The Shadow Archetype
The second most important, or arguably equally important archetype in storytelling is the nemesis, or the Shadow, as in Chris Vogler’s book. The nemesis is the character who opposes the hero. The term can be interchangeable with the term antagonist, sometimes villain. It is important to remember that in screenwriting, the nemesis isn’t necessarily a bad person, they are just the character whose desire is in direct opposition to the hero’s desire. As archetypes go, the hero is good and the nemesis is bad, but in screenwriting, the term hero and nemesis do not always follow the good/bad paradigm. The hero is simply the main character, while the nemesis is his opposition, regardless of who is right and who is wrong.
The nemesis is easy to spot in most films. Following the films we discussed in the article on Hero Archetypes, http://www.whythisisgood.com/?p=679 the nemesis or Shadow archetype would be the dark side of the force, personified by Darth Vader, all of the different villains that Spiderman faces in each movie, including his own dark side and thirst for revenge in the first film, and his literal, personified dark side in Spiderman 3.
In Toy Story, Buzz is not a bad character, but at first he seems to be in the way of Woody getting what he wants-Andy’s love and respect. Buzz also brings out the dark side of Woody’s nature, reveals his jealousy and how far he will go to remain the favorite toy. When Woody and Buzz join forces, their nemesis becomes the toy-torturing neighbor Sid, who is the opposite of Andy and causes them to go through the most fearful evil ordeal that a toy could ever face.
In Up, Carl must defeat his childhood hero, a literal, physical embodiment of a nemesis, but this character also brings out the worst parts of Carl’s nature. At first, Carl is no better than Charles Muntz, because Carl, like Muntz, is willing to do anything to get his house to the right spot in Paradise Falls to honor Ellie’s wish, just as Muntz is willing to do anything to capture the bird to clear his name and improve his reputation. Muntz works wonderfully as a nemesis, because he not only stands in the way of Carl getting what he wants, but also brings out the darkest part of Carl’s nature and forces him to face who he truly is on his journey to becoming a hero.
The nemesis is not always a human or animal character. This archetype can be represented by a force, situation, a group of people or natural disaster. In Forrest Gump, the only thing that is opposing Forrest is the idea that he is stupid and therefore cannot have a normal life. His mental capacity never hinders Forrest himself, but it is the idea, perpetrated by others and imposed upon Forrest, that holds him back and causes problems for him. He has no personified nemesis character, rather he faces obstacles because of who he is and what the world thinks of him.
In natural disaster and apocalypse films, the Shadow or nemesis is often a natural force, such as a tidal wave, an earthquake, an asteroid, tornado, nuclear disaster or virus. The characters are not battling a person but battling the destruction caused by some large force. This can be a corporation or government, but generally those types of evil are personified by one person who represents the corrupt group and gives the hero a single nemesis to defeat, as in Daybreakers. The virus is what caused the problem of everyone becoming vampires to begin with, but Edward must battle and defeat Charles Bromley, head of the evil corporation that wishes to perpetuate the demand for blood and suppress a cure for the virus.
The Shadow archetype can be found in many different forms in film and storytelling, but it is absolutely necessary for the successful completion of the hero’s journey through a story and to better understanding of who they are, and what their journey means to the audience. Without the Shadow archetype, the hero would never be tested or challenged, and the story would lack conflict and intrigue.
