Character Arc

On the website Elements of Cinema, character arc is defined as "the notion that characters must evolve, grow, learn, or change as the plot unfolds. The audience in general expects a character to finish the movie in a higher position than that in which he started."  Christopher Vogler asserts that all stories must have this element in order for it to be compelling.  I completely with agree with this statement.  In every story the main character has some kind of flaws that are inhibiting them from attaining what they desire.  The flaws direct the character to evolve and develop throughout the story.  The "...character develop(ment) from condition A to condition Z through a series of steps," (Vogler, 33) is the character arc.

A character arc also does not need to be on just the protagonist, it could be presented through other characters in the story which means that a character arc is still necessary.  Vogler uses an example from Beverly Hills Cop.  The main character is fully developed at the beginning of the story and has little or no change by the stories end.  However, the change happens to his friends in the story. (Vogler, 37)

The character arc does not have a specific formula so it can be either a positive one or a negative one.  An up-hill arc is the most common and is usually the happy-ending in most stories.  The guys wins the girl, the lost gets found, someone gets wealthier, etc.  Good defeats evil.  For example in Erin Brockovich, Julia Robert’s character goes from jobless and a single-mother to having a successful job and boyfriend.  In the beginning viewers see her as trashy and not serious about herself.  The conclusion shows her as a very serious, well kept, and professional woman.  However in a down-hill  character arc the outcome is usually the sad, dark and or serious ending.  These characters almost develop backwards.  In the movie Seven, Brad Pitt’s character is very jump-the-gun and acts on instinct without thinking things over.  His character develops in the film very little and if anything he becomes more and more careless.  In the end his flaws are what gets the best of him and he is thus defeated by the antagonist.

Based on Vogler’s breakdown of the character arc, it could be argued that the character arc is another representation of the hero’s journey.  Vogler presents a side-by-side 12-step character arc that mimics the 12 steps of the hero’s journey.  He does the same thing with breaking it down into acts and as a repeating cycle much like the ones seen for the hero’s journey.  This representation of a character arc makes it seem necessary in every story because ultimately it is the story.