Meredith Mansfield, Author

One way to define the two journeys is to look at the differences between them.

Let’s call the Heroine’s Journey the Leader’s Journey. I’ll explain that as I get more into this particular kind of heroic journey. Those are both over simplifications, of course, but so are the gendered names and these are less culturally fraught. Yes, it’s difficult to picture Frodo, who is definitely on a Hero’s Journey, as a Warrior, but no harder than picturing Samwise as a Heroine—or a Leader, for that matter. Yet that is exactly the kind of hero Sam is. And, yes, Heroines are heroic, too. They just have different motivations and methods—and tend to have better endings.

So, what makes the two journeys different?

1. What the character sets out to do.
2. What they perceive as strength/power and, conversely, when they experience vulnerability. And how this perception of strength influences their approach to the problem.
3. How their stories end.

I’ve already given examples of the heroic goals of three Warrior’s Journeys. By contrast, what starts the Leader on her (or his) journey is that someone important to them has been captured, kidnapped, or otherwise threatened and the Leader sets out to save them. Katniss Everdeen volunteers as tribute to save her sister, Prim. Samwise goes along to “take care” of Frodo and, in the process, saves him more than once.

Heroes/Warriors tend to see strength as self-reliance and solitary action against great odds. Therefore, though the Warrior may start out with a group of companions and/or acquire companions along the way, he (or she) will always go off on their own before the climax. The group represents a threat because they impede that solitary action. For Frodo, the Fellowship also represented a more direct threat because Boromir’s attempt to take the Ring revealed that its influence was working inside the group. But Frodo’s greatest struggle was even more isolating by being internal and largely invisible, fighting against the influence the Ring was trying to exert on him. He’s alone in that battle even when he’s surrounded by the Fellowship and even Gandalf couldn’t have helped him with that. And Luke Skywalker is literally always going off by himself—in his fighter to destroy the Death Star, on his tauntaun to “check something out”, off to train with Yoda, and finally to confront his father and the Emperor. He never stays with his team for long.

The Heroine/Leader, on the other hand, is at her (or his) most vulnerable when alone. The Leader may be a very powerful individual, even a great warrior, but she (or he) perceives strength in a team of people who will pool their skills and abilities and work together to solve the problem.

In other words, in a crisis, the Hero/Warrior is most likely to say “Stand back. I’ll handle this.” The Heroine/Leader is more likely to say, “Let’s do this together.”

And finally, the endings. Hero/Warriors are usually too changed by their solitary journeys to fit back into their old lives. Despite Sam’s best efforts, Frodo leaves Middle Earth entirely, going into the West with the elves. Luke seems to have come out all right at the end of “Return of the Jedi”, but just look where he’s found in “The Force Awakens”—alone on a lost planet.  Heroine/Leaders are much more likely to get happy endings, surrounded by a new or recovered family—Katniss and Peeta together, Sam with Rosie and their (thirteen!) children.

It’s important to note that not all elements will be present in every instance of either journey. Also neither journey is necessarily quite this black and white, for several reasons. First, not all stories fit into either heroic journey. Then again, in a big, epic story with multiple “heroes”, like LORD OF THE RINGS, it’s entirely possible for some characters to be on Warrior’s Journeys, while others are acting as Leaders. Or, over the course of a long series, a character may be on one journey overall, yet act, for one “episode” (or more) as if he or she were on the other journey. Sometimes, characters can change journeys, especially over the course of a series. And sometimes, it at least feels like the writer is confused and trying to force a Leader to act like a Warrior, or vice versa.