A few years ago, I wrote a post about Ferris Bueller not having a character arc and I APOLOGIZE. Because now, I understand that he does have a character arc. (Constantly taking advantage of his best friend to offering to take the fall for the Ferrari)
I’ve been studying character arcs like crazy, trying to understand them. And after overanalyzing every single movie, book and story I could think of, I did find a pattern that made sense to me. I noticed that if you cut a story into eight even sections, each section would be a step of character development. (This is different than Dan Harmon’s story circle, but also a good resource! I’ll link at the bottom.)
Here are the “eight steps” of a traditional character arc with examples from a few popular cartoon movies. I chose cartoon movies because they’re pretty straightforward and easy to break down. So, spoiler alerts for Shrek, Toy Story, The Lion King, and Frozen. (Also this post is focusing on a positive change arc because it’s the most common. There are other arcs like Macbethian falls or Hey-I-was-right-the-whole-time arcs. But I’m not touching on those here.)
STEP ONE: THE CHARACTER WANTS SOMETHING (OFTEN THEIR STATUS QUO)
- Shrek wants to live alone in his swamp (and does)
- Woody wants to be (and is) Andy’s favorite toy
- Simba wants to have no responsibilities (If you listen to the song “I Just Want to be King” he doesn’t actually want to be king. He just wants to be “free to run around all day”)
- Elsa wants to hide herself and her powers away
STEP TWO: THE CHARACTER’S WANT IS THREATENED
- Every fairy tale creature is relocated into Shrek’s swamp.
- Buzz arrives in Andy’s room
- Simba’s father is tragically killed
- The gates of the kingdom are opened for Elsa’s coronation
STEP THREE: THE CHARACTER ENTERS AN “UPSIDE DOWN WORLD” TO GET WHAT THEY WANT
- Shrek agrees to rescue a princess in exchange for his swamp back.
- Woody knocks Buzz out of the window causing them both to get lost
- Simba lives a “Hakuna Matata” lifestyle with Timone and Pumba
- Elsa runs away and “Let’s it go” in the solitude of her own lil’ ice castle
STEP FOUR: THE CHARACTER SEES THE VERSION OF THEMSELVES THAT THEY NEED TO BECOME (USUALLY THROUGH A VICTORY/DEFEAT OR A TWIST)
- Shrek successfully saves the princess from the dragon
- At Pizza Planet, Woody realizes that he cannot return to Andy’s room without Buzz, forcing them to work together.
- Simba literally SEES his father in his reflection who then appears and says, “Remember who you are.”
- Ana shows up and still loves Elsa despite knowing about her powers.
STEP FIVE: THE CHARACTER STRUGGLES BETWEEN WHAT THEY WANT AND WHAT THEY NEED
- Shrek starts to like Fiona but his belief that no one could like him as an ogre creates a miscommunication TM
- Woody and Buzz have escalating conflict as he tries to escape Syd’s house
- Simba briefly doubts returning to the Prideland, telling Rafiki that “Going back means he would have to face his past.”
- Elsa turns her sister (and frozen kingdom) away believing that they are “safer” without her.
STEP SIX: THE CHARACTER RECEIVES WHAT THEY WANT AND IT IS DEVASTATING
- Fiona goes to marry Lord Farquad and Shrek returns to be alone in his swamp
- Buzz is swept outside to be blown apart by Syd’s rocket. (A want that Woody actually says aloud earlier in the movie)
- Simba sees firsthand how his absence has negatively affected the Prideland
- Elsa is captured, isolated and her magical hands are shackled.
STEP SEVEN: THE CHARACTER SACRIFICES WHAT THEY WANT FOR WHAT THEY NEED
- Shrek leaves his swamp to profess his love for Fiona
- Woody works to save Buzz and misses the moving truck
- Simba takes responsibility and challenges Scar
- Elsa breaks free in an attempt to save her sister (Ana equally sacrifices what she wants here by turning from Kristoff and saving Elsa).
STEP EIGHT: THE CHARACTER RECEIVES THEIR NEED (AND SOMETIMES WANT!)
- Shrek marries Fiona and is no longer alone
- Woody and Buzz return to Andy, both sharing the space and understanding their roles as toys.
- Simba summits Pride Rock and The Circle of Life continues
- Elsa realizes true love thaws the ice and she can live openly magic with her sister
Those are the beats of most character arcs in stories. The steps are also in tandem with the three-act story structure (or Save the Cat). Steps one and two can be parts one and two for Act One, steps three and four fit into Act Two A and so on and so forth.. So you can easily use this to plot your novel or screenplay.
For some further resources check out:
