Highlights Plasmodium falciparum has evolved resistance to almost all antimalarial drugs through genomic changes –SNPs and copy number variants (CNVs) – and a nonspecific stress-response-based survival such as the ring-stage temporary growth arrest (TGA). The ring-stage can develop into asexual or sexual stages or stop growing when conditions are unfavorable. The ring-stage shows extreme plasticity under adverse conditions, such as artemisinin exposure. The ring-stage TGA stage exhibits an innate and passive resistance to many stressors, which ensures that some individuals in the population can survive in the host. P. falciparum ring-stage TGA may rely on environmental sensing and extracellular communication between the parasites. Ring-stage TGA may be an underestimated parasite reservoir, especially in asymptomatic individuals. No treatment that specifically targets growth-arrested ring stages is currently available.