I haven't been quiet about how confusing I find this particular complaint. I'm not a writer, but from what I understand from a brief search for descriptions of what constitutes "character development" there are certain conditions that need to be met.
Character development is, by definition, the change in characterization of a Dynamic Character, who changes over the course of a narrative. At its core, it shows a character changing. Most narrative fiction in any media will feature some display of this.
While the definition of "good" and "bad" character development is subjective, it's generally agreed upon that good character development is believable and rounds out a well-written character. Bad character development leads to the feeling that someone is manipulating the events to their own whims, or even reduces the character's believability.
There are many sub-tropes that take place due to this trope, some of which include (among others)
- The Coming of Age Story is centered around this trope in the context of growing up.
- Darker and Edgier and Lighter and Softer can either deepen a character or round out unnecessary roughness. They can also turn them into a pile of mush or make them an unsympathetic jerk.
- The Heel Face Turn, Face Heel Turn and Morality Adjustment tropes rely on character development to make this a believable turn of events.
To be a
Rounded Character, a character needs to have complexity or depth which is described this way:
Character Depth: This is how "deep" a character is. It involves questions like why the character does what the character does, what the character thinks, feels, desires, and hates, where the character came from, and/or how the character sees the world. It may be there in Sub Text, but it still affects the depth of the character.
This is often known as a character being One-Dimensional, Two-Dimensional, or Three-Dimensional.
Keep in mind that not all characters have to be three dimensional, nor is there necessarily something wrong with a character who is not. The genre, audience, plot, and role of the character affects the minimum depth needed for the character to maintain Willing Suspension of Disbelief. Go at least that far, and you're good with the audience.
The Three Dimensions can be thought of thus:
- Height: How important the character is to the story/society/main character. Most one-dimensional characters are defined by this and one or two character trait(s).
- Breadth: Variation within a character. The amount of different traits that define them and how well these interact.
- Depth: How the character changes the better you know them. If your ogres are like onions, they do indeed have depth.
You can go further, it's just optional. Related to this is whether a character is Dynamic or Static, these can maintain or increase the dimensions of a character, or simply "move them sideways" to change their nature without adding depth. Related to Character Calculus, at least in that the farther away a character is from the POV or Focus axes, the less developed they are likely to be.
Source:
TV Tropes and Idioms
can be said to lack character development or lack depth/complexity as a character?
