The Questions To Ask When Creating A Character

Full name of Character:


Reason, meaning or purpose behind the name:


Nickname:


Reason for nickname:


Race:


Occupation/class:


Social class:



Physical Appearance:

Age:


How old they appear:


Eye Color:


Glasses or contacts?


Hair color length and style:


Weight and height:


Type of body (build):


Skin tone and type:


Shape of face:


Distinguishing marks (dimples, moles, scars, birthmarks, etc.):


Predominant feature:


Is s/he healthy?


If not, why not? Or why are they healthy?


Do they look healthy? Why/why not?



Favorites:

Character’s favorite color, why?:


Least favorite, why?


Music?


Least favorite music, why?


Food:


Literature:


Expressions:


Expletives (curse):


Mode of transport:


Hobbies:


How do they spend a rainy day?


Personality:

Are they a daredevil or cautious?


Do they act the same alone as when with someone?


Habits:


Drinks:


How much:


Greatest Strength:


Greatest Weakness:


Soft spot:


Is their soft spot obvious, why/why not:


If not, how do they hide it:


Biggest Vulnerability:


Background:

Hometown:


Type of childhood:


First Memory:


Most important child hood event that still effects him/her:


Why?


Education:


Religion:


Finances:


Family:

Mother:


Relationship with her:


Father:


Relationship with him:


Siblings, How many, relationship with each:


Children of siblings:


Other extended family:


Attitude:

Most at ease when:


Most ill at ease when:


Priorities:


Philosophies:


How they feel about themselves:


Past failure they would be embarrassed to admit:


If granted one wish what would it be, why?


Traits:

Optimist or pessimist? Why?:


Introvert or extrovert? Why?


Drives and motives:


Talents:


Extremely skilled at:


Extremely unskilled at:


Good characteristics:


Character flaws:


Mannerisms:


Peculiarities:


Biggest regret:


Minor regrets:


Biggest accomplishment:


Minor accomplishments:


Darkest secret:


Does anyone know?


If so, how did they find out:


Self-perception:

One word they would use to describe themselves:


One paragraph of how they would describe themselves:


What do they consider their best physical characteristic and why:


The worst one?


Why?


Are they realistic assessments?


If not, why not?


How they think others preserve them:


What four things would they most like to change about themselves:


Why?


If they were changed would they be the same person, why/why not:


Would changing of number 1 make them more happy? Why/why not:


Interaction with other people:

How do they relate to others:


How are they perceived by strangers:


Friends:


Wife/husband/lover:


The Hero/Heroin:


How do they view the Hero/Heroine:


First impression of the char:


why?


What happens to change this perception:


What do people like most about this char:


What do they dislike most about them:


Goals:

Immediate:


Long term:


How do they plan to accomplish them:


How will others be effected by this:


Problems/Crisis:

How do they react in a crisis:


How do they face problems:


Kind of problems they usually run into:


How they react to new problems:


How they react to change:


General:

Favorite clothing, why:


Least favorite, why:


Jewelry:


Other accessories:


Drives:


Where do they live:


Where do they want to live:


Spending habits, why:


What do they do too much of, why:


Most prized possession, why:


People they secretly admire, why:


Person they are most influenced by, why:


Most important person in their life before story starts, why:


How do they spend the week just before the story starts:


I find that once you have filled out these questions your character will almost take on a life of its own.

Hopefully you find this helpful.

wow! that sums it up nicely,better then making an entire short story about your characters backround (my method) thanks.

I was worried it would never end. About a third through, I started scolling like a scared child.

But, saved. I'm going to fill this out right now.

Okay, the artist may ask themselves that, but nobody else will.

To be honest, you don't really need to fill all these out.

But it does seem rather helpful...


...I'm so going to fill one out for the Ryu's Krew guys.

scri66leKitty
wow! that sums it up nicely,better then making an entire short story about your characters backround (my method) thanks.

I love that this sounds so sarcastic :)

-It probably isn't, but that's the way I prefer to think of it ^_^

Wow, if I made lists like that for my characters, I'd never write anything...

I think the list is a good idea for the type of person who needs lists to keep everything organized. That's not a bad thing.

It reminds me of a roleplaying game I played. The GM gave me a 100-question background check to see if the character I rolled up would fit his campaign. It was really hard to answer those questions without playing the character first. So I jotted down whatever came to mind just to fill in the blanks and get going. As I played, I would go back to the list every couple of months and change one or two answers.

I like lists like this for seeing how a character has evolved from when I originally thought it up.

Edit: I've got some time tonight. I'm going to start this questionnaire for one of my characters and see how it comes out. :)

im gonna fill this out to see what happens

I wonder how it would be like if you fill out this kind of form for applying for a job or a passport. :)

give it time.

I get inspired to create a new character from meeting someone interesting (in a good or bad way) or needing them to fill a role in a storyline. Some characters might start out with minor parts, strike a chord with the audience and over time develop all of that depth and nuance. I think whether or not the comic itself is a narrative or a humor comic would influence how important it is to work all of this out beforehand.