Many authors have created the base stones for others to follow, but two reign over the rest: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.
If you were unaware, Tolkien and Lewis were writing their stories simultaneously. There were very good friends and would often meet up at a pub to converse over their projects.
The books that they were working on, specifically, were Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Both amazing fantasy stories that have entertained people for generations.
“I like how you get an in-depth perspective of everyone’s journey, instead of focusing on just one character; unlike Harry Potter,” Aalyiah Reimche said.
Not only were both books great entertainment to read, but they also sparked the attention of many non-readers when they were turned into movies.
Tolkien and Lewis published their books about four years apart from each other.
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe was published in 1950, and Lord of the Rings was published in 1954.
Lord of the Rings (LOTR) written by, J. R. R Tolkien is set in a fantasy world called Middle-Earth.
This book entails the story of Froddo Baggins, the nephew of Bilbo Baggins from the Hobbit, which was written by J. R. R. Tolkien, as well.
This magical story of this fantasyland and the adventures that have been embarked upon have sparked the interest of writer and readers alike.
“The novels written by Tolkien, like the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, I really just identified with the perspective of Bilbo Baggins going on an adventure and stepping outside of his comfort zone,” Shelley Asher said, “The books are much better with all of the details that the author includes”
Baggins must embark on a journey to destroy “The One Ring” however the only way to destroy this most powerful ring, it must be thrown into Mount Doom. This specific style of writing, where one character must save them all, is known as the ‘Hero’ Trope.
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (Narnia) follows the same trope as LOTR, which is, of course, the hero trope.
Narnia is a fiction story based during World War II; it follows the adventure of four siblings who were sent away to a safer place, which is where they come across a magical land that lies in a wardrobe.
“I love Narnia because my mom used to read those books to me as a little kid, and I just thought the magic was so fun,” Joseph Patti said,”I think because it is such a symbolic story and every character in the story represents somebody from the Bible, I think that is really interesting to have layers to a story like that.”
While in the ‘wardrobe land’ they must protect and save their new friends from the White Witch, and after many treacheries, they succeed.
Even though Narnia has four main protagonists: Lucy, Edmund, Susan, and Peter, the story continues to follow the central ideas of the hero trope.
Both of these stories set the central idea of ‘the one man who can save them all’, which is now used continuously throughout stories found in literature.
In addition, there are many more detailed tropes within the ‘hero trope’; The Anti-Hero, The Tragic Hero, The Classic Hero, and The Byronic Hero, all of which are examples of different protagonists in the hero trope. Each of them embrace different characteristics that make their story strong.
For example, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, follows the main character, Percy Jackson, on his journey to stop the Gods of Olympus from starting a war.
Another example is the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling follows the store of a young, out of place, protagonist who must save ‘everyone’.
There are so many more stories that follow the ideas of both Narnia and Lord of the Rings such as Dune by Frank Herbert, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and the Odyssey by Homer.
All of these stories are famous for their plot and strong protagonists.
While there are many famous novels; screen writers began to favor this trope, as well.
Favored movies like Kung Fu Panda (Po), The Lion King (Simba), and Star Wars (Luke Skywalker and Anakin SKywalker) all follow the journey of a hero who must save somebody or something for a greater cause.
However, they may be some of the most well-known ‘hero trope’ stories; there were those that came before.
One of the first “Hero Trope” books to ever exist is Pamela; Virtue Rewarded, which was written in 1740 by Samual Richardson. Of course there were many stories that would have existed during mythological times, but Pamela is one of the first recorded ‘hero trope’ novels.
However, the most well-known hero story is the Odyssey, written in Greek 8th or 7th century BCE, which entails the adventure of Odysseus who spent ten years trying to find his way home after the Trojan War.
While Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia were not the first ever novels to follow the ‘hero trope’, they were the greatest foundations for future writers to build their stories off of.
