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The Seven Basic Plots

The Seven Basic Plots
The Seven Basic Plots, book cover.png
Author Christopher Booker
Language English
Published 2004
Pages 736
Preceded by The Great Deception
Followed by Scared to Death: From BSE to Global Warming

The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories is a 2004 book by Christopher Booker, a Jungian-influenced analysis of stories and their psychological meaning. Booker worked on the book for 34 years.

The meta-plot begins with the anticipation stage, in which the hero is called to the adventure to come. This is followed by a dream stage, in which the adventure begins, the hero has some success, and has an illusion of invincibility. However, this is then followed by a frustration stage, in which the hero has his first confrontation with the enemy, and the illusion of invincibility is lost. This worsens in the nightmare stage, which is the climax of the plot, where hope is apparently lost. Finally, in the resolution, the hero overcomes his burden against the odds.

The key thesis of the book: "However many characters may appear in a story, its real concern is with just one: its hero or heroine. It is he with whose fate we identify, as we see him gradually developing towards that state of self-realization which marks the end of the story. Ultimately it is in relation to this central figure that all other characters in a story take on their significance. What each of the other characters represents is really only some aspect of the inner state of the hero or heroine themselves."

Example(s): Star Wars; Luke Skywalker

The Seven Basic Plots are the basics of plot-writing.


The protagonist sets out to defeat an antagonistic force (often evil) which threatens the protagonist and/or protagonist's homeland.

Examples: Perseus, Theseus, Beowulf, Dracula, The War of the Worlds, Nicholas Nickleby, The Guns of Navarone, Seven Samurai and its Western-style remake The Magnificent Seven, the James Bond franchise, Star Wars: A New Hope, Halloween, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Attack on Titan, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter and Shrek.


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