Description of The Shadow

The archetype of the Shadow is pretty much the 'bad guy.' This is the person/thing that the hero must end up fighting, the hero is compelled to fight he/she/it. This is a very common archetype found in everything that has a hero. This archetype doesn't follow the rules and just hates authourity and ends up being their own boss.

The Shadow is also described as the dark side of the hero. This is the side that the hero denies in himself that they project onto others, the side that split from the hero. the Hero is then compelled to fight the Shadow in order to reintegrate with that missing part and become 'whole' again.

Mythology/ Fairy Tales/ Folk Tales/Legends Featuring The Shadow

Perhaps the greatest image of the shadow would be the devil. the devil is what we and our souls must fight agianst in order to return to heaven as most religions say. Satan is the part of our being that we usually reject from ourselves. In the Bible he is also the opponent in which Jesus must 'defeat,' even though it doesn't exactly say that.

Symbols of The Shadow

One symbol of the shadow could include darkness, or the dark side. In many video games there is a persona of the 'dark hero' whom the hero must face in order to move on. The hero often is represented by light, whereas the shadow is represented by darkness.

Examples of The Shadow in Literature/Film

http://droo216.deviantart.com/art/Harry-v-Voldemort-79110072?moodonly=1

Voldemort is the perfect example of the shadow in literature/movies. Voldemort is literally the part of Harry that Harry rejects. Harry knows that, in the end, he must face off with Lord Voldemort in a fight to the death; he knows that Voldemort must be destroyed.

Current Events with The Shadow

www.agoravox.com/article.php3?id_article=8337
The presidential campaign is a perfect example of the shadow in our current society. Each candidate, whether it be McCain or Obama, is the 'shadow' of the other. In the end, one will prevail, the other will fall. They must tussle, and one must be neutralized.

Poetry for The Shadow

"Within The Shadows" by Don Iannone

Something wild rages
just out of reach of the sun’s touch
and beyond the moon’s forever lost call
An unspeakable wildness somehow we know

And down below, and beyond
the incarnate always walk alone, and dance
at midnight with the eternal flame
extinguishing the inner darkness

And in those shadows
the empty hollows fill with twilight’s wonders
and silence clings to our soul
like dreams to our first waking breath

And should danger appear, remember:
He that dwelleth in the secret place
of the most High shall abide
under the shadow of the Almighty


This poem explains what the shadow is and how it affects the hero. In the first stanza where it says, " An unspeakable wildness somehow we know," it describes how the hero understands, somehow, that the shadow is part of him, but doesn't know how he knows. this poem also describes how the hero must defeat the shadow in the second stanza, ". . . extinguishing the inner darkness."

Artwork for The Shadow

http://www.supercheats.com/gamecube/sonicadventure2battle.htm This picture incorporates two popular video game characters: Sonic the Hedgehog and Shadow the Hedgehog. The two aren't really hero versus shadow, but the picture depicts what the shadow archetype is. The shadow is the darker part of the hero, and in this picture the darker part of Sonic, Shadow, is actually shown as part of the hero.