arc

An arc is a storyline that develops over time, like a character’s growth across a season. Online, people use it for phases of their own lives: a “villain arc,” a “healing arc,” a “gym arc.”

What arc means

In storytelling, an arc (short for story arc or character arc) is a plot or a change that unfolds across many episodes or chapters instead of resolving in one. Dictionary.com defines a story arc as a continuing storyline in a TV series that gradually unfolds over several episodes. A “redemption arc” is when a bad character slowly becomes good; a “villain arc” is the reverse.

The slang use treats real life like a TV show. Saying “I’m entering my villain arc” means you’re done being nice and are about to put yourself first. A “healing arc” is a recovery phase, and a “flop arc” is a stretch where nothing goes right. It’s the same habit behind main character energy: narrating your life as a story with you at the center.

Examples

• “New haircut, new gym membership. I’m in my glow-up arc.”
• “She stopped replying to his texts. Villain arc unlocked.”
• “The redemption arc in season four is the best thing the show ever did.”

Where it came from

The storytelling term is decades old. Wikipedia notes one of the earliest recorded print uses of “story arc” in a 1973 Time magazine film review, and comics and TV writers have used it for years to describe storylines spread across many issues or episodes. The life-phase use is newer and grew on social media, where people describe their own lives in TV terms.

Related terms

• Main character: acting like the star of the story.
• Canon event: something that was always going to happen.
• Lore: your backstory.
• Glow-up: a big transformation.

See more terms like this in our fandom slang guide.