“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”
Dorothy Parker
Khadgar Must Die
Today, I’m going to be a Script Doctor for the World of Warcraft.
A Play Doctor is a specialist who comes in when a play is in trouble, a Script Doctor is a specialist who comes in when a film is in trouble. Carrie Fisher and Patton Oswalt are two names you might know as famous Script Doctors. They will fix a show or might simply “punch it up”. Yeah, they are that good.
A Script Doctor is like a second Director but almost never gets credit or their name on the movie. The first thing any Director will ask is, “who does the play belong to”? This means that at some point a main character will have to make The Choice.
The Choice is whether to change or not; simple as that. If the character decides not to change, it is a tragedy. If the character decides to change; then it is a comedy and has a happy ending and we walk out of the theater with smiles.
An easy example is a movie we all know, Pretty Woman. This movie belongs to Richard Gere. He decides in the end to change. While Julia Roberts had a fantastic role, her character never changes. The Director, Garry Marshall, in each scene was tracking Richard Gere’s arc as a character to lead him up to the satisfying Choice. This is true in every story, play and movie.
The other thing a Director (and a Play Doctor) knows is that each genre has a template for successful story-telling. Mystery, Detective, War, Horror, Romantic Comedy all have unique templates which satisfy the ingredients of said genre.
One of the most compelling to me is the Hero Saga. Collated by Joseph Campbell who took the research of many people into what makes a Hero story. From all over the world; classic stories like Hercules, Aladdin and fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm and countries who have tales that I have never heard but all have the same elements. These elements are standard to tell a successful hero story with the simple proof of the test of time — we are still reading and telling those old stories.
The Hero Saga has become a template. Those known pieces are common to all of those stories to make a successful story. George Lucas has said that he used the template for Star Wars. Disney’s Lion King is used as an example in high school classrooms to illustrate the Hero Saga template.
Let me simplify the Hero Saga into five basic parts.
- The Hero must leave home.
- A well-used choice is to make the Hero an orphan. But it can be a call to destiny or merely moving to a new town or going to college like in Legally Blonde. Yep, the Hero Saga template is common in a lot of Hollywood writing these days — and in video games too; because it resonates with the human spirit.
- The Hero will get a Mentor. And the Mentor must leave. (Yes, he might come back!)
- Gandalf and Obi-Wan Kenobi and Merlin are mentors. So is Michael Caine’s role in Miss Congeniality. The Mentor must teach the way and then step out of the way to let the Hero be The Hero. Jiminy Cricket and the Fairy Godmother are mentors.
- There must be a Merry Band.
- A group of adventurers, the Knights of the Round Table, the football team, the neighborhood kids, the Alliance, the Horde, the Mafia, the classroom.
- There must be a betrayal within.
- Judas. Cinderella’s Step-Mother. The teacher in Legally Blonde. The trusted Uncle in any story; you’ve seen it.
- The Hero must succeed on his own.
Let’s look at the King Arthur tale. We are still telling that old story! He is an orphan. Merlin is his mentor. He siezes the prize, Excalibur. Merlin leaves. He creates a band called the Knights of the Round Table. His nephew, a member of the band, betrays him; Mordrid. It is a tragedy that resounds because he won’t change, he decides to let it all fall apart — for the ideal! Great story.
One of the reasons the Jiana Proudmore story is so compelling is that she was: an orphan, had Thrall as a mentor, Thrall left, she was betrayed by her people and now we are waiting for The Choice — will it be a tragedy or a happy ending? Will she change from her fury to be a force for good?
Still, I am here to say, as a Script Doctor, that Khadgar must die. He can disappear or fall off a cliff or turn off his light saber. He as been our mentor for long enough.
In the World of Warcraft, we players are the Heroes. We leave home to go to the Broken Isles. Khadgar has been our mentor. We are banding together either via our class (as suggested in the new rep in the future patch) or as Alliance or Horde. There must be a betrayal and I hope it is not Jaina and it can not be our mentor or the story will not resonate with our humanity.
Khadgar must disappear for us to move on as Heroes. I don’t care where we get our future information; it could be a one-eyed Raven sitting on a fence post telling us of a new adventure.
If the wizard is a wizard who will serve.
We don’t want a weak story! Disney’s Mulan (I can tell you as a Script Doctor) is weakened because the Mentor (the Eddie Murphy character) never leaves Mulan — this is why Mulan does not stand up next to the Lion King or the Beauty and the Beast or Cinderella. Let’s hope the new live-action movie solves that weakness.
You are now a Script Doctor too! You can enjoy the extra depth of a movie by asking “who does this movie belong to” and appreciating the Directors and Actors choices in each scene leading up to The Choice. You can see the Hero Saga in so many movies; the best will use the template because it resonates with us as humans — you can be the Doctor and see where a movie has failed now too. It is a burden and a joy.
The World of Warcraft has the onus to make our Heroic Journey one of satisfaction; we players must feel great when we play the game. Layering the Hero Saga template on our story line is one guaranteed way to success, proven over thousands of years — the fun part is the story-telling!
Coffee Cakes and Crits 