History Main / RoundedCharacter

!Please do not add examples to work pages; this merely [[Administrivia/DefinitionOnlyPages defines the term]].

Depending on the interaction of those three elements, the character's [[CharacterDevelopment arc]] is [[https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/write-character-arcs/ defined]]. The upbeat Transformation arcs are all about healing the Wound and realizing the internal Need, thus becoming better people in the end. This is accentuated in Redemption arcs, just with a more tortuous path to get there. Those are the positive arcs, on the other hand, we have the negative arcs where the character doesn't get to heal the Wound. Disillusionment arcs follow the same structure as the Transformation arc, but the Truth the character realizes to fill her Need is terrible, leading to a DownerEnding. In a Corruption Arc, which inverts the Redemption Arc, the character starts out actually acknowledging the Truth, but temptations seduce her to reject it and embrace the Lie and Want and stop trying to heal the Wound. Fall Arcs are a subversion of the Redemption Arcs because while the character pursues her Want and believes her Lie at the start, she soon comes to reject her Need and Truth at the critical moment where she should have gotten her epiphany, thus never healing the Wound.

A FlatCharacter may evolve into a three-dimensional character if they are {{dynamic|Character}}, and change according to what they experience. On the other hand, sometimes they don't need to change and remain {{Static Character}}s. The latter is what we call Flat Character Arcs where it is not the character herself who changes, but the world she lives in, often because of her actions. This kind of character is more or less at peace with the Wound and acknowledges her Need, but may still pursue her Want (just without the Lie). Alternatively, the character remains troubled by the Wound but refuses to change her ways.

[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/{{Batman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rounded_batman.png]]]]

Depending on the interaction of those three elements, the character's [[CharacterDevelopment arc]] is [[https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/write-character-arcs/ defined]]. The upbeat Transformation arcs are all about healing the Wound and realizing the internal Need, thus becoming better people in the end. This is accentuated in Redemption arcs, just with a more tortuous path to get there. Those are the positive arcs, on the other hand, we have the negative arcs where the character doesn't get to heal the Wound. Disillusionment arcs follow the same structure as the Transformation arc, but the Truth the character realizes to fill her Need is terrible, leading to a DownerEnding. In the Corruption Arc, the character starts out actually acknowledging the Truth, but temptations seduce her to reject it and embrace the Lie and Want and stop trying to heal the Wound. Fall Arcs are an inversion of the Redemption Arcs because while the character pursues her Want and believes her Lie at the start, she soon comes to reject her Need and Truth at the critical moment where she should have gotten her epiphany, thus never healing the Wound.

* [[https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/character-arcs-4/ Want]]: An external motivation, what the character is pursuing because she ''thinks'' it's what she needs to improve her life (thus, she believes a Lie). The Want varies depending on the character's socio-cultural context and status, her backstory, and her philosophy of life. The Want is usually what sparked (or got the character involved with) the external conflict (aka plot).
* [[https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/character-arcs-3/ Need]]: An internal motivation, often unknown to the character herself and what she actually needs to improve her life and herself as a person. The Need is deeply intertwined with how to circumvent the character's Wound and FatalFlaw. The Need is key to creating an internal conflict that will ultimately close both the character's arc and build up the tension for the climax of the plot. The epiphany needed to do so is called the character's Truth.
* [[https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/character-arcs-4/ Wound]]: Something that has hurt the character and made her use the Want as a coping mechanism or mistake the Want for the Need [[note]]Complex characters are often haunted by more than one trauma, however, the Wound is the trauma/mistake that has specifically generated the want[[/note]]. The Wound actively haunts the character at one point or another in the plot. To heal it, the character has to uncover and fulfill her Need.

* [[https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/character-arcs-4/ Wound]]: Something that has hurt the character and made her use the want as a coping mechanism or mistake the want for the need [[note]]Complex characters are often haunted by more than one trauma, however, the Wound is the trauma/mistake that has specifically generated the want[[/note]]. The Wound actively haunts the character at one point or another in the plot. To heal it, the character has to uncover and fulfill her Need.

Depending on the interaction of those three elements, the character's [[CharacterDevelopment arc]] is defined. The upbeat Transformation arcs are all about healing the Wound and realizing the internal Need, thus becoming better people in the end. This is accentuated in Redemption arcs, just with a more tortuous path to get there. Those are the positive arcs, on the other hand, we have the negative arcs where the character doesn't get to heal the Wound. Disillusionment arcs follow the same structure as the Transformation arc, but the Truth the character realizes to fill her Need is terrible, leading to a DownerEnding. In the Corruption Arc, the character starts out actually acknowledging the Truth, but temptations seduce her to reject it and embrace the Lie and Want and stop trying to heal the Wound. Fall Arcs are an inversion of the Redemption Arcs because while the character pursues her Want and believes her Lie at the start, she soon comes to reject her Need and Truth at the critical moment where she should have to get her epiphany (e.g. WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds), thus never healing the Wound.

A FlatCharacter may evolve into a three-dimensional character if they are {{dynamic|Character}}, and change according to what they experience. On the other hand, sometimes they don't need to change and remain {{Static Character}}s. The latter is what we call Flat Character Arcs where it is not the character herself who changes, but the world she lives in, often because of her actions. This kind of character is more or less at peace with the Wound and acknowledges her Need, but may still pursue her Want (just without the Lie). Alternatively, the character remains troubled by the Wound but refuses to change,

* [[https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/character-arcs-4/ Want]]: An external motivation, what the character is pursuing because she ''thinks'' it's what she needs to improve her life (thus, it's the character's Lie). The Want varies depending on their sociocultural context and status, their backstory, and their philosophies. The Want is usually what sparked (or got the character involved with) the external conflict (aka plot).

One of the basic traits of a character is [[CharacterDepth their depth]], or how complex they are. Some characters are two-dimensional {{Flat Character}}s, with one or a few defining traits that completely define who they are. Rounded Characters go beyond being a [[CharactersAsDevice stock character]] with some {{Backstory}} and HiddenDepths. They generally have a complex motivation driving them, and may act counter to what their 'type' would suggest. These are the kind of characters that have to struggle with choice.

A FlatCharacter may evolve into a three-dimensional character if they are {{dynamic|Character}}, and change according to what they experience. On the other hand, sometimes they don't need to change and remain {{Static Character}}s.