THE HELPER
"I can guide you but you must do exactly as I say."
- Morpheus, "The Matrix"
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"It all depends on what you want, you can trust us to stick to you through thick and thin - to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours - closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo."
- Merry, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
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This stage isn't really a stage. It is more of a person or people. The hero needs helpers to help them on the quest. This can break out into several ways. The Helper could be someone extremely minor in the overall sense of the story, just a kind of direction giver or guide, in a sort of, "Mordor is to the left," kind of way. (Think Marcus Brody in "Raiders of the Lost Ark") The key thing is that the helper is adding something to the hero, namely something that the hero could not have done on his own. So typically, the Helper is more significant towards the beginning of the hero's journey, when the hero has not fully manifested all his abilities and does not have the requisite experience to accomplish all the duties of the quest by him or herself. Commonly, the Helper is manifested in three primary ways, as the ALLY, MENTOR, and SUPERNATURAL AID.
The Helper as an ALLY
This can sound a little redundant, obviously if someone is helping the hero versus hindering the hero, they are probably an ally. But what I'm talking about is an ALLY (kind of in an 'all caps' kind of way). Someone you'd really want helping you out if you had to take the hero's journey and things got rough. Here we're talking allies on the magnitude of Han Solo in "Star Wars: A New Hope", Trinity in "The Matrix", and Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings. Oftentimes the ally may be a hero already in their own right, someone who has had their own hero's journey and is now taking part in the new hero-to-be's journey and in many ways they become greater heros for having partaken of the other hero's journey. But sometimes, the Ally does not experience new growth and is simply there to aid the hero and when their purpose is complete they step aside for the new hero to come into her own. A good example I can think of here is Gurney Halleck in Dune. There is another sub-category to the Helper as an ALLY, and that is the role of the SIDEKICK.
The Ally as SIDEKICK
Traditionally, the SIDEKICK is a character who is always there for the hero and who the hero can always count on, but the SIDEKICK does not experience very much growth themselves, nor do they often reap the benefits of the Hero's Journey like the hero does. In this traditional sense, we can cite numerous examples: Tonto to the Lone Ranger, Robin to Batman, Chewbacca to Han Solo. In any case, the hero would be greatly crippled if they lost their SIDEKICK, but they would be able to move on and complete the quest. But sometimes the SIDEKICK becomes every bit as important to the Journey as the hero, and if the SIDEKICK were lost, then the entire quest would fail. Several examples come to mind: Sallah in "Raiders of the Lost Ark", is absolutely critical to Indiana Jones, there is no way Indy would get near the ark or in the map room or even get the inscription on the Headpiece to the Staff of Ra translated if it weren't for Sallah. Having said that, Sallah in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" is a different character, here he reverts backwards to the more traditional sidekick role and is no longer as essential to the story. Another great example of the indispensable SIDEKICK is Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings, how many times would the quest have been totally forsaken if it were not for 'Samwise the Brave'? Sam, however is different than most SIDEKICKS since I believe he actually undertakes his own Hero's Journey and becomes every bit the hero that Frodo does (which I think Tolkien acknowledges in the sense that Sam is allowed to take the ship West as a Ring Bearer).
The Helper as a MENTOR
The mentor is often encountered as an old woman or old man, generally this is to symbolize wisdom, which is associated with age. But most importantly, the MENTOR is someone who may have either walked the path before, or walked a similar path before. Therefore they can pass on advice to the hero (whether the hero regards it or not is a whole different issue). Often the MENTOR will accompany the hero on the quest. But this is not always the case (keep in mind Marcus Brody in "Raiders of the Lost Ark", advises Indy, but doesn't actually go on the quest). Sometimes the MENTOR isn't entirely present in the story at all! (Think of the film "Jerry Maguire", his MENTOR only appears in flashback quipping appropriate aphorisms at appropriate times). MENTORS all pass on knowledge and learning to the new hero and they may pass on boons or gifts that will be useful along the quest as well (we will talk more about this below). One common element that all MENTORs share is that at some point in the story they are going to have to step aside and let the HERO be a hero. This can be accomplished simply through the MENTOR being unavailable (because they've got bigger problems to deal with, like Morpheus in "The Matrix", Neo is forced to become a hero without him, he simply doesn't have a choice, because Morpheus has already exited the Matrix and Neo is left to confront the agents alone...with no helpers) or the MENTOR may die (like Qui-Gon Jinn in "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace", whose death forces the young Obi-Wan Kenobi to grow up very quickly and forces him to confront Darth Maul alone.) Or Uncle Ben in "Spiderman", whose death actually sets the young Peter Parker on the path to Heroism. You'll note I didn't mention the Old Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Alec Guinness) in "Star Wars: A New Hope", surely he falls into the MENTOR category, and he dies forcing Luke to come into his own as a hero, so why not? Well, that's because in my opinion the Old Obi-Wan Kenobi falls into the other category of HELPER, that of the SUPERNATURAL AID.
The Helper as SUPERNATURAL AID
SUPERNATURAL AID is exactly that. Boons or assistance given to the hero by a supernatural source. The most perfect example I can think of in film is in "Clash of the Titans". The hero, Perseus, is given a shield, a sword, a magical helmet, and a magical mechanical owl all to help him on his quest (not to mention Pegasus the winged horse). These gifts are all provided by the Greek Gods themselves! You don't get much more supernatural than that! The SUPERNATURAL AID helper is endowed with abilities beyond the normal (that's why they're supernatural!) Wizards easily fall into this category, Gandalf and Merlin are perfect examples. This is the reason that I would place Alec Guiness' Obi Wan Kenobi in this sub-category rather than the last one. Because when Luke first meets Crazy old Ben, he can do what appears to be magical at the time, abilities that Luke does not have, nor can he explain. On top of this, Ben also takes part in a critical portion of the SUPERNATURAL AID, the boon-giving. The SUPERNATURAL AID will often provide the hero with a talisman or boon that will help them on their quest (it is a whole other thing whether or not the hero actually needs this boon to succeed or not....think of Dumbo and his magical feather). Ben produces Luke's father's lightsaber. Merlin helps Arthur get Excalibur. In "Willow", the old wizard gives Willow magical acorns that he will need later in the story. The item given is not always magical, but it is always something the hero will use in the future. A good example of this is Tolkien's The Hobbit, it is Gandalf who provides the party with Thror's Map which describes the secret entrance to the Lonely Mountain and Smaug's lair. And of course we can't forget The One Ring, which in The Hobbit absolutely falls into the category of SUPERNATURAL AID. Without it, Bilbo would not have succeeded.
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