Negative Character Arcs: What you need to know!

Writing Craft

May 3

I do love a good negative character arc. That's probably why I enjoy writing my antagonist or a wicked side character almost as much as—sometimes even more than—my hero.

Negative character arcs allow us to explore the darker side of humanity.

When the story's protagonist has a negative arc, things get really interesting and can be very powerful if—as K.M. Wieland says in her book Creating Character Arcs—the stories are true.

And she doesn't mean it literally as in non-fiction.

She means we can identify with it emotionally. We can imagine it happening in the world, and understand why. We connect to the experience of the character.

What allows us to understand or even care about a character who shows us their unsavory side?

The same thing that allows us to connect with a character who has a positive arc of change:

Empathy.

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings and perspectives of others.

Sometimes we don't want to look at that. Sometimes stories with negative arcs make us uncomfortable because it connects with a dark piece that we identify within ourselves. And we (adults) are all capable of darkness—at least, I believe so.

What is a Negative Character Arc?

Negative character arcs are a type of character development in which a character's story ends in failure, defeat, or a morally compromised state, so there's no happily ever after here.

You will not have a warm fuzzy feeling after reading or viewing one of these. These are your tragedies and cautionary tales, so naturally, their tone is more pessimistic.

Three general types of negative arcs: Disillusionment, Falling, and Corruption.

(Wanna know more about character arcs? Check out my recent blog post on constructing a character arc your readers will love.)

Whether you write a positive or negative arc, you start with the same elements. The difference lies in the trajectory these elements take.

The protagonist will always have a wounding event that creates a false belief and leads to them developing a persona that protects them, an external want that serves the false belief, a fatal flaw, and an inner need that reflects the thematic truth of the story.

For reference, here are those definitions:

Wound: (also called the character's ghost): Some unhealed source—either a traumatic event or compounded message delivered over time—of internal pain experienced in the character's formative years. Note a traumatic event can be big, like witnessing the death of a loved one, or it can be minor, such as getting lost in a department store when you're a tiny kid or going through a tough breakup. What matters is how the trauma affects the character at the moment and how it lingers.

False belief: (also called the lie the character believes): The lesson the character learned from the wounding event, and it helps the character stay safe in the world.

Fear: What they can't afford to lose, or they risk experiencing the pain of the wounding event again.

Persona: The mask they present to the world to avoid feeling vulnerable to their fear and wound.

External want or conscious desire: What they believe will make them happy (which serves their false belief.)

Thematic Truth: The lesson they must learn to grow internally or the reality they must face.

Internal need/want/longing/unconscious desire (they all mean the same thing): The truth the character needs to embrace to become genuinely fulfilled or whole that is linked to the thematic truth of the story.

Negative arcs differ from positive ones (except for the disillusionment arc) because characters with a negative arc of change will reject the truth. Their internal need—which represents interpersonal growth—will not be met, hence the downer endings.

Negative arcs don't get much attention.

These arcs don't get enough attention in the writing world, and they are fascinating, so let's dissect each one slowly. Today, we’ll do an overview and then, in subsequent blog posts, look at each negative arc individually.

The three types of negative character arcs:

Disillusionment arc: The protagonist believes in something that does not serve them; usually, that something they have isn't good enough. And if they could only attain better they would be happy, when the opposite is actually true. This is the hard truth they must face. Think of this as the ultimate wake-up call.

Falling arc: The character begins by believing in something that doesn't serve them and stunts their emotional growth. They will reject all evidence that they can change for the better and become further entrenched in their false belief to the point of death or insanity. Think bad to unhinged evil.

Corruption arc: The character begins as morally good but allows something to twist their soul, and they slowly become enraptured by the comforts the false belief may afford them. They knowingly turn away from any goodness in their true character and embrace the darkness. They often become the thing they hated in the first place.

Takeaways for a negative character arc:

You need to know all the same things as you do for a positive arc: wound, false belief, fear, persona, thematic truth, external want, and internal need or subconscious desire.
A negative arc will result in a character becoming less fulfilled at the end of the story than they were at the beginning unless they have a positive recovery in a disillusionment arc.
Stories with a negative character arc are typically cautionary tales and tragedies, and the trajectory of the protagonist's internal journey will reflect that.
There are three types of negative arcs: Disillusionment, Falling, and Corruption.
In a Disillusionment arc, the character is invested in their false belief but learns what is true, and that truth is tragic for them.
In a Falling arc, the character is fully invested in their false belief and stays that way or usually worsens despite evidence of the truth.
In a Corruption arc, the character knows what is right. Still, they fall under the illusion of the false belief providing a more desirable outcome, and they invest in it entirely, which usually results in losing their humanity.