after that. But once those sparks started, there was never any option of 'going back.'

(I think I prefer Darkest Hour for Elle, at least >___>)

Caprica wouldn't openly say she considers herself 'special.' She certainly didn't think of herself that way during her mission on Caprica, and had a lot of problems dealing with her 'fame' among the Cylon after it. But I would say that she did feel it upon working out what she believed was God's/Head Baltar's message to her to find a way to live in peace with the humans. There was never really any going back from that, either, even when it will fail.

Carla I can't say has ... much of a special 'call to adventure.' I guess I could say that she decided to become a nurse because she couldn't afford the tuition it would take to become a doctor. But I'm not sure this is dramatic enough for this question.

Sharon would not really consider herself 'special,' exactly, but she is certainly set apart from everyone, Cylons and humans. That probably started the moment she really fell in love with Helo, and decided to work against the Cylons for him. And that was a choice. She probably decided she was committed to Helo, and probably the human fleet in general as that was likely what that meant, was when she realized she was pregnant. There was nothing really to go back to at that point, even after she lost Hera.

Emerson isn't interested in your adventures, thank you very much.

Ciel's was roughly coincident with the end of his Darkest Hour - it was when he made his bargain with Sebastian and exchanged his soul for power.

In the literal sense, this wasn't something Ciel "chose." At the very least, the decision was coerced. There were a bunch of crazed cultists with knives about to turn him into a pin-cushion, after all. On the flip-side, I'm pretty sure that the Patch himself would claim that it was essentially a willing transaction. He appears to have initiated the agreement, and it's not a trade he regrets. He'd rather be alive, indebted to a demon, and incredibly capable than dead or an emotionally crippled, dependent orphan, which were the other choices.

Sebastian makes a pretty sweet mentor, at least. He can kill people with butter knives and teach a boy how to waltz. Possibly at the same time.

Ben's an interesting study in the Call to Adventure mythos. The "Call to Adventure" that lead to him becoming the Thing is arguably when Reed asked him to pilot his experimental rocket. Ben at first turned him down as the craft didn't seem to safe by Ben's standards. It wasn't until Susan challenged Ben's bravery that Ben agreed to do it.

In another light, Ben would not have even meet Reed if Ben's parents hadn't died. Ben had just become the leader of the Yancy Street Gang when they died (his brother had already been killed by this time) and he was forced to go live with his Uncle and his new wife, the famous Aunt Petunia away from Yancy Street. This move opened up all sorts of doors for Ben as he discovered Football which got him into college and lead to his meeting Reed. In fact this move away from Yancy Street is the basis of the animosity the Yancy Street Gang originally had for him.

Either way, Ben didn't jump at the Call to Adventure but was kind of forced to it. Since then however, he jumps at adventure any chance he gets.

And as for comfort zone...let's just say that it's a good thing Ben's body is so hard to harm or he may not have grown to be the lovable guy we now know. I don't mean to say Ben was suicidal but he sure hated himself and threw himself in harm's way without a thought.

Edited 2009-10-21 14:47 (UTC)

As to Ben's mentor/father figure, that would be his brother. In fact the only reason Ben joined the Yancy Street Gang and eventually took over as leader is because his brother held the same position.

As for a super hero mentor, Ben doesn't have one. At least not that I can think of. I imagine like all kids his age he idealized Captain America but I don't see that as making Cap his mentor.

You know that threshold of infant amnesia that we cross when we're about three years old? That's when Mia knew she wasn't like everyone else. She was pretty much forced onto her path and it was the most uncomfortable thing in her mind, making her lonely and afraid. When she actually received the Call to Adventure that would make her one of the Five Heroes, however, she took up her duty with hardly any hesitation. It was the journey that taught her that she could do things her way and didn't have to live up to or surpass her mother, Ghaleon, or anyone else she looked up to. As far as realizing her point of no return, that was pretty much when she committed herself to the idea that Ghaleon had to be stopped at all costs. Though the game does contain a physical point of no return, as most final dungeons do.

I sort of want to answer this, but I really should work.

Instead, have some wise words:

Look at him save the day
Keeping evil far away
A brave man, like no man
Be my man
Batman.

If only he could love me
He could love me
If only he could love me
Like he loves fighting villainy

How she sings, sweet as day
I could take her away.
A fairy voice carries
I'd marry
Canary...

I don't know that Angel really had one, as such.
Carl, such as it was, would count getting hired by the guys who busted him hacking the school computer within minutes of them getting him expelled. Since, well, best job in the universe.
Larry's overlaps with the first Darkest Moment thing - he'll do anything for Nicky, even suffer the slings and arrows of gainful employment - but it wouldn't have been half so much of an adventure if not for the museum. He resisted like hell until the people he replaced tried to steal the tablet, though.
And now things get really interesting when I start applying the hero mythos to my bad guys. XD
For Cosmo, I'm going to have to quote canon: "There I was in prison. And one day, I help some nice older gentlemen make a few free telephone calls." I think, if the situation hadn't been so dire, he might have turned those guys down when they offered him a job. But, well, it got him out of jail...
Cata started training at the Guild young - not quite Sam's five years old, but she was in before she was ten. I'm not sure what exactly alerted her to the possibility, but she had no reason to say no, and the idea appealed to her, so.
Moist... ::eyes the radioactive humidifier again:: Well, that answers when the difference was apparent, anyway. He didn't hear about the Henchmen's Union until years later, and he met Doc around the same time. The Union sounded like something he could do, and a good way to talk to someone who actually bothered to stand up to Captain Hammer and the status quo (and who needed help with his catch phrases). So far, it's worked out really damn well for him.
Conflict Diamond found out about her invulnerability thing in high school, when some bullies cornered her and ended up doing more harm to themselves. She didn't feel the need to do anything with it until a few years later, when the news about blood diamonds actually broke, and she decided she was going to take payment for what happened to her brother out of the jewelry industry's hide.
(The funny thing with her is that the invulnerability isn't a natural advantage to the heists. She can cut through things with her nails, if she lets them grow enough, but much beyond a regular window pane, it takes too long to do. She relies on good old-fashioned sneakiness, and she's good at it.)

In a way, Mel has always known she was special, her strength and speed and things were juts part of who she was. That's just lower-case special, though. She knew she was upper-case Special when a giant demon turned up her apartment and gave her the Chosen One speech.

She took to it like a fish to water, 'cause it was something she could do and because it needed to be done. Also, her brother being the bad guy was enough motivation. Mel's story isn't about resisting or facing destiny, it's about making and breaking family and finding yourself in how you relate to the people you love.

She still considers the upper-case Special incidental. She does the vampire fighting hero thing because she can and it's fun not because she's the Chosen One.

She uses the destiny/Chosen One thing as an excuse on which to pin her self-centredness, and the way she brings it up in conversation a lot is to make a joke about it.

Nathan's resisted the call to the point of severe denial, and only got dragged in because his brother literally jumped at the call. And probably right around when he decided to save his brother from exploding in New York is when he committed.

Kate jumped at the call when she wanted to protect others and keep them safe so there wouldn't be attacks like hers. She even talked her way into the team to help and only took her saving them twice.

Johnny resisted the call, but felt compelled to help when he realized his visions after his coma. He later came to accept when he realized it was his destiny to stop Stillson and help people with his visions.

Will's was when Robin spoke up for him then he realized he could have a different path than everyone else.

Sameth's was when he was about 10 or so because that was when he really started to make things. That was also when he started to realize that he didn't feel the same way about Death as his Mother did, but that didn't crystallize until he fought the necromancer.

Demeter, she's always known that she's different, its part of who she is, but connected to her darkest, when she stepped away from her family and didn't look back.

Tumnus was when he told Lucy about trying to kidnap her and she still liked him. That's when he knew that he could do more than just be the White Witch's spy.

Jane, I think she was about twelve when she read a book and said to herself, I could do better.

The Pirate King, when he stepped on board a ship, I'm still not sure when that was. He's rather tight lipped about things.

I don't know how this Monomyth breakdown works for Mike and Raph. Or perhaps I'm just not fully "getting" the definition.

Actions were sent into motion two generations prior to their own story, they're sort of reacting to something else...you know?

I think maybe Yoshi got the call, but in the guise of defending the woman he loved and running when in all respects he should have committed suicide. Mike and Raph are tools of revenge...

I'm going to have to think on this more.

Lan grew up knowing full well that he was a king's heir in exile, and exactly what that meant, so... I can't really pick a moment. He's always got the awareness of being someone of rank, not an ordinary guy, and has since he was a tiny child. The call to being Moiraine's Warder is part of the events of the prequel novel, and it basically involves a lot of mutual annoyance gradually growing into a working partnership, while everything around them goes splodey and his last father-figure dies in the process.

Trowa is another who never thought of himself as normal to begin with, really. He was to some extent an outsider all the time after he was orphaned, which was when he was 2. I guess he did gradually realize that not everyone was as good at piloting and tactics as him, but I'm not sure there was a single moment to pin down.

For River, the first time she went to school was a pretty big realization. Up till then, she'd just cheerfully assumed that most people were as bright as she was, and that doing algebra in preschool was perfectly normal.

Regan, I'm not sure. She didn't get a call to adventure, as such; she's had a relatively normal, non-protagonisty life. So, sure, she had the "not everybody's brain works like mine" realization moments everybody gets, and that includes being smarter than a lot of people, but not the "I am a special/angsty/destined/doomed protagonisty snowflake!" one.

Piotr, well, Charles Xavier showed up on his doorstep and went HEY, KID, WANNA JOIN THE TEAM? Before that, he knew he was a mutant -- the first time he turned into steel, which according to a recent backstory issue I cherrypick from was when he found out his older brother was dead, was kind of a tip-off -- but didn't really have a wider context or vocation than working on the farm and keeping this mutant thing relatively quiet.

Edel... seems to be a N/A to practically every DE, poor thing.

John grew up knowing he was the future leader of mankind. It wasn't until he was twelve that he really realized it was for real, though. (He believed his mother up until she got sent to a mental institute. That...shook his faith, a lot.) He still hasn't embraced it, though--he's too invested in stopping judgement day from ever happening. But this coming year sees him embracing it more :/

Finn was called by a prophecy by his best friend. The first time it happened it felt...right, but he didn't want to suppose because many people have been called once. But he was called three times, and knew it to his bone. And from then on he wasn't totally a boy, even when Leila once more called him in prophecy :/.

Legolas is normal. (He laughs and laughs when I say this, but then admits that it's true. Except he is clearly better looking. :O)

Cathy is also normal! Even being an orphan is normal, in her world.

Rue has always believed she was a special snowflake. Um. Probably school is where she become more fully aware of how different she was, though some of that is muddled because it's about the time she repressed most of her memories.

Helen first found out she wasn't normal at about six months. She remembers it. Don't ask me how. (Canon!) She didn't find out she was the SAVIOUR OF MANKIND (grumpiest messiah ever) until she was about 5.

Ben Gates destined himself to find the lost treasure when he was 10. But I wouldn't...call him a hero. He probably would deny it too! In the way where he totally thinks he is but knows it wouldn't be modest to say so.

Mitt has always been cooler and smarter and awesomer than the whole world (except only in the way where he thinks he is), but he learns he is actually super-special when he's thirteen, and he doesn't realize how super-special until he's fifteen. But honestly when he hits thirteen he hilariously STOPS thinking of himself as cooler/awesomer/smarter, which makes him all twitterpated when destiny starts interfering with his life.

Filif...when he found out he was a Wizard?

Cora is disturbingly average. :O

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