How important is character chance in suspense/horror?

The ones that are absolutely amazing, yes. I'm going to use Silence of the Lambs and Se7en as my examples.

They have good deep characters, they have change, progression, degression. And they are riviting.

What you have to ask yourself is what level of a story do you want to have. Do you want one that falls in line, or blows the rest away? That's where you'll find your answer to character.

Jbwriter said:

I'm writing a suspense thriller along the lines of cloverfield/war of the worlds/ poseidon, where setting, situations, lack of time, peril etc. move the story forward. Now I know that character dimensions are the basis of empathy and making the audience like your characters and care about them. However, Im having trouble trying to figure out if character 'change' is important.
What I mean is if my character is a wuss at the begining does he have to be a badass at the end in order to make for a good "suspense thriller?"

The quick answer I came up with was NO. This was because in almost any suspense thriller I can remember watching, character definitley takes a backseat to action, and very little if ANY character change happened by the end, simply surviving, saving loved ones, or getting out in time are the main goals.

My question is this, if my characters are interesting, can they be the same at the end as they were at the begining (albeit a little worse for wear) in a suspense thriller??

Click to expand...

Whether a character changes or doesn't change has nothing to do with the genre. He can change and it can be shallow, empty and bad -- or he can stay the same and it can work perfectly well as drama.

Whether a character changes and how he changes is a function of *theme* -- not genre.

And any movie in any genre may be used to explore any theme.

What you will find, though, is that stories that feature main characters that represent *figures of authority* -- such as cops or detectives or soldiers, often have a structure in which, rather than having to change in order to bring about the resolution of the story, the main character has to *resist* change -- has to maintain a certain world view in the face of forces that seek to test his resolve to hold onto that view.

And in the end, the Protagonist (if we're talking about a happy ending) prevails not by changing, but by remaining the same -- by holding on to who and what he is and what he represents.

Very often, in such stories, you will have a supporting character in such stories who *will* change -- who in some fashion represents an alternative version of the main character -- a version that needs to find his way to becoming the main character, or who has lost his way and needs to find his way back to being what the main character represents.

So in Rio Bravo, you have the John Wayne character -- he doesn't change -- but the Dean Martin character who's lost his way -- he was like John Wayne and lost hs way -- and he changes, by coming back to being like John Wayne.

Or in His Girl Friday -- you have the Cary Grant character. He doesn't change. But you have the Rosalind Russell character -- who was like Cary Grant and lost her way. And she changes -- by coming back to being like Cary Grant at the end.

Or you have Die Hard -- you have the Bruce Willis charcter. He doesn't change. But you have the Black Cop character -- who was a street cop like Bruce Willis and lost his way. And at the end, he changes -- by coming back to being like Bruce Willis.

So in very different movies you have similar paradigms -- a main character who represents "how things should be" -- whose position is going to be challenged. And you have a supporting character (of varying importance in different stories) who embodies an alternate path -- in essence a "road not taken" by the main character who comes back to being what the main character is.

So, should your main character change or stay the same?

I have no idea. That depends on what your main character represents thematically in your story. You may not even know this yet -- it may be something that you have to discover as you work your way through the story. But until you discover it, until it's clear to you, it really isn't possible to know whether your character should change or stay the same -- because whether he does or whether he doesn't is really going to end up being a significant part of what your movie is going to be about.

NMS

In my opinion having a change from a sweet, innocent character to a mysterious, somewhat demonized protagonist can make your story more thriller or horror. Unpredictable people can be scary too!