Character development

>character development

Why do characters have to constantly change in order for you to perceive them as good?

it's not change. A character change would be akin to just rewriting them. It's character DEVELOPMENT. Aka GROWTH. The characters go through a hardship and learn something about themselves and overcome one of their flaws. It's important because it makes the characters relatable, and it gives the story purpose. Most of all, it's fulfilling. You can have as much mindless entertainment as you want but if there's no fulfillment it won't be as impactful or purposeful.

Midori?

>development
>change
Look up these two words in a dictionary. They do not mean the same thing

They don't; SoL exists, and SoL is more or less a group of completely stagnant characters.

But in order for a drama to be good the drama needs to accomplish something so it wasn't just pointless cattiness, and the thing it accomplishes is causing the characters to grow.

You really didn't think this one through, did you?

They don't. Character development is esentially a buzz word at this point.

Midori doesn't have an ass anywhere NEAR as nice as my wife Kumiko.

Oh, is that Kumiko?

mmm

Character development doesn't mean change necessarily. But that's usually what the people harkin on about it mean so it's a fair question. I guess the answer is just people being stupid.

Goddamn Kumiko has an outrageous ass.

>Character starts off great
>doesn't need to change

It's that simple.

Who owns that butt

My wife Kumiko

It's an Sup Forums meme. Just like "pacing". Nobody outside of Sup Forums cares about it.

Why do you screenshot your own posts from other imageboards?

To school your plebeian ass of course.

>example of development is a flashback
>not knowing what character development even is before complaining about it

Character development is a good thing, but people who think you can't have a story with a character who's already developed for the most part and deals with external conflict are retarded. "Make an anxious wreck of a character as then slowly teach them to not be afraid of everything" isn't a magic formula for good writing.

A character doesn't have to change throughout the story. They can remain static, but be characterised by giving context to their static characteristics, by revealing parts of their past.

I want to pat Kumiko's tush.

Kumiko has the softest butt.

Cute feet too.

I'm going to fap Kumiko!

Character development is basically a meme. Plebs are known to read or watch for plot and characters no matter the medium. They just can't into symbolism, allegories, auto or meta fiction. They need to relate to their favorite characters or antagonize with them, so they need developments (preferably original and consistent with previous character traits). In order to be kept entertained and invested they are fed fanservice and developments.
A story or plot can use characters that don't necessarily change or develop in any well defined way. The fact most series are basically coming of age stories doesn't really help with variety, but character development is a trope in such stories. Seemingly flat characters may have deeper layers that may or may not be explored. It's up to the creator as well as the audience to make their own meanings out of them, but it doesn't need to be a SoL for it that way.
Another problem is that most anime just recycle the hero's journey because it's the most accessible narrative template, one that allows sufficient margin for an author to grow the story and show his or her craft as a storyteller. Most often than not, the author will have no clear intention of where he wants his cast to go, which may be executed cheaply or not.

If you want allegories or symbolism without any characterization just watch music videos.

How did this 'clenched fist' meme even start?

Pacing is an actual thing though. It's just common that anime in general has terrible pacing due to being based off manga/LNs.

Character development doesn't mean change. It means fleshing out.

Character development is what makes the best characters though. I know it's a meme but game of thrones does this well its "villains"

Does this well with its "villains"*

Give some examples.

kirito

>relatable
Life is relatively stable and consistent for most people.

who's ever heard of someone who never had to deal with a tough situation? The hardship they go through doesn't have to be a giant mecha fight it can just be losing a friend and trying to get them back or something. As long as there is something to show us they aren't perfect flawless beings with no troubles, and they grow as a result of having to deal with more serious situations.

Except humans tend to make the same mistakes multiple times, even though they usually extract lessons from hardships, it's just that they refuse to change to evade reality. NHK is a good example of this.
The wish fulfilling happy resolution bullshit 'let's provide closure so our audience is happy' of mainstream fiction in general is to blame though.

Hair cut

Basically, when people don't enjoy something, they try to come up with reasons why they don't enjoy it. Unfortunately, most people are too stupid to realize why they don't enjoy something, so they throw out cliches that are often regurgitated, like character development, plot holes, etc. It's all nonsense and it's a quick sign to tell that whoever you're talking to hasn't really thought things through.

Ned Stark had no development. He's the honorable guy from the start to finish. Visarys and Robert Baratheon had too little development before they died.

Stannis used magic to kill his brother and his daughter to get what he want and failed in the end because of his arrogance. Same with Tywin, he still hated his son and died for it.

Game of thrones is like a Greek tragedy where characters made mistakes and got punished for them. They're still good characters though. That shows character development is not necessary in many cases.

All those characters you cherry picked, except Viserys, had some nuanced development, some more than others.
Next time you're watching or reading anything, maybe turn on your brain.

Character development doesn't have to mean the character changes, it can also mean the audience learns more about them over time.

Static characters who don't get either type of development can be great, but they are very reliant on charisma and entertainment value so it takes a better than average writer.

Flashback is development. You understand the character more than you originally did. Maybe the evil guy had some motivations that the mc didn't know and we got a flashback, whatever.

A character doesn't have to change personality to undergo "character development"

This.

>maybe turn on your brain
>show is literally "just turn your brain off and believe Dany is a strong, independent and powerful woman"

>show is literally turn off your brain
Are you an American by any chance? If I ordered you or showed you why it'd be important to jump of a cliff, would you do that too by any chance?
Is it really that hard to think for yourself?