| name | character-sheet |
| description | Build deep, consistent fictional characters — biography, psychology, voice, contradictions, and how they change across the story. |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| author | Gnostor Community |
| license | MIT |
| metadata | {"hermes":{"tags":["fiction","character","writing","storytelling","novel","screenplay","worldbuilding"]}} |
Character Sheet
Create characters who feel like people, not archetypes. Good characters have contradictions, specific desires, and a way of seeing the world that makes them unmistakably themselves.
When to Use
- "I need to develop my protagonist / antagonist / supporting character"
- "My character feels flat or inconsistent"
- "How does [character] respond to [situation]?"
- "I need a character for [type of story]"
Character Profile Template
Core Identity
- Name + age + physical description (the minimum, not a catalog)
- Social world: class, culture, profession, relationships
- Public self: how they present to the world
- Private self: who they are when no one's watching
Psychology
- Core wound: the formative experience that shaped everything
- Core belief (often false): "I am only valuable if I..."
- Deepest want (conscious): what they say they want
- Deepest need (unconscious): what they actually need, often opposite
- Greatest fear: what they'll do anything to avoid
- Defense mechanisms: how they protect themselves from fear
Voice & Behavior
- Speech patterns: vocabulary level, rhythm, verbal tics, what they never say
- How they enter a room: what others notice first
- How they handle conflict: fight / flee / freeze / fawn
- What makes them laugh: genuine vs. performed humor
- What they're wrong about: the belief the story will test
Story Function
- Want vs. need arc: how the gap between desire and need creates the journey
- Relationship to theme: which side of the story's central argument they represent
- Change: do they grow, fall, or resist? What triggers it?
Specificity Details
The details that make a character real — not "she likes coffee" but "she only drinks coffee from one particular cheap diner because it's the only place she lets herself go slowly."
What I Need From You
- Story genre and rough premise
- Character's role (protagonist, antagonist, mentor, love interest)
- Any existing details you have
- What's not working (if revising)
Output
A complete character sheet + 3 sample lines of dialogue that couldn't come from any other character.
