What is a Mentor?

Also known as a sage, the mentor archetype in literature is in most commonly seen as a guide for the protagonist. They can take on many different character types, such as family members, friends, and sometimes a wise old man with long white hair who likes to wear long robes.

While these characters are side characters, they are much like the hero of the story in terms of importance. The mentor has insight, wisdom, tools, and weapons to help navigate the world that surrounds them. Sometimes they have dark backgrounds, and sometime they are the pillar of moral decisions. No matter their past, they serve a great role in teaching the protagonist.

So, how does one write this foundational character?

Writing a Mentor

Qualities of Mentors

One of the most important things to remember about this character is that they are temporary. At some point the mentor must step aside and let the protagonist prove that they have learned everything they need to learn. In most cases, the archetype will give up their reign through death. Others will simply step aside. The reason their role can only be for a portion of time is because the hero is going to have to prove that they can save the day by themselves and that they can do it on their own. 

This is one of the most frustrating things about the mentor character: they are always going to be there for the protagonist, until they need them the most. The mentor should know when to have the hero’s back, but they should also know when to remove themselves from the situation. So yes, they can be reliable and trustworthy, but don’t expect them to stick around when the biggest crisis of the story is knocking down the main character’s door.

However, despite their temporality, they need to be and should be fully developed characters. Just like any other character in your story, the mentor should be developed. Think about it, there has to be a reason that they are so full of wisdom. There has to be a story of how they came to be so knowledgeable. So give it to them, give them a story and a reason that would want to help the protagonist – which leads to the next point.

The mentor characters usually have an agenda of their own. It’s up to you and your character on how to carry this out, but sometimes the mentor’s goals don’t always align with the protagonists’. The mentor and hero of your story are not required to get along. Mentors are independent from their protagonists, so yes their usual job is to guide and help, but it may be fun to have them be doing it for some unknown ulterior motives. However, it is important to distinguish a mentor that is just plain evil and one that has skin in the game. If the mentor is just playing around with the hero and isn’t actually helping them towards the end goal in any way, shape, or form  – you may have stumbled across a great villain or conniving trickster. The mentor character may have other goals for helping out the main character, but at some point they’re going to have to come to the same endgame.

All Knowing vs. Realistic Mentors

 This character should have valuable advice to share, but this doesn’t mean they know everything. We all know how annoying a “know-it-all” can be, so don’t make the mistake of creating that kind of character in this archetype. In fact many times the mentor character is very secretive and cryptic, hiding information from both the protagonist and the readers. 

Another way of thinking of these characters is by remembering that they were once the hero archetype too. The reason they know the roads to go down and the ones to avoid is because they have also had to take the journey before. Obviously the situations should be a little different, but the mentor should be someone that has experience. Maybe they never got to finish their quest, or failed at it. Think of Yoda or Obi-Wan from Star Wars, or Albus Dumledore from the Harry Potter series. Maybe they did in fact save the day – back in the day – but at a terrible price. Whatever the backstory may be, it’s important to remember that experience doesn’t make the mentor omniscient.

Mentor’s are heartwarmingly heartbreaking. They are there for support, teaching and guiding the hero. Yet, sometimes they might fall short. They will make mistakes, just like any other character. They are not perfect, nor should they be. They are people to learn from, not idolize. Most importantly, though, is that they care – maybe in their own weird, abnormal ways, but they do care – which is why we care about them, trust them, learn from them, and have our hearts broken when they tragically fall off the astronomy tower and die.