by Todd Klick
Whether it’s playwriting, literature, comic books or movies, the world’s best storytellers turn their heroes into orphans. Why has this storytelling device been used over and over for nearly 4,000 years, since the Epic of Gilgamesh? Why did the Greeks use orphans in their mythology, and the authors of the Bible? How about Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, J.K. Rowling, Stan Lee, Stephen Spielberg, and many others?
During the course of life, every one of us will feel abandoned or alone at some point. It happens as early as five-years-old when our mothers lead us to school buses and wave goodbye. We’re yanked from familiar surroundings and taken to strange new worlds like elementary schools, summer camps, and later, colleges and jobs.
We all become orphans. We all lose parents through tragedies like divorce or death. It’s part of human existence. So when writers create a hero who is orphaned in some way, audiences bond with that character. We cheer for the hero to win their battles. Why? Because if they survive and succeed while alone in the world, maybe we’ll survive and succeed, too.
Here are 25 examples of orphan-heroes from plays, novels, comic books and movies:
1. In the beginning of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet’s father has recently died…
2. In Othello, Othello mentions that his mother gave him a magic handkerchief on her deathbed…
3. Richard II’s father is dead…
4. Richard III’s father is dead…
5. Henry V’s father is dead…
6. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones’s mother is dead and his father is absent from his life…
7. In Jaws, Chief Brody’s parents are absent in his life…
8. In Jurassic Park, Dr. Grant’s parents are absent in his life…
9. In ET, Elliot’s mother and father are divorced. His father is absent from his life…
10. In War of the Worlds, Tom Cruise’s character has no parents and he’s estranged from his ex-wife…
11. In Schindler’s List, Oskar Schindler’s parents are dead and he is separated from his wife…
12. Tintin is an orphan…
13. In the movie Lincoln, the President’s parents are never mentioned. We presume they are dead…
14. Tom Sawyer’s parents are dead. He lives with his Aunt Polly…
15. Huckleberry Finn’s mother is dead and he lives with his father, who is the town drunk…
16. Scout’s mother died of a heart attack when she was two in To Kill A Mockingbird…
17. Pip is an orphan in Great Expectations…
18. Oliver Twist is an orphan…
19. In Bridesmaids, Kristin Wiig’s father is absent in her life…
20. Forrest Gump’s father has either died or abandoned him…
21. Luke Skywalker’s parents are presumed dead in Star Wars. He lives with his aunt and uncle…
22. Harry Potter’s parents are dead. He lives with his aunt and uncle…
23. Peter Parker’s parents are dead. He lives with his aunt and uncle…
24. Bruce Wayne’s parents were killed when he was young…
25. Jack Dawson is an orphan in Titanic, and Rose’s father is dead…
Whether you’re penning a play, novel, comic book or movie, consider making your hero an orphan to create an instant emotional connection with your audience.
Todd Klick is the bestselling author of Something Startling Happens: The 120 Story Beats Every Writer Needs To Know and The Screenwriter’s Fairy Tale: The Universal Story Within All Movie Stories (a Very Brief Fable).