#there's just a DELUGE of totally inane questions that have absolutely no bearing on my character's personality or thought processes

[faytelumos]

I'm gonna start a collection of character questions that actually help me when trying to flesh out a character. These'll be for characters you already have standing out in the open in your head, but who need more development before they get mixed into the fray.

If you want to use this as a questionnaire, always remember that you don't have to answer every question to get to know your character. Even just one or two answers to yourself can be enough.

Character Development Questions

Basic-ish:

Do they have any distinguishing features? (the way they look, the sound of their voice, the way they smell?)

About how old are they?

What's their gender? Sexuality? Are they open or closeted?

What is their ethnicity/cultural identity?

What was their socioeconomic class as a child? And as an adult?

What's their role in the story?

What is their primary Want? Do they need it?

Family and Relationships:

What was their parent/guardian situation growing up?

If they're an adult, what is their relationship with their parent/guardian now?

Do they have siblings? If they're adults, how close are they now?

Do they have children? How old were they when they had their first? Who helped raise them?

What kind of influence are their friends on them?

How easily do they make friends and why?

What traits do they find attractive in a friend?

How do they treat strangers/acquaintances? People they like? People they don't like? Coworkers?

Personality:

One word to describe their general/default mood.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how introverted are they? Extroverted? Pessimistic? Optimistic?

How would they describe not liking a food out loud?

And in prose?

How would they describe not liking a person, out loud and in prose?

What is their favorite place and why?

What is something that stresses them out?

What is something that relaxes them?

What truly scares them?

What is something that would make them happy/excited?

How do they react to physical pain?

How do they cope? (comedy, ranting, art?)

What embarrasses them?

What are they proud of?

What's their biggest strength? Their biggest weakness? (they can be the same thing)

Additional History:

What are their most prominent memories?

Have they ever lost a pet, family member, or friend? How old were they?

Did they move around as a kid?

Did their parent/guardian/community support their interests as a kid? Were they taught to hold themselves to a particular standard or expectation?

More Detailed Personality:

How do they react when forced to do something they don't want to? Could be forced physically or by circumstance.

If money, time, and consequences were no object, what would their perfect day be?

How much time do they spend on their appearance every day? Do they spend more or less money on their appearance then "average"? (don't look it up; it's a vibe check)

Who would they turn to for help? Is it always the same person? On a danger/severity scale of 1 to 10, at what point do they start asking for help? At what point do they stop asking for help? Is this one section or do they flip multiple times as the severity increases? Does this scale change depending on who's around/available?

Just For Funsies:

If they were in a coffee shop AU, would they be the barista, the customer, or the manager?

Do they know any tricks? (juggling, cartwheels, yoyo, dirt bike?)

If they were here with us, what shows/movies/books/games might they like?

What does the inside of their fridge look like? What about their workspace?