Same Story New Name, Harry Potter and Star Wars

Reminds me of an SNL sketch they did recently where these guys were talking about their live but getting called on it as plots from movies.

Nothing new under the sun is there?

You could do the same exact thing using a synopsis of almost any heroic epic (which is what both HP and SW are). It’s because any good epic uses at least a few common characteristics from the hero archetype. Shall we review?
(I’ll also throw in some goodies from the legend of Perseus just to make my point.)
1. Prophecy about them- H had prophecy that he would defeat Voldy, L had prophecy that he would bring balance, P had prophecy he would kill his grandpa
2. Leaves family or land and lives with others- H lives with aunt & uncle, so does L, P is raised by a fisherman
3. An event leads to adventure or quest- H finds out he’s a wizard, L finds out he’s a jedi, P is tricked into promising to kill a gorgon
4. Hero has a special weapon only he can wield- H has wand, L has light saber, P has sword from Hermes
5. Hero always has supernatural help- H gets help from wizards, L gets help from jedis, P gets help from gods
6. The Hero must prove himself many times while on adventure- I’m not gonna tell you the whole plot of HP, SW, and P, but you get the idea
The point is, no matter what epic you look at, you’re GOING to find similarities. That’s not because anyone is ripping anyone else off, it’s just because they’re all following the hero archetype.
If you’re curious about the hero archetype or the hero’s journey, you can look at these sites.
http://www.krucli.com/the_hero's_journey.htm
http://www.tatsbox.com/hero/