Characters spark creativity and the ones that really do the job for writers are the Dynamic Character, a character which changes during the course of a story or novel (sometimes a dynamic character is called a developing character), and a Round Character, a well developed character who demonstrates varied and sometimes contradictory traits. Round characters are usually dynamic (change in some way over the course of a story).
Other character types you may use include:
Foil - a character that is used to enhance another character through contrast.
Static (or flat or stock) Character – a character that remains primarily the same throughout a story or novel. Ie the villain
Confidante- someone in whom the central character confides, thus revealing the main character’s personality, thoughts, and intentions.
They do overlap in some way - a flat character could be a foil as well - but you could not have a character that is both static and dynamic.
The terms are useful for understanding a character and his/her place within the story but, in the end, it is not about how a character can be named and classified. As a writer, it’s all about understanding the characters as you create and bring life to them for the reader.
John Dean
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