Doctor. wrote:saiyanvegetable wrote:Doctor. wrote:Zamasu is not a one-dimensional character, most characters in Dragon Ball are not. You abusing the term just means that you have no idea what it means.
Zamasu is, indeed, shallow, but every villain in this series is. No exception.
We can argue about that, but don't tell me I don't know what the word means. He has not grown since day 1 and we can argue about it in another thread. And yes every other villain was shallow, but he wasn't supposed to be - this was the first time we've actually gotten to see a villain develop over time. Well, in theory anyway.
Him not developing doesn't mean he's one-dimensional. A one-dimensional character is defined by one trait and everything in his personality revolves around that one thing. Zamasu's hatred of mortals is a prominent trait but it's not the only one. Most characters with the degree of importance Zamasu has in the story are almost, by default, not one-dimensional. The term you're looking for is flat character, Zamasu is a flat character. But being a flat character is not necessarily bad.
The series never promised anything, you just set yourself up for diappointment if you projected your own expectations onto the character the moment you saw him.
Just a comment about the topic of character dimension.
1st -> Zamasu isn't indeed a 1 dimensional character
2nd -> Zamasu also isn't a flat character
3rd -> 1 dimension character isn't a character that just has 1 predominant trait. An author can add as many traits he wants to a character and he still end up being 1 dimensional. That in fact is a major error on amateur authors.
4th -> Both dimension of a character and flatness or roundness of a character are defined by degrees and is not normally something you say a character has or doesn't have. Though is possible for a character to not have it, or totally being. This cases are rather rare though.
Let's talk first about flat character. A flat character is a supportive character(hardly we see a main character being flat) that is 1-2 dimensional and it doesn't have much change(it doesn't matter in what direction) during the story. Those characters are normally there for just one function, but they are more relevant than just a figurant/terciary character.
Opposite to a flat character a round character, isn't as you might think, a character that have major change, but a character that is well delineated by the author. A character that has 3 dimensions and that might(or not) change a lot through the story. Note that when talking about change I'm not talking of some specific aspects of the character but I'm talking of any of them(Yep, a power-up also is included in change a character has).
Now about Dimensions. Dimensions like in Math are perpendicular entities, this means that while they are related between each other, they aren't directly so. Meaning that what defines the 1st dimension(what you said as number of traits) doesn't defines the 2nd dimensions. Just like 1 geometrical dimension being a line, but making more lines doesn't make the 2nd dimension. A 2nd geometrical dimension appears when an additional aspect is presented. In this case width and creating a plane. The same with going from the 2nd to the 3rd. A ton of planes doesn't create a 3rd dimension, for that you have to had height, creating a solid. Conclusion, is not just about adding one aspect!
Let's talk of the characters dimensions:
1st dimension -> External Landscape/Personality. What the character shows to the outside.
Note that a character can show to the outside a ton of predominant aspects, that still makes him 1 dimensional. Think about a character that is predominantly characterized by his Fat, Happy, Hungry, Clumsy characteristics.
2nd dimension -> Internal Landscape/Personality. What the character keeps in the inside.
Note, this is not just about mental internal thinking. This is most of all about baggage. This is about the past, about things that the character kept(yep, I'm also talking of physical things, like scars, objects, ...), about the character objectives, dreams, and drive.
You can think of, as those things that give reason to what the character is. That is why flashbacks are one of the biggest and most used devices in literature. Though note that you can do that without flashback(example: first chapter of One Piece. Making Luffy immediately an at least 2-dimensional character).
3rd dimension -> Morals and Behaviour. What is the position the character has on things and how he acts proactively and reactively.
Note, this is not about moral conflicts of the characters, conflict is always something interesting and highly used in fiction, but it doesn't have to be conflict. Just showing a character in many situations where he has to present what is morals are and how he acts upon them, just that is the 3rd dimension.
This is more about giving enough events for the character to present himself, not for what he is shown out to be, not for what he is inside, but for what actually matters, how he "acts"(In fact a character can be presented externally has an smart guy, internally has an average guy, but in behavior as a smart guy).
This is majorly the factor that the reader/watcher/audience analyses and makes an opinion of the character.
There are stories where a character is presented in all ways in a certain manner, but the author(intentionally or unintentionally), shows the character act in a different way than that. This can be alienaiting. I Remember vividly 2 characters that I thought this happened, the main character of Planet of the Apes(2001) and John Carter(Easy to say I didn't really liked the characters nor the story that much).
(Extra XD: Light Novels currently, for what I could see, love to focus on the morals of the characters, specially the main characters, almost placing into a 2nd plane their Internal and External landscapes.).
So basically we have:
External - Internal - Morals/Behaviour
For the Zamasu, in a summarizing way:
- We have his external landscape. For majority of the arc was, the good apprentice god that was in doubt about "humanity", but with the guidance of his master it was improving.
- His internal landscape. The dark side and fascination-hate for Goku, making his desire to eradicate all "humanity".
- His Behavior. Faking to be good to his master and the others, but letting his feelings in situation of stress to burst and get the best of him, removing his facade. (Example: End of his battle against Goku, the guy he killed in front of his master, when he attacked Goku because he was placed in a corner(right before being killed by Beerus)).
In terms of degrees we can say that he doesn't have much degree on some of his dimensions, this would be a interesting discussion(opposite of the one we always get of people radically calling some character 1-dimensional), but is not arguable that he doesn't have some of them.
A character we can say that doesn't have some dimensions in fact is Zamasu Master.
Given this, Zamasu is certainly not a flat character. Even if we were only talking of change, he has(had?) 2 distinct personalities. The one of the present and the one of the future. So he in fact had growth and 2 different characterizations.
