• Accepting – too accepting; willing to excuse extreme behavior
• Adaptable – used to traveling from situation to situation; may not be able to fully adapt/live in a permanent situation
• Affable – accidentally befriends the wrong sort of people; pushes to befriend everyone
• Affectionate –inappropriate affection
• Alert – constantly on edge; paranoid
• Altruistic – self-destructive behavior for the sake of their Cause
• Apologetic – apologizes too much; is a doormat; guilt-ridden
• Aspiring – becomes very ambitious; ruthless in their attempts to reach goals
• Assertive – misunderstood as aggressive; actually aggressive; others react negatively when they take command all the time
• Athletic – joints weakened from exercise; performance-enhancing drug abuse; competitive
• Brave – engages in risky behavior; exposes others to risky situations
• Busy – overworked; no time for play
• Calm – do not want their sense of security disturbed; turn a blind eye
• Carefree – apathetic about life; naïve
• Careful – paranoid
• Charismatic – uses their charm for evil; convinces people to do questionable things; gains an unexpected cult following
• Complex –difficult for others to understand and/or get close to
• Confident – arrogant
• Cooperative – submissive
• Creative – lazy; procrastinator
• Cultured – arrogant; elitist
• Curious – sticks their nose where it doesn’t belong
• Dainty – delicate; easily broken
• Decisive – refuses to change their mind
• Dedicated – dogmatic
• Determined – refuses to recognize a no-win scenario
• Diligent – perfectionist; neat freak
• Disciplined – by-the-book; need standards
• Dramatic – overdramatic; no one takes them seriously; see life as a game
• Dreamy – cannot focus on the present; thinks only in abstract
• Dry – negative; smartass
• Eager – hyperactive; refuse to follow through; blindly rushes through actions
• Eccentric – not understood by others; strange; cannot socialize; cannot read body language
• Empathetic – bleeding heart; try to humanize everything
• Fair – value justice over mercy
• Fierce – violent
• Flirty – flirts with the wrong people; make unwanted advances
• Forgiving – forgives everyone, no matter how bad they are
• Funny – not taken seriously; sad on the inside (several famous comedians have been suicidal); eager to please
• Generous – gives everything away; thinks nothing for themselves
• Gentle – patronizing; over-forgiving; naïve
• Gifted – fear others will surpass their abilities; arrogant; ambitious
• Good – NEVER USE THE WORD “GOOD” WHEN DESCRIBING A CHARACTER. USE ETHICAL OR MORAL OR NICE, BUT DON’T USE GOOD. The moment you use “good” is the moment you have decided your story is black and white and that is BAD
• Hardworking – works too hard; doesn’t get enough credit for their work; taken advantage of; forgets to take care of self
• Honest – blunt; tells truths that hurt others; cannot keep secrets
• Honorable –honors all promises, even the stupid ones; by-the-book; studious
• Humble – refuses to take credit for work; dislikes attention
• Idealistic – naïve; cannot see evil motives or fault in others
• Independent – does not play well with others; withdrawn; dislikes authority
• Intelligent – arrogant; does not listen to others’ ideas; depressed
• Loyal – overwhelmed with responsibilities they feel they need to honor; does not see faults in what or who they are loyal to; taken advantage of
• Lucky – relies on their luck to get them through situations instead of working it out themselves
• Mature – arrogant; condescending; patronizing
• Mysterious – unknowable; isolated; unsociable
• Obedient – obeys stupid commands
• Observant – pick up on negative body and language cues faster than others; perceives others to have extreme emotions
• Opinionated – speaks at inappropriate times; alienates others with radical views
• Optimistic – refuses to acknowledge defeat
• Organized –perfectionist; neat freak; cannot function amidst disorder
• Patient – waits too long; inactive; passive
• Perfectionist – obsessive disorders; take a long time; never satisfied with their work
• Playful – don’t take life seriously; inappropriately try to make light of a serious situation; not taken seriously
• Powerful – absolute power corrupts absolutely
• Productive – rushes through things; envied by coworkers; nerdy; perceived as up to the boss
• Protective – over-protective; paranoid; possessive
• Proud – arrogant; unwilling to accept help; headstrong
• Rebellious – resents authority; uncooperative; temperamental; represents a defunct or incorrect ideal
• Regretful – spends too much time in the past; sad; avoids situations like the one they regret
• Reserved – bottles up feelings; unsociable; difficult to understand; reluctant to tell secrets
• Restless – unfocused; cannot follow through; has a history of moving and/or many short relationships
• Romantic – cheesy; enslaved to their partner
• Selfless – refuses to think of self; suicidal; self-destructive
• Sensitive – over analytical; perceives things that aren’t there
• Sentimental – saves everything; vomits emotions; tells everyone, even when in appropriate, about the object of their sentiment
• Simple – want yes/no answers; turn away from complex problems; passive
• Strong – fears being seen as weak; bullying; compensates for or hides weaknesses; refuses to acknowledge weaknesses
• Suave – manipulative; untrustworthy
• Successful – fears losing success; paranoid; ruthless; hates or fears competitors; arrogant; descends into self-aggrandizement; decadent
• Tactful – tells white lies; despises revealing information; unwilling to give up secrets; waits for the appropriate moment
• Tender – cannot make hard choices; bleeding heart; unwilling to injure or hurt others
• Thoughtful – under-appreciation can make them bitter; sensitive; over-attentive
• Wise – perfectionists; people expect them to be right always; fears giving the wrong advice; have doubts
• Witty – cannot take things seriously; offends others; thinks they are funnier than they actually are

(Characteristics culled from the 500 character traits assembled by thewritingcafe.tumblr, as seen here)

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