Character development or lack thereof

AANG AND THE MARTY STU FINALE

by Araeph

(quotes courtesy of Neshomeh)

Marty Stus are flat characters in the literary sense that they do not develop meaningfully over the course of the story—the opposite of dynamic or

round. It’s important to note that Stus are unintentionally flat. It’s perfectly fine to

intentionally design a one-note character to enter, play a part, and exit, but if the main character—the one who has to engage the readers and carry them through the story—never develops, that’s a

sign of poor characterization and storytelling.

Character development

has NOTHING TO DO

with how cool, mysterious, badass,

righteous, or tragic

a character is SUPPOSED

TO BE.

RATHER,

it requires that the character be challenged in a way that forces him

to change something essential about himself in order to overcome the obstacle.

Just a few examples are:

Letting go of a deeply ingrained BIAS or FEAR

Learning to TRUST OTHERS

RESISTING A TEMPTATION that has seduced him in the past

or ACCEPTING A FATE he’s been fighting.

WHATEVER FORM a character’s development takes,

the POINT is

he was at the beginning

that by the end of the story, he is not the same person

and he’s done the work

to show for it.

Marty Stus NEVER DEVELOP in a significant way.

This isn’t because they aren’t meant to be dynamic,

but because the challenges they face are NOT SUFFICIENT

to make them CHANGE and GROW in order to overcome them.

“Typical airbender tactic: avoid and evade. I hoped the Avatar would be less PREDICTABLE.” —Bumi

When a Marty Stu faces a challenge,

either he overcomes the obstacle easily with the powers and abilities he ALREADY

POSSESSES

or ones he SUDDENLY GAINS for the purpose

or the obstacle is removed by an OUTSIDE FORCE

or the obstacle itself CHANGES

to allow the Stu to come out on top.

As noble as the sentiment behind it may be,

instantly removing or negating an obstacle

DOES NOT MAKE FOR A DYNAMIC CHARACTER.

(Right, Avatar: The Last Airbender?)

I want you to stop wasting my time! I already know how to squat and breathe and feel the sun. I want to know how to shoot fire out of my fingertips!

Ughhhh. I had a pupil once who had no interest in learning discipline. He was only concerned with the power of fire - how he could use it to destroy

his opponents and wipe out the obstacles in his path.

So what move are you going to teach me first? Rockalanche? The trembler? Oh! Maybe I can learn to make a whirlpool out of land!

Let's start with: move a rock.Look Sokka, you're going to fail a lot before things work out. Even though you'll probably fail over and over and over again…you have to try every time.

I don't need luck though, I don't want it. I've always had to struggle and fight and that's made

me strong.

Never give up without a fight.

RIGHT!