What makes for a naive character?

kkbe · Nov 8, 2012

i paint the sky: Yeah, I definitely think it's because naivete is so often taken too far for it to be believable and thus just becomes stupidity. One way this can still work though, I find, is for the character to go through an arc in which they realize how naive/sheltered they are and are forced to grow and learn more of the world.

Buffysquirrel: I think however the worst naive characters are the ones who never learn.

And yet. . .

Forrest Gump and Chance (Peter Seller's character in Being There) come to mind. It's their immutable naïveté, their unwavering innocence as they navigate a complex, jaded, sometimes heartless world, that makes us care about them.

What makes for a naive character?

kkbe

Huh.