(I did a few of these for my characters. Fill in only want you need to.)
[About Cat Hartliebe] [Writer’s Stuff]
The Character Quiz
If you can answer all these or most of them, then you know your Main Character, feel free to copy.
(Use a separate sheet of paper; answer as many as you can.)
Character’s Full Name:
Reason or meaning of name:
Nickname:
Reason for nickname:
Birthdate:
Astrological Sign:
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Age
How old does s/he appear?
Eye Color:
Glasses or contacts?
Hair color:
Distinguishable hair feature (bald, receding hairline, etc.):
Type of hair (coarse, fine, thick, etc?)
Typical hairstyle:
Height:
Weight:
Type of body/build:
Nationality:
Skin tone:
Skin type:
Shape of face:
Distinguishing Marks?
Scars?
Most predominant feature:
Resembles (famous or not):
Accent?
Is s/he healthy?
If not, why not:
Physical disabilities:
Physical abilities (what is character good at? sports, etc.):
FAVORITES
Color:
Music:
Food:
Literature:
Expressions:
Book:
Quote:
Expletive(s) (swears):
Mode of transportation:
HABITS
Smokes:
What?
How often?
Drinks:
What?
How often?
Worst bad habit?
Quirks:
BACKGROUND
Hometown:
Type of childhood:
First memory:
Most important childhood event that still affects him/her:
Why?
Lower education:
Higher education:
Booksmart or streetsmart?
FAMILY
Mother (name):
Relationship with her:
Father (name):
Relationship with him:
Siblings:
Birth order:
Relationship with each:
Children of Siblings:
Extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.):
Close to family? Yes/No
OCCUPATION
Where does character work?
How many years?
Relationship with co-workers?
Like his/her job?
Why or why not?
Dream job:
ATTITUDE
Greatest fear:
Worst thing that could happen to him/her?
What single event would most throw character’s life in complete turmoil?
Character is most at ease when:
Most ill at ease when:
Priorities:
Philosophy:
How s/he feels about self:
Past failure s/he would be embarrassed to have people know about:
If granted one wish, what would it be?
Why?
Daredevil or cautious?
Same when alone?
Biggest regret?
Biggest accomplishment:
Minor accomplishments:
Character’s darkest secret:
Does anyone else know?
If yes, did character tell them?
If no, how did they find out?
PERSONALITY
Greatest source of strength in character’s personality (whether s/he sees it as such or not):
Greatest source of weakness in character’s personality (whether s/he sees it as such or not):
Character’s soft spot:
Is this soft spot obvious to others?
If not, how does character hide it?
Biggest vulnerability:
Which of the 7 deadly sins does character fight (or give into, willingly or not)?
(lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride)
Which of the 7 virtues does your character have (or fight against)?
(chastity, abstinence, leberality, diligence, patience, kindness, humility)
TRAITS
Optimist or pessimist?
Introvert or extrovert?
Drives and motivations?
Talents (hidden or not)?
Extremely skilled at:
Extremely unskilled at:
Good characteristics:
Character flaws:
Mannerisms:
Peculiarities:
SELF-PERCEPTION
One word character would use to describe self:
One paragraph description of how character would describe self:
What does character consider best physical characteristic?
What does character consider worst physical characteristic?
Are these realistic assessments?
If not, why not?
How CHARACTER thinks others perceive him/her?
What four things would CHARACTER most like to change about self? (#1 most important, #2 second most important, etc.)
INTERRELATION WITH OTHERS
Is character divorced? Why?
If yes, how many times?
Has character ever cheated on any signficant other?
How does character relate to others?
How is s/he perceived by…
Strangers?
Friends?
Wife/Husband/Lover?
Children
Co-workers?
Protagonist?
Antagonist?
First impression character makes is:
What happens to change this perception?
What do family/friends like most about character?
What do family/friends like least about character?
GOALS
Immediate goal(s):
Long range goal(s):
How does character plan to accomplish goal(s)?
How will other people around character be affected?
PROBLEMS/CRISIS
How character react in a crisis (calm/panic/etc.)?
How does character face problems?
Kinds of problems character usually runs into:
How does character react to NEW problems?
How does character react to change?
GENERAL
Jewelry?
Other accessories?
Drives a … :
Where does character live?
With anyone? Yes/No
Where does character want to live?
Spending habits (frugal, spendthrift, etc)?
What does s/he do too much of?
Too little of?
Most prized possession: Why?
Play musical instrument?
Which one(s)?
How did s/he learn?
Does character like animals?
Any pets?
Likes music?
What kind?
UNCATEGORIZED
Person character secretly admires:
Person character was most influenced by:
Most important person in character’s life before story starts:
Why?
Preferred pronouns:
pronouns that will start a fight:
[About Cat Hartliebe] [Writer’s Stuff] [Cat Hartliebe’s Books]
Blog posts using the quiz:
[Bludi’s Character Quiz (Unwanted)] [Bludi’s Character Quiz (Unexpected)] [Castella’s Character Quiz (Undeniable)] [Adain’s Character Quiz (Unbreakable)] [Zeus’s Character Quiz (Unbelievable)] [Madeline’s Character Quiz (Unavoidable)]
Cat Hartliebe 