Character Template (How to say the name)

For the Noteworthy Individuals

Written by Lyraine Alei

Honorific/Title Given Name/First Name Middle Name(s) Here Family Name/Surname- Maiden Name, the Nth/Junior-Jr./Senior-Sr. and/or Epithet (The White, The Great, of Farfeld) (a.k.a. Nickname/Alias)

As you can see from the header above, the naming tab all goes towards filling out the header name.
This template is useful for noteworthy characters in your world.
Is your character mortal, immortal, dead, a deity, what? Who are they? What are they, or have they done? Are they important or completely unimportant in any sense of the word? You decide!

The template has many prompt boxes which can be filled in. Use them for inspiration and to help format your article. Do not feel like you have to fill out all of them!

The terms in the braces below each heading tell you under which tab this prompt appears and what the title of the box is.

Divine Domains

(DIVINE/DIVINITY > DIVINE DOMAIN(S))
The domains that the divine is involved with. Harvest and Spring, lightning and rulership of the other gods; what is the divine figure worshipped for?
Does the divine being hold dominion over the domain their worshippers say they do? Does this domain have an opposite held by another, or have others who want it?

Artifacts

(DIVINE/DIVINITY > ARTIFACTS)
Describe the artifacts that were created by this deity or are attributed to them or their followers. This can be holy relics, cursed weapons, books, the bones of famous followers, priests or popes and much more.

Holy Books & Codes

(DIVINE/DIVINITY > HOLY BOOKS & CODES)
The books written by followers to the name of this deity or by writing down the word of the divine given by its messengers. How accurate are these texts? Are they the greatest scam ever create with the divine trying to hunt down every copy?

Divine Symbols & Sigils

(DIVINE/DIVINITY > DIVINE SYMBOLS & SIGILS)
Symbols which are used to denote the presense of the divine and that are used as part of common or secret iconography.

Tenets of Faith

(DIVINE/DIVINITY > TENETS OF FAITH)
A principle or belief, especially one of the main principles of a religion or philosophy related to the divine figure or held by the character.
Are these tenets held by the divine or held by those who follow their teaching?

Holidays

(DIVINE/DIVINITY > HOLIDAYS)
The days of celebration or humble contemplation to the name of the divine. What are these days, how are they celebrated? Who celebrates them? How does the divine figure view these celebrations?

Divine Goals & Aspirations

(DIVINE/DIVINITY > DIVINE GOALS)
The known and/or secret goals of the divine entity.
Who knows these goals, who acts to aid or hinder them? What does the divine want?

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

(PHYSICAL > GENERAL PHYSICAL CONDITION)
Use this as a way to quickly describe your character. Fitness, Agility, Body shape, Aids, Abnormalities, Illnesses, Afflictions.

The face that turned towards him form the shadows was a face out of a nightmare. Changed, Caramon had said! Tanis shuddered. "Changed" wasn't the word! The mage's white skin had turned a golden color. It glistened in the firelight with a faintly metallic quality, looking like a gruesome mask. The flesh had melted from the face, leaving the cheekbones outlined in dreadful shadows. The lips were pulled tight in a dark straight line. But it was the man's eyes that arrested Tanis and held him pinned in their terrible gaze. For the eres were no longer the eyes of any living human Tanis had ever seen. The black pupils were now the shape of hourglasses! the pale blue irises Tanis remembered now glittered gold!

— The introduction of Raistlin Majere in Chapter Two of Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Body Features

(PHYSICAL > BODY FEATURES)
What features does the character have on their body? These can be features shared by their species or are unique to the character.

"'Bleek' yourself," she said, rubbing the ridge of its muzzle. The green eyes blinked, and four of the treecat's six limbs reached out to grip her wrist in feather-gentle hand-paws."

— First part of Nimitz the treecat's description from Chapter One of On Basilisk Station by David Weber

Facial Features

(PHYSICAL > FACIAL FEATURES)
What features are on the character's face? Describe the character's face here.

Untidy dark hair touched with grey, cold intent grey eyes . . . and he had a raw contusion across his right cheekbone.

— Incomplete excerpt describing the face of Captain Aral Vorkosigan from Chapter One of Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold

Identifying Characteristics

(PHYSICAL > IDENTIFYING FEATURES)
How do people differentiate the character from everyone else? Do they have a particularly unique hairstyle or coloring? How does your character visually stand apart from a crowd?

"Like th' do, I do. Howja ge' it white?"
His accent was so thick, it took her a moment to understand what he meant. Lifting her hand, she touched her hair, which she had pulled back into a braid that morning. "My hair? It was already white when I was born."
"Yes."

— Discussion of Ia's white hair in Chapter Two of A Soldier's Duty (Theirs Not To Reason Why, Book 1) by Jean Johnson

Physical quirks

(PHYSICAL > PHYSICAL QUIRKS)
Any physical feature that individualizes the character. These could be from birth, developed, acquired, or forced upon the character. How does the character feel about this trait? This is a place where you can describe all of the answers!
Is the character nearsighted, in possession of an unusually accurate sense of taste, augmented with an artificial limb?

Special abilities

(PHYSICAL > SPECIAL ABILITIES)
What special abilities does the character have? Psychic powers, magic, a talent with harps, perfect pitch?

Apparel & Accessories

(PHYSICAL > APPAREL & ACCESSORIES)
How does the character dress themselves? Does the character wear a uniform? This is where you can unleash you inner fashion designer!
How does the character feel about what they wear? Are they a young child insisting on dressing themselves, or do they have their outfits assembled by others? Are they required to wear what they wear by High Society, or for work?

Specialized Equipment

(PHYSICAL > SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT)
What specialized equipment does the character have? Powered wheelchairs, a favorite sword smithed by their grandmother, glasses, a piece of prized jewelry carried with the belief the jewelry would being good luck?

Mental characteristics

Personal history

(MENTAL > PERSONAL HISTORY)
Who is this character? What have they done in their life? Where are they from, how did they grow up? This is where you can tell us the history of the character.

Was this person the beloved boy king who rules as the definition of Justice & Mercy, but later in Adult life become the most terrifying & evil tyrant the world has ever known. Or maybe a kid who would later bring down a giant using slingshot & a single pebble? A woman who becomes prominent in history and the symbol for Women's Rights in a country? The son of a lord who loses his father to murder and later become a servant of the people, robbing the rich & giving to the poor?
Or maybe this character is one of those unremarkable people, who was unlucky enough to be at castle at just the wrong time cause it would later become under siege. His people are losing, the person laying siege is a king. He grabs a crossbow of a soldier who was recently killed, loads a bolt into it, aims, fires, and with remarkable luck, hits that king in the throat, killing him. In real life, that person was a cook, he fired a crossbow bolt at King Richard The Lionheart, hit him in the neck, and the king died shortly after.

Gender Identity

(MENTAL > GENDER IDENTITY)
How does your character wish society to perceive them or how they present themself and what pronouns, if any, they go by.

Sexuality

(MENTAL > SEXUALITY)
What sexuality does the character have? How do they identify in relation to the gender or genders to which they are typically attracted?

Education

(MENTAL > EDUCATION)
How well educated is the character? Can they mark an X for their name as a result of not being able to read or write, are they a polyglot with access to the Library of Alexandria? Who taught, what taught, or how was the character educated? Was the education formal or informal?
This is a great place to compare and contrast the education the character has received to the education of people around them. Was this person the first in their family to graduate from high school, from a long line of highly educated individuals, illegally taught?

Employment

(MENTAL > EMPLOYMENT)
What's the work history of your character, which stages their career went through to be where they are today? What kinds of jobs has the character held, who employed them, how long did the character work in that job, what were the circumstances of the character leaving? How has the character's employment history changed their views of the world?
Some characters have only held one job, this does not mean they've not had to change and adapt. How has the position changed? Are these changes for better or worse?

Accomplishments & Achievements

(MENTAL > ACCOMPLISHMENTS & ACHIEVEMENTS)
The accomplishments of our lives shape who we are. Use this section to describe this character's life shaping events and their resolutions. Was the character a prize-winning spelling bee champion? World Cup team member? The first of their family to graduate? A top thief who has yet to be captured by the law?

Failures & Embarrassments

(MENTAL > FAILURES & EMBARRASSMENTS)
Our failures shape who we are as we adapt to avoid failing again. Use this section to describe this character's life shaping events and their resolutions. What actions or events are the character less than proud of? Cheated on their final exams? Abandoned a friend? Wear the wrong clothes for an event?

Mental Trauma

(MENTAL > MENTAL TRAUMA)
Mental Trauma varies from individual to individual - what has happened in the character's past to bring up trauma responses? Has the character resolved their traumas - if so, how - if not, what do they do? How are their current or past actions the result of these events?

Intellectual Characteristics

(MENTAL > INTELLECTUAL CHARACTERISTIS)
There are at least eight or nine forms intelligence can be observed or measured by. This is a place you can use to describe how the character displays their intelligence(s) or how they generally display their intelligence.
Various forms of intelligence

• Visual-Spatial
  • Often displayed as how information can be portrayed or organized
    • "thinking in images"
    • "seeing in one's mind"
• Naturalist
  • Often displayed as how one lierns through classification, categories, hierarchies,
    • often picks up the subtle differences
    • survival instinct
• Musical
  • Often displayed as learning through songs, rhythms, patterns
    • musical expression
• Logical-Mathematical
  • Often displayed as how information can is reasoned through
    • problem-solving
    • numerical reasoning
• Existential
  • Often displayed as how information is understood as a "big picture"
    • "connecting new information to what is already known"
    • "philosophy"
• Interpersonal
  • Often displayed as how the individual interacts with others
    • cooperative working
    • collaborative working
• Bodily-Kinesthetic
  • Often displayed as how the individual manipulates physical objects or does the task to gain an understanding
    • "learn by experience"
• Linguistic
  • Often displayed as the individual interacts with written and spoken words
    • Speaking, Listening
    • Reading, Writing
• Intrapersonal
  • Often displayed as how the individual interacts and understands with themself
    • Empathic senses
    • "I know who I am in the dark"

Morality & Philosophy

(MENTAL > MORALITY & PHILOSOPHY)
Morality - the manner of conduct the character follows. This could be like the more modern versions of Batman and his oath to not use guns and to instead dress up at night as a bat-themed costumed hero using technology to fight crime. What is the core definition of "good" or "evil" for the character or your vision of the character??
Philosophy - Tied to morality, but what concepts shape the core of the character's mindset or your vision of the character?
How does your character view the world compared to their peers?

Taboos

(MENTAL > TABOOS)
Taboos for a character may be shared by their community, but may also include personal taboos. A society may not prohibit drinking alcohol, but for some people, it is a personal taboo to drink. This could also include religious taboos a character shares.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

(PERSONAL > MOTIVATION)
Desires and priorities that drive this character towards their goal. This can shape their philosophy and morality, or in turn be shaped by philosiphal views and/or morality.

I want to be the very best,
Like no one ever was.
To catch them is my real test,
To train them is my cause!

— Lyrics from the Pokemon Theme Song (1999) by Jason Paige

Savvies & Ineptitudes

(PERSONAL > SAVVIES & INEPTITUDES)
What is the character skilled in, what are they savvy at doing? Are they a skills and talented cook? A "green thumb" at growing plants?
What is the character inept, or unskilled at doing? Have they imploded a stove while boiling water? Have a "black thumb" when it comes to plant care?

"Yeah, but I've actually seen you dance, Shepard. No comment."

— Garrus Vakarian commenting on Commander Shepard's lack of dancing skills in BioWare's Mass Effect 3

Likes & Dislikes

(PERSONAL > LIKES & DISLIKES)
What does the character like? Puppies, slimey things, the color green, worldbuilding?
What does the character not like? Puppies, slimey things, the color green, worldbuilding?
You can also describe why the character likes or dislikes, as well as the scale. Will this person go to war over how pineapple should go on pizza, politely pick off the pineapple in quiet protest, or look on in confusion because it's just pizza? How does the character's peers react to these likes and dislikes?

Virtues & Personality perks

(PERSONAL > VIRTUES & PERKS)
Strengths, positive character aspects etc. what makes people like this character?

Vices & Personality flaws

(PERSONAL > VICES & FLAWS)
Addictions, secret beliefs etc. what makes people not like this character?

Personality Quirks

(PERSONAL > TICKS & QUIRKS)
Does your character have any particular ticks and quirks, including small personal rituals? This could range from refusing to make a left turn on the roads of the United States, blowing on dice before rolling them, to ending statements with an uprise in pitch to sound like a question.

Knock knock knock. "Penny."
Knock knock knock. "Penny."
Knock knock knock. "Penny."

— Sheldon Cooper of the TV Show The Big Bang Theory

Hygiene

(PERSONAL > HYGIENE)
How clean does the character keep themselves, what grooming practices does the character follow and why? Here is where you can describe the hygiene-related practices of your character.

Social

Reign

(SOCIAL > REIGN)
Describe the reign of a monarch or other leader of their empire or country. How long did they reign? How were they remembered? What is something important they did? Did they bring about change? Was it the last reign of their family?

Contacts & Relations

(SOCIAL > CONTACTS, RELATIONS, & OTHER AFFILIATIONS)

I know a guy!

Who does the character know? How does the character use these connections and contacts.

Family Ties

(SOCIAL > FAMILY TIES)
Who is the character's family? What relationship does the character have to them?

Religious Views

(SOCIAL > RELIGIOUS VIEWS)
What religious views does the character have, are they in alignment with a religious organization? What relationship with religion does the character have?

Social Aptitude

(SOCIAL > SOCIAL APTITUDE)
How much charisma does the character have? How confident and/or egotistic do they seem to be? How confident and/or egotistic are they? How extroverted or introverted is the character, and how are they perceived to be? What level of etiquette does the character follow?

Mannerisms

(SOCIAL > MANNERISMS)
What mannerisms does the character have when interacting with others? What are the habitual gestures or ways of speaking or behaving of the character?

Hobbies & Pets

(SOCIAL > PETS & HOBBIES)
What pets, if any, does the character have? What relationship do they share?
What hobbies does the character have? How are they viewed for these hobbies? Are these hobbies kept a secret, out in the open, or something else?

Speech

(SOCIAL > SPEECH)
This is where you can describe the tone of voice, pitch, accent, dialect, impediments, catch phrases, common phrases, compliments, insults, greetings, farewell, swearing, and metaphors the character uses. How does the character sound when they speak?

Relationships

Character Template

Spouse is auto-populated if you select the characters to both be parent figures of another character in the Family Tree section

Towards Character Template

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Character Template

Descriptor of the type of the relationship. For example "Brother", "Mother", "Niece", "Friend"

Towards Character Template

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History

Relationships are available for all World Anvil users!

Relationships auto-populate slightly if you select two characters to be parents in the Family Trees or Bloodlines, which are a Guild Feature for Master and higher ranks

Nicknames & Petnames

This is where you can describe the nicknames and petnames the two have for each other.

Relationship Reasoning

What is the reason for the relationship?

Commonalities & Shared Interests

What do the characters have in common with each other? Do they share interests?

Shared Secrets

What secrets do the characters know? Who do they know the secrets of?

Shared Acquaintances

Who do these characters also know?

Legal Status

What is the legal status of this relationship, if any?

Wealth & Financial state

(SOCIAL > WEALTH)
Economic class of the character and the dependencies, debts, funds, disposable income, assets and investments the character has.
Compared to their peers, how does this character compare? Are they about the same as their neighbors? The wealthy friend who keeps collection gold and coin, but doesn't know what to spend it on? A broker who lost everything in a stock market crash?

Placeholder character portrait by Annie Stein. You can use this for your own world, just make sure to credit her. You can find the original here.

Divine Classification

This is a limited box, though larger than weight and height. Saint, Deity, God, Demon, Spaghetti Monster, what type of divine creature is the character?

Religions

• Organization Template

Alignment

Lawful Stupid to Chaotic Monsterous, Paragon to Renegade - these are usually found in RPGs as a guideline of a mindset for the character.

Current Location

Buildings & Landmark Template

Currently Boarded Vehicle

Vehicle Template

Species

Species Template

Conditions

• Condition Template

Ethnicity

Ethnicity Template

Other Ethnicities/Cultures

• Ethnicity Template

Realm

Geography Template

Church/Cult

Organization Template

Honorary & Occupational Titles

(SOCIAL > TITLES)
What titles and rank does the character hold? This is a place to list off and describe the titles and ranks of the character, and how the character came to earn the titles.

• Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen,
  • Head of the Commonwealth
  • Defender of the Faith
  • ‘Mother of all People’ by the Salish nation in Canada.
  • ‘Missis Queen’ or ‘The Queen Lady’
  • ‘the White Heron’ by the Maori people, a cherished bird rarely seen in New Zealand.
  • Duke of Normandy
  • ‘Queen of Gibraltar’
  • ‘Tui Viti’ which translates as ‘Paramount Chief’.

— List of Queen Elizabeth II's titles as of the writing of The Many Titles of Queen Elizabeth II

Professions

• Profession Template

Age

Use this as a simplification for a character's age. No calculations will be made and it's great if your character is a time traveller! Also keep in mind the DoB/DoD will no longer display on the presentation.

Date of Birth

Birthday Date Here

Date of Death

Death Date

Life

64 15 79 years old

Circumstances of Birth

This is a great place to describe details surrounding your character's birth, whether it be a prophesy about their future, a celestial event that same day, or just how they were conceived. Demigod and heroes get a lot of mileage here.

Circumstances of Death

As for birth, but more focused on the characters death. Heroes still fit, but now we can easily add villians or even common folk to the mix.

Birthplace

This is a limited box, though larger than weight and height. Where was the character born?

Place of Death

Where has this character died?

Family

Thunder Basil

Parents

Character Template

Character Template

Parents (Adopting)

Character Template

Character Template

Spouses

Siblings

Children

• Character Template

Current Residence

This is a limited box, though larger than weight and height. Where does the character live?

Pronouns

Pronouns used by the Character

Gender

male/female/neutral/other - If you want to expand on Sexuality or Gender Identity, fill the prompts under the "Mental" tab.

Eyes

Color, shape, expressed mood. Eyes are the Windows to the soul, so don't skimp on the details here.

Hair

Length, health, style, color. Where eyes can tell a lot about a person, hair one of the most common places for a person to start telling you about themselves.

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Pale white, tanned, spotty, scaled, gem-stone encrusted?

Height

This is a small box. Keep it to numbers.

Weight

This is a small box. Keep it to numbers.

Quotes & Catchphrases

(PERSONAL > FAMOUS QUOTES & CATCHPHRASES)
"I'm here to kick butt and chew bubblegum - and I'm all out of bubblegum."

Greetings and Salutations! Welcome to World Anvil!

— Janet and Dimitris of World Anvil

This is where you can list famous quotes and catchphrases of the character.

Owned Vehicles

• Vehicle Template

Aligned Organization

Organization Template

Other Affiliations

• Drake Mango
• Star Cassava
• Summer Banana

Related Myths

• Myths & Legends Template

Related Reports

• Session Report Template

Known Languages

(MENTAL > KNOWN LANGUAGES)
Known languages, fluency and linguistic understanding.

Ruled Locations

• Buildings & Landmark Template
• Geography Template
• Settlement Template

Appears in...

• Prose Template

Character Prototype

(PHYSICAL > CHARACTER PROTOTYPE)
This section is generally used to identify who you'd cast in the role of this character in a movie, or the type of character this person is.

This character is a Wise Mentor Old Man With A Hidden Secret, and played by Sir Christopher Lee, or "Voiced like Professor Oak in the American Dubbing of Pokemon."

Related Prompts

The prompts listed below are part of the Worldbuilding Prompts that can be found under the Community menu. These prompts use the template discussed in this article. Using these prompts is a great way to expand your worldbuilding!

• Famous Explorer
• Famous Animal
• Mourned Death

Templates Mentioned

Organization Template
Buildings & Landmark Template
Vehicle Template
Species Template
Condition Template
Ethnicity Template
Settlement Template
Character Template

Related Reading:

Guide to Family Trees