The character arc is fairly simple.
The character is morally deficient in
some way, is “needful”, that is, needs something that will fill
the gap. The character may well be unaware of his/her lack, or
desperate to hide it.
The character WANTS something. This
goal is not the same as his/her need. In fact the real story lies in
the friction between what the character WANTS and what, for the
purposes of growth, happiness, equilibrium etc, he/she NEEDS to fill
his/her deficiency.
Between the Character and what he/she
wants is the obstacle. If there was no obstacle, there is no story.
In simple terms the obstacle is the opponent and on the bald face of
it defeating the opponent and gaining the object of the
hero/heroine's desire is the end of the story.
Ah, but...
It's not so simple.
Because the goal and the need are
different, it is possible (nay, probable, in a properly constructed
story) that obtaining the goal is the WORST POSSIBLE outcome for the
character, morally. His/her heart's desire will be his/her
undoing...or rather, his/her moral flaw will undo him/her if he/she
hasn't filled the moral hole at his/her core, and obtaining what he/she wants without
obtaining what he/she NEEDS is, from a story point of view, fatal.
Consider Citizen Cane, for instance.
Very often, in the pursuit of the hero
or heroine's heart's desire, the moral compass is lost and the “good
guy” starts to behave like the “bad guy”. Pretty soon James
Bond is impossible to distinguish from SMERSH, and you get Smiley vs
Karla instead.
Another way to look at it is that the
story is the universe testing the character flaw to destruction.
Change or die, if not actually, then certainly metaphorically.
Stories are all extended metaphors designed to explore one aspect of
the human condition.
Anyway, the character arc.
So we have our hero or heroine wanting
something but encountering an obstacle. So now he/she needs a plan.
He/she needs to act. And as the universe in the form of his/her
opponent reacts, we have the struggle. The plan and then the battle.
The war, even.
And at some stage the hero or heroine
has to realise the truth about him/herself. The central, undeniable,
black and unpalatable truth.
Then it is time for that last moral
decision. It comes down to this:
Gain your heart's desire. Win. Achieve
your goal...but sell your soul to do it;
or
Give up the thing you have hungered
for, turn your back on it, and retain/regain your self respect.
Quite often the hero or heroine giving
up what they want leads to actually gaining it, if not in exactly the
form he or she imagined it.
That's it.
