"Adversity is the state in which man most easily becomes acquainted with himself." - Battleship 2012
I find this quote very true, especially in stories. A character will only learn who they are when they reach that moment where everything is lost or everything goes wrong. What they do in that moment defines who they are and what they are capable of. I just finished reading The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan and I discovered that Sadie and Carter are strong reliable characters when they face adversity. Even with other problems or angst around them, the task at hand becomes their main focus and they always do the best they can. These actions define internal strength of character. Many stories focus on the result of adversity. Mulan faces adversity to learn what she can do. Alice must face the Jabberwocky in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland to discover herself. Aang constantly faces adversity and in doing so, he discovers who he is, and how he can restore peace and balance to himself and the world. Harry Potter is forced to face adversity with every encounter with Voldemort. Emma finds strength and courage in the face of adversity in ABC's Once Upon A Time. And, of course in the movie Battleship, Alex Hopper discovers what he is capable of when adversity strikes unexpectedly and leaves him to become the leader of a ship he never believed he could command.
Maybe there is a truth to thinking that way in real life. Sure it's not easy, buy maybe a crisis or conflict can be viewed as a test of will and character. This is why authors say that you cannot be too kind to your characters. If you pamper them, they will never learn or grow, no matter how hard you try to force them to. It makes a lot of sense. A character must be relatable to the audience and if the author wrote about someone on cloud nine all the time, it would get boring and repetitive. The character wouldn't change, learn or develop at all. There must be a challenge, a conflict or an intrusion into the character's world. If not, there is no story.
Once a character is faced with a hopeless situation, it is their reaction to adversity that makes them interesting. Any character does this, a hero, a villain, a sidekick and a mentor are all effected by adversity in some way. Their personalities are formed around their experiences with adversity. Villains tend to dwell on the past and hold grudges while heroes rise above their inner chaos and find the strength and courage to believe in them selves. Mentors teach heroes to face adversity through their own experience.
Adversity is a powerful factor in a story, and in a person's life. People learn through experience, and those that overcome adversity are a little more confident in handling tough situations. Real story characters must accept or reject adversity in some way in order to be considered a sympathetic character. Adversity allows a person to discover who they are and what they are capable of. It can be anything, but once the person accepts adversity, they grow a little stronger.
