resource | no. ten
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RESOURCE NO. TEN
< fantasy character template >
IDENTIDY
Full Name: The name of the character can set the tone for his/her personality in the story. One of the things you must consider as a writer is how appropriate a name is for the person's age, gender, and nationality/race/species. These three factors can provide a good base for choosing a good name for your character. Another thing I like to consider is the meaning of the name; the meaning of your character's name can, again, fit the personality or it can fit a theme or motif you want to build.
Age: There is no perfect age: the young want to be old, the old want to be young, and no one wants to be in-between. A young character has a different point of view on life and all its wonders in comparison to someone with more years under their belt. People also change over time, so you have to ask yourself "What stage in life, physically and mentally, is my character?"
Date of Birth: This is just a parallel to the age category, but the earliest months of a person's life reverberate through the years, even if the character cannot remember them. This can influence the back story of a grown-up character, especially if time-dependent stuff like spring, fall, drought, and monsoon season are important. The date of birth is also very important if you want their personality shaped by their zodiac sign.
Gender: Gender can be very polarising. Men supposedly act like men and women supposedly act like women, but this does not always have to be the case. Nevertheless, the native (or gender, for the more prudish) can form a good base for building a well-defined personality.
Place of Birth: Where someone is born can tell so much. Some people never move far from their place of birth. It can shape so much of an individual: how they dress, how much they earn, how they speak, how they treat others... In short, micro-culture. Each town or village can be worlds onto themselves, unique from their surroundings.
Race/Ethnicity/Species: Here we have something that can define the whole of a person. The combination of race, ethnicity, and/or species sets the foundation of culture and heritage. They affect not just the character in question, but also his/her family, friends, and neighbors. An encounter with someone of a different background can result in love, friendship, neutrality, suspicion, or even spite.
physical description
The physical description is both important and unimportant. It is important in that it defines all assumptions a reader may have before the character's personality is developed. It is unimportant in that you should not conform yourself as a writer solely to those assumptions. A character may act and emote in such a way that one would not expect from his/her physical appearance. However, you should take care not to construct unrealistic or overly-exaggerated individuals. Even with a tinge of strangeness, a good character is at the very least relate-able.
Height:
Weight:
Hair Colour:
Hair Length:
Hairstyle:
Eye Colour:
General Body Description:
Typical clothing style:
Birthmarks: Tattoos: Scars: Picture (link if available):
social description
Financial Status: Money is the root of all evil and the fountain of modern pleasure. Financial wealth says much of social standing. Wealth of other kinds have their own stories to tell.
ual Attitude: Personally, I do not see a distinct line separating what determines how straight or gay someone is. That being said, ual orientation is not black and white. It takes all types to make a world.
Moral Alignment: In the normal world, no person is truly good, or wholly evil. In a fantasy world, it is certainly possible to create such characters, but they would be dull if they were incorruptibly so. Keep in mind that laws, rules, and cultural norms do not always follow morality and vice-versa.
Religious Alignment: Religion does not always define or determine morality. In the same way, religion can influence a person's moral leaning, how he/she lives, and general outlook on life.
Political Alignment: The world of politics is complex. People like to group together with others with similar thoughts and beliefs. Even those groups are not unanimous in what they think and believe. Just like religion, politics can influence a person's moral leaning, how he/she lives, and general outlook on life.
Use of Drugs: Drug use is found in all walks of life, regardless of age, gender, and social standing. Do not forget that medicines are drugs. Their use can vary from none to necessity to abuse. It is the kind of drug says much of the user. Probably the one thing you can assume of a user is that their health is less than one-hundred percent.
Reputation: What other people think of you can have a positive or a negative effect on appearance and personality. On one hand, you can have a prodigy, a paragon of beauty, ideals, and truth. On the other hand, you can have the bad boy/girl, notorious for one reason or another. However, these do not mean that someone can be not known for being ordinary.
Criminal Status: A character either has one or does not. In either case, that person can still be good or evil. As was written before, laws and rules do not always follow morality. Still, criminal status can say volumes about a person's past, decision-making, and morality. Weigh each crime differently: property crimes are different from public order crimes, and public order crimes are different from violent crimes.
education
Highest Education Level Achieved: The amount of time spent in some form of schooling does not say too much about someone's level of intelligence. In addition, no two schools are alike in what is taught, what is learned, and what is experienced.
Occupation: An occupation demonstrates the expertise at which your character has chosen to excel. Of course, some occupations are chosen out of necessity rather than out of desire. Finally, there are those who have no choice in what their occupation is.
Hobbies: Hobbies add a richness to a character. They can show a character's talent outside of everyday life and can be unrelated to that character's profession. A character tends to be more emotionally-tied to hobbies than to a profession, unless of course, they are one and the same.
Languages & Dialects Spoken: Language does not tell anything about personality, but it is tied to the race/ethnicity/species from before. Language uncovers cultural notes and quirks. A dialect of a language is more specific, and thus, adds more feeling behind a character.
Talents/Skills: Here, more than anywhere else on this sheet, demonstrates one of the greatest differences between nature and nurture. Some people are born with talents while others discover and develop them out of interest or spontaneously. Talents and skills can set one character apart from all the rest, independent of personality and body type.
other
Character History: The character history sets the tone for what your character is like. It reveals patterns in behaviour among other things. After the introduction or prologue of a story, an incident occurs that challenges the character(s) involved. Much of the rest of the story then shows how the character develops relative to his/her past. A dynamic character undergoes internal change while a static character remains the same from beginning to end. A static individual is unlikely to make a decent main character.
Family: The family and the presence of certain and specific members have a great influence on the personality. Parents and siblings can provide support, good role models, rivalry, inspiration, and motivation. The family can be extended to include aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins fulfilling some of those roles, if needed. Other kinds of families include single-parent, blended (stepparents and/or step-siblings involved), and childless. Each of these have their own special nuances.
Significant Other(s): The significant other is the person or people whom the character depends on with trust greater than or equal to that put on a close family member, exceptions allowed. Who your character choses to love and trust speaks volumes. Do not forget to note if the relationship is based in love and/or physical attraction.
Personality: Personality is hard to pin down in words; it changes form according to the situation. It is vague, yet consistent.
Habits: Everyone has a habit, a routine, a quirk recognizable to friends and family. These can be used to add depth to your character.
Likes: What does your character like? Is it rational? Why does it make your character happy? No one loves everything.
Dislikes: What does your character dislike? Is it irrational? Why does it make your character sad? No one hates everything.
Dreams: What does your character dream about? Is it about the future? Is it about the past? Is it really a nightmare? How long has your character been holding on to it? Dreams can be a source of strength, and nightmares are the opposite.
Fears: What does your character fear? Would it be called a phobia? Fear represents weakness in a character.
Anything Especially Unique?
special (if applicable)
Powers & Traits: What kinds of supernatural abilities does you character possess? Are they spiritual, magical, physical? A power can be activated, deactivated, granted, or taken away. In comparison to a 'power', a trait is more passive and immutable. Innate special abilities and characteristics of your character go here.
estern Zodiac/Chinese Zodiac: Some people use the zodiac and believe that their personalities and destinies are determined from birth.
Favourite Element: Does the personality of the character fit well with a natural element? In any case: the western zodiac signs are divided into fire, earth, air, and water; the Chinese zodiac is divided into water, wood, fire, and metal.
Temperament: The four humors are based in (discredited) Greek and Roman theories of physiology and philosophy. They are blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. Mismatch of these four was believed to result in a disturbance in personality and health.
Blood Type: In Japan, one's blood type is said to determine personality and compatibility with others, used in roughly the same way as the zodiac signs.
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