98 Character Questions

If you're an author or an actor, then you must know the importance of getting to know your character(s).
Character research and development is the aspect of writing and acting that I think I love the most - it's like creating a whole new person; and you get to decide everything about them! However, this is sometimes hard to do, so I've created a list of 98 things that can define your character(s), whether to write or play. I've used this list so many times myself, and it's really helped. (Plus, I think it's kinda fun!)

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

1. Birth Name

2. Current Full Name

3. Gender

4. Age

5. Birthday

6. Zodiac

7. Nationality

8. Class As Child

9. Class As Adult

10. Hometown

11. Current Residence

12. Occupation

13. Income

14. Name Origin/Meaning 

15.Nickname(s)

16.Title(s)

17. Element

18. Personality Type 

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

19. Height

20. Weight

21. Eye Colour

22. Hair Colour

23. Hair Length

24. Hair Style (Casual)

25. Hair Style (Formal)

26. Skin Colour

27. Face Shape

28. Distinguishing Features (Scars/Piercings/Tattoos/etc)

29. Clothing Style

30. Makeup (Casual)

31. Makeup (Formal)

32. Typical Outfit

33. Accessories

34. Health/Disabilities


INTERPERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

35. Mother

Relationship 

36. Father

Relationship

37. Sibling(s)
Relationship

38. Pet(s)

39. Best Friend
Relationship

40. Friends

41. Acquaintances

42. Enemies

43. Loyalties

44. Groups And Rankings

45. Spouse/Partner
Relationship

46. Grandparents 

Relationship

47. Other Relatives

48. Love Interests


EDUCATION/WORK

49. Place(s) Of Education

50. Graduating Year(s)

51. Intelligence Level

52. Known Languages

53. Savvies

54. Ineptities

55. Average Grade

56. Degree(s)

57. Study Habits

58. Occupation(s) And Rank(s)

59. Character Zoom #1

60. Character Zoom #2

61. Character Zoom #3
(Character Zooms are when you take your character and zoom in on an interesting/complex relationship they have with another character, so you can go into more detail. I find that doing 3 is the perfect amount, but of course you can do more/less/none.)


EMOTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

62. Virtues

63. Vices

64. Short-Term Objective(s)

65. Long-Term Objective(s)

66. Priorities

67. Motivation(s)

68. Accomplishments

69. Failures

70. Self-Confidence

71. Traumas

72. Most Valued Possession

73. Introvert/Extrovert

74. Emotional/Logical

75. Optimist/Pessimist

76. Religion


COMBAT FEATURES

77. Strengths

78. Weaknesses


VOCAL CHARACTERISTICS

79. Accent

80. Laughter

81. Pitch Of Voice

82. Volume Of Voice


STORY FEATURES

83. Archetype

84. First Appearance 

85. Key Scenes

86. Defining Moment

87. Personal Development

88. Social Development

89. Physical Development
(The Development questions mean from the beginning of the story to the end of it; how have they grown/changed?)

OTHER CHARACTERISTICS

90. Favourite Colour

91. Favourite Country

92. Favourite Place

93. Hobbies


BIOGRAPHY (This is where it gets real deep. Spare no details!)

94. Infancy (Age 1-3)

95. Childhood (Age 4-10)

96. Adolescence (Age 11-18)

97. Adulthood (Age 19-54)

98. Seniority (Age 55+)