Best Character Arcs of All-Time

[Rocketman]

What are some of the greatest examples of character development in movies? A sense of change in someone from the beginning to the end - a sense of accomplishment, or a sense of downfall, triumph, or corruption. Or just a total 180 in personality?

I've always felt that good movies are determined by good characters, but great movies are determined by amazing character arcs. Some of my favorite movies of all-time feature just that.

The Shawshank Redemption - Morgan Freeman as "Red" - You'd think that Tim Robbins has the best development in this movie, but it's Morgan Freeman's character who changes drastically by the time the movie ends. In the beginning, he's a prisoner who has come to terms with being trapped in Shawshank forever, and during his parole hearings, he simply tells the panel what they want to hear without genuinely meaning it. But once Tim Robbins escapes, Freeman feels that he's escaped too. He's "free" emotionally and no longer cares. It's only when he tells the panel exactly how he feels with brutal honesty that he's finally set free literally. It's a beautiful revelation to watch.

Star Wars (Original Trilogy) - Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker - Mark Hamill starts out as a somewhat-cocky and arrogant teenager with no knowledge of the force, or of his father, and by the time Return of the Jedi comes along, he's lost a hand, he found out that his greatest enemy is also his father, and he's learned to fight with a lightsaber pretty damn well. By the time the third movie comes, Luke's character makes a complete 180; he is now wise, reserved, and masterful with his Jedi skills.

Batman Returns - Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle/Catwoman - Michelle Pfeiffer is just absolutely brilliant in this role. I hate to say it, but Anne Hathaway has some serious shoes to fill. I don't care if Burton strayed from the comics or not. Pfeiffer's performance is incredible. The psychology of Catwoman in this film is so complex and extraordinary, I'd actually say that it's among the best character arcs in movie history. Pfeiffer is essentially playing three people in one movie:

I. Pre-Death Selina Kyle - a shy "corndog" who won't stick up for herself. Not intimidating, hardly sexy. A loner who lets everyone walk on her.

II. Post-Death Selina Kyle - a total 180 from who she was. It's literally like watching two actresses playing two different roles. That's how good she is. Sexy, threatening, and totally confident.

III. Catwoman - Selina as a cat, and much more comfortable in her own skin, because her skin is the black leather. This is who she is. Much, much different than Pre-Death and Post-Death Selina. Again, it's like a whole other actress.

But there are signs of warmth there, and potential for a wholesome, non-violent person. She's emotional, but she wants to be with Bruce Wayne. She wants to get revenge against Max Schreck because he "killed" her, but I'd hardly call her a villain. Catwoman is a villain, but Post-Death Selina has potential to be good. She only seems threatening and deadly because of how damn sexy she's become.

I could go on and on. The cat mythology of "nine lines" and the ambiguity it entails, the fact that she's still alive in the end... It's just a rare, once-in-a-lifetime performance, and it's extraordinary to watch. In fact, Pfeiffer's performance is just as good as Heath Ledger's Joker. Yeah, I said it.

The Dark Knight - Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two-Face - Often overshadowed by Heath Ledger and the hype surrounding his performance/death, Aaron Eckhart is simply incredible as Wholesome, Heroic District Attorney turned Corrupt, Scarred Villain. His transition is quite incredible, from the death of his girlfriend to the burning of his face, you actually see the process of him becoming insane. It's quite an underrated arc. You see him with Gordon and Batman on the GCPD rooftop in the beginning, and the three are unlikely allies, but they trust each other. In the end, the three are together again under completely different circumstances: Harvey is threatening to kill Gordon's son.

What are your favorites?

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Michael Corleone
The Narrator (Fight Club)
Jules Winnfield

[ThePowerCosmic]

Well, one of 'em is...

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Andy Serkis as Caesar

He started out as a naive, young, and playful Ape, and grew up to be such a strong and bold leader! Even the end visually symbolizes how far he has come when he stands eye-to-eye in the forest with Will, his "father".

[Marvin]

No one in 300 and no one in LOTR
those characters seem constant in a way, perhaps maybe Faramir and of course smeagol.
But I assume you're talking about single films.

I'd say just about everyone in Million Dollar Baby.

[the amazing fro]

Originally Posted by Rocketman

I've always felt that good movies are determined by good characters, but great movies are determined by amazing character arcs. ?

I disagree with this. I looked over some of my favourite films: Taxi Driver, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Memento and those are amazing movies featuring interesting characters but ones that are static and stay the same throughout most of the movie. I can think of loads of excellent characters that have little to no character arc. I'm not blasting the character arc, its a great device and can create interesting stories but I don't think its the be all and end all to great movie-making.

That's just my two cents.

On my favourite arcs I would say:

Citezen Kane- Its simply sublime. A young boy, taken away from his family turns into a young idealist who has ideals destroyed and slowly becomes more and more corrupted till he snuffs it, all alone.

Han Solo- Starting off as a cynical "mercenary" turns into a believing leader of men and a reliable husband to boot.

Phil Connors Groundhog day- From cynical grouch to all around nice guy. Same applies for Scrooge in the numerous adaptions of A Christmas Carol

Narrator in fight club- Corporate yes man to anarchist (albeit as Tyler durden)

[WolfCypher]

Can we take Sarah Connor? She went from this average, non-special waitress and became a serious, no non-sense, guns blazing fighter.

[Rocketman]

Originally Posted by the amazing fro

I disagree with this. I looked over some of my favourite films: Taxi Driver, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Memento and those are amazing movies featuring interesting characters but ones that are static and stay the same throughout most of the movie. I can think of loads of excellent characters that have little to no character arc. I'm not blasting the character arc, its a great device and can create interesting stories but I don't think its the be all and end all to great movie-making.

I agree in some cases... But dude, Travis totally changes in Taxi Driver.

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

Kagemusha

Movies starts off with a thief about to be executed, offered the chance to be a stand in for a clan leader he looks almost exactly like. He's reluctant, cynical and simply see's it as a better option than being dead. When the clan leader is killed, in order to keep face, the thief has to stand in. At the begining he takes the piss annoying the generals almost giving away that the real leader is dead. Then he begins to care for the clan leaders son, acting as clan leader, learns there ideals and Philosophy and starts to become a proper leader of the clan. Once his job is done, no longer needed, he's shunned with rocks thrown at him, cast out. The new leader ignored the dead clan leaders ideals, aggressively attacks and end up getting the clan massacured. In the final moment of the movie, the thief, hiding in the bushes is shocked and enraged at what has happened seeing hundreds of dead bodies surrounded by a wall of guns. He picks up a spear and single handedly attacks the army dying with his comrades.

The final shot is of him stumbling into the sea pale faced and dying, looking over, he see's the clan flag submerged in water, reaches out, then dies. With his body floating down the stream of water past the submerged flag of the now destroyed clan.

DE END.

[the amazing fro]

Travis at the end is exactly the same as Travis at the start. He doesn't change in the slightest. Everyone else's perception of him does.

[The Morningstar]

I got a good one...

Bud White and Ed Exley from LA Confidential. Truly brilliant.

[steintym]

Two of my favorites are from this summer.

Caesar from Rise of the Planet of the Apes was already mentioned. So awesome watching his development through the movie.

The other one is Thor. Loved watching him go from arrogant warrior to humble hero.

[Kahran Ramsus]

Michael Corleone from The Godfather
Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind
T. E. Lawrence from Lawrence of Arabia
Charles Foster Kane from Citizen Kane
Popeye Doyle from The French Connection
Sam Quint from Jaws
Rick Blaine & Louis Renault from Casablanca
Ethan Edwards from The Searchers
Darth Vader from Star Wars
Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood

That's good for a start.

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

I'd say Travis gets worse as Taxi Driver goes along.

[the amazing fro]

I wouldn't say he gets worse. He just tears free from his leash. He's still paranoid, psychotic and awkward like he is at the start. And when he's finished, he remains paranoid, psychotic and awkward. He's a fascinating character but he doesn't really grow or go on a journey. That's the tragedy of it. He can never change. Part of him doesn't even want to. He's stuck being god's lonely man.

[danoyse]

George Bailey - It's a Wonderful Life

George spends his life wanting to leave his little town, but never does:
-he has to give up a trip to Europe and going to college after his father dies and he has take over his father's business.
-he has a chance to make a fortune in friend's business (with his idea!), but uses his money to get married and start a family
-he uses all of the money they got for their wedding to again save their business, and they never get to go on their honeymoon
-has to stay home again when all of his friends enlist in WWII, since he lost his hearing in one ear as a kid saving his little brother from drowning. The brother goes on to become a war hero.

After getting into big trouble, George meets his guardian angel, and thinking his life has been completely useless, tells him that it would have been better if he had never been born at all.

Then his guardian angel shows him what the world would have looked like if he had never been born:
-His town would have fallen into ruin after his father's death, since the miserable old bastard who ran the bank and made everyone's lives miserable would have taken over the town.
-His wife would have become a sad old maid, and his children would have never been born.
-People he helped by giving up his own money would have had their lives wrecked because no one had been there to help them.
-The soldiers his brother saved in WWII would have died - since George hadn't been there to save him when they were kids, his brother would have drowned.

His guardian angel reminds him that he's really had a wonderful life, and it would be a shame to throw it all away. He gets to go back home again, now understanding that his life had never been a failure, and of course all of the people he'd helped over the years all came together to help him in the end.

My favorite character arc ever.

[The Navigator]

Star Wars (Original Trilogy) - Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker - Mark Hamill starts out as a somewhat-cocky and arrogant teenager with no knowledge of the force, or of his father, and by the time Return of the Jedi comes along, he's lost a hand, he found out that his greatest enemy is also his father, and he's learned to fight with a lightsaber pretty damn well. By the time the third movie comes, Luke's character makes a complete 180; he is now wise, reserved, and masterful with his Jedi skills.

I think I actually like Vader's arc a bit better, in the OT:

Star Wars: Though obviously an imposing figure, he's also kind of Tarkin's henchman, and is openly disrespected a few times. It's a little jarring if you go from the end of Episode III where Vader is an obviously powerful and genocidal Sith Lord to ANH, where an Imperial Officer is stupid enough to openly mock his religion.

Empire Strikes Back: Vader at the height of his villainy--overseer of the Imperial fleet (with his own pimped out Star Destroyer to boot), and truly villainous, having at this point in the trilogy managed to personally mutilate or torture each of the three main heroes (Leia by the probe drode in ANH). Also a lot more nimble in his swordfighting abilities, and clearly less tolerant of the Imperial beauracracy that seemed to obstruct him in the film prior, to the point of (perhaps) being openly treasonous in his pleas to Luke.

Return of the Jedi: From the end of ESB (the communication via Force) to Luke's open surrender on Endor, Vader's clearly having second thoughts about where his true loyalties lie. The biggest bad turns good by sacrificing himself to save the destroyer of the first death star. Unprecedented and unpredictable.

[8wid]

The Emperor from Star Wars
Peter Parker from the Spider-Man movies
Citizen Kane

[moviedoors]

So many to pick, but if I can be honest the first one to pop in my head was Ellen Ripley in the first two Alien movies.

The first flick, she's basically a truck driver, just doing her job trying to stay out of trouble. When she's the last one left, she goes into fight or flight mode. She's absolutely terrified and she tries to run. She only fights at the end because she has no choice. She's dead if she doesn't fight.

She starts Aliens traumatized with her world turned upside down, nothing to live for. She goes to face her fear for her own good and save lives, but again, it quickly descends into a fight for survival. It's not until the end of the second film, after Ripley's found something to live for, Newt, that she stops running. She decisively makes a stand at the very end when she tells the Queen to "Get away from her you *****!" No more fight or flight, no longer about survival, Ripley finally says "Alright, **** this, you're going down!". It's one of the most crowd pleasingly badass fulfillments of a character arc. It's so viscerally satisfying. She doesn't come full circle (she can never be the person she was at the beginning of Alien again) but she's a stronger person at the end of Aliens, a healed person, a person who has mastered her fears and her traumas.

[DACrowe]

Top 10 in no particular order

-Michael Corleone in The Godfather, The Godfather Part II

-Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind

-T.E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia

-Charles Foster Kane in Citizen Kane

-Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood

-Andy in The Shawshank Redemption

-Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver

-Rick Blaine in Casablanca

-George Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life

-Nina in Black Swan

I know the last one is really recent, but it popped in my head and I was that impressed.

[DACrowe]

Originally Posted by Kahran Ramsus

Michael Corleone from The Godfather
Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind
T. E. Lawrence from Lawrence of Arabia
Charles Foster Kane from Citizen Kane
Popeye Doyle from The French Connection
Sam Quint from Jaws
Rick Blaine & Louis Renault from Casablanca
Ethan Edwards from The Searchers
Darth Vader from Star Wars
Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood

That's good for a start.

Dude this is hilarious. I wrote mine without seeing your post and now notice that we have six of the same ten. Great minds think alike.

Good thought on Ethan Edwards, I didn't think of that one and he is worth noting.

I'll throw in Prvt. Trip in Glory as well.

[the amazing fro]

Originally Posted by danoyse

George Bailey - It's a Wonderful Life

George spends his life wanting to leave his little town, but never does:
-he has to give up a trip to Europe and going to college after his father dies and he has take over his father's business.
-he has a chance to make a fortune in friend's business (with his idea!), but uses his money to get married and start a family
-he uses all of the money they got for their wedding to again save their business, and they never get to go on their honeymoon
-has to stay home again when all of his friends enlist in WWII, since he lost his hearing in one ear as a kid saving his little brother from drowning. The brother goes on to become a war hero.

After getting into big trouble, George meets his guardian angel, and thinking his life has been completely useless, tells him that it would have been better if he had never been born at all.

Then his guardian angel shows him what the world would have looked like if he had never been born:
-His town would have fallen into ruin after his father's death, since the miserable old bastard who ran the bank and made everyone's lives miserable would have taken over the town.
-His wife would have become a sad old maid, and his children would have never been born.
-People he helped by giving up his own money would have had their lives wrecked because no one had been there to help them.
-The soldiers his brother saved in WWII would have died - since George hadn't been there to save him when they were kids, his brother would have drowned.

His guardian angel reminds him that he's really had a wonderful life, and it would be a shame to throw it all away. He gets to go back home again, now understanding that his life had never been a failure, and of course all of the people he'd helped over the years all came together to help him in the end.

My favorite character arc ever.

Forgot about this one. Wonderful film and a great character and arc

[November Rain]

scrooge in scrooged

two face's descent ws genius

i also like tom cruise in the last samurai.

[Doctor Jones]

The one that sticks out for me is Harvey Dent's arc in TDK. Eckhart's performance is the most overlooked. I keep saying, take out the Joker, and the movie does just fine on its own with Dent's tragic downfall.

[Rocketman]

Originally Posted by Doctor Jones

The one that sticks out for me is Harvey Dent's arc in TDK. Eckhart's performance is the most overlooked. I keep saying, take out the Joker, and the movie does just fine on its own with Dent's tragic downfall.

Agreed 100%. One of my favorite movie characters ever. The script for that movie is quite amazing. It blends so much at once without ever feeling bombarded. It never got a case of "Spider-Man 3 Syndrome."

How the Nolans were able to coherently fit Batman, Joker, Two-Face, Gordon, Maroni, Alfred, Fox, Rachel, and Scarecrow into one movie... I'll never understand.

[Secret Fawful]

Eli Wallach as Tuco - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly does not stay constant. He's the only character who doesn't.

He goes from being a rat to being much more dangerous and intelligent than one would at first think, to greedy and using false niceties to seem trustworthy, to sympathetic and at a point we realize things could have been very different for Tuco if he had taken a different path and at times he wishes for love and family, who have all died or turned on him. All of these things come together in the beginning of the movie and paint a picture of a man who was circumstantially forced into a life of ugliness and evil, and deep down wishes for something better. A break is never given to Tuco, so therefore he constantly reverts back to his suspicious, devious side, and constantly tries to get the upper hand in a situation or look for an angle.

Somewhere in all of this, Blondie sees everything about Tuco, and in the end doesn't trust him, because Tuco goes through a neverending cycle, as shown when he races off on the horse toward the cemetary. However, he doesn't kill Tuco. Is it because Tuco isn't worth it to him, or is it because he saw some good in Tuco? Well, it's probably both.

Tuco shows us many different sides, and is HARDLY constant.