The 12 Common Archetypes by Carl Golden

The twelve archetypes are divided into ego types, self types, and soul types. Note: There are four cardinal orientations: freedom, social, ego, order. The types have a place on these orientations.

The Four Ego Types

• The Innocent
  • Motto: Free to be you and me
  • Core desire: to get to paradise
  • Goal: to be happy
  • Greatest fear: to be punished for doing something bad or wrong
  • Strategy: to do things right
  • Weakness: boring for all their naive innocence
  • Talent: faith and optimism
  • Other Names: Utopian, traditionalist, naive, mystic, saint, romantic, dreamer.
• The Orphan/Regular Guy or Gal
  • Motto: All men and women are created equal
  • Core Desire: connecting with others
  • Goal: to belong
  • Greatest fear: to be left out or to stand out from the crowd
  • Strategy: develop ordinary solid virtues, be down to earth, the common touch
  • Weakness: losing one’s own self in an effort to blend in or for the sake of superficial relationships
  • Talent: realism, empathy, lack of pretence
  • Other Names: The good old boy, everyman, the person next door, the realist, the working stiff, the solid citizen, the good neighbour, the silent majority.
• The Hero
  • Motto: Where there’s a will, there’s a way
  • Core desire: to prove one’s worth through courageous acts
  • Goal: expert mastery in a way that improves the world
  • Greatest fear: weakness, vulnerability, being a “chicken"
  • Strategy: to be as strong and competent as possible
  • Weakness: arrogance, always needing another battle to fight
  • Talent: competence and courage
  • Other Names: The warrior, crusader, rescuer, superhero, the soldier, dragon slayer, the winner and the team player.
• The Caregiver
  • Motto: Love your neighbour as yourself
  • Core desire: to protect and care for others
  • Goal: to help others
  • Greatest fear: selfishness and ingratitude
  • Strategy: doing things for others
  • Weakness: martyrdom and being exploited
  • Talent: compassion, generosity
  • Other Names: The saint, altruist, parent, helper, supporter.

The Four Soul Types

• The Explorer
  • Motto: Don’t fence me in
  • Core desire: the freedom to find out who you are through exploring the world
  • Goal: to experience a better, more authentic, more fulfilling life
  • Biggest fear: getting trapped, conformity, and inner emptiness
  • Strategy: journey, seeking out and experiencing new things, escape from boredom
  • Weakness: aimless wandering, becoming a misfit
  • Talent: autonomy, ambition, being true to one’s soul
  • Other Names: The seeker, iconoclast, wanderer, individualist, pilgrim.
• The Rebel
  • Motto: Rules are made to be broken
  • Core desire: revenge or revolution
  • Goal: to overturn what isn’t working
  • Greatest fear: to be powerless or ineffectual
  • Strategy: disrupt, destroy, or shock
  • Weakness: crossing over to the dark side, crime
  • Talent: outrageousness, radical freedom
  • Other Names: The rebel, revolutionary, wild man, the misfit, or iconoclast.
• The Lover
  • Motto: You’re the only one
  • Core desire: intimacy and experience
  • Goal: being in a relationship with the people, work and surroundings they love
  • Greatest fear: being alone, a wallflower, unwanted, unloved
  • Strategy: to become more and more physically and emotionally attractive
  • Weakness: outward-directed desire to please others at risk of losing own identity
  • Talent: passion, gratitude, appreciation, and commitment
  • Other Names: The partner, friend, intimate, enthusiast, sensualist, spouse, team-builder.
• The Creator
  • Motto: If you can imagine it, it can be done
  • Core desire: to create things of enduring value
  • Goal: to realize a vision
  • Greatest fear: mediocre vision or execution
  • Strategy: develop artistic control and skill
  • Task: to create culture, express own vision
  • Weakness: perfectionism, bad solutions
  • Talent: creativity and imagination
  • Other Names: The artist, inventor, innovator, musician, writer or dreamer.

The Four Self Types

• The Jester
  • Motto: You only live once
  • Core desire: to live in the moment with full enjoyment
  • Goal: to have a great time and lighten up the world
  • Greatest fear: being bored or boring others
  • Strategy: play, make jokes, be funny
  • Weakness: frivolity, wasting time
  • Talent: joy
  • Other Names: The fool, trickster, joker, practical joker or comedian.
• The Sage
  • Motto: The truth will set you free
  • Core desire: to find the truth.
  • Goal: to use intelligence and analysis to understand the world.
  • Biggest fear: being duped, misled—or ignorance.
  • Strategy: seeking out information and knowledge; self-reflection and understanding thought processes.
  • Weakness: can study details forever and never act.
  • Talent: wisdom, intelligence.
  • Other Names: The expert, scholar, detective, advisor, thinker, philosopher, academic, researcher, thinker, planner, professional, mentor, teacher, contemplative.
• The Magician
  • Motto: I make things happen.
  • Core desire: understanding the fundamental laws of the universe
  • Goal: to make dreams come true
  • Greatest fear: unintended negative consequences
  • Strategy: develop a vision and live by it
  • Weakness: becoming manipulative
  • Talent: finding win-win solutions
  • Other Names: The visionary, catalyst, inventor, charismatic leader, shaman, healer, medicine man.
• The Ruler
  • Motto: Power isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.
  • Core desire: control
  • Goal: create a prosperous, successful family or community
  • Strategy: exercise power
  • Greatest fear: chaos, being overthrown
  • Weakness: being authoritarian, unable to delegate
  • Talent: responsibility, leadership
  • Other Names: The boss, leader, aristocrat, king, queen, politician, role model, manager or administrator.