In case you forgot about that one English class where your teacher prattled on about the difference between a Static and Dynamic character, a Dynamic character is one who changes throughout the course of the novel, while a Static character is one that doesn't.
It's a common misconception that a character has to change throughout the course of a novel in order to be the protagonist of said novel. While it's always nice to see a character growing or devolving, sometimes it isn't necessary; there's a time and a place for everything, and this is no exception.
So how do you know which approach is best for your book?
1. What's your genre?
Obviously, if your genre is bildungsroman, your protagonist is going to have to change throughout the course of the novel (that's essentially the entire point of a bildungsroman--from the Wikipedia page, "In a Bildungsroman, the goal is maturity, and the protagonist achieves it gradually and with difficulty."), but in an action or thriller, a change in your protagonist is anything but required--sometimes having your character change along the way would get in the way of the storyline, or use up too much time we could be using to see anti-heroes wailing on bad guys.
Take a look at anything starring Liam Neeson, or any long-standing, episodic or mostly episodic book series (Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Encyclopedia Brown, Sherlock Holmes, The Boxcar--Um. Huh. Maybe this is a Mystery Thing, too)--not only does having a static protagonist work, but one could argue that having these characters become dynamic could harm the storyline--Taken is successful because Liam Neeson kills human traffickers, not because his character is interesting or particularly compelling (he's not, he's just JustifiableMurderer!Liam Neeson), and the rest are popular because the same person, or group of people, solve mysteries in a manner which always re-establishes the status quo, meaning that, much like most television shows, they can be read in almost any order with very little background in order to be understood.
If you can somehow find a way to go against convention when deciding on whether to make your character dynamic or static, by all means, try--just keep in mind that it can be difficult to pull off, especially when the genre hinges upon change.
2. As they are at the beginning of your story, can your character overcome what's been placed before them?
Take a look at your protagonist; who are they at the beginning of your novel? Now take a look at where you plan to have them end up. Can they, as they are at the inciting incident, tackle the book's climax and come out with the same result that you intend them to achieve? Are they strong enough, fast enough, smart enough? Do they lack dedication or willpower? Or do they possess too much? Do they need to crash and burn before they can crawl to the finish line you have devised?
Take a look at two recent icons of the twenty-first century, Harry Potter and Liam Neeson's Taken character; at the inciting incident of Taken, when the daughter is stolen, Liam Neeson has everything he needs to destroy the bad guys, namely his ass-kicking skills. However, upon first receiving his admissions letter Harry Potter, young and ignorant to the ways of magic, has none of the skills necessary to win against Voldemort--or even Quirrel. Thus, Liam Neeson works as a static protagonist, but Harry Potter, unless he was designed to lose, does not.
If you don't yet know what the outcome of your ending will be, think of what you do know--
what are their goals and obstacles? What will they need to overcome them? Who are their friends? Do their friends change, and must they change in order to keep up? Or must they fall behind, and allow their friends to leave?
What about the antagonist? Can they beat the antagonist as they are? Does the antagonist change? Are they meant to defeat or be defeated? Is nature one of the antagonists? Usually when a character goes up against nature, the character is forced to change, since it would take an enormous feat of strength to bend nature to one's whims--strength which few protagonists possess. However, if nature is controlled by a God with which the protagonist might, as they are, be able to strike a deal with, character change may still be unnecessary.
Whatever suits your novel best, literature has long been littered with protagonists of both the dynamic and static varieties--whatever is best for your novel is ultimately what should be done. If you're not sure what that best thing is, you can always ask for advice. If you absolutely cannot find one way or the other, eenie-meenie-mihnie-moe it and seek the advice of your critique partners once it's finished. Just don't let anyone tell you that either method is inherently wrong.
Unless you're trying to turn a bildungsroman protagonist into a static character. I don't think that can be done (but please correct me if im wrong id love to see how that would work).
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