What Is A Character Arc? Examples And How To Write Them

What is a Character Arc?

When dealing with storytelling with characters, the most important decision is whether a character is active or static. An active character is sometimes called a dynamic character, as they change within a story. This is how we usually see character arcs develop, as the character’s experiences cause them to undergo a new path or perspective in some way. Static characters do not change. While this may seem counterintuitive to a character arc, you can develop a character arc around a character who does not change. These characters can prove just as interesting as dynamic ones.

In most cases, your character arc will likely surround an active character as their arc will probably be about taking them from one place, either physically or psychologically, to another place. What a character arc means for a writer is that it is a way to show a progression or regression in the story of a character. At least four types of character arcs help establish a sense of movement in a character’s story. Yes, there can sometimes be a lack of movement, which is a legitimate option for a character arc, as we’ll see.

Four Types of Character Arcs

Here are four types of character arcs with some examples. Most character arcs in any comic, book, movie, or show, can be classified under one of these four character development arcs. Remember, these character arcs can be great elements to work into an OC’s description on CharacterHub.

Positive Change

A positive change character arc is fairly common as readers love watching characters grow, often for the better. You may also hear it referred to as a moral ascending arc. Such an arc can feel like the default, though there is nothing wrong with that, as many great stories feature such a character arc. Many fables and fairy tales feature positive changes in character arcs as they may be tied to teaching a lesson.

A great example of this type of story would be Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove, where Kuzco’s journey makes him a better person. He still has his many, many negative characteristics, but they have been tempered into something more socially acceptable and empathetic. In trope terms, he is the Jerk with a Heart of Gold.

Negative Change

A negative change character arc can often be a compelling one. This style of arc leans into the human interest in seeing bad things happen to other people (or non-humans, as some of us write about aliens or demons, after all). Another term for this type of arc would be a moral descending arc. Such character development arcs emphasize a moral failing or an inability to change, resulting in dire consequences. The meaning of these character arcs is often derived from studying the central personality flaw of a character and taking that flaw to its logical extreme.

A great example of a negative change character arc would be in the television series Breaking Bad. The lead character of Walter White embraces his criminality and becomes a more dangerous, but more compelling person, with dire consequences. Walter White’s primary flaws are his ego and weakness. His story explores the deadly consequences of his inability to come to terms with these flaws, destroying his life and family in the process.

Positive No-Change

One’s ideals and sticking to them is a primary hallmark of a positive no-change character arc. These types of character arcs are about testing a character’s resolve or worldview and having them pull through, having shown their position is valid. Such a character usually has a superior moral position in a corruptible world - think of Captain America in Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Civil War, for example. Or they are just a nicer person and their character arc explores how being such a person wins the day.

A great example of such a character arc comes from the comedy movie Legally Blonde. In this movie, the lead character, Elle Woods stays true to her personality and sense of self, despite the pressures and expectations placed on her by everyone affiliated with the college and the larger legal conflict that comes into play later in the plot. She is undoubtedly Elle Woods at the beginning of the film, and she is undoubtedly Elle Woods at the end, yet she still has a compelling character arc.

Negative No-Change

Sticking to one’s ideals can be admirable, but can also be foolish and dangerous at times. In the case of a negative no-change character arc, a character’s stubborn inability to move on or give away a little results in negative consequences. Character arcs about steadfast individuals who refuse to adapt typically emphasize their inability to get over something. Sometimes it can be trauma, or sometimes it could just be that they’re stubborn and refuse to grow or accept a reality other than that they are comfortable with.

The musical Les Misérables features a great example of a negative no-change character arc. The character of Javert, a police inspector, is so steadfast in his views of God and justice that he pursues the lead character, Jean Valjean, refusing to understand what true justice is. In the end, Javert’s inability to change when confronted by something that contrasts with his beliefs drives him to take his own life - Javert is dead and he never changed. Yet his character arc is illuminating and dramatically compelling.

Why are Character Arcs Essential?

Understanding the difference between character arcs and plots helps put into perspective why character arcs are so essential. While you should have both to tell an effective story, they are used differently. Plot-centric storytelling is like taking the bird’s eye view of events and the broad movements of the story; you get a sense of the pieces and how they connect. You can often derive a larger meaning from this storytelling, but it ultimately feels a little more mechanical.

After all, what is the journey of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, but a swordsmith and a pirate trying to rescue the governor’s daughter from ghostly pirates? I mean, it sounds fun, especially the bit about ghost pirates. However, we derive our memories of the film from the character development.

A character arc tends to be like putting a singular experience under a microscope to understand how events affect an individual. We often can pull more meaning from these stories because they play out on a more personal level. While the plot can effect everyone, when we want to see the specifics, we can turn to character arcs. In The Curse of the Black Pearl, Will comes to terms with his heritage to a degree and declares his love for Elizabeth, Elizabeth declares her agency, and Jack Sparrow finally achieves some semblance of notoriety on his terms. All of their arcs are achieved through the plot.

So, when we deal with character arcs and plots, the plots may be the reason why characters do what they do, but the arcs are the reason we as readers would care about the events in most cases. We forge connections to characters, and not necessarily plots. What marks the journey in the Lord of the Rings so adored is not the act of moving a ring to a volcano… it’s those who have to take on the burden.

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How to Write a Character Arc

With the importance of character arcs in mind, let’s look at the process of developing one. You’ll be answering many questions ahead, but for good reason. The more questions you can answer, the better position you’ll be in to craft a compelling character development arc.

Who Are They?

How well do you know your character? It may be a little strange to start here as a question, but depending on the characters, their role in the story, and their purpose in the plot, you may need to know them better than people in your own life!

It is essential to have a good character biography to pull from as you develop their arc. That doesn’t mean you need an entire Wikipedia-style database about them, but you at least need to put some serious thought into things that matter.

The Star Wars prequel trilogy established some key elements about Anakin Skywalker’s background that lead into his character arc: the mysterious nature of his birth, his uncanny abilities at such a young age, and his difficulty in letting go of attachments. If we were building Anakin Skywalker an arc from the ground up, we’d want those background details established.

Usually, if you have a background for a character in mind, chances are you already have an idea about their potential arc. If a character needs a background, chances are they have a larger role in a story. If anything, this step is just helping you lock in some ideas you already had. At least write them down. These details are great things to hammer out over a roleplay session.

What Do They Want (or Need)?

The motivation of a character is often what drives their journey. Characters have wants and needs. A want may be the external desire they are manifesting, but the need is something that will bring them internal balance that they may not be aware of. In many stories, a character may set out to achieve something they want, but end up discovering what they need instead. It’s a common trope, so much so that Disney’s The Princess and the Frog even devoted an entire toe-tapping song to the concept.

VIDEO EMBED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v7QQbJO6aw

Caption: It’s a little on the nose, but it makes sense.

Understanding a character’s wants and needs, often derived from the background developed in the previous step, is what will kick off a character arc. And remember, a want is not something a character must set out on an adventure for. In The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins wished to remain comfy in his home, but what he needed was purpose (and one wizard and thirteen dwarves). In the opposite case, think of something like How To Train Your Dragon. Hiccup wished to escape his Viking world as he was unable to fit in, but he needed to stay and help build a better world more accepting of himself and the dragons.

So, when figuring out the issue of wants vs. needs in character arcs, consider phrasing it as a fill-in-the-blank statement: “my character wants ____, but what they need is ____.”

What Is In Their Way?

Another vital part of a character arc is addressing what external and internal challenges a character must overcome. Conflict is the essence of storytelling and without conflict, you have no real way to create a character arc. Even static arcs, where a character does not change, still have something that is trying to change them, such as society. Most conflicts fall under some core conflicts, such as character vs. self, character vs. society, and character vs. character. Something inevitably gets in the way of what the character is pursuing (the aware-of want or unaware-of need), and proper planning of such obstacles can really sell the character arc.

A great example of an obstacle getting in the way of a character’s arc is the anime Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. In this story, the elf Frieren lives a long period and survives the passing of members of the adventuring party she journeyed with nearly a century prior. Her nature is the obstacle in learning how to understand friendships and the passage of times of the people in her life, that she has never quite been able to forge a connection with. She wants to better understand those around her, even if their lives are shorter. She needs to be able to develop emotional connections to those people who matter to her. Her obstacle is living in a different scale of time and her somewhat aloof and isolated nature as an elf.
Whatever their conflict, it is something that should be mentioned in their character profile. Such elements are essential to understanding a character.

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Are They the Star?

Depending on your character’s role, their journey may or may not be part of the primary plot. While we are principally concerned about character arcs for primary characters, in the ever-expanding world of interconnected narrative universes, you never know what character may take off and be explored later. Usually, though, the way we experience a story is tied to the lead character and their character arc. This also applies to secondary characters as well, as usually there is enough about them to help make their arcs part of the overall experience. Such traits to be explored in character arcs can be quite fun to figure out.

Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy does an amazing job of being able to balance character arcs between the protagonist and secondary characters, resulting in rich, emotional character arcs. The lead of the film, Star-Lord, has the most narratively complex and fulfilling arc among the larger group of Guardians, but it also goes to service the arcs of the other Guardians as well. All of the Guardians have a central need: family. They all arrive at their found family in different ways and at different paces within the plot, but it all culminates in the emotional scene of them holding hands, directly tied to Star-Lord’s realization of his need for family.

YOUTUBE EMBED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLM-bmdTuy0

Caption: It still makes me cry every time I see it.

Can You Tie It All Together?

Can a character arc work in concert with other arcs and within a larger plot? Absolutely. The key is to think about convergence points where a character development intersects with another moment. One character’s moment of realization may be best tied to another character’s realization of a plot point or even their own development for example. For example, if we look at the Star Wars movie The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader’s character arcs see significant developments during their duel on Bespin. These two arcs are tied to one another, but also they are the climax of the plot as well.

In Back to the Future, Marty McFly learns to accept his parents are real people after having motivated and befriended his father. The plot may be Marty trying to get back to his timeline before it is erased, but the reason his journey is compelling is that he can see his parents as real people as a result, even befriending his teenage father during a time of need.

Can you see where this is going? Most character arcs tend to culminate at the climax of the plot. When a character is tested most, that is the place where their internal and external obstacles press hardest against them and they grow or shrink. Smaller beats in a character arc may occur anywhere, but chances are the most impactful moments are tied to the climax of the overall plot.

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Put Your Arc Through Its Paces on CharacterHub

Having had a chance to consider the importance of character development arcs and how they play out in different stories, where do you stand? If you’re looking for suggestions or feedback on any character development or character design decisions for your OCs, remember that CharacterHub is full of fantastic resources to take advantage of. Any number of character development activities can be shared on the site.

For example, CharacterHub’s weekly quizzes can provide insightful development questions that help you gain a better understanding of your character and their motivations. You can even use CharacterHub’s social spaces feature to write your notes and ideas for a character’s journey and ask the larger community for feedback. If you really want to get in character, you can even use the on-site roleplay features. You can gain insight through interacting with other characters and get a sense of how your character might respond to any situation.

So, what are the steps on your character development journey for your OC? Share it with us on CharacterHub or social media - we’d love to know!