Best Character Arcs

[Bobber]

Malik in A Prophet.

He goes from being a small time, nervous kid, to being a hardcore criminal that has no problem assassinating people.

 

[Midnyte_Sun]

Dunbar in Dances With Wolves (or Jake in Avatar since they're basically the same character)

I 2nd this.

 

[Bruce Banner]

Dr. Peyton Weslake in Darkman

 

[Midnyte_Sun]

Andrew Martin - Bicentennial Man

The Character goes from a Servant robot and in 200 years of living finds a way to become human. Isaac Asimov knew how to write 'em.

 

[misjuevos]

yojimbo, he comes to town under the guise of a samurai looking for a payday. he ends up getting two rival gangs to off each other and save the town.

 

[mongoose-mania]

Peyton Westlake in Darkman
Ash Williams in the Evil Dead trilogy
Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas
Carl Fredricksen in Up
April Burns in Pieces of April
William Bloom in Big Fish
George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life

 

[Brother Jack]

Andrew Martin - Bicentennial Man

The Character goes from a Servant robot and in 200 years of living finds a way to become human. Isaac Asimov knew how to write 'em.

I thought we were talking about the best character arcs.

 

[Sawyer]

 

[Secret Fawful]

Tried to go for ones I hadn't seen in the topic too.

Tuco - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
All the Mains in Once Upon A Time in the West
Fievel - In An American Tail 1, he grows up. In 2, he becomes a hero.
Judge Claude Frollo - The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Quasimodo - the Hunchback of Notre Dame
Charlie - All Dogs Go To Heaven
Simba - The Lion King
Bernard - The Rescuers Down Under
Han Solo - A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back
Luke Skywalker - All Star Wars Films
No Name - Sword of the Stranger
The Blond Demon - Sword of the Stranger
Indiana Jones - The Last Crusade
Stanley - The Bellboy; he spends the entire movie never saying a word, finally shocking his so-called superiors and everyone around him with the fact he CAN speak.
Professor Kelp - The Nutty Professor (original)
The Grinch - How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Kevin McCallister - Home Alone 1 and 2
Salieri - Amadeus
Captain Jack Sparrow - The Curse of the Black Pearl
Scout - To Kill A Mockingbird
Rincewind - The Colour of Magic
Frodo - The Lord of the Rings
Dobbs - Treasure of the Sierra Madre

 

[danoyse]

George Bailey - It's a Wonderful Life

 

[Carcharodon]

Tuco - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Nice choice.

 

[co2]

Luke in the OT.

That one is very hard to beat. The main thrust of those films was show him mature and change and face the challenge he was destined to confront.

 

[Ipodman]

Simba - The Lion King

Thats a good one

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

My favourite recent character arc is Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood. I think history will remember that character in the same group as the classics.

 

[Bruce Banner]

Officer Alex Murphy in Robocop

Popeye Doyle The French Connection and French Connection II

JJ Gittes Chinatown

Walt Kowalski Gran Torino