Scott McCall: Zero to Hero

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In the modern day television series Teen Wolf, the main protagonist Scott McCall goes through a process of personal growth that falls in line with Joseph Campbell’s outline of a hero’s journey. The hero's journey, or monomyth, is the sequence of events or situations that cause a transformation within a character, taking them from their ordinary life and placing them at the pinnacle of extraordinary life. Chris Vogler, a contemporary of Joseph Campbell, says, “. . .[the hero's journey] is as infinitely varied as the human race itself; and yet its basic form remains the same. . .” There is always a departure, an initiation, and a return. The departure includes the first five stages of the journey: introduction of the character in their ordinary life, the character's call to adventure, refusal of the call (by the character or one of their associates), the character's meeting with a mentor (who will guide them throughout the journey), and crossing the first threshold from the ordinary world to the special world. The initiation includes the next four stages: tests of the character and introduction of enemies/allies, approaching the place of paramount importance, the supreme ordeal (usually in the face of death), and the seizing of the sword or the character's reward. The return is made up of the last three stages: the road back (wherein the character leaves the special world for their normal life), the resurrection or transformation caused by events past, and- finally- the return with the elixir or arrival home with some sort of treasure or boon to mankind. Scott McCall, like all characters on the journey, goes through these same phases. In accordance with many other famous journeys, his has more influence of the supernatural nature.
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... between after his return and before his call is that he now has a furry little problem every month.
In Laurence Coupe's article “The hero's journey”, he says, “. . .the pattern [the hero's journey] bequeathed to storytelling was threefold: departure, struggle, return. . .” The same pattern can be seen in Scott McCall's transformation as a character after he is bitten by a werewolf. He goes through the same steps as any other hero, even if they are not precisely in the same order. His journey is also more of an internal development than an external fight. While embroiled in many sorts of adventurous situations, his explicit reward is simply the acceptance of himself. However, Scott McCall in the modern day television series Teen Wolf is still able to serve as proof that all the stories in the world are the same story, just with slight variations of culture and time.

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