Character Profile Template

Character Profile Template
About the template
This is a huge template which you may not want to fill out in its entirety for each character. The idea behind the template is that you can pick and choose which parts of it you want to fill out. Next to each section are links with information to help you find out more about that point. If you choose to use this template, you can copy/paste the sections you like into your bank and then fill it out per character.

Identity

NAME: ICly, who chose your character's name and why? Are they named after someone or does the name hold a special meaning? Resources: Behind The Name | Rinkworks Fantasy Name Generator
NICKNAMES: What do other characters call your character? Why? Do parents/other family/friends/colleagues/rivals have different nicknames for your character? Resources: Wikipedia: nicknames
ALIAS/TITLE: Has your character adopted an alias (e.g. "The Doctor", "The Master"), or do they have a title (e.g. "Lord", "Countess")? Resources: Wikipedia: nobles and ranks
EPITHETS: An adjective or phrase expressing a quality or attribute regarded as a characteristic of the character. Most frequently attributed in Shaman culture to deities or deified beings.
REN: A physical object representing your character's identity. What is the ren shape? How did they find their ren? How old were they when they found it?
BIOLOGICAL SEX: Resources: The 6 Most Common Biological Sexes in Humans | Intersex Society of North America
GENDER: Your character's gender identity, which may match their biological sex (cisgender) or may not (transgender). Resources: Understanding Gender | The Genderbread Person | Youtube Channel: Riley Dennis | We Are Family: LGBT A-Z
PREFERRED PRONOUNS: Which pronouns does your character like to use? Resources: LGBT Resource Center: gender pronouns
ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Which type of character is your character most likely to fall in love with? Resources: Wikipedia: romantic orientation | Asexuality Network: a list of romantic orientations | We Are Family: LGBT A-Z
SEXUAL ORIENTATION: What type of character does your character prefer to have sex with? Resources: Wikipedia: sexual orientation | We Are Family: LGBT A-Z
NATIONALITY: Which country was your character born in or which country do they "belong" to? If they were born on Shaman, they may be referred to as a native "Shamanite".
ETHNICITY: Which social/ethnic/racial group(s) does your character belong to? Consider parental or grandparent ethnicities and races. Resources: Wikipedia: ethnic group
ORIGIN: Is your character native to Shaman? If not, where are they from? Planet, country/kingdom, state/county, city/town/village/hamlet?
FIRST LANGUAGE: What was your character's first spoken language, the one they were raised on?
OTHER LANGUAGES: What other languages can your character access, either through speech, reading or writing?
RELIGION: What religion does your character follow?
RELIGIOSITY: How religious is your character? Are they practising? Church-going? How frequently do they pray? Do they attend religious festivals, observe religious holidays or partake in religious rituals? Do they dress in accordance with their religion, e.g. by wearing a cross or pendant on a necklace?
PREFERRED FAIRY DEITIES: Which of the deities on Shaman do/would your character prefer? Why? Have they met any?
DOMINANT HAND: Right-handed, left-handed or ambidextrous?
SOCIAL CLASS: Under, working, middle, upper, "new money"? Which class does your character belong in according to economic and cultural traits? Have they changed classes over their lifetime? Consider their occupation, education level, upbringing and attitudes towards employment, education and politics. You also need to consider where they came from, since social class structures vary by country. Resources: Wikipedia: social class | UDEL: what is social class? | The Telegraph: 7 social classes in Britain
POLITICAL ALIGNMENT: Where does your character sit on the right/left-wing spectrum, authoritarian or libertarian, or are they apolitical? Resources: Wikipedia: left-right political spectrum | The Life Guide: left vs right (video)
KEY ELEMENTS OF IDENTITY: What is most important to your character when they self-identify? What words would they most commonly used to describe themselves? Consider education, career, family, friends, personality, history, physical and neuro-differences, appearance, sexuality, gender, religion, nationality, ethnicity, politics, class, fashion etc.

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appearance

FACE SHAPE: How long is your character's face? What is the shape of their chin, cheekbones, jawline, forehead? Resources: Byrdie: how to figure out your face shape (women) | Birchbox: how to determine your face shape (men) | Google Images: face shapes | Human Anatomy Fundamentals
HAIR: What is your character's hair colour, type, thickness and length? Does it grow quickly or slowly? Does it change colour in the summer/sun? Are there highlights or lowlights? Do they have a fringe/bangs? Is it easy to style? Do they dye, straighten, curl or style it? Resources: Curl Centric: hair typing systems | Andre Walker Hair Types | Wikipedia: hair | Wikipedia: human hair colors
EYES: What is your character's eye colour and shape? What is the shape and length of the eyelashes and eyebrows? Resources: Eye Doctors: what color are your eyes? | Wikipedia: eye colours | Human Anatomy Fundamentals | Beautylish: what's your eye shape? | Fashion Lady: have you known the types of monolids? | Eyebrowz: face shapes & eyebrows
NOSE: Tall, small or medium sized? Flat or pronounced? Wide or thin nostrils? Upturned or downturned? Resources: Human Anatomy Fundamentals | Google Images: nose shape
EARS: Round, square, pointed, narrow, wide? Do the ears stick out or lie flat against the side of the head? How big are they? How long is the lobe? Is the lobe attached or free? Resources: Human Anatomy Fundamentals | Google Images: ear shape
MOUTH: How big is your character's mouth? Are the lips thick or thin? Naturally upturned, naturally neutral or naturally downturned on their "resting" face? How are the upper and lower lips shaped? What colour and shape are the teeth? Are any teeth missing? Does your character wear braces or have teeth adornments or fake teeth? Resources: Human Anatomy Fundamentals | Google Images: mouth shape | Google Images: teeth shape
BLEMISHES: Does your character have freckles, acne or acne scarring, moles? Where are they? What shape? Resources: Web MD: moles, freckles and skin tags | A Freckle Lesson: types of freckles | Wikipedia: acne | NHS: moles
SKIN TONE: What is your character's skin tone? What is their undertone? In what circumstances, if at all, do they tan or burn? Resources: Wikipedia: Fitzpatrick scale | Google Images: skin types
BODY SHAPE: Does your character have a triangular, inverted-triangular, rectangular, square, round or hourglass body shape? Google Images: female body shape | Google Images: male body shape
PROPORTIONS: Does your character have "normal" body proportions, or do they have long/short legs, torso, arms, fingers? Big/small hands, feet, chest, bottom? Wide/narrow shoulders, hips?
HEIGHT: How tall is your character? How much of this is down to genetics and how much nutrition/environmental factors? Resources: Wikipedia: human height | Wikipedia: list of average human heights worldwide | Our World in Data: human height
WEIGHT: What is your character's "natural" weight (the weight they would be if they exercised a reasonable amount and ate healthily)? What is their current weight? Resources: NHS BMI Calculator | NHS Height/Weight Chart
WINGS: What colour are your character's wings? Do they have any markings? Are the wings composed of feathers, skin, metal, an elemental substance like water or fire, or any other substance? Do they resemble an animal such as a bird, bat, insect, dinosaur or dragon? Resources: Wikipedia: flying and gliding animals
TATTOOS: What tattoos does your character have, if any? Where are they located? How big and what shape are they? Are they faded or fresh? What colours are visible?
BIRTHMARKS: Does your character have any birthmarks? Where are they, how big are they and what shape and colour?
SCARS: Does your character have any scarring? What from? Where are the scars located and how big are they? How visible are they? What shape?
PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES: Does your character have any "natural" physical differences such as a loss of sense or limb? How strong is your character's eyesight, hearing and other senses? Does your character have any extra fingers or toes? Are they intersex? Does your character have any skills, magic or items used to plug any "gaps" in their physical abilities?
PHYSICAL TRAITS/ALTERATIONS: Does your character have any magical or unnatural traits like unnatural eye colours, antlers, horns, etc? Were these acquired or was your character born with them?
POSTURE: How does your character stand and sit naturally? Slouched, hunched or upright? Do they appear shorter, taller, less or more confident because of their posture? Is your character prone to putting their hands on their hips when they stand, or crossing their legs when sitting? What is their natural gait? Do they have a particular style of movement? Resources: NHS Common Posture Mistakes and Fixes | WikiHow: how to improve your posture | Wikipedia: posture (psychology) | Youtube: The Sims 4 walk styles
VOICE: What is your character's accent and speech mannerisms? Do you have a vocal reference for your character? Resources: Wikipedia: dialects | Wikipedia: list of dialects of the English language
FASHION: How does your character express themselves through dress? Are they well-dressed and well-groomed or sloppy? Does your character have a good or poor sense of which styles, colours and patterns work well together? What colour and style of clothes do they prefer to wear? Do they accessorise? How important is fashion and clothing to your character; do they think a lot about what they wear or just throw it on? What about make-up and hair styles? Resources: Visual Therapy: style type quiz | Joy of Clothes

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personality

LIKES: What kind of things does your character like? People? Traits in others? Magic? Clothes? Food? Work? Family? Friends? Hobbies? Interests? Books? Music? Animals? Art? Nature?
DISLIKES: What kind of things does your character not like? People? Traits in others? Magic? Clothes? Food? Work? Family? Friends? Hobbies? Interests? Books? Music? Animals? Art? Nature?
NATURAL TALENTS: What is your character good at without having to try too hard? Social, kinetic, crafty, arty, musical, theatrical, literate, foodie things? Try to think of "little" things as well as "big" things - for example, does your character have a good eye for colour? A good sense of direction? A knack for finding things which others have lost?
PRACTISED SKILLS: What is your character trained, learned or practised in? What have they read books about or actively done themselves? Resources: The Balance: general skills list
WEAKNESSES: What is your character not trained, learned, practised or naturally talented at?
POSITIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS: What draws other characters to your character? What has a positive influence on them or others? Resources: Creative Affirmations: which positive character traits do you want to develop? | Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 638 primary personality traits | Live Bold & Bloom: 20 good character traits essential for happiness | Judy Teel: character traits list
NEGATIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS: What turns other characters away from your character? What has a negative influence on them or others? Resources: Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 638 primary personality traits | Buzzle: a list of commonly observed negative character traits | Judy Teel: character traits list
NEUTRAL PERSONALITY TRAITS: What aspects of your character's personality are neither positive nor negative? Resources: Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 638 primary personality traits | Judy Teel: character traits list
HABITS: Does your character crack their knuckles, pick their nose, scratch their chin, click their fingers? What are their daily routines, for example when getting up in the morning? Does your character have specific routines or habits at work, when socialising, when alone, when out and about? Resources: The Editor's Blog: habits, motions and common actions of fictional characters | Wikipedia: habit | AnikaandAj: common character habits
COPING/DEFENCE MECHANISMS: How does your character react to bad news, luck or events? How do they cope with problems, conflict or loss? How does your character protect themselves from getting emotionally hurt? Are they avoidant or do they face problems head-on? Does your character create or try to avoid or resolve conflict? Resources: Wikipedia: coping (psychology) | Changing Minds: coping mechanisms | Internet of the Mind: a list of defense mechanisms
BEHAVIOURAL MOTIVATIONS: What motivates your character to behave the way they do? Do they have behavioural disorders or neurodifferences, such as ADHD or anti-social personality disorders, which cause them to react or behave the way they do? What about their life experiences or relationships? Is it something key in the way your character thinks and processes which determines their behaviour, or do they react without thinking?
LEARNING PREFERENCES: Does your character prefer to learn in visual, audio, textual or kinetic (movement) ways? Resources: Bowdoin: learning preferences
TYPE OF INTELLIGENCE: Which types of intelligence is your character stronger and weaker at? Resources: Wikipedia: multiple intelligence theory | Funders and Founders: 9 types of intelligence
INTROVERSION-EXTROVERSION: Is your character an introvert, extrovert or ambivert? Resources: Wikipedia: extraversion and introversion | Fast Company: are you an introvert or an extravert? | Huffpost: in one simple chart
TYPE A-B: Is your character a type A or type B personality? Resources: Wikipedia: type A and type B personality theory
ENNEAGRAM: Which type of personality does your character have according to the Enneagram tests? Resources: Electric Energies Enneagram Test
MENTAL HEALTH: What is your character's state of mental health now and in the past? Is your character prone to depression, phobias, anxieties, addictions, eating disorders or other common mental health issues? How successfully does your character manage their wellbeing? Resources: Mind: A-Z mental health | Mental Health Foundation: A-Z
NEURODIFFERENCES: Where does your character sit on spectrums such as dyslexia, autism, ADHD? Do they have any learning difficulties? Resources: Genius Within: understanding neuro-differences for HR professionals | Wikipedia: neurological disorder | LDA: types of learning disabilities
D&D ALIGNMENT: Lawful, neutral, chaotic; good, neutral, evil? Resources: Wikipedia: alignment (dungeons & dragons)
TS3 TRAITS: If you made your character on The Sims 3, which 5 traits would you give them? Resources: Carls Sims 3 Guide: traits
MLP ELEMENT: If your character was one of the Mane 6 in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, which element of harmony would they represent? Resources: My Little Pony Wiki: elements of harmony

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Likes:<ul>
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</ul>
Dislikes:<ul>
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</ul>

Natural Talents:<ul>
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</ul>
Practised Skills: <ul>
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</ul>
Weaknesses:<ul>
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</ul>

Positive Personality Traits: <ul>
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</ul>
Negative Personality Traits:<ul>
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</ul>
Neutral Personality Traits:<ul>
<li>Bullet point 1
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</ul>

Habits:
Coping/defence Mechanisms:
Behavioural Motivations:

Learning Preferences:
Type of Intelligence:
Introversion-Extroversion:
Type A-B:
Enneagram:

Mental Health:
Neurodifferences:

D&D Alignment:
TS3 Traits:
MLP Element:

magic

LEVEL, POINTS: What is your character's level and points? What abilities do they have within that level? Resources: Shaman: magic and levels
LEVEL BRANCH: If they are level 8+, what is your character's level branch? If they are below level 8, which level branches would you prefer for them? Resources: Shaman: magic and levels
POWERS: What powers does your character currently have?
PREFERRED TYPE: Is your character more of a psychic or an elementalist? Are they trying to collect all the Spiderman or Percy Jackson powers? What kind of magic do you want your character to align with?
FUTURE POWER IDEAS/GOALS: Which powers do you want your character to acquire in the future? Resources: Shaman: power database | Superpower Wiki
MAGIC USE/ACCESS: How does your character use or access their magic? Do they use hand motions, interpretative dance, a magic wand, mental prowess?
MAGIC SKILLS/PRACTICE: How practised is your character with each of their powers? Which magic are they stronger or weaker with?
IDENTIFYING FEATURES: Does your character's magic have any quirky or identifying features, like a special colour, a puff of smoke when they teleport, a certain noise?

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lifestyle

LEVEL OF EDUCATION: How literate is your character? What is their reading age? Did your character attend school or higher education? Were they homeschooled, did they have private tuition? Have they ever been an apprentice or have another character train or teach them? Resources: Read Unite: reading age calculator
EDUCATION GOALS: What level of education does your character hope to reach? Do they hope to train or apprentice in a specific job, or do they want to achieve a certain level of academia?
JOB: What does your character do for a living? Is this a job or a career? Is it the job they want to be doing or would they rather be doing something else? How many hours/days a week to they work and how much are they paid?
CAREER GOALS: What would be your character's "end" career goal? What do they want to do?
HOBBIES: What does your character like to do in their leisure time? Resources: Wikipedia: list of hobbies
SPORTS: Does your character participate in, watch or follow any sports or athletics? Resources: Wikipedia: list of sports
ACADEMIC INTERESTS: What does your character like to learn or read about? Do they enjoy studying any academic subjects in their spare time? What would have been their favourite subject in school? Resources: Wikipedia: outline of academic disciplines
OTHER INTERESTS: Does your character have any other interests which are not related to the above?
RESPONSIBILITIES: Does your character have any dependants or pets which they are responsible for? Do they have to do chores at home? Do they have a job, apprenticeship or educational responsibilities?
DIET: What does your character eat? Are they vegan, vegetarian, pescetarian, fruitarian, omnivorous? Do they have any allergies or intolerance? Are there any foods they won't touch? Resources: NHS: food allergy | Vegetarian Nation: types of vegetarianism | NHS: food and diet
EXERCISE: How much does your character exercise? What type of exercise do they do? Resources: NHS: health and fitness
ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION: How regularly does your character drink? What kind of alcohol do they prefer? How much do they have in a "sitting"? Resources: NHS: drinking and alcohol | Drink Aware: alcohol limit and unit guidance | Wikipedia: list of alcoholic drinks
DRUG USE: Does your character take any recreational drugs? What type and how often? What are the effects? Resources: Wikipedia: recreational drug use | Frank: A-Z drugs | NHS: the effects of drugs
SLEEP PATTERNS: How many hours of sleep a night does your character need to feel rested? How many hours do they actually get? Do they nap? What time approximately do they go to bed and get up on average? Do they have any sleeping disorders? Resources: National Sleep Foundation: five clusters of sleep patterns | WebMD: sleep disorders health center | NHS: better sleep | Medical Daily: sleep patterns around the world
PHYSICAL HEALTH/FITNESS: How healthy and fit is your character overall? How frequently do they get ill? Do they have any non-food allergies? What is the impact of stress, work and responsibilities on their health? Resources: NHS: live well
DAILY STRESSORS: What day-to-day things create stress in your character's life? Think about work, home, family, responsibilities, anxieties. Resources: American Institute of Stress: what is stress? | Cleveland Clinic Wellness: 10 everyday stressors and how to conquer them
MAJOR STRESSORS: Has your character experienced anything which would be a majorly stressful event in their life? How did it affect them? Resources: Pain Doctor: top 10 most stressful life events | Wikipedia: Holmes and Rahe stress scale

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history / timeline

EARLY CHILDHOOD, 0-6 YEARS: What was happening to your character at this time? What environmental factors helped influence your character's future life? What sort of personality did your character have at this time? Did they go through any phases or crises? Did they learn anything about themselves or the world? Resources: Guardian: what is an ideal childhood?
MIDDLE CHILDHOOD, 7-12 YEARS: What was happening to your character at this time? What environmental factors helped influence your character's future life? What sort of personality did your character have at this time? Did they go through any phases or crises? Did they learn anything about themselves or the world? Guardian: what is an ideal childhood?
YOUNGER TEEN YEARS, 13-16 YEARS: What was happening to your character at this time? What environmental factors helped influence your character's future life? What sort of personality did your character have at this time? Did they go through any phases or crises? Did they learn anything about themselves or the world? How did puberty impact your character?
OLDER TEEN YEARS, 16-19 YEARS: What was happening to your character at this time? What environmental factors helped influence your character's future life? What sort of personality did your character have at this time? Did they go through any phases or crises? Did they learn anything about themselves or the world?
YOUNG ADULTHOOD, 20-30 YEARS: What was happening to your character at this time? What environmental factors helped influence your character's future life? What sort of personality did your character have at this time? Did they go through any phases or crises? Did they learn anything about themselves or the world?
ADULTHOOD, 30-60 YEARS: What was happening to your character at this time? What environmental factors helped influence your character's future life? What sort of personality did your character have at this time? Did they go through any phases or crises? Did they learn anything about themselves or the world?
OLD AGE, 60+: What was happening to your character at this time? What environmental factors helped influence your character's future life? What sort of personality did your character have at this time? Did they go through any phases or crises? Did they learn anything about themselves or the world?
SIGNIFICANT LIFE EVENTS: What moments in your character's life had a significant impact on their personality, outlook, career development etc?
MEMORABLE MOMENTS: What moments does your character look back on, fondly or otherwise?

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relationships

PARENTS: Who are your characters' parents? What relationship does your character have with them? If they were raised by someone else, who?
CHILDREN: Does your character have children? If so, what is the relationship with them like?
GRANDCHILDREN: Does your character have grandchildren? If so, what is the relationship with them like?
SIBLINGS: Does your character have siblings, half-siblings or step-siblings? If so, what is the relationship with them like?
GRANDPARENTS: Does your character know their grandparents? What is the relationship like with both (or more) sets?
AUNTS/UNCLES: Does your character have any aunts or uncles, biological or adopted? What is the relationship like with them?
COUSINS: Does your character have any cousins, biological or adopted? What is the relationship like with them?
OTHER FAMILY: Does your character have any other family? Great-aunts, second cousins, great-grandparents? What about adopted family or friends close enough to be considered family? What is the relationship like with them?
BEST FRIEND: Who is your character's closest friend? Why are they best friends? What is it that bumps the relationship above just being good friends?
CLOSE FRIENDS: Who are your character's closest friends? What is it your character likes about them?
FRIENDS: What about your character's outer circle of friends? Who does your character consider themselves friends with but they aren't as close to? Why?
FRIENDLY ACQUAINTANCES: Who is your character friendly with, but isn't considered a friend (yet)? How might that character become a friend in the future?
ROMANTIC PARTNER: Who is your character's romantic/sexual partner? How did they meet? What is the relationship like? What does your character love about them?
FORMER ROMANTIC PARTNERS/INTERESTS: Who are your character's exes or former crushes? What was the relationship like then and what is it like now? What happened?
ARCH-ENEMY: Who is the one person your character hates above all others? Why?
ENEMIES: Who else does your character really hate and why?
ANTAGONISTS: Who irritates your character? Who does your character not like? Who causes them problems or strife?
PETS: What pets or animal companions does your character have? What is their relationship with those animals? Did your character breed, adopt, raise or train them? Do they consider the animal a pet, friend, colleague or working animal?
SERVANTS: Does your character live in a household with servants or staff? What is their relationship like with them? What is your character's attitude towards servants?
NANNIES: Does or did your character have a nanny, child-minder or wet nurse? What is their relationship like with them? What is your character's attitude towards nannies?
TEACHER/TUTOR: Does or did your character have a teacher or tutor? What is their relationship like with them? If it is a former teacher/tutor, is the relationship different now?
DOCTOR: Does your character have a personal or go-to doctor, nurse or healer? What is their relationship like with them?
MANAGER/BOSS: If your character has a job, who is their boss or manager? What is their relationship like with them? What is your character's attitude towards authority?
COLLEAGUES: If your character has a job, who are their colleagues? What is their relationship like with them?
FELLOW STUDENTS: If your character has tuition or attends school, who are their fellow students? What is their relationship like with them?

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other

VISUAL REFERENCES: Do you have a "face claim"? What visual references help you to construct your character appearance?
VISUAL INSPIRATION: Are there any works of art which inspire you to write your character?
FILM INSPIRATION: What films/TV shows/clips inspire you to write your character? Link them!
MUSICAL INSPIRATION: What's your writing playlist for this character? What music inspires you to write them?
SUGGESTED PROMPTS: Come up with your own list of writing prompts for this character. Think about things which might commonly happen to them, situations which might show off certain personality features or situations which might push them out of their comfort zone.

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