Character Development is a "thing" and I hate it.

[Kukakkau]

Without character development you would have a story like this: "Joe is a farmer who earns a meager living, and is secretly in love with Jenny from the shop.... THE END" because nothing changes.

If you were going to make a story out of that Joe would have to develop and change to make things happen in the story

Yes character establishment IS important but not enough so to destroy and development.

Seriously imagine what your life would be like if from say the age of 13 nothing about you changed? Pretty boring/stupid life huh?

 

[CODE-D]

Without character development you would have a story like this: "Joe is a farmer who earns a meager living, and is secretly in love with Jenny from the shop.... THE END" because nothing changes.

If you were going to make a story out of that Joe would have to develop and change to make things happen in the story

Yes character establishment IS important but not enough so to destroy and development.

Seriously imagine what your life would be like if from say the age of 13 nothing about you changed? Pretty boring/stupid life huh?

Pretty spot on though.

 

[Woodsey]

'Character development' doesn't require a character to radically change their views or opinions. It could simply be the examination of a character as they are subjected to certain events. Sam Bell does not drastically change over the course of Moon, but the events he's subjected to present an interesting examination of his character. His character development is how the intricacies of his existing personality are unravelled.

Anyway, don't write mini-essays if you're not going to write coherently. Couldn't be arsed to read the rest.

 

[DarkRyter]

Really, I love character development.

It makes my dick rock hard.

 

[Zantos]

Character development is good as long as it's done well, the character changes and adapts through the different situations they encounter.

Character development consisting of just characters blurting out things about themselves at random times to try and flesh them out a bit is bad though. Honourable mention to people who complain every time a character appears who you don't find out every little detail about a character within thirty minutes of their introduction, they're pretty annoying.

 

[RobCoxxy]

OP is an idiot. Yes, you can flesh out a character beforehand, but the whole reason we have character development is so you learn their story and motivations.

If you just got "HEY, ASSHOLE, YOU'RE THIS GUY, BECAUSE THIS HAPPENED!"

That isn't fleshing out at all. That's a backstory with absolutely shitty exposition for a character we wouldn't give a fuck about.

Learning our character's motives as we progress IS fleshing out the character. Jesus.

 

[CODE-D]

OP is an idiot. Yes, you can flesh out a character beforehand, but the whole reason we have character development is so you learn their story and motivations.

If you just got "HEY, ASSHOLE, YOU'RE THIS GUY, BECAUSE THIS HAPPENED!"

That isn't fleshing out at all. That's a backstory with absolutely shitty exposition for a character we wouldn't give a fuck about.

Learning our character's motives as we progress IS fleshing out the character. Jesus.

Your the idiot, I said enough development that is fitting, doesnt detract from the story and not too much that it bores us/feels unecessary. spaghetti monster.

 

[BulletMagTrig]

Sick of unnesessary character development? You just tried to watch Bleach or Naruto didn't you?

Yeah I can see some problems if you play games and watch shows with bad or unnecessary character development. However, almost everything we love has character development which lets us understand who we are and what is our motivation. How this is done can be terrible or really creative.

Look at Angry Birds, pretty straight forwards. Throw birds at pigs' houses, but doesn't that leave a bit of a question? They included that little opening where the pigs steal the eggs for food to give you an understanding of the entire conflict with hardly 20 seconds and a few grunts.

Depending on what is going on, character development can be quick and easy. It can also result in wangst or obnoxious flashbacks if done wrong. Balance and effect are the key!

 

[ConstantErasing]

A character that doesn't develop isn't interesting. Admittedly if a character changes at the drop of a hat then that is boring too, but that is not what character development is. Also even if a character doesn't change a long flashback explaining them (assuming they are somewhat enigmatic, I admit it can be boring otherwise) can be extraordinarily entertaining as well as add interest to an otherwise boring and flat character. I have never found character development to be a bad thing, it just fleshes out the characters and makes them, and the whole story, more dynamic and interesting.

 

[Spacewolf]

Yeah, character development is kind of overrated. You know who is basically a static character? Odysseus. (In fact, most of Homer's characters are static.)

Character development *can* be part of a good story, but many very good stories are told without much character development at all. I agree with OP that TV shows in particular often fall into the trap of too much character development - an episode where a character changes is all fine and good, but when you pile up changes on each character each season, it gets to a point where it becomes silly.

im not sure character development means they keeps changing their veiws its just presenting more insight into the characters motives.

 

[Atmos Duality]

It's best to ignore characters entirely if they aren't going to be included beyond mechanical necessity. Games should be about the gameplay first, but that doesn't mean character stories shouldn't exist within gaming.

Development is far far better than stereotyping and cliche' (ignoring satire and humor, of course), because it allows for the explanation of motivation, and that allows the audience/player to understand, relate or connect with the material.

What the original argument ignores however, is that we don't need an exposition dump to create good character development.

Character development can occur because of subtly and clever design; not just good writing.
Going in to meet a detective in a game, you might notice he has an old tobacco box in his office filled with knickknacks. Without saying a word, printing a line of text, or even seeing his face, you might learn something about that character.

 

[CODE-D]

Yeah, character development is kind of overrated. You know who is basically a static character? Odysseus. (In fact, most of Homer's characters are static.)

Character development *can* be part of a good story, but many very good stories are told without much character development at all. I agree with OP that TV shows in particular often fall into the trap of too much character development - an episode where a character changes is all fine and good, but when you pile up changes on each character each season, it gets to a point where it becomes silly.

im not sure character development means they keeps changing their veiws its just presenting more insight into the characters motives.

thats what I like.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Yeah, character development is kind of overrated. You know who is basically a static character? Odysseus. (In fact, most of Homer's characters are static.)

Character development *can* be part of a good story, but many very good stories are told without much character development at all. I agree with OP that TV shows in particular often fall into the trap of too much character development - an episode where a character changes is all fine and good, but when you pile up changes on each character each season, it gets to a point where it becomes silly.

im not sure character development means they keeps changing their veiws its just presenting more insight into the characters motives.

You might be thinking exploration of characters. Character development is something that only occurs in dynamic characters - characters that change during the story.

 

[manaman]

Words mean differently to different people..sorry?

That's it everyone. Go home. English is all in your head, and you can't really read this.

Gobboldy goo laba maodafe aneos me aytaew!

Can't read that? Tough shit, cause it means I am right and if you can't understand what I am saying that is your fault.

Good day sir.

 

[RobCoxxy]

Your the idiot, I said enough development that is fitting, doesnt detract from the story and not too much that it bores us/feels unecessary. spaghetti monster.

You're, doesn't, unnecessary.


Before firing idiot comments back, avoid spelling and punctuation errors.

 

[Sir Prize]

Character Development is a thing now. Course its always been a thing but not as announced as it has been of late such as people saying "this show is so great/better than (insert show) for it has character development". That to me is like hearing from 80s ads saying "this game is great it has graphics". Sure character development is good and needed (sometimes) but it should never be the focus of something or be the reason something is good. If characters are constantly constantly changing their views based on change in circumstances(especially similar) it seems they have lost all resolve and are fickle. Now Im not talking about differentiation like a character being cool with something but then not because of how its done and says it should be done a better way, thats cool. Im talking about if it is repeated so often it loses merit and meaning(as a defining moment/change) until we end up saying we get it, we get it.....we know your views get on with the story.

The other kind of character development I am even less tolerant of the more there is, especially if it is unnecessary/uninteresting and that is a characters background and why they are the way they are. In real life, someone would usually explain to you why this is there view(and its usually a relevant and important one) and thats that but most of the time real people have a resolve and dont really feel they need a reason they just do, some introspective of why is good but as a focus its boring. But in media you have the ability to express these with flashbacks, origin stories, preguel etc.....However it doesnt mean you should spend a load of time on it. One chapter if a book and half an episode if a show is enough.




In short, character development should not be a thing of focus but extra(and suddle, not announced). Especially one that makes a show good or an excuse of why a show is good.
More important is character establishment, dialogue, personalities(that can reference characters past but not a focus), plot and plot relevance. Characters can change but constant/unneeded change can be worse than none. If characters are changing for plot reasons then that is a big fail in character establishment, which I find more important.


In shorter short
character establishment > development
or
Is > why/how

Well GOOD character developemt and explaination doesn't happen in one chapter or over and over, it gradually takes place through a story. All the examples your giving here are BAD examples of how it is done, since good character development takes time and isn't sudden and constantly changing. A character grows, they don't become a completely different person!

However most pieces with interesting characters have some form of character development, so hating on character development is a little silly. Hating BAD character development is okay but please understand that there is a difference.