According to Josip Novakovich (Fiction Writer's Workshop), plot can grow out of character, but character doesn't necessarily grow out of plot.
Stock characters, for instance--let's use a detective as our example--don't always change as the plot thickens around them, as they grow closer to solving the murder. In the next book with a new case to solve, the detective is likely to be the same dependable gentleman he was before. If he's part of a series, then these books could be read in any order and very little information would be lost in the process.
A well-rounded character acting in unpredictable ways, however, will naturally drive the plot, as the decisions he makes cause new things to happen. If done correctly he will, at times, become his own contradiction. This is what makes him intriguing.
There's nothing wrong with writing a story with a stock character--a character doesn't have to change to be worth reading--but it helps to know before you begin what you're trying to accomplish with your tale, and which kind of character will best serve your story's purpose.
Be Brilliant!
~Katie~
