Active and Passive Character and How Narration Supports Them
A rather important but oftentimes not named aspect of a character’s position inside the story can already be decided on during the development of said character. Namely, whether the character is an active, or a passive character.
There are two types of characters. Active and passive.
The active character is someone who actively chooses their path inside the story, the actions they take and therefore oftentimes lead the plot or at least contribute to the continuation of the story. Either into a “negative” direction or a “positive” direction, both paths are possible and oftentimes the path they are taking is only truly defined by their moral basis.
The passive character is someone who is led by the plot of the story, who reacts to certain events or plot points but doesn’t actively influence the story through decisions or actions and who does not willingly choose to take certain paths in order to change or influence their own future. It could probably be said that this character is rather lead by the plot, than that they are leading the plot in any way.
An example for an active character would be The Joker in the DC Universe.
Because he actively makes decisions, he actively contributes to the plot by redefining said plot through the actions he takes. Whether or not those actions lead the plot into a morally positive direction or are making it harder for the protagonist of the story to bring the plot forwards themselves in a way they see fit, is unimportant. The important part is, that he is taking actions and is making decisions. And that those are influencing the plot and the character’s own future.
He however rarely takes passive characteristic actions, since he does not seem to be reflecting or reacting much throughout the film The Dark Knight for example. Some of his actions might seem like a reply to actions Batman took, but I would argue that those decisions mostly serve the purpose of bringing himself forwards and not to react or reflect on actions taken by Batman against him.
At least there are no scenes in the film where he obviously does that. (I would probably argue that the comics are describing him more often to react or reflect, but I will not combine two different characterisations of him now.)
As an example, for a passive character I will name Bella Swan from the Twilight book series, even though I will say that she is probably the most boring example for this.
But that is mainly because she is a character who exclusively reacts. There doesn’t seem to be a single moment throughout the story where Bella actively makes a decision that would influence her future, or where she takes actions herself to change her fate or to steer the plot into a direction that would benefit her.
Though, I do not want to say with this that passive characters all have to be boring, but their influence on the story itself is less obvious and they are therefore more often perceived as “weaker” characters, rather than “stronger” characters.
Mainly Active Character, Partially Passive Character
Another example from a comic book series would be Tony Stark from the Iron Man films/comics by Marvel.
He however, while still being an active character, shows also signs of a passive character. Which is important for someone who reflects on their actions. You can see at the beginning of the first film how all he does is to act, to make decisions and to take paths without much considering the consequences of those actions. He is also shown to either not care or only care very little about other people’s actions and opinions, meaning he does not react like a passive character would.
But in his case, that changes after he is traumatically confronted by the consequences of his own actions. After that, he does not completely let go of his active personality, he still very much makes life changing decisions and still leads the plot by his actions, but he spends more time reflecting on the world around him and actually reacting to it. As is seen later on, when he decides to name Peppa Potts as CEO of his firm, therefore reacting to people saying he is not suited for that position.
He would therefore be a character who is still mainly active in nature, but develops the passive part in order to better connect to his surroundings and the story line.
Mainly Passive Character, Partially Active Character
While Tony Stark could be named as an example of an overly active character developing a passive side, Harry Potter could probably be named as a mostly passive character developing active characteristics.
While Harry starts off in the book series as a mainly passive character (though, this is arguably due to his lack of knowledge, magical abilities and age), he starts showing more and more own initiative throughout the following books.
In the first book, Harry mostly reacts. He does take a few daring actions and makes decisions, though most of his actions are direct reactions to something happening in his environment. That however changes once he, for example actively goes against school rules at the end of book one.
His still rather passive personality continues throughout the whole book series, though, here I would argue that this is largely due to the narration forcing Harry to rather react, than giving him room for own actions.
Influence of Narration on Character Dynamics
Whether or not a character would be defined as active or passive however is not limited to the character development itself, but is also influenced by how the narration works the character into the story and how much space it is given for them to either react or act.
A character’s personality definitely plays a big role in their own dynamics; If a character is outgoing or short tempered, they most likely will take action into their own hands and make decisions fast and without much hesitation. If a character is shy or submissive, they most likely will react to other character’s actions and reflect more consciously on their actions. Hence, personality influences dynamics.
However, the narration decides on how many of those influencing character traits will be shown throughout the story. Depending on how much time is given the character to come up with ideas, decisions and actions, they might be more active than their personality alone would make them. Or depending on how many events are thrown towards the character with barely any time in between, they will most likely spend their time reacting instead of acting themselves.
As stated above, in the Harry Potter book series, the protagonist Harry is mostly occupied with reacting to the several events and situations that he finds himself in, usually even without breaks in between. Therefore, he seems more like a passive character because he only rarely makes decisions on his own without being rushed or pushed into those.
For example, in book three, The Prisoner of Azkaban, most of Harry’s actions are directly caused by situations. Like his friend being dragged below a tree. Or fighting off the Demetors on the field because they attack him and he has to defend himself. Because the evens are set in a rather short time frame, there is barely any time for Harry’s curious and reckless character to properly show.
However, in for example the fifth book, The Order of The Phoenix, Harry makes the conscious decision to train Dumbledore’s Army. This is possible because the plot of the book processes rather slowly and not as intensely as the books beforehand. (Which is one of the reasons a lot of fans saw it as too slow and boring.) And those decisions and own actions turn him into a more outgoing and active character than in the books before.
The later example can also be found in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Since all three books progress rather slowly in their story, opening up new side plots every few pages and giving multiple characters a lot of screen time each, the characters have time and opportunities to make decisions and take actions themselves. Which is why most characters seem like very active characters, since they keep pushing through the lands and situations towards their goal and don’t just react to the enemy’s actions, but actually counter act.
I argue that if Harry Potter’s character would have been placed into the Lord of the Rings universe, he would have been a much more active character and showing his in the books hinted towards rather reckless and curious personality.
~ Taliesin-Joan
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