The first characteristic of the myth described by Campbell is the “Mystical” element. It creates the link between our inner and outer selves. The Wordweb Dictionary describes mystical as: an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence. Immediately the Force from Star Wars and the Morphin Grid from Power Rangers comes to mind. These mystical elements are a major factor in the development of the characters of these mythical stories, even though some of them couldn’t feel it. They were still apart of it.

The Force encompasses all things; the rocks, the trees, rivers of water, sentient, and non-sentient creatures. It flows through everything it’s import for the average being neither apparent nor obvious. Yet those special beings who were sensitive to the Force became the symbols for all that is good or evil in the universe.
The Morphin Grid though similar to the Force is quite different in the way it interprets the mystical element. The Grid is a source of power but is not readily found in Nature. It is an intangible power in the universe. In Power Rangers, sorcerers, wizards, and the like draw upon it depending on what spectrum they are, the Rangers having to filter it with “morphers” and coins. The personalities and “side” the person is on will determine what part of the Grid they can access, hence the colors of the Rangers.

The second characteristic, the “Cosmological,” personifies the mystical element and becomes the Cosmological Element. Campbell uses the example of “Father Sky” joining with “Mother Earth” to create life.
The “Great Bird of the Galaxy” in the Star Trek: New Frontier Series End Game by Peter David, is a mythical bird. The myth goes, that there can be only one ‘Great Bird’ at any given time, when the bird senses its time is near, it deposits an egg at the core of a planet. This planet enjoys great prosperity until the egg hatches and destroys the world by its birth. The Cosmological element being, an explanation for the unequaled prosperity of any given place.

The Sociological Element, is the third characteristic of myth. It “legitimizes an existing moral or social order.” Fire Get by Cheryl Franklin, shows what happens if the people forget the Sociological Element behind the creation of their laws and succumb to the shadows and illusions in their mind. The laws of Tulea were created by Tul and Ceallagh, a hero and a wizard, so that the chaos of their world would not befall the future generations. In the Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Haplo, the main character, must overcome the Sociological edict imprinted in his people over the centuries. And follow the Sociological Elements in one of the peoples he meets. Peace through understanding.

The Final Element of the myth described by Campbell is the Psychological. “The marked pathway to carry the individual through the stages of life.” This is the Right of Passage. In the Star Trek: New Frontier Series House of Cards by Peter David, M’k’n’zy of Calhoun, the future Captain Calhoun, goes through his own right of passage, when he is forced into the wilderness to escape capture. He faces his own savageness and has visions of people he will meet in his future. This forced Right, enables him to bring peace to his people and shapes him into the Captain he is in the main story. To describe the Captain and the mythos around him, his own words are best, “Who am I to judge you. .? I am someone who knows what it’s like to deal with someone like me.”

All of the stories mentioned in this essay of course contain all four elements of Myth. Each of them focus on a different aspect of one or more the characteristics. Some of them are myths breaking myths. Others are the very embodiment of the myth of the hero.