Visual Imagery & Symbols:

• The Struck Tower: Lightning from above, divine intervention

• The Lightning Bolt: Sudden illumination, divine fire, revelation

• The Crown Falling: False authority toppled, ego destruction

• The Falling Figures: Forced change, ejection from false security

• The Dark Sky: Storm of change, upheaval

• The Twenty-two Flames: Hebrew letters, divine communication through destruction

• The Rocky Ground: Hard landing, harsh truth

• The Impossible Height: Pride before the fall, reaching too high

 

Landscape

High places, storm locations, earthquake zones, places of sudden change

 

Tools & Objects

Lightning rods, demolition tools, alarm systems, emergency equipment, Tall tower, lightning bolt, falling figures, crown, flames, rocky ground, destruction debris, crumbling walls, divine fire, sudden change symbols, upheaval markers, broken foundations, falling masonry, storm clouds, dramatic lighting, chaos symbols, revelation flash, ego destruction, awakening shock

 

Colors

Black, yellow (lightning), red (fire), stark contrasts

 

Physical Manifestations

Sudden falling, shocked expressions, explosive movements, structural collapse

 

Archetypes

Angry Chef, Anti-Hero, Coward, Creepy Twins, Destroyer, Loose Cannon/Crooked Cop, Troubled Teenager, Turncoat

 

Associated Traits

Revolutionary, Awakening, Truth-telling, Liberating, Shocking, Revealing, Breakthrough, Honest, Transformative, Bold. Reverse: Destructive, Violent, Chaotic, Unstable, Explosive, Reckless, Dangerous, Disruptive, Shocking, Devastating

 

​

Emotional Profile: The Tower

The Tower feels like a demolition expert who's just realized the building they're standing in is the one scheduled for destruction, simultaneously exhilarated by the raw power of truth and transformation, yet terrified by the chaos they unleash when comfortable lies crumble, so they speak devastating honesty with revolutionary fervor while secretly grieving for the beautiful illusions that must be shattered for authentic foundations to emerge.

 

Core Emotional State:

• Revolutionary urgency - Burning drive to expose falsehoods and tear down corrupt or outdated structures

• Truth-telling compulsion - Irresistible need to reveal what others would prefer to keep hidden

• Destructive clarity - Sharp insight that cuts through pretense and comfortable self-deceptions

• Catalytic energy - Electric sense of being an agent of necessary but painful change

• Liberation excitement - Fierce joy at breaking free from constraining beliefs and systems

 

Underlying Emotional Currents:

• Prophetic isolation - Loneliness of seeing what others refuse to acknowledge

• Guilt about destruction - Conflict between necessity of truth and pain it causes others

• Addictive intensity - High from dramatic revelations and explosive moments of change

• Protective anger - Fury at systems that exploit or deceive vulnerable people

• Impatient righteousness - Frustration with gradual change when crisis demands immediate action

 

Shadow Emotions (What The Tower Tries to Avoid):

• Fear of their own power - Terror that their truth-telling might cause irreparable harm

• Shame about chaos - Guilt when their revelations destroy more than just falsehoods

• Grief about loss - Mourning for the beauty and security that truth sometimes destroys

• Anxiety about aftermath - Worry about what comes next after the foundations crumble

• Loneliness of the messenger - Isolation from being associated with bad news and upheaval

 

Emotional Triggers:

• Willful blindness - Rage when others choose comfortable lies over difficult truths

• Systemic corruption - Fury at institutions that exploit their power to harm others

• False security - Impatience with those who cling to obviously unstable foundations

• Gaslighting - Explosive anger when others deny reality or manipulate perceptions

• Gradual reform - Frustration when incremental change ignores urgent need for revolution

 

How The Tower Processes Emotions:

• Explosively - Releases intense feelings in sudden, dramatic bursts rather than gradual expression

• Truthfully - Refuses to sugar-coat or deny difficult emotions and their causes

• Dramatically - Experiences and expresses emotions with theatrical intensity and passion

• Immediately - Acts on emotional impulses quickly rather than deliberating extensively

• Destructively - Sometimes processes feelings by breaking or ending things that feel false or constraining

 

This emotional profile makes The Tower compelling because their courage to expose truth and destroy harmful systems can liberate others from oppression and self-deception, but their tendency toward dramatic destruction and the chaos they create drives internal conflict about whether their revolutionary approach causes more harm than healing.

 

 

Plotting the Tower Story

The Beginning: Your protagonist has built their life on a foundation they believe is solid and permanent. They might have a secure career they've worked years to establish, a relationship they thought was unshakeable, a belief system that's guided their entire life, or a carefully constructed identity that defines who they are. They feel safe and established in their tower of certainty, perhaps even proud of what they've built.

 

The Inciting Incident: Without warning, everything collapses. They're suddenly fired, their partner leaves unexpectedly, they discover their beliefs were based on lies, their health fails catastrophically, or a scandal destroys their reputation. The collapse is swift, shocking, and feels completely beyond their control - like lightning striking their carefully built tower.

 

The Journey: Your protagonist tumbles through the wreckage of their former life, experiencing shock, denial, and devastating loss. They must survive in the rubble of what they once considered permanent, learning to navigate a world where all their old assumptions no longer apply. Initially, they may desperately try to rebuild exactly what they lost.

 

The Central Conflict: They struggle between clinging to the debris of their old life and accepting that it's truly gone. They may blame external forces, other people, or cruel fate for their destruction. The hardest part is realizing that their foundation was flawed from the beginning - built on illusions, false security, or structures that couldn't withstand the test of truth.

 

The Transformation: They gradually understand that the collapse, while painful, was necessary. Their old life was constraining them or being built on shaky ground. They learn to see the destruction as liberation from structures that were limiting their growth, even if they felt safe and familiar.

 

The Resolution: The protagonist begins rebuilding on a more authentic, flexible foundation. They've learned that true security comes not from rigid structures but from their ability to adapt and survive change. What emerges from the ruins is often more genuine and resilient than what was destroyed. They've gained the wisdom that comes from losing everything and discovering they can still continue.

 

This works for stories about corporate downfall, relationship betrayal, spiritual crisis, identity destruction, or any narrative about sudden, complete life upheaval that ultimately leads to authentic rebuilding.