In many cultures, the hero's journey is ritualized as a rite of passage marking the shift from childhood to adulthood. In these rites the young person is physically removed from family and community and put through study and training that culminates in a series of tests. When he succeeds in passing these tests, he is returned to the village, but now having a new place. No longer thought of as or treated like a child, the young person takes his place in the adult community.