Character Arcs: Act 1

Compelling, fun and memorable character arcs that will leave a big impression on people is something we search for in media. But creating those kinds of arcs yourself can seem impossible. That’s where looking at how great arcs are constructed can help.
Writer, K.M. Weiland talks about a defining Lie a character tell themselves about their identity that shapes their world-view.
Character development in a positive change arc means that you take the Lie that’s holding them back and dismantle it throughout the story. And in the end, they come to understand a new truth about the world and themselves.
So, I will be going through two examples of a positive change arc and see how they’re structured when looked at through the lens of the three-act structure. For a few prominent examples, we’ll look at the first Thor movie and The Prince of Egypt.
These two movies work so well because they’re both about entitled prince’s whose Lie is that they think the world revolves around them. Everything is fine with them and the system because they’re comfortable living at the top of it.
Act 1: Introduction to the character and their Lie
So, the first act in the three-act structure is all about set-up. We’re introduced to the main character and the world they live in.
Thor:
We open narrated by Odin. After establishing the heritage of Thor and Loki, we move forward in time to see them as adults.
The first time we see Thor, he’s grandstanding in front of a crowd, and later, flipping over a table when he doesn’t get his way.
We’re shown is Lie vividly from the start, and that’s his right of kingship, and that swinging his hammer should fix everything.

The Prince of Egypt: 

After we’ve shown the situation of the slaves and how Moses came to be in the care of his adoptive family, we cut to Moses and Ramses as young men. We first see them in the middle of an intense and reckless chariot race. There’s property damage and Moses nearly rammed his adoptive brother into the side of a wall in the name of fun!

So, what’s Moses’ Lie? His father’s kingdom is his playground and everything exists for him and his family.
This is how you show where your character is at the beginning of your story and construct the basis for their arc. You show their normal environment and how they act in that environment.
The Inciting Incident:
So, now we have the set-up, the story to leap into the inciting incident. This propels the narrative forward, taking the main protagonist from their known world and challenging their Lie in a major way.
Thor:
The first Thor does this by having Thor and his friends travel to Jutonhiem to fight the Frost giants behind Odin’s back. Thor gets busted because of his jealous little brother, and as a result, he loses everything. In a fit of rage, Odin takes away his son’s hammer and title, banishing him to backwater called Earth!
At the end of act 1, Thor lost everything that he’d built his identity on. Act 2 begins with him literally run over a car and tasered. The humbling begins! 

The Prince of Egypt: 
After an encounter with his biological sister and brother, Moses is forced to question his heritage. He then stumbles on the “history etched on every wall” that shows the Pharaoh ordering the deaths of all the children of slaves.
Moses’ Lie that he’s deserving of all he has because of his noble royal family is shattered in that moment.
Like Thor, everything he built his identity on has been stripped away. Act 2 will focus on the fallout from their Lie being taken from them, and how they move forward from there. 

Great Character Writing: Héctor Rivera

“You can help me! I can help you! But most importantly of all, you can help me!”

I never expected it to be endeared to a skeleton man in the way I am to Héctor Rivera, but here we are!  It’s amazing how our expectations of this character are set-up and later subverted. So, he is my topic of discussion for today!

When Miguel and the audience first meet Héctor, he comes off as a selfish, yet lovable trickster, trying to get past security so he can visit the world of the living. We don’t know exactly why he wants to go there, but for a guy who tries lie and con his way out of every situation, we’re lead to assume it’s for selfish purposes.

He’s also fun, goofy and the butt of many jokes. The story uses him for many slapstick gags involving his limbs coming off, and the other people in the Land of the Dad call him Chorizo because they all think he choked on one when he died. 

The turning point where he truly becomes more than a joke is when we see play music. Music, being such a central part of the movie, is what allows Miguel, and by extension, the audience, to see a caring and melancholic side to Héctor. 

He plays a jaunty tune for old Chicharrón, just before he disappears in a “Final Death.” It’s a tender, bittersweet moment with gentle humour (”There are children present). When he goes, Héctor has a drink in his honour. (As an aside, no I don’t know where the drink goes if he has no organs to process it.) On our first viewing, this is the point where Héctor is no longer just some goofy guy who choked on a sausage. 

 On second viewing, the moment Chicharrón fades away, the deeply sad expression on Héctor’s face shows not only sadness for his friends final passing, but for the possibility that it will happen to him too. 

After Héctor and Miguel, again through the power of music, Héctor discovers that Miguel does have family other than Ernesto. The kid lied so he could get his “great, great grandfather” to give him his blessing to go home AND be a musician. Héctor is understandably furious that the kid put himself in danger, and put off placing his photo on the ofrenda, all so he “live out a musical fantasy.” When Héctor tries to forcefully take Miguel back to his family, the kid snaps at Héctor for being selfish, which is quite ironic, given how Miguel is acting. Even though the audience can see that Héctor isn’t just out for himself now, Miguel is too caught up in what he wants to see that. 

When Miguel and the audience finally meet Ernesto, he seems to be everything Héctor is not: successful, popular, strong and macho. He’s the ideal that Miguel wants to live up to! 

You know, I did all my own stunts!

But of course, Ernesto isn’t as great as he first seems. With his ostentatious parties that constantly replay footage from his own movies, it’s obvious that Ernesto is an egotist who cares about his reputation more than anything. Ernesto is a very effective foil for Héctor, who has little but goes out of his way to find Miguel so he can help him get home. And then, the reveal comes in the lead up to the movie’s third act … 

“I just wanted to go back home!”

Ernesto not only took Héctor’s songs, he took his life and family from him. Poor Héctor was a young family man (the director said he was only 21 at the time of his death) who was tired of life on the road and wanted to return to his wife and daughter. Héctor is not at all the shady character he appeared to be in his first scene where tries to trick his way into the land of the living. He’s a victim of an ambitious, callous man, unafraid to do anything to “cease his moment.”

Miguel, and the audiences, perceptions are now completely shattered. Héctor is no longer “Chorizo,” the hapless trickster who chocked on a sausage, and Ernesto is no longer the “good guy,” Miguel thought he was. Even though the movie was dropping strong hints that neither character was what they seemed on the surface, this moment completely flips our earlier expectations of these characters! 

When Miguel tearfully apologizes to Héctor as he realises how selfish he’s been, we learn the truth about Héctor. 

“She’s … forgetting me.”

He wanted to be reunited with his daughter, who’s been forgetting about him. And his daughter is Miguel’s great-grandmother, Coco, who suffers from dementia. Miguel, relieved that his great-great-grandfather is not a murdering asshole, realises that the creative, artistic part of him that always made him feel different, came from Héctor. And here, as we go into the third act conflict of trying to get Héctor’s photo back from Ernesto and send Miguel home, Miguel’s (and our) perception of Héctor has come full circle. He’s gone from the goofy, selfish trickster, Chorizo, to a gentle and artistic family man who just wants to see his daughter again.

Coco asks the narrative question of what kind of person Miguel will choose to be. The movie plays with Miguel’s changing perceptions of these two men, and because he’s the point of view character, we see those changing perceptions through him. In the end, he has to choose if he’s going to be like the self-serving and callous Ernesto or the flawed, yet good-hearted and loving Héctor. Our expectations of Héctor our subverted in a way that gets us to feel a deep and love for this character. 

Great Character Writing: Himemiya Anthy

Who is the Rose Bride?

“I am the Rose Bride. I must do whatever the winner of the duels tells me to do.”

The seemingly passive and submissive princess in this deconstruction of fairy tale tropes is one of the deepest and most complex characters in a series full of them. I know there is a movie and manga version of Revolutionary Girl Utena, but the series is the most in-depth version of the character, so I’m going to focus on that. 

Anthy is a great character that subverts our expectations in powerful and surprising ways. Anthy must serve anyone who “wins her in a series of duels. She’s treated as the property of the duelists who exists solely to please them. The name Himemiya is a combination of the Japanese words hime (princess) and miya (shrine, or imperial gate), so her surname translates to Princess of the Shrine. Something that’s extremely fitting as we learn more about her.

We first see Anthy in her greenhouse, which is shaped suspiciously like a bird cage. 

Unlike the popular Utena, who’s often crowded by admirers, Anthy is a lone figure who’s thought of as that “strange girl” by the students. She works in her garden, isolated. Anthy is only ever seen with other duelists as a piece of property to show off.

Anthy meekly tells the other duelists that she is currently Saionji’s, and he may do what he likes with her. She seems to witheringly accept her role as the Rose Bride. But we get small glimpses of the person behind the serene smile.

“ Cheer up ... Saionji ... sempai”

When Utena wins Anthy in her duel with Saionji, we see a very passive aggressive side to her. Sweetly smiling as she refers to Saionji as an upperclassman, instead of the deeply respectful honorific, “sama.” Saionji looks at Anthy in melodramatic despair at losing his power over her. She is caught in a game that treats her as an object, but people don’t see how Anthy knowingly manipulates them, and takes advantage of their desires. She deliberately cheers on Utena in an uncharacteristically excited manner during her duel with Miki, so he will become distracted lose the match. Miki has convinced himself that Anthy needs him to “free her” so she can be his inspiration, his “shining thing.” All of the duelists have a view of women that they project onto Anthy, whether that be someone who’s subservient, someone who’s devious, an object to inspire, or someone to be protected. But never a complex person with her own desires and problems. 

She is seen in terms of being good and compliant or bad. When asked if Anthy is “venomous,” in an interview, Ikuhara gives this response.

Kunihiko Ikuhara: 

“As for whether or not Anthy’s character is venomous or not ... I don’t know the answer. And while I depict her in ways that make you suspect she is, I plan to never show you whether that’s out of ill will or not.” 

And this quote comes back to the main question of who is the Rose Bride? 

“People find it hard to doubt those they've fallen in love with. They can't even imagine they're being deceived and used.” 

We don’t strictly see Anthy from Utena’s, our point of view character’s, perspective. Utena is almost comically oblivious to the machinations going on her around her, something that becomes clearer as the secrets and plans going on around her unfold. When Utena first meets Akio, she just sees him as a cool older guy, not realising that he is the one controlling Anthy and abusing her. Utena doesn’t understand that Anthy has some very conflicted feelings for her brother, that help tie her down to the role of the Rose Bride. 

The sly smiles, passive-aggressive disdain for Utena’s naivety, and insistence that Anthy “just stop” being the Rose Bride are things Utena doesn’t recognise at first. Realising that Anthy’s situation and Anthy herself are far more complicated than she first thought, is a major part of Utena’s character development.

Something about the “scent of roses” coming from Anthy makes Utena think about the prince that we’re told saved her when her parents died. 

A major theme of the series, that is tied to Anthy, is reality vs. the stories we tell ourselves that stem from our ideas of reality. Utena associates rose’s with the prince who saved her from the loneliness and despair she’d fallen into after losing her parents. Or at least, that’s the story she tells herself, and the Shadow Play Girls tell us at the beginning of the series. But, like the glittering castle in the sky, you have to wonder how real it is? Saionji calls the castle in the sky “a kind of mirage.” 

Utena only remembered part of her encounter with the Prince all those years ago. Utena was driven to keep on living when she saw Anthy, pierced by all those blades and sentenced to be the scapegoat of humanity. The thing that saved Utena from despair wasn’t a Prince on a white, horse, but seeing a girl who was also suffering. She badly wanted the power to help this girl. And all Utena remembered was Dios’s words about never losing her nobility, even when she grows up. 

The Anthy who’s seen either as a helpless princess or an evil witch was just a girl who loved her brother and wanted to protect him. And couldn’t stand to see him overworked by the people of the world so he could be their Rose Prince. When she tells them he can’t have him anymore, she is impaled by their swords for “stealing the light of the world.” Anthy and Dios/Akio are god-like, immortal beings, so nothing can kill them physically. 

Akio: 

“Women who cannot become princesses have no choice but to become witches.”

We find out that Anthy is deeply devoted to those she loves, but all of her kindness and selflessness is buried under tons of bitterness and self-hatred from being the scapegoat of humanity for who knows how long! And Utena slowly begins to reach the vulnerable person underneath the roles of Rose Bride and witch.

“Because I am the Rose Bride...because I am a doll with no heart...I thought that no matter what befell my body, my heart wouldn't feel the pain.”

Anthy doesn’t see herself as capable of love. In a very rare moment where we’re privy to Anthy’s thoughts, Anthy wonders why Utena is fighting so hard to win her back from Touga in episode 12, For Friendship, Perhaps. At first, her voice is distant and hollow, as if she’s lost the ability to feel. But when Utena shows the power of Dios inside her, Anthy is genuinely surprised and moved. Anthy can see the ideal of the Prince in Utena that she used to love.

“You remind me so much of Dios when I loved him. But you can never be my prince, because you're a girl.”

But their relationship evolves beyond that of a prince and princess, or prince and witch. They become friends who develop romantic feelings for one another. Anthy and Utena’s relationship doesn’t fit the narrative of Ohtori Academy, because it’s one that allows them to leave their “coffins,”  and go beyond the roles assigned to them. 

Who ... are you?

Utena:

“I came all this way to be with you. So don’t be afraid of this world where we can meet.”

So, in the end, Anthy isn’t saved by an unattainable princely ideal, but a real relationship that goes beyond damaging oversimplified roles.

You really don't know what's happened, do you? By all means, stay in this cozy little coffin and continue to play the prince. But I have to go now. 

Even if Akio can’t see it, a revolution did occur. It’s not one where the “world’s shell” is smashed. The revolution is a gradual, quiet change is taking place among the duelists, Wakaba, and all the other people Utena touched. They are all growing up, unlike Akio, who can’t leave his “cozy coffin.”

But most significantly, Anthy has changed. She’s overcome her self-hatred and learned helplessness. In the end, Anthy was saved by a genuine relationship that inspires her to leave her abuser.

Her brother might not be able to leave his coffin, but Anthy can leave the Rose Bride behind. The second and final time we hear Anthy’s thoughts are when she leaves Ohtori to find Utena. 

“Now it's my turn to go. No matter where you are, I'll find you for sure. Wait for me, Utena.” 

But this time, her voice is filled with hope and joy for the life she is entering. 

The concept of the Rose Bride (like the Rose Prince) belongs to a worldview where people are reduced to a set of roles, and not valued for the people they are. Throughout the series, Anthy has gone from the passive Rose Bride, to a “venomous witch,” to a complex, flawed, yet deeply devoted person.  So the greatest revolution that could take place is one where Anthy can be free, and be with Utena, who’s not her prince or saviour, but her equal. 

Stay

I stepped through the looking glass,

Walk on by, just a sweeping glance.

Never cared for wasted hours I amassed.

I’d pick up all my longing, and regret,

Heading to a new day, without relent,

And take the lie of my content

Wherever that I went.

I was stuck in my old ways

And let-down days.

But now I’m here, caught in the grey,

I know that I can be.

I know that I can be.

Stolen moments, fear and joy.

So suddenly, so easily, I see,

What’s been right in front of me.

And I can finally say,

I think that I can stay.

I think that I can stay.

Maybe I have lost my way,

And maybe I could fly away

But now that I can only see the grey,

I take a step to you and say,

That I could finally stay. 

I’d pick up all my longing, and regret,

Heading to a new day, without relent.

I’d take the lie of my content

 Wherever that I went.

I was stuck in my old ways

And let-down days.

But now I’m here, caught in the grey,

I know that I can be.

I know that I can be.

Stolen moments, fear and joy.

So suddenly, so easily, I see,

What’s been right in front of me.

And I can finally say,

I think that I can stay.

I think that I can stay.

Somehow, my defenses

Will just wear away.

And now I’m standing in today.

Chasing all my demons far away.

I was stuck in my old ways

And let-down days.

But now I’m here, caught in the grey,

I know that I can be.

I know that I can be.

Stolen moments, fear and joy.

So suddenly, so easily, I see,

What’s been right in front of me.

And I can finally say,

I think that I can stay.

I think that I can stay.