I have a question concernting character development.
What i want to know is what is the best way to point towards an event that will bring about an ephiany or almost a compete change of character without being to obvious; that is to say to be so subtle that you won't realise it untill the event has happend then the reader is like, OH SNAP! now that i think about it didn't this that and the other point towards this?
I supose what i'm looking for is what kind of writting technqiue would be best for this kind of effect.
For example, we have a character who on the outside is evil, but untill the revelation that he is actualy a good guy, there are very stuble hints that point to this, what's the best way to achive this?

have him like animals or something. Or he acts evil but he likes to play chess and games like that

The good evil thing was just an example, now what i'm thinking of, just a simple example so you can get what i'm on about. Any way, i'ts most of a psychological thing, so i guess things like making the character's acts either seam forced or overkill so it's like there overcomponsating, manerisms, actions, the real question is how to be subtle without it being obvious, (i've seen people do subtle that was as obvious as a punch to the face).

hmm well i'ts just i like to try and make characters have depth, i mean for example i LOATH mary sue characters with a pasion. A character has to have some adversity, some conflict otherwise it would be boring, every character should have a reason for every action and desicion they take weather you (the reader) knows why or not doesn't matter, simply adding motivations to a character Instantly makes them more beliveable since it shows that they do have a thought process and Oviously there is a reason as to that process and why it's like that, whether you (the reader) knows that or not isn't important.

any way, i won't lie it might be the bane of all writters every where but i don't care, i want to try writting a fanfiction there i said it, shock horror, etc. i'm kinda adicted to reading them so i thought i might have a go at writting one. So after thinking about what i could it do i came up with a story idea or at least a plot destination that i've never actualy seen written about and well it kinda involves what i'm asking.

And yes, i realise that it's Fanfiction, but if i'm going to do somthing i might as well do it right.

All I can think to suggest is to look up literature that you admire specifically for that style of characterization, and try to pay attention when you are reading it over again. The good thing about that plan is that since it's something you read before, you can anticipate the 'epiphany' moment ahead of time and pay more attention to any little detail the book presents that express any sort of character development that might lead up to that moment.

hmm i don't know of any books that are like that, also after thinking about it, i'ts less epiphany and more a reveal, but yeah that is a good sugestion, thing is i'm asking cos i don't want to make it painfully obvious that this is hapening, i'm tempted to throw in a red herring in the form of effecitvly "pretending" to lead the story in one way so as to lead the reader into the wrong conclusion but provoide hints and clues as to the true nature of reveal, whilst it is a minor event relativly, it's big event for the character.

Yeah, it's definitely a sticky issue. If it seems obvious to you as you are writing it, (which it can't help but have to), then there's no way to eliminate the chance of it being obvious to at least a few others as they are reading it.

I do think the red-herring is an idea worth looking into. (it seems like something well suited to a video game's plot, and something I kinda want to utilize myself) The best way to do it is to make the characters feel as self-motivated as possible and just let the story be lead by them wherever it may go. If you have someone who tends to take up attention and often leads events of his/her own free will, then he will be a great red-herring candidate without coming off as an 'obvious' attempt at a red herring. I assume the character you are bent on 'revealing' is a more reserved personality, and is prone to acting subtlety rather than obviously anyhow. If you know who they are, and keep them honest about themselves, then these issues will rise about naturally without you having to worry about how it's going to be set up (Great characters make their setups obvious to the people writing for them, but don't worry about that because it'll be less obvious to the folks who are just being introduced to who these people are).

Personally, I like the kind of characterization where a character actually goes through some internal change and discovers something that they didn't have before, rather than discovering something the character ended up having the whole time and just now finding out about it.

As i said, i'm thinking of writting a fanfiction, the idea i had that would make it work would actualy be to use the character's cannon personality as the fake one but amp it up a little, make it seem like the character in question is overdoing it; simply take the personality and add to it,  make it so that they overdo certain things then they normaly would and then add subtle deviations that actually make up the character's REAL personality as a way of hinting to this real personalities exsistance, the real questions is how to draw the reader to those subtle things without basicly outright syaing "hmm this character's personality seams rather forced, herp derp".

I was thinking about doing it indireclty via another character or two, have them slowly come to the idea that the main character has a real and a fake personality but without actualy revealing to the reader what there thinking, like using sentances that don't conclude, being vauge, or talking about it without actualy mentiong it.

If you want i can reveal the main plot (including what I'ts based upon) but that would spoil it since so far i've done a good job of asking for what i want without actualy revealing what i'm on about.

Any way in the end, the bigest problem is not in creating the personalities, i'ts this mechanicc of revealing it, how to do it subtle, so the reader can guess at what is going on but only if there really looking for it.

EDIT: I was thinking that one way for the main character can preserve the status quo would be self denial, even to the point of irrefutable evidence, bringing the character to the edge of madness; another would be a blind spot the character has, completely oblivious to the subltle actions they performed. Still, whilst all that is well and good, i don't want to end up making it all convoluted and being dificult to write.

Further EDIT: i just had an idea, out of sync things, thoughts or actions that don't make sense untill it's thought/read about in hindsight which can then be tied together in the main reveal, not that i'd know how to do that atm...

my suggestion would be to write it, which will inherently result in a version you're not happy with, analyse the results and then rewrite. i don't think that there are neatly packaged solutions for inducing emotions and experiences on humans, although obviously thinking about it (what you're currently doing) helps. now that you have some ideas, you can start experimenting. by doing this, you will likely find out a lot more about the answer to your question than by just thinking about it.

I didn't read all the replies but I get the gist of what you're asking. If you've never read any book by Dean Koontz, you should. "Odd Thomas" is a perfect example of how to achieve what you are looking for.

Odd Thomas has a special skill of seeing the dead. He didn't ask for the skill, he doesn't want it. He doesn't expect to lead a normal life either, but he certainly doesn't want to be a hero. For all his supernatural ability he tries his hardest to keep his life as simple as possible. However he is forced into situations where he is compelled to act for good, thus subtly making him a hero.

This is my favorite book and the only book I've been compelled to recommend to everyone regardless of their tastes, as well as the only book I've read 5 times. The other books in the same series don't live up to it. The reason it is so good is all behind the character development.

I hope this helps.