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Home » Psychological Concepts - W » Wise Old Man
The Wise Old Man is an archetype as described by Carl Gustav Jung. It
is also a classic literary figure, and may be seen as a stock character.
In works of fiction, this kind of character is typically represented
by an 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 illuminate to his audience a sense of who they are and
who they might become.
The Wise Old Man is often in some way "foreign," that is, from
a different culture or nation than those he advises.
Examples of notable wise old men in popular fiction:
- Merlin from the Matter of Britain and the legends of King Arthur
- Gandalf from J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth series
- Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn from Star Wars
- Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid
- Shinyuki from American Ninja
- Hoo-Lan from Bruce Coville's My Teacher is an Alien series
- Albus Dumbledore from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series
- Professor X from the X-Men
- Uncle Ben from Spider-Man
- Rafiki from The Lion King
- King Kai from Dragonball Z
- Morpheus from The Matrix
- Gorion from the first Baldur's Gate RPG game
- Professor Ochanomizu from Astro Boy
- Dr. Light from the Mega Man and Mega Man X game series
- Gen from the Street Fighter game series
- Hyrum Graff from Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series
- Splinter from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Chef from the South Park cartoon series
- Auron from Final Fantasy X
- Hatake Kakashi from Naruto
- Red-Haired Shanks from One Piece
- Owl from Winnie the Pooh
- Adalard, Petrus and Bélibaste from Pilgrim adventure game
- Monterey Jack from Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers
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