Vogler, Memo From the Story Department:
The hero comes across a seasoned traveler of the worlds who gives him or her training, equipment, or advice that will help on the journey. Or the hero reaches within to a source of courage and wisdom.
When the hero needs a kick in the pants to get going on his or her adventure, the Mentor comes in to help. The Mentor’s job is to prepare the hero for the unknown. Sometimes this includes training the hero, giving him or her equipment, knowledge, or advice that will help him or her on the journey. The Mentor sometimes accompanies the hero on part of the journey, but can only go so far before the hero must venture out alone.
Batty - Movies That Move Us:
Physically, an actual figure, or something surfacing within the protagonist himself, appears, representing the benign, protecting power of destiny. This Mentor is required to push the protagonist past the physical blockades currently being experienced, willing him to undertake the journey called upon. The Mentor provides physical tools or weapons necessary to accomplish the journey, trains the protagonist in how to use them, and imparts crucial knowledge, advice or skill that he may require later in the story. The Mentor assures the protagonist that his current dilemma is being supported, and that such support will continue throughout the journey.
Vogler, Memo From the Story Department:
The hero seeks out a source of wisdom and inner strength, Overcoming Fear (equivalent to Meeting with the Mentor).
Palmer - http://www.crackingyarns.com.au/2011/04/04/a-new-character-driven-heros-journey-2/
Step 4: Encouraged (Meeting with the Mentor)
The Meeting with the Mentor is one of the most misunderstood phases of the Hero’s Journey. In some films, the hero does at this point meet with an older, wiser figure. Obi Wan in Star Wars and Mr Keating in Dead Poets Society are classic mentor archetypes whose sage advice helps encourage their novitiates to overcome their fears and go on the journey.
However, the “Mentor” isn’t necessarily avuncular and the advice is not always wise.
In Moonstruck, Loretta’s mother, Rose, is thrilled to discover that her daughter only likes rather than loves her fiancé Johnny “because when you love them they drive you crazy – because they can”.
In The King’s Speech, Bertie is forced to reconsider working with the Antipodean speech therapist because his father, King George V, impresses on him the importance of broadcasting for the modern monarch and yet is entirely unsympathetic to his son’s profound speech difficulties.
In Tootsie, Michael Dorsey’s agent is similarly unsupportive when he tells his client that “no-one will hire you”. But this only plays into Michael’s ego – his flaw – and goads him to audition for the female role his girlfriend, Sandy, missed out on.