The best examples of defining character arcs: 3 engaging examples for writers

Before talking theory, let’s go straight to story. Writers learn best from lived-on-the-page examples, not abstract diagrams.

Here are three of the best examples of defining character arcs: 3 engaging examples that almost every reader or viewer knows, which makes them perfect teaching tools:

• A farm boy who becomes a Jedi but first has to confront his own fear and anger.
• A chemistry teacher who turns into a drug lord and loses his soul piece by piece.
• A young woman who learns that being “the chosen one” means choosing herself first.

You probably recognized at least two of those. Let’s pull them apart and see how each one works as an example of a defining character arc.

Example of a classic positive arc: Luke Skywalker in Star Wars

Luke Skywalker is one of the cleanest examples of defining character arcs: 3 engaging examples you can study if you want to understand a classic positive change arc.

At the start of A New Hope, Luke is:

• Restless but passive
• Naive about the wider world
• Convinced he’s not ready for anything big

His inner lie is simple: “I’m just a farm kid. I don’t have what it takes.”

Over the original trilogy, his arc is defined by a series of choices that challenge that lie:

• Leaving Tatooine despite fear and grief
• Training as a Jedi while doubting himself
• Facing Vader instead of running
• Choosing mercy over revenge in Return of the Jedi

Luke’s defining moment comes when he throws away his lightsaber in front of the Emperor. That’s the payoff of his character arc: he finally believes, “I am a Jedi, like my father before me”—and he defines for himself what a Jedi is. Not a weapon, but a protector.

This is one of the best examples because the plot beats mirror the inner journey:

• External conflict: fight the Empire.
• Internal conflict: choose between fear/anger or faith/compassion.

When you’re building your own characters, ask: What is my character’s version of throwing away the lightsaber? That one choice should crystallize their entire arc.

Example of a negative arc: Walter White in Breaking Bad

If Luke is the poster child for a positive arc, Walter White might be the most famous modern example of a negative defining character arc.

At the start of Breaking Bad:

• Walter is underpaid, under-respected, and quietly furious.
• His lie: “I’m a victim. I never got what I deserved.”

Across the series, we watch that lie harden into identity. This is one of the strongest examples of defining character arcs: 3 engaging examples because the show never flinches from the cost of that transformation.

Key beats in Walter’s arc:

• He justifies cooking meth as “for my family.”
• He discovers he likes the power and control.
• He repeatedly chooses ego over safety or morality.
• By the end, he admits: “I did it for me. I liked it.”

Unlike a tragic hero from Greek drama, Walter has off-ramps. He could walk away many times. He doesn’t. That’s what defines his arc: a series of freely chosen, morally worse decisions.

For writers, this is one of the best examples of how to sustain a long-form negative arc (spanning multiple seasons or books):

• Each season escalates the moral line Walter is willing to cross.
• Each victory costs him a piece of his humanity.
• The audience is forced to ask, “At what point did I stop rooting for him?”

If you’re writing a villain origin story, or a morally gray protagonist in a 2024–2025 streaming-style series, study Walter’s arc. Notice how carefully the writers track his motivations so viewers understand him even when they hate what he does.

Example of a modern empowerment arc: Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games

Katniss Everdeen gives us a different flavor: the trauma-informed, politically aware arc that’s everywhere in YA and adult fiction right now.

At the beginning of The Hunger Games:

• Katniss is a survivor, not a hero.
• Her only real goal is to keep her family alive.
• Her lie: “If I just keep my head down and protect my own, that’s the best I can do.”

Over three books and four films, her defining character arc is about:

• Learning that survival isn’t enough.
• Realizing she’s become a symbol whether she wants it or not.
• Choosing when to play the symbol—and when to reject it.

Her defining moment comes when she kills President Coin instead of Snow in Mockingjay. That single act says:

• She’s seen how cycles of power repeat.
• She refuses to be weaponized again.
• She chooses her own moral line, not the one handed to her.

Katniss is one of the best examples for 2020s storytelling because her arc acknowledges trauma and resistance. It’s not a neat, tidy transformation. She doesn’t become a shiny, confident leader. She becomes someone who can no longer pretend she’s powerless—and that’s a quieter, more realistic kind of strength.

Beyond the big three: more real examples of defining character arcs

Those three are the spine of our examples of defining character arcs: 3 engaging examples, but let’s widen the lens. To write better arcs, it helps to see how varied they can be.

Some other real examples include:

1. Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice
Her lie: “My first impressions are reliable; I read people well.”
Her arc: realizing her own bias and pride have misled her about Darcy, Wickham, and even her own family. Her defining moment is reading Darcy’s letter and actually changing her mind. It’s an interior revolution that reshapes her entire world.

2. Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Across the Spider-Verse
His lie: “I’m not the real Spider-Man. I don’t belong in this role.”
His arc is a modern identity story: race, family expectations, multiverse-level pressure. His defining moment in the first film—taking that leap of faith off the building—has become a touchstone for Gen Z stories about self-definition. In 2023’s sequel, his arc evolves into: “No one else gets to write my story.”

3. Fleabag in Fleabag (Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s series)
Her lie: “If I make a joke out of everything, nothing can really hurt me.”
Her defining arc is about grief, guilt, and intimacy. The fourth wall breaks are part of her character arc: by the end of season two, when she walks away from the camera, that’s her choosing to actually live her life instead of performing it. It’s one of the best examples of using form (direct address) to embody an inner journey.

4. Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher (books, games, and series)
His lie: “I’m just a monster for hire. I don’t get to have real connections.”
Across the saga, his relationship with Ciri and Yennefer forces him to admit he cares deeply. His defining choices revolve around parenthood, found family, and what it means to protect someone without owning them.

These real examples show that defining character arcs don’t all look like “coward becomes brave” or “nobody becomes chosen one.” They can be:

• Cynic to believer (or the reverse)
• Isolated to connected
• Controlled to vulnerable
• Obedient to self-directed

When you study examples of defining character arcs, 3 engaging examples are a great start—but layering in several more like these gives you a richer toolbox.

How to design your own defining character arc (using these examples)

Let’s turn all these examples into something you can actually use on the page.

When you look at the best examples of defining character arcs, three ingredients repeat over and over:

1. A lie the character believes
Luke: “I’m not ready.”
Walter: “I’m a victim; I deserve this power.”
Katniss: “I can only protect my own.”
Elizabeth: “My judgment is always right.”
Miles: “I don’t belong in this role.”

2. Pressure that makes the lie impossible to maintain
The story keeps putting them in situations where the lie hurts them or others. That’s where psychology comes in. Research on cognitive dissonance from places like APA.org shows how people feel internal friction when their actions and beliefs clash. Good arcs weaponize that friction.

3. A defining choice that reveals who they’ve become
Not a speech, not a vibe—a choice with consequences:

• Luke throws away the lightsaber.
• Walter lets Jane die, poisons a child, and finally confesses his true motive.
• Katniss kills Coin.
• Miles rejects the “canon” of what Spider-Man is supposed to be.
• Fleabag walks away from the camera.

When you’re sketching your own story, try this quick exercise:

• Write your character’s lie in one sentence.
• List three situations that make that lie painful.
• Decide on one defining choice at the climax that proves they’ve changed—or refused to.

That’s your arc skeleton. Plot can grow around it.

2024–2025 trends: how character arcs are evolving

If you look at current fiction, streaming shows, and even big franchise films, a few trends stand out in recent examples of defining character arcs.

1. Trauma-informed arcs
Writers are paying more attention to how real people process trauma, grief, and chronic stress. While clinical resources like NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) focus on real-world mental health, storytellers are borrowing that understanding to create arcs where:

• Characters don’t “get over” trauma in one scene.
• Growth is nonlinear: two steps forward, one step back.
• Coping mechanisms (humor, avoidance, anger) are part of the arc, not just quirks.

Shows like The Bear and Station Eleven offer powerful modern examples of characters learning to live with, rather than erase, their past.

2. Antiheroes and morally gray leads
The Walter White style arc is now everywhere, but with variations: think Succession, Ozark, or Killing Eve. The arc question shifts from “Will they become good?” to “How far will they go, and what will that cost?”

3. Community-centered arcs
In ensemble stories—Ted Lasso, Our Flag Means Death, Everything Everywhere All at Once—the defining arc often belongs to a relationship or a family, not just one person. Character arcs interlock, and the defining choices are made together.

For your own writing in 2024–2025, consider combining these trends: a protagonist with a trauma-informed arc, surrounded by a community whose growth shapes and challenges them.

FAQ: examples of defining character arcs for writers

Q: What’s a simple example of a defining character arc for beginners to study?
A: One of the clearest starter examples is Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. Her journey from overconfident judgment to self-awareness is easy to track on the page, and you can literally underline each moment she reinterprets earlier events. It’s a great example of how inner change reshapes outer relationships.

Q: Are there good examples of defining character arcs in short stories, not just novels or TV?
A: Yes. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” are classic examples. In “Cathedral,” the narrator’s small but meaningful shift in perception during the drawing scene is a defining arc: he moves from dismissive and closed-off to briefly open and connected. For more short fiction to study, check free archives from places like The Library of Congress or university-backed magazines.

Q: How many characters in a novel should have fully defined arcs?
A: Usually one to three. Your protagonist needs a clear defining arc. Key supporting characters can have smaller, mirrored, or contrasting arcs. Think of The Hunger Games: Katniss has the main arc, but Peeta and Gale each have smaller arcs that comment on hers. If everyone has a giant, dramatic arc, the story can feel crowded and unfocused.

Q: Can a character arc be mostly internal, with little external change?
A: Absolutely. Many literary novels and quieter dramas work this way. The job, relationship, or location might stay the same, but the character’s understanding of themselves or their world shifts. The important thing is that the defining choice still has emotional stakes, even if it’s not blowing up a Death Star.

Q: Where can I find more real examples of defining character arcs to study?
A: Look at syllabi and craft articles from writing programs at universities like Harvard’s creative writing resources or open-access talks from MFA programs. Many list novels and films specifically for character study. Pair that with rewatching or rereading with one question in mind: “What lie does this character believe at the start, and what choice proves they’ve changed (or not)?”

If you remember nothing else from all these examples of defining character arcs—3 engaging examples and several more—the takeaway is this:

A character arc isn’t a personality makeover. It’s a pressure cooker for one specific belief. Change that belief through meaningful choices, and your readers will follow your characters anywhere.