Many stories and symbols — the hero, the shadow, the wise old figure — appear across completely different cultures, as if the human mind shares inherited common patterns.

Archetypes are inherited mental patterns common to all human cultures.

Jung noticed that stories from Africa, Asia, and Europe, which never had contact with each other, use surprisingly similar symbols. He called these patterns archetypes and believed they come from a deeper layer of the mind shared by all humans, not just learned from local culture alone.

Why it matters The idea of archetypes shows up often today in the analysis of movies and folk tales worldwide.