What kind of character development arcs would you have given the main characters in VLD? I'm genuinelyĀ interested
I would have exploited their faults, which the Voltron writing continually fails to do over and over and over again.Ā
Thatās whatās so crippling about the writing in Voltronāin concept, the characters are great. They have wonderful potential to be written as amazing characters because theyāre originally presented so well. But the writers never take advantage of those original concepts.Ā
Shiro is calm, collected, and confident. He suffers from PTSD, which isnāt so much a fault as it is a factor that could contribute to his faults. Shiroās number one fault as a character is that heās sometimes too confident. Heās very much aware that heās the leader and tends to think heās right when there may be times when heās not. The writers ALMOST took advantage of this in the show, but then wiped it all clean by, one, making his behavior either sympathetic because he was a clone and therefore wasnāt himself, or by justifying his actions by making himĀ ārightā when he actually wasnāt. Him going off with Lotor to the king naming thing wasnāt the right decision even if it was tactually smarter. It wasnāt right because it undermined the team, yet he suffered no consequences as a result, instead having all his bad actions relegated toĀ āwell heās a clone so now that heās better it doesnāt matter.āĀ
That is one of Voltronās biggest problemsāthe characters have faults and do stupid things, but there are no consequences. And if there are no consequences, then they canāt learn anything. They cannot develop as characters.Ā
Keithās biggest character flaw? That he goes off by himself when he shouldnāt and puts both himself and others in danger as a result. He is never reprimanded for this behavior. The others call him out initially, but thereās never any follow up, so he keeps doing it. Even when he put the entire team in danger for not showing up to coalition stuff, he was allowed to just leaveālike he wanted to doāto ādiscover himself,ā by himself, which is the exact OPPOSITE character arc you give to a character who has chronic issues relating to other characters and going off to do things by himself. Which is why his character is so inconsistent despite the fact that he gets more ādevelopmentā than any other character (which still isnāt saying much, honestly).Ā
Lance? He doesnāt take things seriously and is insecure. We see these things get brought up over and over again, but theyāre never actually addressed in a way that he clearly learns something from. Which does make him seem like the team idiot by the end because theyāve been fighting this war this long and he still does stupid shit that he should have matured out of. The writers joked about him being the dumb one in the gameshow episode as if it was totally reasonable that someone would think that, but the only reason he comes across that way is because they have utterly and completely failed to develop his character, so he clearly must be stupid to have not matured by this point in the story. It is the Voltron writersā fault that he comes across this way. Sokka is the comic relief in Avatar, but he is no way stupid. Lance could have been much the same if the writers had actually done their jobs.Ā
Pidge is a know-it-all. Initially, her fault is a lack of investment. Sheās selfish. But instead of expanding that fault, they solved it in one episode, which left her little to do but constantly be super smart. Which has now developed into her simply coming across as mean to characters less intellectual because the writers have basically wiped their hands of her arc, instead of, oh I donāt know, having Lance bring up the fact that sheās mean and her suffering the consequences of her ego getting out of hand. No, instead itās reasonable because itās funny and the writerās are too terrible to actually deal with the issue. No, instead they reward it, allowing her to just take off with the green lion to save her brother even though thatās a stupid thing to do when youāre in the position she is. Sheās allowed to be selfish in the end because? Why? I donāt know. Because they didnāt know how else to write her story in I guess. They tried to spin it like the team was letting her go, but that doesnāt change the inherent issue with her actionsāthat she left for personal reasons, which kind of undoes what little development she had in season 1.Ā Ā
Hunk was a coward, but that, again, was solved mostly in the first season and so much of his cowardice later is nothing more than comic relief. He shouldnāt be acting this way, but they donāt know what else to do with his character so heās a coward when heās not vital, which is most of the time, and serious when they need hisĀ ālevel-headedā perspective. We donāt actually see Hunk earn that honor, because his character is so all over the place. Heās scared one moment, heās brave the next. He should have gotten a long arc where he slowly got over his fears and learned to compose himself. We watch him behave this way, but we didnāt actually see him get there aside from in season 1, whichālike Pidgeāis not enough development to carry him through the whole story. Hunk is a great diplomat now? Where did he get that confidence? Where did he learn those skills aside from a one-off episode where he learns about the galra? We donāt get to see it!
Allura is much like Shiro in that she always thinks sheās right, only sheās sprinkled with insecurity when thrust into situations she doesnāt understand. But instead of actually utilizing that insecurity as a fault, she justā¦ becomes really good at whatever sheās trying to do becauseā¦ magic? She talks about not knowing what to do because she feels all this pressure, but do we ever see her overcome that? You could argue that her continuing to fight is her overcoming that, but thereās no interpersonal connection between her issues and the scenes where she moves forward to make that clear.Ā
Which is what I mean when I say that Voltron tells us and doesnāt show us. Thereās this gaping disconnect in Voltron between the characters and the actions they partake in. Lance expresses insecurity in one scene and then goes on to lead the group in the next.Ā āWell, heās learning!ā No, heās not! The writers were just more focused on what they want the characters to be and not how theyāre getting there. They want Keith to be a capable leader, yet canāt let go of this idea that heās a lone wolf. I mean, they went so far as to personify (dogonify?) the biggest fault he has! Like itās a badge of honor! And you can give me a ton of bullshit about howĀ āKeith learned that wasnāt the right way and thatās why heās a good leaderā except that I didnāt fucking see it! If Keith is supposed to be this great leader, why is he more often alone during the whole fucking show than connecting with his teammates? Why isnāt Allura shown to fail (outside of romantic failures, but donāt get me started on that) so as to have to struggle with her feelings of inadequacy? Why isnāt Shiro forced to face the consequences of his rightness by the team losing confidence in him in a way thatās reflected in how they relate to him later? Why isnāt Lance shown to struggle during battle with knowing what to do and what choices to make, which would reflect his insecurities? Why are Pidge and Hunk cast aside as characters who have nothing left to offer but what their caricatures dictate?Ā
Because the writers donāt realize that the faults the characters have should have a direct impact on the narrative itself. They seem to think that these faults are self-explanatory of character, not something that should be constantly woven into each piece of dialogue and every action the characters take. And I get this is a hard concept to understand because Voltron does a very good job of making us think weāre getting development because they tell usĀ ālook, this character is no longer doing this because look, a sword!ā as if thatās a substitute for us actually seeing that unfold scene by scene.Ā
Let me try and illustrate it a different way, which I may still fail at.Ā Ā
When I create characters, I keep in mind that they each need to have one major fault. Because from that fault spring up other, related faults which make the character imperfect.Ā
For example, in my original novel, I have a party of characters.Ā Ā
Alaveis, the incompetent wizard, has no confidence, which directly relates to why heās such a shitty wizard. But this isnāt something that is conveniently forgotten when action is happening in the story. The fact that he canāt do anything is a constant burden on the other characters. As another character, Anier says at one point,Ā āCanāt even light a torch? Some wizard.ā Alaveis has other virtues, like humility and heās very sympathetic and is very good at emotionally helping others, but his faults are also constantly reflected in everything he does and how the other characters relate to him. Which in turn will make it easy to connect those faults to the main narrative when he does eventually start to learn that he has to work on his confidence, else the rest of the team is going to suffer. His faults are a liability to their cause, which in turn means he has to change in order to remain relevant to the story, because all of it is CONNECTED!Ā Ā
Siateveās main fault is that heās willfully ignorant. Which makes him stubborn, bullheaded, and forceful. Heās a knight, thatās how they are. But these things affect how he reacts to every situation and how the other characters perceive him. And when itās time for him to pull out his sword, these faults affect how he deals with battle and conflict, and if his ignorance results in a poor decision, there are consequences. I create certain scenes specifically catered to him so that he gets a personal experience to learn something, or be the important person during that dialogue, etcā¦ so that these faults and virtues can be slowly chipped away at and altered alongside the driving plot.
Characters should not be separate from the plot, as they are in Voltron. We talk about character arcs and plot arcs like theyāre different, but in actuality, they should all be woven as tightly together as possible. Voltron treats them like totally separate things, which is why thereās a gaping disconnect and why they fail so hard at character development.Ā Ā Ā
It seems simple, right? Basic character development here. Characters are one way, they each react to certain situations in a way that is reflective of their characters, then they suffer the consequences of the decisions they make and begin to change as a result.Ā
Voltron tells us theyāre doing these things, but the audience doesnāt actually see it happening. Theyāre missing two vital parts, as Iāve already said. The characters do not react to conflict in a way that is personal to them but rarely. For example, Lanceās insecurity is never an issue during battle, even though it should be with how often he screws up. He never starts to lose confidence, he never self-reflects in a way that goes beyondĀ āoh, Iām insecure,ā which is just stating a fault in him over and over again that we already know because weāve been bashed over the head with it (he is self-reflective in that one scene where he talks to Keith, which is why everyone loves it so much, but again, nothing comes of it, so what the hell is the point? Again, missing those pesky follow-up consequences). So what does that insecurity mean? How is it affecting how he does his job? And, most important, WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES?! There should have been multiple scenes where Lance has to make a decision that rides on his own personal decision-making so that he can, one, either screw up really, really bad so he has to tackle his issues in a more concrete manner, or slowly learn through problem-solving that heās not the idiot everyone thinks he is.Ā
What did Keith learn by leaving the team? They were mad for a minute and then hugged him in farewell, and when he came back, oh yeah, everything is fine, even though he ABANDONED HIS TEAM! Itās a BIG DEAL! And all we get is one scene in one episode where Lance is allĀ āyou left!ā which is little more than the writers, yet again, TELLING us what happened as opposed to, oh I donāt know, the rest of the team actually holding a bit of resentment towards him. Which would have been a great arc! Keith has to regain their trust and now that heās got his mom mojo or whatever else that we DIDNāT SEE, heās ready to connect.Ā
Nope. Heās just the leader. Here to save the day. Whatever.Ā
Allura feels like she canāt live up to everyoneās expectations? Just give her some great magic that proves that all wrong while she, I guess, continues to suffer from that anxiety. So Lance gave her a pep-talk that one time that inspired her, that isnāt the same as continual development. Itās no different than Shiro being allĀ āweāre a team so we can do it!ā as if thatās enough EVERY SINGLE TIME the team faces an obstacle. How about instead of that, the writers think of a creative way to solve the conflict that requires the other characters using their strengths and fighting their weaknesses to overcome it, that way when he does give inspiring speeches, thereās an actual basis for why we should believe that this is such a great team. At this point, Iām pretty much certain Team Voltron isnāt that great of a team. Theyāre barely friends. In fact, some of them are less friendly with each other now than they were in season 1. And in a bad way, because itās not done on purpose to drive conflict. Itās justā¦ a fact that has become apparent.Ā
The writers donāt know what actual character development is. They think that if they announce character faults, show those characters being successful outside of that, and tell usĀ āoh theyāve come so far,ā itās the same.Ā
Itās not. Theyāre leaving out the journey. And then on top of that, they rehash the same faults over and over and over again seven seasons in with no progress, only to do a flip when itās convenient and they need that character to be over those issues.Ā
Voltron wants you to think the characters are well-developed because theyāre telling us that they are, but in reality, the characters are all over the place and have no clear direction. They act in what way is needed to progress the action plot, not in what way is needed to progress character arcs.Ā
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