We encourage genre authors to use an archetype as a lens to focus your promo efforts, but the only essential is that the archetype you adopt and adapt should resonate with your career, your skills, and your goals. In Your A Game's Presence section we used Bartle's expanded player types to sort A-gamers into strategic modes as 8 universal archetypes, but the story doesn’t have to end there. Here are some other archetypal systems that you might find more useful, inspiring, and specific to your A-game.
Myers-Briggs:
(c.f. What's My Type? by Kathleen V. Hurley & Theodore E. Dobson)
| ISTJ (Inspector) |
ISFJ (Protector) |
INFJ (Counselor) |
INTJ (Mastermind) |
| ISTP (Crafter) |
ISFP (Performer) |
INFP (Healer) |
INTP (Architect) |
| ESTP (Promoter) |
ESFP (Composer) |
ENFP (Champion) |
ENTP (Inventor) |
| ESTJ (Supervisor) |
ESFJ (Provider) |
ENFJ (Mentor) |
ENTJ (General) |
The Enneagram
(c.f. Discovering Your Personality Type: The Essential Introduction to the Enneagram, Revised and Expanded by by Don Richard Riso & Russ Hudson )
For simplicity we’re using the Riso-Huson names for each of the nine enneagram personality types.
- (1) Reformer
- (2) Helper
- (3) Achiever
- (4) Individualist
- (5) Investigator
- (6) Loyalist
- (7) Enthusiast
- (8) Challenger
- (9) Peacemaker
Doctrine of Humors
(c.f. The Four Temperaments by Randy Rolfe)
- Choleric:
- Sanguine:
- Phlegmatic:
- Melancholic:
Campbell’s Mythic Archetypes
(c.f. The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell)
- Hero
- Wise Elder
- Threshold Guardian
- Herald
- Shapeshifter
- Shadow
- Trickster
D&D Alignment & Character classes
(c.f. D&D Rules Cyclopedia).
You can look at the Dungeons & Dragons system of alignment:
| Lawful Good | Neutral Good | Chaotic Good |
| Lawful Neutral | True Neutral | Chaotic Neutral |
| Lawful Evil | Neutral Evil | Chaotic Evil |
Or consider the universal character classes:
- Warrior
- Rogue
- Cleric/Mystic
- Wizard
Tarot Court Cards
(c.f. The Tarot Court Cards by Mary Greer).
The sixteen court cards of the tarot deck come with associations that might prove useful.
| Wands | Swords | Cups | Disks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knight of Wands | Knight of Swords | Knight of Cups | Knight of Disks |
| Queen of Wands | Queen of Swords | Queen of Cups | Queen of Disks |
| Prince/King of Wands | Prince/King of Swords | Prince/King of Cups | Prince/King of Disks |
| Princess/Page of Wands | Princess/Page of Swords | Princess/Page of Cups | Princess/Page of Disks |
Mark/Pearson Brand Archetypes
(c.f. The Hero & The Outlaw: Building Extraoridianry Brands Through the Power of Archetypes by Margaret Mark & Carol Pearson).
Mark and Pearson's book divides brands into a matrix of twelve archetypes grouped into four major functions that line up almost exactly with our four play styles. Their four functions are:
- Mastery/Risk: "Leaving a Mark on the World" (analogous to our Performer)
- Authority/Safety: "Providing Structure to the World" (analogous to our Achiever)
- Connection/Enjoyment: "Building Bridges between People." (analogous to our Socializer)
- Independence/Discovery: "Seeking Paradise and Promise" (analogous to our Explorer)
| Mastery/Risk | Authority/SAFETY | CONNECTION/Enjoyment | Independence/DISCOVERY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hero | Caregiver | Lover | Innocent |
| Outlaw | Ruler | Neighbor | Explorer |
| Creator | Magician | Jester | Sage |
Other possible archetypes include Deep Hybrids: the social butterfly. The fool. The leader. The whisperer. The wallflower. The private party. The life of the party. The duchess. The main event. The worker bee, Peek-a-boo, barfly, soapbox, drinking buddy, My Lady at tea, chain-smoker, everybody’s buddy, the neophyte.
For a wide variety of additional options check out Who Are You? 101 Ways of Seeing Yourself by Malcolm Godwin which covers a plethora of personality tests by different criteria.
