Agents of the Realm by Mildred Louis is the story of five college students — Norah, Adele, Paige, Kendall, and Jordan — who learn they are the latest generation of Agents tasked with protecting a gateway between worlds. With its coming-of-age female protagonists, magical transformation sequences and powers, and underlying theme of fate, this comic falls neatly (and intentionally) into the genre of magical girls.
How are archetypes used to establish the characters?
The concept of archetypes and their use in storytelling — especially in contemporary times — has been a hotly debated topic. When it comes to their conceptualization, some people are put off by their roots in psychoanalysis and Jungian theory; similarly, other people don’t like how archetypes are claimed to be “universal” but are, more often than not, centered around European ideas. For other people, they are simply easy symbolism that cheapen a story, like the stock photos of the art world, if you will. What are archetypes, though? The rough definition I’ve found myself giving is that archetypes are deeply-rooted cultural ideas that recurrently manifest through different symbols. There can be character archetypes, such as the hero, nature archetypes, like a garden symbolizing innocence, or more symbolic archetypes like the numbers 7 and 13, associated with luck and bad luck respectively. In a way, archetypes are public symbols used again and again to communicate ideas easily, and by doing so, this reinforces their cultural value.
Credit: Mildred Louis
A six-panel page.
First panel: Norah is leaning against her doorframe with a skeptical look in her eyes, hand covering her mouth.
Norah: Dunno maybe? I mean did you ask everyone else? I’m sure they’re all really buuusyy...
Second panel: Jordan is excitedly explaining her plan.
Jordan: Yup! Kendall’s free! Did you know she teaches yoga on campus? apparently it pays pretty well and she also gets food stipends. So that’s pretty cool.
Third panel: Jordan keeps leaning on her door frame, annoyed, as Jordan rambles.
Jordan (off- panel): We should take a class sometime! It’d be so much fun! Oh! I also talked to Paige. She said she’s free after six. HAHA. Wow! She’s intense!
Fourth panel: A close-up of Jordan from the eyes down, she’s has her hand on her cheek as she continues talking.
Jordan: Like, she takes school sooo seriously. But, y’know, I really, really admire that and I might ask her to tutor me in some of my classes. I mean, I’m not doing bad. But you can always do better, right?
Fifth panel: A close-up of Norah’s face, looking miserable.
Jordan (off-panel): And then I talked to Adele. she was totally on board to go to the mall A.S.A.P.! But I told her I had to go ask everyone else first!
Sixth panel: A shot of a long college dorm hallway, Jordan is leaning back on a wall with just her head as Jordan finishes talking.
Jordan: And now! Here we are!
Norah: Right.
Archetypes are most easily identifiable in texts primarily for younger ages. The hero’s journey across seven different kingdoms to acquire three ancient artifacts by a team of four people as they learn the importance of bravery, love and death is timeless. It is a template for storytelling and the different archetypes serve as shorthand to convey ideas about the world and characters, like familiar landmarks in an uncharted world. Just like its spiritual predecessor and inspiration Sailor Moon, Agents of the Realm features a team of color-coded and element-associated heroines. In the panels above, the dynamics between Norah and Jordan clearly exemplify how they represent the void and water respectively: Norah is introverted, private, and inscrutable; Jordan is energetic, flowing and effusive. Not matter how much energy Water Jordan has, it is simply sucked up by Void Norah without any effect. Frankly, analyses like these are easy and fun just like the stories they usually convey. Although, this doesn’t mean that stories that make use of clean-cut archetypes are without merit. The new and interesting ways these archetypes are used are a determining factor in each text’s uniqueness.
Credit: Mildred Louis
A five-panel page.
First panel: A establishing shot of a large shopping mall called Silvermount Shopping Center.
Jordan (off-panel): Do you know what you’re gonna be, yet?
Second shot: The group is going up on an escalator together.
Adele: Mmm no, not yet. But it will be cute!
Third panel: A closer shot of Kendall and Norah on the escalator. Two smaller panels show a close-up of Kendall reaching out to Norah’s shoulder to reassure her and Norah looking back annoyed.
Kendall: Do you know what you’ll be yet?
Norah: Nope.
Kendall: Well, if you need it. I can help!
Norah: I’m good.
Fourth panel: Paige and Jordan lead the group off the escalator.
Jordan: Okay! I just have to grab a few things. So we can all head to the costume shop if that’s okay with everyone?
Paige: Well — We are here for costumes, right? So yeah, let’s start there.
Fifth panel: A hot of a long mall hallway, Jordan leads the group. She turns back to face the group with her arms in the air. In the foreground, Norah looks tired.
Jordan: Great! Then off we go!
Credit: Mildred Louis
A page with 4 sets of character portraits with a long accompanying panel. The last panel is a single long panel.
First panel set: Jordan in her deviled egg costume. In the long panel, she’s dancing with her crush from class.
Jordan: Wooow Just look at this place! It feels so... magical!
Second panel set: Kendall in her holy cow costume. In the long panel, she’s happily dancing on her own.
Kendall: And the music is so good! I’m definitely going to tear up the dance floor!
Third panel set: Adele in her pink bunny costume. In the long panel, she’s sitting as two shirtless masked boys fan her and serve her drinks.
Adele: And there are so many cute boys! I need to talk to every single one here.
Fourth panel set: Paige in her vampire costume. In the long panel, she’s dancing between two masked people.
Paige: There’s definitely some cuties with my name on ‘em. Mmm, yeah.
Fifth panel: Norah in her dinosaur costume. She’s on her own with a look of dread. The dark blue background with black lines emphasize the dread.
Norah: Yup, tonight’s gonna be a lot of fun.
Earth Tanner is dependable, reliable, and supportive; Fire Adele is excitable, alluring, and extroverted; Air Paige is aloof, distant yet graceful. In a medium like graphic novels, space is a precious resource that must be used effectively. With a large ensemble of characters in a magical girl story, using archetypes is not only a smart strategy into character establishment, but it’s also an expected genre trope at this point. Regardless of how they might feel intellectually, people love patterns. We love creating patterns and finding them in different forms and configurations throughout our lives. Similarly, we cannot help but bestow those patterns with meaning. Whether or not the creator wanted to create a link between the characters’ personalities and these elements becomes a moot point because, as readers, our minds will inevitably draw those connections. What is known and familiar brings us comfort and joy, so why should we ever deny ourselves of archetypes?