Character Evolution

I've rarely developed a story to the point of actually getting around to writing it, but I've created enough characters that some of them have been developed to the point that they've gone through radical changes. (I thought that this thread could be a good place to discuss this phenomenon)

• A heavily scarred Ambiguously Evil mage who would later end up pulling a Heel–Face Turn eventually became an unambiguously good mage who was also former soldier with PTSD
• A character who was prone to navel gazing and was a bit of a Cloud Cuckoo Lander eventually became the Only Sane Man and The Kirk of his group

I've also had a couple characters who I eventually realized were unintentional Spiritual Sucessors of characters who I'd shelved for the time being

• A strong willed major villain whose backstory involved growing up very poor before becoming wealthy by joining the Evil Empire and has a great distaste for the lower class. One of my main characters shows some influences from her, as she shares the same backstory and possesses a great deal of power, but she is morally good and shows hints of being The Woman Wearing The Queenly Mask
• And one of the weirdest examples I've had involves a pair of characters who I accidentally made so similar that you could consider them Flanderized versions of the same characters
  • A pessimistic Agnostic Atheist and an optimistic Agnostic Theist who form an Odd Friendship, with some minor Ho Yay. This somehow turned into an anti-theist atheist and a pious cleric who eventually become lovers.

edited 26th Aug '14 11:55:00 AM by TheMuse

I have been working on my current story for long enough and with little enough happening beyond planning that I have observed this on numerous occasions. Here are a few that I found particularly interesting:

• A minor antagonist in the story began life as a kind of overzealous but corrupt cop with ties to racist ultranationalist organisations and a twisted personal sense of justice. He was originally scheduled to bail on his partner, a close friend, and then meet a horrible death at the hands of a much more dangerous character. Over time, he became much more sympathetic and nuanced figure, with his ties to both the fascist groups and the aforementioned murderer become clearer and stranger all at once, and his connection to his partner growing stronger and more ambiguous. He is still a dark character, but for entirely different reasons, and I have no intention of offing him... yet.
• A similar character working with the would-be killer of the above ended up having his personality and traits split between two very different characters: One with the basic past and hangups of the character (sort of a neutral/heroic figure); and another with the world-view, mannerisms and general narcissism of the old character (not very nice at all). The latter has seen more mileage—he's fun to write—but the former is still kicking around.
• Another minor character of ill portent literally ended up being three different people with interconnected plans and very similar traits. There is a very good plot reason for this, but explaining it out of context would make little sense. Suffice it to say, it involved the radical revision of a bizarre conspiracy theory on which a good part of the plot hinged. The resultant characters are not so egotistical or hubris-afflicted as their prototype, but all are similarly flamboyant and divorced from moral norms (although not "evil," per se).
• The sort of living MacGuffin who is the protagonist of the main story has steadily become more interesting with the development of the story from surrealist sword-and-sorcery send-up to something much less comfortable or describable. Suffice it to say, he's mostly a pleasant and genuinely well-intentioned fellow, but there is a spooky squirrelliness to him that comes out more and more as I think about who and what he is. Ever seen the Doctor Who arc "The Waters of Mars"? Remember the crazy victory rant? Keep that in mind.

I've had multiple characters become sort of Ensemble Dark Horse and much more focused upon. I had a pair that was originally Those Two Guys before I started developing one further and he ended up becoming a major character

Another major villain eventually had less of an appearance in the plot but simultaneously became more developed and complicated