Yeah the characters are basically background fodder now.
Can someone tell me a list of detailed character traits for Daryl, Rosita, Tara that can be used to distinguish them?
Even well-established characters in the past like Carol seem to go through a cycle every 2 seasons that completely reverses everything about their character. Right now it's Morgan.
what's an example of a detailed character trait? Daryl is hardheaded and impulsive but has a good heart and is usually well intentioned. He looks at the group as his surrogate family because other than Merle he really never had a good one, and Merle wasn't great either. His relationship with Carol is strong because he sees her as similar to him, kind of displaced in their original lives and have found strength in the post-apocalyptic world, but are really still the softies they always were. Daryl is family/pack oriented but his coping mechanism seems to be running off on his own so he doesn't get too attached to things he will lose. Daryl stays true to himself and doesn't learn a lot. He possibly got glenn killed by speaking up early on and possibly helped the saviours escape by busting that plan up.
Tara is someone who started out early as someone that was content living her life quietly with her partner in whatever way would keep them together the longest. That's why she latched onto someone like the governor. When that blew up in her face and she joined Rick's group it took her a while to find herself. The loss of Denise has pushed her in the opposite direction of where she started. Rather that lingering around those in control she now feels like she has to take control on her own if she wants to survive, which is justified considering everything that has happened to her/people she's lost one after another. I figure this is why she manages to maintain her sense of humour because it's her way of coping with what's going on.
Whereas Daryl's personality/actions stem from him being an impulsive person, Tara's comes from a place of anger and wanting to find her place in the foreground rather than background.
Rosita is the stereotypical pretty girl who has an edge about her because she constantly feels like she needs to prove herself to those around her and show that she isn't just a pretty face. She also seems somewhat entitled to respect when she hasn't done a ton to earn it, any time she has tried it has mostly blown up in her face because she's still young/naive/sheltered under Abrahams wing (not far off from Eugene). That's why I kind of appreciated her backing down from Daryl's stupid plan because it shows some level of growth considering the last time she tried to act on her own it blew up in her face.
I mean we clearly know a lot about these characters and why they behave the way they do, the problem to me is that the writing manipulates their various personality traits to be amplified whenever they need it. Need something to ruin rick's plan? Daryl is an impulsive guy so lets have him do it! Rather than the characters acting naturally given the situation at hand. Basically jumping in and out of various character traits however they see fit rather than letting it be natural. I think that's the flaw with the writing a lot of the time.