Line #140 Main/StaticCharacter


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4	->'''Principal Skinner''': If this episode has taught us anything, it's that nothing works better than the status quo. Bart, you're promoted back to the fourth grade.\
5	'''Bart''': Yeah!\
6	'''Principal Skinner:''' And Lisa, you have a choice. You may continue to be challenged in third grade, or return to second grade and be merely a big fish in a little pond.\
7	'''Lisa''': Big fish! Big fish!
8	-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS14E3BartVsLisaVsTheThirdGrade Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade]]"
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10	Change isn't always a [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools good thing]], nor necessary. Likewise some characters, be they {{rounded\|Character}} or {{flat\|Character}}, will end a story with pretty much the same personality and traits they began with. These Static Characters can go entire seasons or books without changing or experiencing the CharacterDevelopment that a more DynamicCharacter does. If they ever learn [[AnAesop a lesson]] that might make them change noticeably, they will always [[AesopAmnesia immediately forget all about it by the next episode]]. Learned nothing and forgotten nothing, if you will.
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12	This isn't necessarily a [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools bad thing]], as some characters don't NEED CharacterDevelopment. A badass for example does not have to [[BadassDecay decay into]] TheWoobie to stay an interesting character. While some consumers may embrace the evolution, others will cry out, "WeWantOurJerkBack" Such characters are useful in secondary roles, serving as yardsticks against which your central (and dynamic) character's growth can be a {{foil}}. If you want your Static Character ''in'' the central role, just enforce it internally, using a PygmalionSnapback or a painful collision with StatusQuoIsGod. Some comedies are built around characters whose personalities are set in stone and will never change, whatever happens. For that matter, every {{tragedy}} is built around characters whose personalities are set in stone and [[FatalFlaw will not change, whatever happens]].
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14	Also note that Static Characters are not by definition boring. Obviously, it helps if you've got a RoundCharacter, as exploring all their pre-existing facets can entertain without requiring character evolution. Furthermore, the introduction of HiddenDepths or an exploration of a DarkAndTroubledPast accomplishes similar things; while the character is [[ExactWords technically not evolving]], the audience's ''perception'' of the character very much does. And these characters are ripe for internal conflict, since we already know a fair bit about them. Interest can also be wrung out of exploring how and why the character stays so constant in the face of the dramatic events of the plot -- this can in itself be evidence of unusual [[TautologicalTemplar self-assurance]], [[{{Determinator}} determination]] or [[TheStoic unflappability]].
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16	Having said that, Flat Characters who are also Static may begin to get dull unless the author takes care to make them entertaining somehow, be they the ButtMonkey or perpetual FishOutOfWater.
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18	Despite their unchanging nature, a different personality during EarlyInstallmentWeirdness can still be a distinct possibility; Static Characters are frequently the result of {{Flanderization}}.
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20	Static Characters are not to be confused with the superhero ComicBook/{{Static}}.
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23	!Please do not add examples to work pages, this merely [[Administrivia/DefinitionOnlyPages defines the term]].
24	%%https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1652145681087904800&page=4#comment-89

Context Main / StaticCharacter