The Importance of Time to Character Development

Unlike my last blog, this one will not be about a single series. Instead, it will be about how a single concept (in this case, time) affected the series I will be discussing.

There will be two categories to look at “good use” and “confused use.” I don’t believe there is a point in bashing a series I don’t like; instead, I think there is a lot more to say about a series I like despite their flaws.

Good Use: Claymore

Source - Claymore norihiro yagi official art

As stated in my last blog, Shonen series are known for having these unrealistic character arcs that allow for the scrawny main character (usually a male) to train for three months and come out able to slay gods. 

Claymore doesn’t have this problem. It handles both the “power grind” of its main character, Clare, and her emotional character development in perfect order with enough time to be believable and satisfying.

I will be looking at this series through two “timelines.” The first is the “compressed timeline” that consists of the events that happened after the Ghosts returned to Rabona in chapter 128 until the last chapter of the manga. The second is what I will call the “elongated timeline,” which starts at chapter one, ignores the flashbacks, and ends with the Ghosts leaving the North after the Seven Year Time Skip.

Why did these timelines work so well? Simply, it’s the difference between “story” and “plot.” Though not as egregious as Lord of the Rings, Claymore’s story and plot end separately. The story of Claymore is one of the found family and learning to put value in your life again. The plot of Claymore is revenge. 

The “elongated timeline” for Claymore is developing, flesh out, and creating the story for Clare. Organically, we see her meet her friends, push them away and yet still be willing to sacrifice herself for them. We see more of Clare’s relationships during this period than we do of Clare’s revenge. We meet the four Half Awakened characters (Jean, Miria, Helen and Deneve) and we see Clare kill one of them and set her back at square one emotionally. What we don’t see is Clare coming into conflict with or even coming close to Priscilla.

The “compressed timeline” gives us the resolution to the plot in a quick, satisfying and not drawn-out manner.

The climax of the story happens when Miria confronts Clare about her belief that her life is worth nothing outside of her revenge, and it “ends” with Clare admitting that she wants to live with her found family. Then, we have the Priscilla conflict in 3 stages; Riful, Cassandra and Priscilla herself. The ending of this conflict would be the end of the “plot.”

If the plot had taken up every chapter of Claymore through just constantly meeting and failing to defeat Priscilla, it would have been more annoying than satisfying. If the “elongated timeline” had been compressed, it would have been overshadowed by the plot and left unsatisfying and mute. The ending of the anime does both of these things.

Confused Use: Vampire Knight

Source: Vampire knight published by viz media and hakusensha

By contrast, Vampire Knight does time wrong in every way. I want to clarify that I have a lot of love and nostalgia for Vampire Knight despite its flaws. This conversation is exclusive to the Anime and the comments made about Shonen Manga apply to Shojo Manga, at least as far as Vampire Knight goes. 

The main issues that Vampire Knight has appeared in the second season. Vampire Knight’s plot and story are not equal in the eyes of the anime, as the love triangle between Yuki, Kaname and Zero is given more time than the conflict with Rido Kuron.

The most obvious misstep made is seen through Yuki’s awakening as the Vampire Princess. The time between Yuki turning into a Vampire, gaining her memories and her attempts to confront Rido Kuron is a few hours. Worse, the time between her remembering her childhood and her awakening is… minutes?

This means that by the time Yuki is expected to defeat Rido Kuron, she is the same person she was at the beginning of the season. As such, there is no payoff, as Yuki has to be saved by Zero despite the insinuation that she would be stronger as a Vampire. Instead, she has one shining moment of protecting the Night Class students (admittedly, it was incredibly heartwarming and the highlight of the final episodes) but is then relegated to the sidelines while the boys both save her again.

What should have been a season of Yuki learning her past and honing her skills as a vampire was relegated to a couple of episodes. This left the ending unsatisfying and caused Yuki to be the “damsel in distress” again. The story was left unfinished (for the hope of a 3rd season that never happened) and the plot solved by someone who had no relationship to the Kuron family and their deaths. 

If Yuki had been given the chance to slowly remember her mother and father after she was turned into a vampire, we could have seen her desire for revenge drive her to train. Then, with the help of the Night Class, we could see Yuki become a critical part of the fight against Rido, killing the man who killed her parents.

Conclusion

These observations can be applied to all types of fiction. I’d be more than willing to talk about how time is used, well or poorly, in novels like the Lunar Chronicles, Ninth House, Again, but Better, and the Ash Princess trilogy if there is any interest in going into another deep dive about the use of time in novels.

I encourage you to look at your own stories and ask yourself if your timeline suits the story and plot you are telling.

Image source — DreamWorks Studios [Catra]

Caitlyn C

Hi! My name is Caitlyn, a 22 year old dreamer whose main interests include: crying over fiction at 1 in the morning (mainly She Ra and Claymore), babysitting kittens, reading, and ignoring the doctor recommended 8 hours of sleep rule. I’ve been writing as a hobby for as long as I can remember but had my first interaction with finishing my first (garbage) novel in 2014. Now, I am a Professional Writing student who works hard every day to make less garbage novels through practice, reading, and calling my obsessions “studying”.