Describe an archetype in your world
Describe an archetype in your world
The Reflection
Communists of the Transformatsiya religion believe in the reflection archetype, which is a mirrored version of themselves and a manifestation of that which they repressed.
The spiritual entity Tanisha is a manifestation of the collective reflection of the pre-historic Merikans. This is why she contains seemingly contradictory qualities. She exists in the image of a trans lesbian Red Army girl, because these were both repressed by different groups of Merikans. She was created in 2004, and the Red Army was of interest and relevance to the Merikans at that time through multiple works of historical fiction.
There is also a mythological origin of Tanisha, which is not "real" in context, but is simply a story and is interpreted as such by the followers of her religion. The KGB agent Masha Zakayeva was impregnated by the CIA agent Lucas Walker. She gave birth to Tanisha who was given the birth name Sam Walker. Sam had to be hidden from the Merikan shadow government, so he was secretly adopted by the Kyle family. Eventually Sam transitioned to Elisa, then Tanisha split off as her reflection with the intent of protecting her. Elisa lived an ordinary life as a middle class liberal and had a girlfriend. Tanisha began collaborating with radical Merikan communists. Eventually Elisa discovered Tanisha and was angry and distraught and had no idea how she could become such a person. Her girlfriend ends up leaving her. Eventually Elisa ends up embracing the radical nature of Tanisha rather then the ordinary life of mediocrity that had been planned for her.
What's an archetype? Like a mythical stereotype or character trope? Or a kind of deity? Or a psychological archetype, like the id or ego?
It's both a psychological archetype and a mythological trope. Both fiction and one's inner world can be analyzed using this archetype.
The USSR could be seen as a reflection of the collective American psyche. The Americans hated the USSR because of things they hated about themselves. (I am not defending the USSR, and I try to make that a point within the lore.) American complained about communists sending people to the gulag, yet they have millions of people in prison, often for crimes related to simply not being part of the conservative utopian vision.
A way of putting it could be that it's easy to see the reflection of one's own inner darkness in other people then to confront it in oneself.