Create an original fictional character for a [STORY FORMAT] in the [GENRE AND SETTING]. The character must serve this story purpose: [STORY ROLE]. Build from these starting ideas and limits: [SEED DETAILS]. The character should face this central pressure or conflict: [CORE CONFLICT]. Produce a character dossier of 700-900 words with these sections: premise in one sentence; public identity; private want; concrete external goal; fear; misbelief or blind spot; formative history; skills and limitations; relationships with two named people; moral line; secret; contradiction; and what they stand to lose. Give details that affect choices in scenes, not decorative facts such as favorite colors unless they reveal behavior or history. Write a 150-word first-person voice sample in a situation where the character wants something from another person but cannot say it directly. Make the diction, rhythm, observations, and evasions distinct without relying on accent spelling, catchphrases, or stereotypes. Then give three escalating story decisions they could make, each with a consequence that closes off an easier option. Respect the setting's social and material realities. Do not use trauma, disability, culture, gender, class, or diagnosis as shorthand for villainy, wisdom, or personality. Avoid a character whose only trait is competence, damage, or quirkiness. Before answering, check that the desire, fear, and contradiction can create conflict in at least three scenes, and that the voice sample reveals character through choices rather than biography. Ask up to 3 clarifying questions only if a required input is missing.
Fill in
| Placeholder | What to enter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| [STORY FORMAT] | Enter the form of the work, such as novel, screenplay, game, or short story. | Literary mystery novel |
| [GENRE AND SETTING] | Describe the genre, time, place, and important rules of the fictional world. | Contemporary coastal Maine during an unusually warm October; a small town depends on summer tourism. |
| [STORY ROLE] | Explain the character's role in the story, such as protagonist, antagonist, ally, or witness. | Reluctant protagonist investigating her brother's apparent drowning |
| [SEED DETAILS] | Provide any starting traits, images, occupations, relationships, or constraints you want included. | A 38-year-old harbor-master, former competitive sailor, divorced, meticulous with other people's boats but avoids her own unfinished repair work. |
| [CORE CONFLICT] | Describe the problem, dilemma, or pressure that will force the character to act. | Evidence suggests her brother was involved in an insurance fraud that could bankrupt several neighbors if exposed. |
How to use
- Give the setting's constraints, because class, technology, institutions, and local culture should shape what the character can plausibly do.
- Keep the dossier beside your outline and test every major scene against the character's goal, fear, and moral line.
- Replace any detail that does not affect a choice, relationship, or image in the story.
- Follow up with: “Write two 400-word scenes that show this character making opposite choices under pressure, without explaining their psychology.”
Variations
Supporting cast
Use this when you need a memorable secondary character with independent agency.
Create a supporting character for [STORY] who complicates the protagonist's plan without existing only to give advice. The protagonist is [PROTAGONIST]. Build a 450-650 word profile with their independent goal, leverage, blind spot, relationship history, secret, and the practical reason they remain in the story. Include one scene entrance, a 100-word dialogue sample, and two ways they can change the plot. Avoid stereotypes and do not give them knowledge they could not plausibly have. Check that they want something beyond helping or opposing the protagonist. Ask up to 3 questions only if needed.
Character arc
Use this after you have a character concept and need a change arc.
Design a character arc for [CHARACTER PROFILE] across [STORY LENGTH] under this pressure: [PLOT CONFLICT]. Output five turning points: starting strategy, first cost, midpoint revelation, irreversible choice, and final test. For each, state what the character believes, what they do, and what consequence follows. Identify the internal change that is earned by events rather than stated as a lesson. Do not invent backstory facts beyond the profile. End with two possible endings, one hopeful and one tragic, that preserve the same core conflict. Ask up to 3 questions only if required.
Dialogue voice
Use this when the character exists but their dialogue sounds interchangeable.
Develop a dialogue guide for [CHARACTER] speaking to [OTHER CHARACTER] during [SCENE SITUATION]. Give a compact voice map: sentence length, favorite kinds of observations, subjects avoided, tactics under pressure, and words or constructions to avoid. Then write three 120-word exchanges with different power dynamics: friendly, defensive, and cornered. Make subtext drive the dialogue; do not use phonetic accents, repeated catchphrases, or exposition disguised as conversation. Check that each exchange could not be swapped with a generic character. Ask up to 3 questions only if inputs are missing.
Tips
- Give each major character a goal that would still matter if the protagonist never appeared; this prevents them from becoming plot furniture.
- A contradiction should create behavior, such as a mediator who cannot apologize, rather than two adjectives placed side by side.
- Write voice through attention and avoidance. What a character notices, refuses to name, or changes the subject from is usually stronger than a signature phrase.
- Let backstory explain pressure, not excuse every action. The current choice must still be the character's responsibility.
FAQ
How detailed should a character profile be?
Detail only what changes a scene, relationship, decision, or image. You can discover smaller facts while drafting.
Can AI make a character feel original?
It can generate useful combinations and pressure tests, but originality comes from your specific setting, choices, and revision. Remove familiar traits that do not affect the plot.
How do I avoid a flat villain?
Give the antagonist a coherent goal, a real constraint, and a belief that makes sense from their viewpoint. Their methods can be harmful without making them irrational.