character-creator

name	character-creator
description	Fiction character developer. Builds deep, three-dimensional characters with arcs, voice, motivation, and backstory across 14 structured steps. Use when: (1) `book_category == "fiction"` (or missing) AND user says "Charakter", "character", "Figur", "Person", (2) After plot/structure is outlined, to populate the story. Memoir books → use `/storyforge:character-creator-memoir` instead.
model	claude-opus-4-7
user-invocable	true
argument-hint	<book-slug> [name]

Character Creator (Fiction)

This skill is the fiction variant of character-creator, split out per Issue #177 so fiction-only sessions never load the memoir real-people handler and memoir-only sessions never load the fiction character-arc machinery.

Step 0 — Verify fiction mode

Before any other prerequisite load:

1. Load book data via MCP get_book_full(slug).
2. Read book_category from the result. Treat missing as fiction.
3. If book_category == "memoir", stop and tell the user:

   This book's book_category is memoir. Use /storyforge:character-creator-memoir for memoir people work — the fiction character-arc framework (GMC, Fatal Flaw, The Ghost, Want vs. Need) does not apply to real people.

4. Otherwise proceed with the fiction workflow below.

Prerequisites — MANDATORY LOADS

• Craft references via MCP get_craft_reference():
  • character-creation — Why: GMC, archetypes, wants vs. needs, flaws, motivation chains — the depth-test framework Step 5 enforces.
  • character-arcs — Why: Positive/negative/flat arc patterns — Step 12 maps the character to one of them.
  • dialog-craft — Why: Voice differentiation — Step 11's "cover the name" test depends on the principles in this reference.
• Genre README(s) for genre-specific character expectations. Why: Romance protagonists ≠ horror protagonists ≠ literary protagonists — genre dictates expected archetypes and arc patterns.
• Read {project}/plot/outline.md and {project}/plot/arcs.md for story context.

Workflow — Fiction (14 steps)

Step 1: Character Role

Ask the user:

• Who is this character? (name, role: protagonist / antagonist / supporting / minor)
• What's their function in the story? (drives plot, mirrors theme, provides contrast, comic relief)

Create file via MCP create_character().

Step 2: Archetype — Starting Point

Identify the primary archetype as a starting point, then immediately look for the subversion:

• Which archetype do they resemble at first glance? (Hero, Mentor, Shadow, Trickster, Ally, Herald, Shapeshifter, Threshold Guardian)
• More important: How do they break the archetype? A Mentor with an addiction. A Hero who is physically weak. A Trickster who is genuinely wise.
• The subversion is what makes them specific. The archetype is what makes them recognizable.

Step 3: The Core Triangle (GMC)

Work through Goal / Motivation / Conflict:

• Goal (external): What do they want? (concrete, visible, achievable or not by story's end)
• Motivation: WHY do they want it? (emotional, rooted in backstory — not "because it's important" but a specific wound or desire)
• Conflict: What stops them? (both external obstacles and internal resistance)

Step 4: Want vs. Need

The most important character mechanic:

• Want: What they consciously pursue (external goal)
• Need: What they actually need to grow or change (internal truth they're avoiding)
• The Lie: The false belief that prevents them from getting what they need

Example: Want = revenge. Need = forgiveness. Lie = "Justice requires punishment."

Step 5: The Motivation Chain — Dig Three Layers Deep

Surface motivations are rarely the true ones. Work with the user to find all three layers:

• Surface: What the character says they want (what they'd tell a stranger)
• Deeper: Why that actually matters (the emotional engine — ask "why does that matter to them?")
• Deepest: The core wound-driven need (ask "why?" again — this is what the story is really about for this character)

Always ask "why?" twice. Surface motivations alone fail the depth test. The third layer connects to survival, love, worth, or meaning — if you stop at layer two, the character reads as a thin archetype. Push the user past "she wants to prove herself": prove herself to whom? Why does that matter? What would happen if she didn't?

Wait for user confirmation that the deepest layer is the right one before moving to Step 6. Step 6 (The Ghost) builds directly on this — a wrong layer-three answer cascades.

Step 6: The Ghost — The Wound That Made Them

This is the most important backstory step. Ask the user:

"What happened to this character BEFORE the story that made them who they are?"

Guide the conversation:

• What single event (or sustained condition) changed them permanently?
• What did they lose, witness, survive, or fail at that they never fully recovered from?
• What false lesson did they draw from it? (This becomes The Lie in Step 4)
• The Ghost explains the Fatal Flaw. If you can't connect the wound to the flaw, dig deeper.

Apply the Iceberg Principle: know 100%, show 10%. The Ghost rarely appears on the page directly — it shapes behavior from below the surface.

Then map the broader backstory:

• Upbringing: Setting, income level, family dynamics, cultural background, core values instilled
• Family Relationships: Which were formative and how? What did they teach about love, trust, worth?
• Friendships: Most significant friendships — who shaped them, who was lost?
• Adversaries: Who looms in their memory as betrayer, nemesis, or threat?

Step 7: Psychology

Work through the internal landscape:

• The Lie: What broken conclusion did they draw from The Ghost?
• Fear (rational): What do they consciously dread?
• Phobias (irrational): What makes them flinch in ways they can't fully explain?
• Insecurities: What are they secretly ashamed of? What would they never admit?
• Value System: What moral framework do they navigate by — even if it's flawed? Religious, philosophical, cultural, personal code?
• Handling Emotions: How do they process feelings? Suppress, explode, intellectualize, deflect, go silent? What does it look like at their emotional limit?

Step 8: Fatal Flaw

Not just a weakness — a flaw that:

• Actively causes problems in the story (not just limits the character)
• Connects to the theme of the book
• Has roots in The Ghost — the flaw is usually an overcorrection to the wound
• Must be overcome (positive arc) or embraced (negative arc)

Weakness vs. flaw: "She is shy" is a weakness. "She is so afraid of rejection that she sabotages every relationship before it can end on someone else's terms" is a flaw.

Step 9: Human Texture

The details that make them feel lived-in. These don't drive the plot — they make the character feel real:

• Quirks: Distinctive habits or mannerisms that feel uniquely them
• Contradictions: Opposing traits that coexist (the hard-boiled detective who cries at romantic comedies)
• Habits: Recurring behaviors, especially under pressure or stress
• Pet Peeves: What irritates them disproportionately?

Tip: Contradictions are the most powerful of these. Real people are not unified. They contain multitudes.

Step 10: Life Context

Practical details that anchor them in the world:

• Job / Occupation (and how they feel about it — it's rarely neutral)
• Hobbies (what do they do when no one's watching?)
• Location (where do they live, and what does that say about them?)

Step 11: Voice

Make this character sound DIFFERENT from every other character:

• Vocabulary level: (educated, street-smart, formal, casual, profession-specific jargon)
• Sentence patterns: (short and blunt, rambling, precise, avoidant)
• Verbal tics: (filler words, catchphrases, speech patterns)
• What they DON'T say: (topics they avoid, emotions they suppress)
• Voice under stress: How does their speech change when they're afraid, angry, or cornered?

Write a sample dialogue snippet (5–6 lines) that could only be this character. Do the "cover the name" test: could any other character in the book say this?

Step 12: Arc Design

Based on character-arcs.md:

• Arc type: Positive (Lie → Truth), Negative (Truth → Lie), Flat (changes world, not self)
• Arc beats aligned to plot beats:
  1. Lie established, reinforced by backstory
  2. Lie challenged by story events
  3. Moment of truth (midpoint — glimpse of what they need)
  4. All Is Lost (the Lie or the Truth must win)
  5. Final choice (transformation complete or refused)

Step 13: Key Relationships

Map relationships to other characters:

• What does this character want FROM each other character?
• What conflict exists between them?
• How do relationships change through the story?

Step 14: Write Character File

Update the character file with all developed details via MCP update_character() or direct Write. Update {project}/characters/INDEX.md with the new character.

After all major characters are created, update book status to "Characters Created".

Rules

Universal

• Resolve book_category in Step 0 before any prerequisite load. Never default silently to fiction.
• Memoir books belong in /storyforge:character-creator-memoir. Do not blend the two flows.

Fiction

• Build characters with flaws — flaws drive stories. A "perfect" character has no engine.
• Antagonists must believe they're RIGHT — no mustache-twirling villains.
• Every character needs their own voice — run the "cover the name" test on Step 11 sample dialogue.
• Backstory informs behavior. Keep it below the surface — exposition kills mystery.
• Physical appearance should be SPECIFIC ("a scar running through his left eyebrow"), not generic ("tall, dark, handsome").
• If you can describe the character in one word, dig further — the character is not deep enough yet.
• The Ghost must connect to the Lie, which must connect to the Flaw — if the chain breaks, the character psychology is not coherent.
• Contradictions are not inconsistencies — they are the mark of a real human being.