Dawn didn't have any character development and that's good.

Full title: Dawn did not have any character development and that is a good thing

This is not Pearlshipping, but it is too narrow to be posted in the Pokémon board so I decided to post it here.

I will start by stating without proof the proposition:



There are only 2 ways to write a character: dynamic and static.



The dynamic character is a character who undergoes changes throughout the series. This character might have certain defining qualities that is deemed undesirable or unsuitable at certain points in the story; this character proceeds to meet certain events that changes the fundamental qualities of the character, essentially turning into a new one.



The writing of a dynamic character is further divided into two process: character development and character progression. Character development refers to the process in which the writer tries to show what kind of qualities are defining their character at certain points. This involves showing the characters’ behaviour through certain minor events. Meanwhile, character progression refers to the events that changes the character into a new character.



One could already see that the concept of character development used here is different from how the word is used most of the time, which too often refers to character progression.



Examples of dynamic characters might be a villain turning friends like Piccolo or Yamcha in Dragon Ball or a couple swallow up their fear to be together like the siblings in Oreimo.



The second way to write a character is often overlooked in modern literature but was very prominent in classic literature. In fact, this is almost the only way to write a character in classic Eastern literature (trust me, I am a Vietnamese). The method is to write a static character.



The process begins by having a predetermined character whose qualities are already desirable or suitable for their role. Then the writer proceeds to put that character through various tests throughout their works. The desired effect is to let the audience perceive the extent to which those predetermined qualities are present in the character.



This method would help explain some of the characters in anime. One of the greatest villains the anime industry ever managed to produce is Hellsing’s The Major. The Major is a great villain because he is simply too evil and that is his whole character. He had no character development at all and that is a good thing. What the writer did was showing how he treats his colleague or subordinate and his attitude toward war. In the end, the writer successfully portrayed a character who simply craves destruction for destruction’s sake. This concept applies to the whole Hellsing’s cast except for Seras. Another villain example is Johann Liebert from Monster, who is simply so unimaginably evil beyond any comprehension. Most slice of life characters also belong to this category. One of my favourite is Hoshino Hinata from Wataten. The only defining quality of her character is her love and kindness toward her sister and her friends. However, she is just unbearably cute, because we can see this quality of her through various situations.



One could argue that static character writing is only a stage of dynamic character writing, specifically the character development stage. This is wrong. To clarify, what I propose here are the ways the writer writes their story and not how the audience might perceive them. In dynamic character writing, the writer wants to show as clear as possible what defines their character at a certain stage. They want to shove that onto the audience’s face. Then they also want to do that after an event in character progression also. The focus is on the change, not on the character. In static character writing however, at the beginning the character might not be very well-defined, except for some superfluous and irrelevant details like who their father is, where were they born. The writer will want the audience to realize for themselves who the character actually is at the end of their works. The focus is on the character, not on the events. Think of it like this: Dynamic character writing is like having an object showed to the audience, then one acts on that object to change it, however small the change, then one proceeds to elaborate to the audience what the changes are; static character writing is like having a blurry image of an object or only one side of the object, then one proceeds to increase the resolution or spin the object around to show more side of it so that in the end the audience finally understand what the object actually is.



A term that I have not elaborate is “defining quality”. Qualities that do not affect the story or irrelevant to the theme are trivial qualities while the other can be defining qualities. In Pokémon, being polite or being kind or being able to cook for humans are trivial qualities most of the time while attitude toward Pokémon or determination are almost always defining qualities.



As noted above, static character writing only works for character that already have the desired qualities at the very beginning,so characters like May, who started as someone who is indecisive and hated Pokémon, or Serena, who started as Ash’s obsessive and delusional fangirl, obviously belongs to the dynamic character category (if not then the implications are ridiculous), for these qualities obviously do not suit a Pokémon heroine. So what about Dawn?



Too often when people explain Dawn’s character they seem to only focus on her changes or in particular her depression arc as defining her character. Their description is often that she changes from a cocky and arrogant (?) newbies to someone who is confident. This is wrong because she was clearly not arrogant or cocky. Dawn obviously knew that she sucks, but the emphasis is on the fact that she did not falter because of that. This logic also fails when one realizes that said arc only last for ten or so episodes, which is only 1/20 of the show. If this is correct then what does she do for the rest of the show? More fundamentally, this logic completely fails because it only refers to the beginning and the endpoint and only to how much the character changes. This is because people were tricked by the writer into thinking that Dawn is somewhat like May, thus they assume that she belongs to the same category of dynamic characters. I am here to argue that she actually is a static character.



One should notice that what Dawn does and how she thinks before and after the depression arc is not that different. When May was first introduced, we immediately knew that she is afraid of Pokémon and she did not know what to do with her life, in complete contrast to how she is at the end. But Dawn’s first impression was that she risked herself to save Piplup and Pikachu. Then the emphasis was the fact that she is good at coordinating and enjoy doing so. Then we were shown how she cheered for Ash in his first Gym battle. All of this happened way before the Depression Arc, and even after that she was basically doing the same things to the very end. Her attitude towards contest was also the same, still that same confidence. Even if there is a change, it is not the emphasis. One can point out that she cried more or get depressed more easily by losing before the arc, but that is a surface level change in comparison to her whole character.



It is important that we find out what actually happened during the first season of the series. Her protecting Piplup and Pikachu are indicators of her desire to help Pokémon and humans in need. Her cheering for Ash points to her care and dedication toward her friends. Her confidence in contests shows her love for coordinating and her skills at it. Her positivity despite her losses and failures demonstrate a determination to overcome obstacles. These qualities actually did not change at all.



In light of this, the Depression Arc was not a major change in her character, but actually only a test in a series of tests laid out throughout the series. Other events such as: her making that Grimer into a superstar in the Pokémon Summer Academy, her taking care of Mamoswine, her win against the one who defeated her mother, her overcoming her fear of Plussle and Minun, her constant support for Ash... were all to emphasize the very qualities we saw at the beginning.



This is the reason why Dawn is so lovable. She already had qualities representing the Pokémon series at the very beginning, and throughout the series she has become a representation of those qualities. Obviously anyone who hate those qualities do not belong to the Pokémon community and after a filtering process, the only people left are the one who cannot hate her.



Dawn’s story is not that of a cocky novice finally becoming a professional as people so often make it out to be, it is the story of a newfound coarse pearl which was polished throughout the series so that it shone brightest on the Grand Festival for everyone to see.