The Role of the Orphan in Storytelling

[Ugga Bugga]

It always amazes me when I think of the number of stories that have an orphan as the hero

Batman, Superman, Harry Potter, Spiderman, L'il Orphan Annie, Luke Skywalker, Simba, Moses, Cinderella, the list goes on and on.

When I first realized this fact, it caught me off guard a bit. I never really thought about it. But, like so many aspects of writing, they are right there in front of your face. It just takes someone pointing it out to you before you realize it.

Then, if the main character is not an orphan in the traditional sense, they are either an emotional orphan, in that the traditional support entities do not exist. Look at Belle from Disney's beauty and the beast. As Michael Chase Walker point out in Power Screenwriting, (and I'm paraphrasing), she is emotionally orphaned from the rest of her provincial town. She likes to read, the rest of the town, acts like buffoons

There are also variations on the orphan theme. Take Punisher for example. He is orphaned from his family.

Or you have stories where there is a dysfunctional relationship with the parent, where there is no actual death, but the parent may as well be. They are orphaned from the emotional support expected from a parent.


Why is this concept of Orphan so popular?

I have a few theories. They probably aren't my own, as they have been culled from reading books on writing, but I'll plagarize 'em anyway

(a) your orphan has nothing tying them down. Punisher would have a hard time doing what he does, if he had family obligations. They are free to adventure

(b) It creates an emotional bond we can all identify with. As babies, even the most coddled baby with doting parents, feels alone when their mommy leaves the room. We instinctively understand lonliness, and understand the pursuit to fill the void.

(c) The orphan is incomplete. Things must happen to make them whole. They must find the surrogates to replace the parents, to make them whole. The orphan can embark the journey, incomplete, and finish the journey complete.


There are other reasons as well.

When you are trying to write your main character, consider giving them traits that orphan them either in actuality, or in a metaphorical sense.

Your hero is separate, and distinct from the society that he lives in, trying to find his way.

He will find his well, with the help of others, and despite resistance, and distraction from others, but only once he learns the lesson the story is trying to tell.

That's my lecture for today. It was on my mind, I thought I would share.

[Carter]

I think it's an easy way out. The path of least resistance. Kind of like the way every dork starts his Dungeons & Dragons game.

"You're all in a bar, when suddenly..."

[Reilly]

This is something I've always noticed too. I actually first noticed it in video games-- I always thought Chrono was wierd because he was the only character who had a mom. Not Link, not Cloud, nobody else.
I think it might be a matter of comedy vs. tragedy.
In a comedy the character starts off with nothing-- poor, cold and alone-- and whent the story ends they've become happy, rich and famous.

In a tragedy the character starts off with a family and friends and a social circle, but ends up betrayed, alone and in the gutter. Shakespear's characters always had families, and they just ended up dead.

Could you imagine a story about a kid who starts off in an orphange and his life just goes down hill from there? That would be messed up!
I guess with victory being realative to how much you acomplish, it's easier for someone who has nothing to end up ahead.

Also, I think it's a matter of starting your character off with a blank slate for new readers (viewers, players, etc). If there's no one else in their life people just joining the story don't have anything to get caught up on and you can meet all the other characters as you go.
In that sense I think it might be a bit of the easy way out, like Carter said, because it makes the story the most important thing in the character's life, rather than his family.
Why do Cyclops and Wolverine always seem like the main characters of the X-Men? Because they are the ones with no other obligations, and no lives outside of the X-Men.

Also, I think it's a way to have a character do everything on his own, rather than just relying on Mommy or Daddy to do it for them, which wouldn't be as interesting.

--Reilly

[Inkthinker]

I do know that Disney has an obsession with single parents.

Name me a young Disney character who has both parents, and keeps them through their story.

[Reilly]

Mulan!!
Ha ha! I win!

--Reilly

[Inkthinker]

Mulan!!
Ha ha! I win!

--Reilly

Sonova... you're right.

Name another.

[Ugga Bugga]

I'm not that familiar with Mulan, but even though she technically has both parents, I understand that she separates herself from her parents to save her father.

She is not a full fledged technical orphan, but she has the emotional characteristics of an orphan.

[Reilly]

How about Wendy from Peter Pan? I don't remember if her parents had any screen-time, but I'm pretty sure they were both alive.
Actually, Peter Pan is a good example of an anti-orphan story, where the adventurous, care free life of the orphaned Peter turns out to not be as glamorous as it seems when all the character realize that they miss their mothers.

And Disney does have several movies that deal with families, althought the main character is usually one of the parents and the plot seems to revolve around keeping the family safe and together rather than finding a new family. Incredibles is a good example of this, so is 101 Dalmations.

That's actually kind of interesting. It seems like maybe Disney considers the greatest virtue to be either starting or maintaining a caring family.
How many of their single characters don't get married at the end of their movie?
(I know Quasi Modo doesn't)

I wonder how far that trait is spread outside of Disney?

--Reilly

[Reilly]

I'm not that familiar with Mulan, but even though she technically has both parents, I understand that she separates herself from her parents to save her father.

She is not a full fledged technical orphan, but she has the emotional characteristics of an orphan.

Well, she wasn't with her family, but that's certainly not the same thing as not having a family.

Her story was about protecting what she already had, not finding a new place in the world like Aladin.

--Reilly

[Ugga Bugga]

In Peter Pan, PP convinces Wendy to deliberately orphan herself from her parents, to go out on their adventure.

They aren't dead, but for the purposes of the story, they may as well be.