Character Profile Outline

Hey ya'll! I'm coming out with a post tomorrow, but I'm bored silly, so here's to my first double post.

Lately I've been trying to do character profiles on my characters because... well, because story characters are just as complex as real-life people. And somehow they just don't seem genuine if you don't give them some small quirks, funny childhood stories, and all that other fun stuff. So here's a generic character profile list to put some ooomph into your characters.

Basic

Full Name:

Nickname: 

Date of Birth: 

Home Country and ethnicity:

Occupation: 

Educational background:

Extensive Knowledge:

Personal Description: 

Beliefs: 

What haunts him (or her):

Worst thing he (she) has ever seen: 

Most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen:

Physical Appearance

Height: Weight:

Eyes: Nose:

Skin: 

Mouth: 

Hair:

Posture:

Hands: 

Scars:

Clothes:

Most striking facial feature:

Most prominent bodily feature:

Most common facial expression:

Personality

Optimistic or pessimistic: 

Displays of affection:

Competitive or Not: 

Impulsive or Cautious:

Biggest Secret: 

What they will stand up for:

What sense they most rely on: 

What quality they most appreciate:

What they would change about themselves:

Greatest strength:

Greatest weakness:

Greatest fear:

Emotion

What makes him (her) laugh:

How he (she) acts when angry:

What makes him (her) cry:

Friends and Family

Big or small:

Older or younger:

Their perception of family:

Siblings:

Past and Future:

What were they like as babies or children? 

Did they grow up rich, poor, or middle-class?

Were they nurtured or neglected?

What is the most offensive thing they ever said?

What is their greatest achievement?

What was their first kiss like?

What is the worst thing they did to someone they loved?

What are their ambitions?

What advice would they give to their younger self?

What smells remind them of their childhood?

What was their childhood ambition?

Strongest childhood memory:

Has anyone ever saved their life?

Love

Do they believe in love at first sight?

How do they behave in a relationship?

Have they ever been in love before?

Conflict

How they respond to threats:

Fight with fists or words:

Choice of weapon:

Where they go when angry:

Who their enemies are and why:

Daily Life

Eating habits:

Sleeping habits:

Style of decor:

Values

What they think is the worst thing done to a human:

Their view of lying:

The last time they lied:

Other

Favorite color:

Favorite foods:

Favorite activity:

Most treasured possession:

Best abilities:

Pet Peeve:

Small Quirks:

The nice thing about character profiles is that you can always add more categories as they pertain to your character. When you're done, you'll have a character unlike any other, I can guarantee that! My personal favorite is the small quirks section. Here's one that I wrote for a rather shy character of mine.

Washes her hands obsessively, talks softly, doesn’t like killing animals, hates when her medicine cabinet is disorganized, is afraid of spiders, bites her lip when in thought

When you have little things that make up important parts of a person's disposition, such as the way someone taps their fingers on the table when they're bored, or the subtle way their eyes change when they're angry, it's easier to picture them while you're reading and overall adds a really cool element to your writing.

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