== Why only a few people got character arcs in *Thunderbolt Fantasy*

Only a couple of characters in [[*Thunderbolt Fantasy*
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_Fantasy]] got actual character
arcs, but I maintain that this is not a weakness in the show. Instead,
in my opinion, it's due to differences in what sort of character everyone
was. To simplify, *dramatic characters* change over the course of the
story, while *iconic characters* reveal and/or affirm their essential
nature.

As is relatively standard for wuxia, most of the protagonists in
*Thunderbolt Fantasy* are presented as iconic characters. Over the
course of the story they wind up revealing their nature and affirming
it, but they don't change and so they don't have a character arc; their
character is already set and for the most part the show doesn't bother
giving them events that might provoke character growth in dramatic
characters. This includes Shang, who is an iconic character even if his
full nature is not revealed for most of the show.

(Perhaps the purest iconic character is the Screaming Phoenix Killer,
who conceals nothing about himself and who constantly affirms his
character throughout all his appearances, completely living his life
according to his very wuxia iconic nature.)

Only two characters in *Thunderbolt Fantasy* are dramatic characters,
Juan Can Yun and Dan Fei, and both of them get satisfying character
arcs that see them growing and changing; they end the show as quite
different people than they started. Indeed, Juan essentially forms his
final character over the course of the show. I don't think it's an
accident that they're the youngest and most innocent characters.

(It follows that it's deliberate that *Thunderbolt Fantasy* ends the
show leaving them behind while the adventures of Shang and Lin Xue Ya
continue. As dramatic characters who've experienced growth, their part
in an overall story is done now. The iconic characters of Shang and Lin
Xue Ya can continue on, running into more situations that let them affirm
and reveal more of their essential natures.)

(I got this framing of dramatic, iconic, and picaresque characters
from Robin Laws' writing (primarily) about tabletop RPG characters (eg
[[iconic heroes http://robin-d-laws.livejournal.com/377236.html]],
[[dramatic heroes http://robin-d-laws.livejournal.com/486926.html]], and
[[picaresque heroes http://robin-d-laws.livejournal.com/492065.html]]).
I have paraphrased it here and so any mangling is my fault.)