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Dramatic structure and purposeEdit


Another form of storytelling that offers a change or transformation of character is that of "hero's journey," as laid out in Joseph Campbell's theory of the monomyth in his work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers details the same theory specifically for western storytelling.


In television and radioEdit

Story arcs on television (and also on radio) have existed for decades (one notable (albeit, unusual) example, from the so-called "Golden Age of Radio", being the 1946 NBC Radio Summer-run docudrama serial, The Fifth Horseman,[3] which (in part) featured a four-episode arc regarding a hypothetical chain of events (spanning nearly two full "future" decades) surrounding a fictitious nuclear holocaust), and are common in many countries where multi-episode storylines are the norm (an example being the UK's Doctor Who), as well as most anime series.

Many arc-based series in past decades, such as V, were often short-lived and found it difficult to attract new viewers; they also rarely appear in traditional syndication (one notable example being the science fiction "novel for television" Babylon 5). However, the rise of DVD retail and DVR of television series has worked in arc-based productions' favor as the standard season collection format allows the viewer to have easy access to the relevant episodes. One area of television where story arcs have always thrived, however, is in the realm of the soap opera, and often episodic series have been derisively referred to as "soap operas" when they have adopted story arcs.

Arc-based series draw and reward dedicated viewers, and fans of a particular show follow and discuss different story arcs independently from particular episodes. Story arcs are sometimes split into subarcs, if deemed significant by fans, making it easy to refer to certain episodes if their production order titles are unknown. Episodes not relevant to story arcs (such as "monsters of the week") are sometimes dismissed as filler by fans, but might be referred to as self-contained or stand-alone episodes by producers.

Usage in manga and animeEdit



See alsoEdit


  1. ^ "Narrative Arc – What is Narrative Arc in Literature?". ThoughtCo.
  2. ^ Boulware, Hugh (September 18, 1988). "Hollywood Not Ken Wahl's Kind Of Town". Chicago Tribune.
  3. ^ "The Fifth Horseman" – via Internet Archive.

External linksEdit