Character Analysis
If the Hero is Baby Bear (just right), and the Queen of the World is Mama Bear (too cold), then you know we need a Papa Bear to provide the too hot.
And by "too hot," we mean: "the dude that the hero has to off in order to fulfill his journey."Yeah: Campbell really is all about the Freud, and you don't get more Freudian than killing your pops in order to come into your own. Plus, the Father is usually a bit of a jerk; he's a stern, disapproving Bad Daddy.
Although sometimes, the Hero can realize that his dad is more of a Mufasa than a Scar. The circle of life needs to be completed, and the Hero needs to realize that he's a lot like his dear ol' dad.
Atonement (at-one-ment) consists in no more than the abandonment of that self-generated double monster—the dragon thought to be God (superego) and the dragon thought to be Sin (repressed id). But this requires an abandonment of the attachment to ego itself; and that is what is difficult. One must have a faith that the father is merciful, and then a reliance on that mercy. (119.2)
In order to take the father's place, the hero needs to atone with the father, forgive the father, be forgiven by the father, and thus realize that he and the father are one. You've seen this before, we think, when Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker make up at the end of Return of the Jedi.
That George Lucas, he knew what he was talking about.