The Lawman

  The lawman is, as you can probably guess, someone who has sworn to uphold the law. Most lawmen are members of a recognized law enforcement organization, but there are a some freelancers (including some super-heroes and particularly law-abiding bounty hunters) who could be considered members of this archetype. Unlike the loose cannon, the lawman…

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The Con Man

The Con Man specializes in finding people who want something for nothing and giving them nothing for something. When most people think of a con man, they imagine a ruthless criminal who steals money from little old ladies. While this is sometimes the case, the little old ladies aren’t always blameless. In addition to exploiting…

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The Small-Time Crook

The small-time crook is a person who relies on illegal activities to make a living, but doesn’t have the abilities, resources, or imagination to pull off a big score. Some small-time crooks specialize in a particular brand of illicit activity—for example, drug dealing or stealing cars—but most will take any opportunity to make a quick…

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The Hacker

Although the term has gone through several changes in meaning over the years, today most people use the term “hacker” to describe a person who breaks into computer systems for fun and profit. While some hackers practice their electronic breaking and entering for legitimate profit (for example, working as computer security consultants) or as a…

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The Fixer

Editor’s Note: Starting with this week’s exciting episode, new Archetypes of the Week will go up on Thursday instead of Wednesday. The fixer is a person who solves problems, often using methods that are not entirely legal. While most fixers deal in material goods (especially illegal or hard to get ones) to some extent, the…

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The Zombie

Zombies are the reanimated (often decomposing) corpses of deceased humans. Although many zombies retain the ability to speak, they otherwise exhibit few signs of higher intelligence. The zombie’s only motivation in unlife is to satisfy its desire to feed on human flesh (brains in particular), though zombies do exhibit rudimentary self-preservation instincts and can use…

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The Magician

The magician is, as the name suggests, a character skilled in the use of magic. The type of magic the character is able to use and the specific tradition that he or she follows depends on the genre and setting. The flash-bang style of magic found in most role-playing games, for example, has no precedent…

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