Archetypes in Blake's 7

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Title:	Archetypes in Blake's 7 (long, some SPOILERS)
Creator:	chevron
Date(s):	1992
Medium:	online
Fandom:	Blake's 7
Topic:
External Links:	in rec.arts.sf.tv
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Archetypes in Blake's 7 is an essay by chevron about possible archetypes embodied by Blake's 7 characters in canon and fanfiction. It was posted in 1992 in rec.arts.sf.tv Usenet newsgroup and also on Lysator mailing list.

Excerpts

Archetypes in General

Archetypes are present to a large extent in the Blake's 7 universe. Archetypes appear in the original series as aired, and have also been used to great advantage by fan fiction writers and artists in the years since the show's demise. However, they are not as clear cut as in some fantasy literature/media, for example that of J. R. R. Tolkein. In Blake's 7, archetypes are sometimes used in exact opposition to the intended meaning of the character or situation, to throw the viewer off balance somewhat, and to increase the horror of certain situations.

Color Archetypes

Black seems to be Avon's favorite color. It is very rare that Avon is not wearing something black, and in the later stories, his wardrobe becomes almost exclusively and completely black. In a "normal" usage, (eg. Western) this would instantly brand him as the "bad guy". And although Avon is a far cry from a goodie-two-shoes good guy, he is also far (IMHO) from being a true bad guy. Thus, the association of Avon with black is a contradictory archetype.

The color black throws us off balance, because we want to believe (at least I do) that Avon, deep down, is essentially good, and yet the color black is archetypally associated with evil, doom, death and the absence of love. Fan writers have been known to revolt against this and after some sort of crisis and catharsis in Avon's life, have him appear in white at the end of a story - almost as a resurrection image.

The other most contradictory color archetype in Blake's 7 is the attiring of Servalan in white. Although her wardrobe is much more varied than Avon's, a large percentage of her outfits are white, a color archetypally associated with good, innocence, rebirth and love. And we all know how closely that @#$$%^& woman follows those concepts. But like with Avon in black, I prefer her in white, because the color again throws the viewer off balance. We wonder how an attractive woman in white can be so downright evil. It upsets our notions of what "should be so" and adds to the horror when we see a white-attired Servalan doing something completely perfidious.

Other color archetypes in Blake's 7 are more direct. Blake, for example, is attired in mixed greens and browns. These are earth colors - natural colors - representative of the natural balance and harmony Blake desires to restore in the galaxy by the overthrow of the Federation, and his own resonance with the same. Gan is attired almost exclusively in browns - soil colors - representing his down-to-earth-ness, his simpleness (meaning uncomplicated, not stupid) and his former life as an off-world colonist, perhaps a farmer.

Cally, Jenna and Vila are dressed in varying mixes of colors. Cally tends toward more natural colors, greens and blues. Jenna tends toward more fire colors, reds, purples. Vila tends toward natural/soil/earth browns and tans, and some yellow, orange and pale blue. These colors represent their comparatively moderate natures.

Travis has a consistent color archetype of a different hue. He wears black. Period. He is a "bad guy" (certainly from our heroes perspective). Period. Although Travis (particularly Travis I) has some degree of honor and nobility, his actions serve an evil cause. His black clothing, and that of all the Fed military troopers, serves to highlight this.

Environment Archetypes

Avon is associated with a machine archetype. Throughout human history, machines have been an object of fear. From the Dark Ages to the Industrial Revolution, machines have been seen as dehumanizing and dangerous instruments of unwelcome change. They represented forbidden knowledge or even ungodly/devilish magic. Machines are unfeeling, cold, unconcerned and, by definition, inhuman. Machines are somehow against Nature. [snipped]

The association with machines establishes Avon as a loner and a misanthrope. In olden times, these "unnatural" pursuits would also have made him a practitioner of black arts or sorcery.

In contrast to the "unnatural" machines associated with Avon, Natural things are associated with Blake. Blake is at ease with the primitive and uncomplicated peoples the crew of the _Liberator_ meet. Ro, on Horizon, takes an instant liking to Blake. Zil, the planetary parasite alien in "Trial", is also drawn to Blake. Blake expresses horror for the unnatural experiments of the Lost which resulted in the creation of the Decimas in "The Web". Blake is quickly ready to accept the Decimas as people and defend them.

Primitive peoples and little aliens seem the B7 substitute for "children and dogs". If they like you, they you are OK. Although an engineer by profession, Blake is rarely seen with machines. Rather, he is almost always surrounded by people. He CARES for people, and is working (at least in his own mind) to help and save them. This is natural, and therefore "good". The association establishes Blake as good.

Religious Archetypes

The obvious religious archetype in B7 is the association of Blake with a Savior image. Blake, like Christ and other great religious leaders, is ready to give himself for the salvation of others. We are drawn more closely to Blake for this reason.

Not quite as clear is the association of Avon with the Devil. Avon is often seen trying to lead Blake "astray" from his Cause, or to lead the other crew members astray from following Blake. Avon preaches a doctrine of self. Like Lucifer, Avon was once at the top of his profession, but was for some reason unsatisfied, and tried to go one better, failed and "fell from grace". However, unlike Lucifer, Avon can accept redemption, and ultimately does, through the self-sacrificial actions he does perform.

Animal Archetypes

Fan writers often use these archetypal associations in their descriptions of the characters. Blake is described as a lion, a bear, a bull. Avon is described as a cat, a panther, a cobra. Vila is associated with raccoons, weasels and ferrets. Cally is associated with deer.

Fan artists express these images more directly. Fan art often consists of portraits of one or more of the characters with their archetypally associated animals. I've seen Blake with lions, bulls and unicorns. I've seen Avon with panthers, other cats, Pegasus, dragons, and snakes. Vila has been paired with a raccoon, Tarrant with a raven, Dayna with a snow leopard. I'm sure there are many other pairings out there I've yet to see, or the artists have yet to work on. The character/animal portraits are among the most beautiful fan art I've seen.

Other Archetypes

Another recurring theme in Blake's 7 is the association of a "healer" archetype with Cally. Cally is the closest thing the crew of the _Liberator_ have to a physician and psychiatrist. Cally is often seen tending the injuries/sicknesses of the others in the medical unit and throughout the ship. She also tries to heal the mental and emotional wounds and rifts of the crew, with varying degrees of success. Often she does her work subtly and unobtrusively (no Deanna Troi "Captain, I sense you are feeling down today" stuff - sorry, Trek fans :-) ), making her all the more valuable.

Other Recurring Archetypal Images In Fandom

Fan fiction writers and artists have had quite a few years since the end of the series to generate tons of work on B7. Many of these works contain archetypal images which, while not explicitly discussed or shown on the television series, fit the facts as broadcast.

A very notable one of these (and one of my favorites) is the image of Blake as Fire and Avon as Ice. Blake is a passionate man, leading a rebellion. He believes in what he is doing and he will see it through if he is at all able. His followers, Avon included, are swept up in his personal Fire.

Avon is, at least on the surface, a cold man, living only for himself. He believes in nothing (or so he tells us), and tries to avoid the company of others. His past, hinted at in the series, and expanded on by fan writers, gives us glimpses why this is so. He would like to be impervious Ice, but unfortunately (?) for him, he is standing a little to close to Blake's fire, and some of his ice will be permanently melted.

Another image is the association of the Arthurian Legend with B7. Blake is King Arthur, Avon his Merlin, Vila the court Jester, Cally the Court Physician. These images are carried out in fanfic by suggestion or in alternate universe stories. I rather like the image of Avon as Merlin to Blake's Arthur. It fits together with the natural/unnatural environment archetypes described above.

Comments

On Usenet

Rather than associating B7 with the Arthurian mythos, I think it's more accurate to say that both are based (partly) on the same basic archetype. The wise and powerful warrior, perhaps a bit too compassionate for his own good, with a companion who is less powerful physically but more intelligent, wise in the ways of magic (science), associated with dark colours, and occasionally not 100 per cent loyal, is an old one in myths and stories, ancient and modern. There are many other examples -- Thor and Loki, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, Kirk and Spock ... obviously this isn't necessarily the only archetype in any of these, but it's certainly present.

In a long article (still being updated as the Beeb releases the tapes) I wrote:-

"Green seems to be a key colour, representing hope and purity. Blake and Cally, the most idealistic members of the crew, often wear it. Travis cloaks himself in green when masquerading as Shevan the rebel leader in `Voice from the Past'. When, in later episodes, Avon is seen in green, it is the olive/khaki shades of camouflage suited to a pragmatic and cautious leader. Its most notable appearance is on Kezarn (The City at the Edge of the World) whose peaceable inhabitants all wear a pale spring green. Bayban's gunfighter Kerrill, changes into the same colour before she accompanies Vila to the new world, symbolising her rejection of her previous life and presaging her decision to stay there with Norl and his followers."

Also from the article :-

"The colours used to differentiate between the masked figures in the prophecy at the beginning of `Sarcophagus' reappear subtly in the clothing worn by the crew, assigning them their roles in the occupant's destiny."

Merlin is a powerful and ambivalent figure in Celtic mythology (Kerr Avon is a very Celtic name). It reinforces your earlier point about sorcery. When I tried a comparison with the Robin Hood archetype, I couldn't make Avon and Cally fit, this suits them better.

On Lysator

Color Archetypes

Do you think the change to black for Servalan (whom I admire, so watch the language! 8-) was a way of drawing a closer connection between her and Avon? They are paired a number of times in the 3rd and 4th seasons, as Blake and Travis were in the first 2 years. They seem to be the only two (not counting the Fed guards) who wear black most of the time.

I've noticed that he [Blake] never wears white in the first season. It isn't until he starts getting obsessive that he wears white ("Horizon," "Pressure Point," "Shadow") or silver ("Hostage", "Voice from the Past") but there isn't a direct connection - he's in white,look out - it's just that he wears it more as he becomes less typically heroic.

In the last season, all of the others (Vila, Soolin, Dayna and Tarrant) wear grey almost all the time. It contrasts nicely with Avon's all-black wardrobe. They are neither as bad or as good as Avon can be.

Environment Archetypes

I'm glad you brought up the Land of Tossed Salads. In fanfic, I've seen interpretations of Blake that cast him as provincial and Avon as open-minded. I suppose this is ST legacy - Spock was non- judgmental and it seems apt that a scientist not accept conventional viewpoints but make his own decision. And yet it is Blake, not Avon, who accepts people who are different from himself. Blake also never uses caste to insult as Avon does to Vila ("Horizon," "Volcano").

I notice you didn't use "Powerplay" as an example. In that ep, the Hitex and Chenga nurses (all women) are opposed to the primitives (men) in a way that clearly backs the primitives. The women want to use Vila for spare parts, the men try to save him. Technology wins out here, as it does in Harvest.

I liked what you said about Avon and machinery, but in both "Harvest" and "Powerplay," I see women being linked with technology in a way that codes both as evil.

Religious Archetypes

Avon is not Lucifer. If Blake is Christ, then Avon, as the one who questions him and finally kills him, is Judas.

You didn't give any examples of the religious symbolism around Blake and I was wondering what you had in mind? The ones I can identify are: LeGrand referring to him as a messiah ("Voice"), the rendez-vous in "Pressure Point" is in a church (this is called to our attention since Blake has to explain to Gan what a church is), the phrase "crawled out of his creche" in "City at the Edge of the World" (somebody pointed out that creche can simply mean cradle, but the word does have specific religious connotations), Avon asking if Blake knows what it feels like to be a god ("Deliverance"), Kozer telling Blake that with Imipak he can be like god ("Weapon"). Do you have others? Oh, I also like the way Blake passes out in crucifix style in "The Way Back" courtroom.

You could also look at the 3rd and 4th seasons this way: Blake is god, Servalan is the devil and they are warring for Avon's human soul. Will he sell out to Servalan who obviously tempts him and his own darker impulses, or will he commit himself to Blake's good cause.

Other Recurring Archetypal Images In Fandom

They are each other turned inside out: Blake is fiery, right down to his core, but his core is ice. He won't be dissuaded from his goal and he can be utterly ruthless in its pursuit. Avon is icy to his core, but his core is molten lava. He suppresses his emotions and they're bubbling, ready to burst to the surface.