What does character development primarily focus on?

Character development primarily centers around the growth and changes that a character experiences throughout the story. This process involves the evolution of a character's personality, beliefs, motivations, and behaviors as they encounter various challenges and experiences within the narrative.

As a story progresses, characters are often faced with internal and external conflicts that inspire growth, reflection, and transformation. This journey can encompass a range of emotional and psychological changes, leading to a deeper understanding of themselves and their relationships with others. The audience witnesses these developments, which can elicit empathy and a stronger connection to the character.

While the other options—such as setting, external conflicts, and character relationships—are important elements of storytelling, they do not directly capture the essence of character development. The setting provides context, external conflicts drive the plot, and relationships add depth to interactions, but it is the character's transformative arc that primarily defines character development.