Character development

Character development is how a character develops. It is the opposite of mh:loathsomecharacters:character derailment

Notable characters who went through character development

 * Adora (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power; She started off always blaming herself for things beyond her control and that were the fault of others. Her time in an emotionally healthy environment with non-toxic people helped erode this. As such, when a corrupted Catra tries to blame her for reality falling apart in the Season 3 finale, Adora promptly calls her out, saying it was Catra's fault. As well as her going from always being willing to sacrifice herself, to eventually realizes that she doesn't want to sacrifice herself and decides to live her own life and be happy rather than senselessly sacrifice herself as She-Ra.)
 * Aigis (Persona 3; Became devastated after losing Makoto, went back to being a machine, then at the end of the game, she develops into a strong-hearted girl with a talent of leadership, and regained her will to live, becoming more human than a machine. Yukari even admits that out of all the members of S.E.E.S., Aigis cared about Makoto the most, which is why out of all of them, she was the one who inherited his power.)
 * Chihiro Ogino (Spirited Away; Went from a a spoiled, whiny child with no experience in work. The craziness she went through in the Spirit World made her more selfless, brave, and generally more well-mannered.)
 * Dani Phantom (Danny Phantom; started off evil, before becoming a friend to Danny)
 * Dendy (OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes; At the beginning of her friendship with K.O. and the other Bodega heroes, she tended to treat other people more like experiments due to her lack of social skills, seen in episodes such as "I am Dendy", "We've Got Fleas", and "Mystery Science Fair 201X". She realizes this in the latter episode and gives K.O. a heartfelt apology, and becomes a better friend to him from then on. She also began to emote more often as the series went on.)
 * Enid (OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes; She was, at first, snarky, cynical, and uncomfortable with her witch heritage since she wanted to be a ninja. Later, she grows out of the latter two traits and realized that accepting and embracing the witch side of herself doesn't make her any less of a ninja, and she attends witch college.)
 * Eren Yeager (Attack on Titan; A brash, and simple-minded young man who is keen on eliminating every Titans in the world, until he saw the past about them, realizing that they were never the monsters he thought they would be. Later changed his view on humanity, and chooses Eldia's honor and safety by commiting genocide against Marley.)
 * Glimmer (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power; Following Queen Angella's sacrifice, she matures significantly upon becoming the new Queen of Bright Moon.)
 * Kai (mh:besttvshows:LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu; Started off cocky, became more devious, sharp, and a lot less cocky.)
 * Leonardo (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles); (At first, Leonardo is portrayed as a Laid Back character who would sometimes slack off, however, when being given Character Development and at the end of the series, he is the leader of the show).
 * Kairi (Kingdom Hearts; In Kingdom Hearts II, she becomes more mature and is saddened by Sora's absence, but obtains wisdom beyond her age.)
 * Ken Kaneki (Tokyo Ghoul; starts his tragedy by living his life upside-down, learn how ghouls live in a society, embraces his ghoul side, have many different kinds of split personalities, becomes a king to seek peace, reflects on his life, finds his own redemption, as he recognizes that everyone is their own protagonist, and that his tragedy doesn't make him anymore special than anyone else. He knows that the world is a harsh and unforgiving place, but despite it all, people will still strive to be loved and chosen by those around them. As a result, he'll carry on and choose and be chosen, nothing more, nothing less.)
 * Kratos (God of War; Became very viscous and vengeful by the end, realized his mistakes and tries to control his anger more and teach his son to be a good person.)
 * Hime Shirayuki (Happiness Charge Pretty Cure!; At the beginning of the series, she could barely hold her own against a Saiark, with other cures (namely Lovely and Fortune) bailing her out every time. She could also barely speak to other people without fainting from the anxiety it caused her. But as the series went on, she became a stronger fighter and comes out of her shell.)
 * Joy (Inside Out; Learns that endless happiness isn't always the solution, and that feeling sad isn't always bad and can be an important part of emotionally processing a problem in order to be able to fix it.)
 * Lloyd (LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu; Used to long to be like his father, before realizing he was the green ninja).
 * Lola and Lori Loud (The Loud House; had their spitefulness toned down and became friendlier and caring towards Lincoln)
 * Makoto Yūki/Minato Arisato/The Protagonist (Persona 3; Aloof and depressed teenager, uncaring about the dangers around him, until he was destined to stop the world's end, accepting that death was a natural way of life, saved the world by sealing Nyx, but at the cost of his life, this making the sacrifice by becoming a door. And afterwards, Makoto spends his remaining days until March 5th as a regular highschool student, then lies on Aigis' lap while having their last talk together, and sleeps for eternity.)
 * Miyuki Hoshizora (Smile Pretty Cure!; Went from a coward who would rather run from a fight and had a difficult time adjusting to her new powers, Miyuki eventually develops into a brave, strong, and more rounded leader. She also became more confident in her abilities over time, to the point where she was the first Cure to use her special attack more than once without being tired from using it.)
 * Phosphophyllite (Houseki no Kuni; Started off as an arrogant, useless child, but grew into a to a mature warrior who starts showing signs of PTSD and distrust about the surrounding world.)
 * Radicles X (OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes; thanks to K.O.'s influence. he began feeling a lot more comfortable with himself and able to be more open about his true thoughts and feelings. He becomes less of a jerk and a better mentor to K.O. as a result.)
 * Rigby (Regular Show; He makes a conscious effort to turn his life around, even making it a point to go back to high school and complete his remaining classes.)
 * Orel Puppington (Moral Orel; In the Beginning of the Series, Orel was known for making a lot of mistakes throughout life and would always be scared when he his father would hit him with a belt, but after Season 2, Orel shows Maturity by never being scared of his father's beatings.
 * Ronnie Anne Santiago (The Loud House; She was known for being the toughest girl in Royal Woods Elementary who would bully Lincoln then became his other best friend/love interest and she would later become the main protagonist of the spin-off The Casagrandes.
 * Riku (Kingdom Hearts; He goes through the most development of the Destiny Islands trio, going from an antagonist to a protagonist over the course of the overarching story. Kairi points it out in their scenes in A Fragmentary Passage.
 * Roxas (Kingdom Hearts; A central component of Days is that Roxas has to learn to emote on his own since he has no memories of his life to tell him how to, and he begins the game as a lifeless dullard.)
 * Schwi Dola (mh:greatestmovies:No Game No Life: Zero; Was introduced as a machine built to fight during the war, then became much more human after learning the human heart and emotions from Riku, and deciding to marry him.)
 * Shoto Todoroki (My Hero Academia; he leans to never use his power on his father despite hating him for ruining his and his mothers live)
 * Tohka Yatogami (Date A Live; Was originally very cold and hostile to everyone, assuming that everyone was out to kill her and refusing any of Shido's attempts to communicate with her. However after their second meeting, Shido gives her a name, and gains her trust, and the following day she sees the world from Shido's eyes which leads to her becoming the person she is now.
 * Tsubomi Hanasaki (HeartCatch Pretty Cure!; She starts off as introverted then becomes more outgoing as the series continues. Eventually, she discovers that can find her own balance between being introverted and outgoing and accepts her flaws along with her own good points.)
 * Weiss Schnee (RWBY; She went from haughty and bigoted to a kind friend and ally to Ruby. After getting to know Blake better, she also undergoes a shift in her treatment of Faunus.)
 * Yang Xiao Long (RWBY; Started off as thrill-seeking and reckless, but eventually realized that being a Huntress is much more serious than she thought, and lets go of her selfish motives for attending Beacon and prioritizes protecting innocent people.)