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Wise old man
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The wise old man (or "Senex") is an archetype as described by Carl Jung. It is also a classic literary figure, and may be seen as a stock character.[1]
This kind of character is typically represented as a kind and wise, older father-type figure who uses personal knowledge of people and the world to help tell stories and offer guidance that, in a mystical way, may impress upon his audience a sense of who they are and who they might become, thereby acting as a mentor. He may occasionally appear as an absent-minded professor, losing track of his surroundings because of his thoughts.
The wise old man is often seen to be in some way "foreign", that is, from a different culture, nation, or occasionally, even a different time, than those he advises. In extreme cases, he may be a liminal being, such as Merlin, who was only half human.
In medieval chivalric romance and modern fantasy, he often appears as a wizard.[2] In the same works, he can also feature as a hermit, who often explained to the knights -- particularly those searching for the Holy Grail -- the significiance of their encounters.[3]
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Jung dubbed this character as a senex. This is Latin for old man in general, and in fact, two stock characters of the stage are the senex iratus, an old man who irrationally objects to the love of the younger characters, and the senex amans, an old man foolishly in love with a woman too young for him. This senex, unlike these characters, has grown old graciously. His wisdom is not only in his increased knowledge and judgment, but his knowing that younger people have taken on the role of hero, and that his position has changed to one of mentor.
Merlin fell from the role of senex to senex amans when he fell in love with Nimue; this lapse from judgment is what led to his being enchanted and imprisoned.
- Solon of Athens
- Chilon of Sparta
- Thales of Miletus
- Bias of Priene
- Cleobulus of Lindos
- Pittacus of Mitylene
- Periander of Corinth
Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove
- Mentor, in Greek mythology
- Merlin from the Matter of Britain and the legends of King Arthur
- Nestor from Iliad
- Tiresias from the Odyssey, Oedipus Rex, and other Greek myths
- Utnapishtim from the Epic of Gilgamesh
- Hyrum Graff from Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series
- Hoo-Lan from Bruce Coville's My Teacher is an Alien series
- Oogruk, in Gary Paulsen's novel Dogsong
- Allanon from Terry Brooks' Shannara series
- Belgarath the Sorcerer in David Eddings' Belgariad and Malloreon cycles.
- Brom from Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Trilogy.
- Albus Dumbledore from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series
- Elminster from the Forgotten Realms RPG setting
- Gandalf from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings
- Thom Merrilin in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.
- Methuselah and Abbot Mortimer from Brian Jacques' novel Redwall. Both are mice.
- Press Tilton from the Pendragon series
- Ancient One from Doctor Strange
- Professor Broom from Hellboy
- Alfred Pennyworth from Batman
- Uncle Ben from Spider-Man
- Professor X from the X-Men
- Getafix from "Asterix"
- The First Doctor (Doctor Who especially as portrayed by William Hartnell)
- Uncle Jesse Duke from Dukes of Hazzard
- Mickey Goldmill from Rocky
- Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid
- Shinyuki from American Ninja
- Wilson from Home Improvement
- Derrial Book from the television series Firefly
- Rupert Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Thufir Hawat from Dune
- Morpheus from The Matrix
- Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn from the Star Wars films.
- Zordon from Power Rangers
- South Burning from Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
- Chef from the South Park cartoon series
- Gennai from Digimon series
- Iroh from Avatar: The Last Airbender
- King Kai, Master Roshi, Karin (Dragon Ball), and Kami from Dragonball Z
- Professor Ochanomizu from Astro Boy
- Admiral Jyuzo Okita from Space Battleship Yamato (called Captain Avatar in Star Blazers)
- Owl from Winnie the Pooh
- Phong from ReBoot
- Rafiki from The Lion King
- Master Sensei from Kim Possible
- Red-Haired Shanks from One Piece
- Kisuke Urahara from the Bleach manga series.
- Papa Smurf from The Smurfs
- Splinter from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
- Bruce Wayne in his old age as the mentor to the new Batman, Terry McGinnis, in Batman Beyond
- Athos from Intelligent System's Fire Emblem series.
- Auron from Final Fantasy X
- Gen from the Street Fighter game series
- Peppy Hare from the Star Fox series.
- Dr. Light from the Mega Man and Mega Man X game series
- The Sages form the first Tomba! game
- Sahasrahla, Rauru, Kaepora Gaebora, and The Old Man from The Legend of Zelda game series
- Jolee Bindo from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- Wise Old Man from The MMORPG RuneSCape
- Bo' Rai Cho from Mortal Kombat
- Hierarchs (Halo) from Halo 2
- ^ Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism, p 151, ISBN 0-691-01298-9
- ^ Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism, p 195, ISBN 0-691-01298-9
- ^ Penelope Reed Doob, The Idea of the Labyrinth: from Classical Antiquity through the Middle Ages, p 179-81, ISBN 0-8014-8000-0
- Social Transformative Gaming Citadel of Sages