What do Batman Begins, Training Day and The Karate Kid, Part III all have in common?
InThe Karate Kid,its Mr Miyagi.
InBack To The Future,its Doc Brown.
InX-Men,its Professor Xavier.
The mentor archetype comes directly from a character called Mentor in Greek mythology.
Other writers have continued to develop the theory of the Heros Journey laid out by Joseph Campbell.
Here are three very different films that introduce a dark version of the mentor archetype.
Daniel initially refuses to fight in the tournament, but after repeated threats from Barnes, he eventually relents.
Unlike Mr Miyagis more spiritual form of martial arts, Silvers training involves lots of board-breaking and bleeding knuckles.
What Daniel doesnt realise is that Silvers training is all part of an elaborate revenge plot.
Antoine Fuquas pressure cooker-intense thriller sees its hero offered a similar path between the dark and the light.
Together, they embark on a seemingly routine patrol of South Central Los Angeles crime-ridden streets.
(You got today, and today only to show me what youre made of.
You dont like narcotics?
Dont bring none of that shit in here.
That shitll get you killed.
The dark mentor provides a distorted or corrupted version of the heros own beliefs.
A heros success or failure is defined by their response to the mirror held up by these dark mentors.
But eventually, the mask must fall, and dark mentors true function as the storys villain is revealed.
