Top Five Wednesday | Best Character Arcs/Development

I decided to opt out of last week's Top Five Wednesday as I was extremely busy with work and wasn't too interested on the topic, but this week I'm back! Just in case anyone is new to this. Top Five Wednesday is an idea created by Lainey, or Gingerreadslainey on youtube. She creates weekly topics for bloggers and youtubers to talk more about different aspects of their favourite books. The group, which lists the monthly topics, can be found here!

So this week's Top Five Wednesday is the Top Five Best Character Arcs/Development. I'm quite excited about this topic as I think character development is one of the most important aspects of a novel; it creates likeable and believable characters who we never forget. So these are my top five!: 

5) Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games Trilogy
I just love the way Katniss develops over the course of the three books. In such a short amount of time her character gets pushed from being a small person who wants to just run away from the world and disappear to someone being in the spotlight and leading, even though she doesn't want to. Although her personality and views don't vary too much throughout the books, she embodies the notion of PTSD by the end and portrays a person who has been through turmoil but survived to some different, if not better. In such a short amount of reading time she becomes one of the most powerful characters in dystopian fiction.

4) Kvothe from the Kingkiller Chronicles

Ahhhh Kvothe. Ahhh this series! The Kingkiller Chronicles is one of the most unique fantasy series I've ever read. They tell the story of a man named Kvothe from his childhood onwards and the way his character gradually develops is so utterly unique and amazing that I can't help but love it. Because the books cover such short periods of time in a lot of space they have  time develop the character in a way where you haven't even noticed he's changed until you look back, and I think that's pretty incredible. His character grows from a small child, dependent on his loving family, to the innkeeper we see at the very start of the book. Their characters differ so much that you can't even believe it's the same person until the gaps are filled. Kvothe is witty, intelligent and downright funny at times despite the hardships he goes through and is one of the most believable characters I've ever read.

3) Nathaniel from The Bartimaeus Trilogy

I'm not going to lie, it's been a good ten years since I read this trilogy, which I worshipped as a child (and I really need to get around to re-reading it again!) But the most vivid thing I remember (other than the hilarious Bartimaeus) was the immense character development of Nathaniel throughout the three novels. He changes so much from the child in the first novel and develops into a person you wouldn't believe.
2) Tessa Gray from The Infernal Devices Trilogy

This is one of those character developments that just needed to happen. The first time I read Clockwork Angel I just didn't like it very much and I think it was mainly because of Tessa and the way she saw things. Although she was meant to be this strong yet weak-seeming girl, she just grated on me and seemed fairly weak throughout. However, having finished the series this year, I've discovered how much she develops in the other two books. It's great to see a character flourish and prove you wrong, and that's exactly what she did. She became so strong and interesting by the end that I couldn't help love her. Especially at the very end of Clockwork Princess.

1) Bilbo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit

Okay so my number one is totally cheating because I've got two characters here but I'm just encompassing hobbits in general to this one! But mostly Bilbo and Sam. Hobbits are easily one of the more fascinating races that Tolkein created. He made a race of people who would seem so weak to us, so strong. You have Bilbo in The Hobbit who wanted nothing more than a relaxing life but once he goes on an adventure, he flourishes and becomes a hero who would do anything for his friends. Even in the Lord of the Rings, he's still going on adventures, right until the end of his days. And Sam, oh Sam. From Samwise Gamgee to Samwise the Brave. That is his character development summed up in a nutshell. The hobbit who just wanted to help but didn't want any part in the bigger things and who ends up being the most important of them all. His loyalty and determination is the only thing that gets Frodo to take the last steps of his journey. And in the end he changes so much but is still that incredible hobbit who just wanted to help Mr Frodo.