♦♦♦[STORY] How to Map Real Change—The DIIEE–GARCA Model for Character Arcs in Comics

So you’ve figured out that great character arcs aren’t just about what your character wants. Deep, memorable stories wrestle with old wounds, bad habits, and profound hidden aspects of character.

It’s not enough to know what’s changing inside your character. You also have to show it on the page—through body language, choices, words, and visuals that your reader can actually see.

Andrea, an ambitious student and wonderful person, sent me down an amazing rabbit hole that started with the therapist’s “Change Triangle.” This hole goes DEEP. But it led to revelations and, more importantly, an evidence-based approach to character that avoided the Enneagram and its useful but flawed roots. I want my characters to feel real because they’re based on real people, not stereotypes or archetypes of them.

That’s where a practical framework comes in. I call it DIIEE–GARCA, and it’s built specifically for visual storytelling, drawing on psychology, screenwriting, and what actually works in comics.

Why Track Both Internal and External Change?

Readers can’t see what’s in your character’s head—especially in comics, where narration is minimal or absent. If you want emotional change to land, you need to dramatize it. As Will Eisner (Comics and Sequential Art) put it:

“The reader must be able to ‘read’ emotion and transformation through gesture, layout, and expression. It’s the job of the artist to make the invisible visible.”

Robert McKee echoes this in Story:

“True character is revealed not by what a character says, but by what they do—especially under pressure.”

The DIIEE–GARCA Framework: Two Layers of Change

DIIEE (Internal Emotional Stages):

• Defensive

• Inhibited

• Introspective

• Engaged

• Embodied

GARCA (External Manifestations):

• Guarded

• Avoidant

• Revelatory

• Connected

• Authentic

The goal is simple: for every phase of emotional change, there’s a visible behavior your reader can spot. If you want a believable arc, you have to track both—the inner journey and the outer signals.

How the Stages Work (With Examples):

1. Defensive + Guarded

Internal: Character is closed off, suspicious, or protecting old wounds.

External: Folded arms, clipped speech, keeping physical/emotional distance.

Example: A detective who won’t talk about his past, always faces the door, avoids personal questions.

2. Inhibited + Avoidant

Internal: Anxiety, shame, or fear blocks action. Character withdraws or freezes.

External: Looks away, avoids conflict, uses humor or sarcasm to deflect.

Example: The sidekick who jokes whenever feelings come up, always “busy” when help is offered.

3. Introspective + Revelatory

Internal: Self-reflection. The character questions their own motives, faces uncomfortable truths.

External: Stares into space, talks to a mirror, confides in a friend, breaks their routine.

Example: Zuko sits by the fire, questions Uncle Iroh, finally admits his fears.

4. Engaged + Connected

Internal: New willingness to act from truth. Character takes real risks or opens up.

External: Offers help, shows vulnerability, lets others in physically or emotionally.

Example: A loner who finally asks for help, a leader who apologizes to their team.

5. Embodied + Authentic

Internal: Change is integrated. The character acts with new confidence and self-knowledge, even if the world doesn’t notice right away.

External: Calm presence, honest speech, acts in line with their new values.

Example: The hero stands up for someone else, even if it means losing everything.

How to Use DIIEE–GARCA in Your Comic (Step by Step)

1. Identify the starting state: Where is your character emotionally (Defensive? Inhibited?) at the beginning of your arc?

2. Match it to a visible behavior: What will your reader see (Guarded? Avoidant?) in the first scene?

3. Track the next step: What small change—internal and external—happens as the story progresses?

4. Show setbacks: Regression is part of a real arc. Let your character backslide, then push forward again.

5. End with embodiment: Show, in action and behavior, how the character is changed—even if their circumstances don’t magically improve.

Jill Chamberlain (The Nutshell Technique):

“The most satisfying arcs are earned step by step. The audience needs to see the character struggle, risk, and finally embody real change.”