March is the month when changing weather takes on the characteristics of animals: in like a lion, out like a lamb. In literature, a character who goes through an important internal change (in personality or attitude) is called a dynamic character. A familiar example of a dynamic character is Dickens’ Ebeneezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol.

Having to resolve a central conflict or facing a crisis results in the dynamic character’s permanent change. The evolving change shows character development. Because resolving the conflict is key to the story, the role is given to a central character rather than a peripheral one.

The best-written characters are multi-dimensional, with good and bad qualities, just like the rest of us. The change in the dynamic character does not affect all those qualities; that would be unrealistic and make the character less interesting, less believable.

Other examples of well-known dynamic characters in literature include:
Hamlet’s changed view of death.

Jean Valjean changes several times in Les Miserables, from ex-convict outcast to honest mayor and beloved father to revolutionary hero.

Sherlock Holmes’ changed view and treatment of women in A Scandal in Bohemia. In other stories, Holmes remains a static character, which makes him an interesting, believable multidimensional character.

Harry Potter changes from an orphaned child to a world-saving wizard adult.

Michael Corleone proves, in The Godfather, that change is not always for the good as he evolves from an optimistic war hero to a ruthless mafia don.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the most interesting characters are dynamic … just like March weather.