![]() Yes, there is a purpose to "static" characters in plays and movies we call them walk-ons or extras. If I remember correctly, the main character in "Bridge of Spies" follows a flat arc and the woman represents society's changing view of him. We get that there's been a change, but no more. In the beginning, she's scowling at the main character and in the end, she's smiling. ![]() In "Bridge of Spies" there's one character that goes through a kind of change. Having antagonists following negative arcs could work, but in most cases, it will detract from the power of the story when the antagonist is defeated not because the hero defeated them but because they imploded by themselves. It is possible to have other characters change, for instance as a mirror to the main character and to highlight your theme, message, and truth-lie-conflict more, but it complicates the story. The main character does not change, but everyone around them does, and the other characters could follow both positive and negative arcs, but the main character believes in a truth and the essence of the story is that they will continue to do so to the very end. ![]() ![]() However, this is turned on its head in the case of a character following a testing/flat arc. It works the same way for main characters that follow negative arcs. If any of these characters also change, the antagonistic and protagonistic forces will lose definition and power and this, in turn, could make the whole story lose focus and become weaker. If your main character follows a positive change arc (goes from believing in a lie to believing in a truth) you need one set of characters that believe in the lie and will pull the main character back and another set that believes in the truth and will push them forward. The reason for this is that you need the other characters to provide a context for your main character as opposition and help. In most cases, changing only the main character will suffice, if not even make the story better. ![]()
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