What Makes a 'Good' Character - Some thoughts about elements of character in narrative

When we discuss what we like and dislike about characters, when we try to evaluate what is 'good' or 'bad' about characters, and even when we try to create interesting characters, we sometimes miss the wood for the trees. We think about the things in isolation, as if the character exists in a vacuum, rather than placing the character in the context of the novel. We can think about character traits (for example, physical, emotional, pyschological, and so on), character motivations (wants versus needs, the human heart in conflict with itself), round and flat character, dynamic and static character, character development rather than character testing, and even the type or genre of the narrative and the narrative focus of the work in which the character appears. We might also consider function, role, and relationships of the characters within the narrative. We might even consider the character in comparison to and in contrast to other characters. Looking at a character in isolation can be revelatory, but we must also not forget all the other aspects of character and narrative that impact the 'evaluation' of that character, and these are not necessarily fixed and static criteria that are applied without consideration of relative scales, metrics, and contexts.