A character is a person or being in a story, such as a novel, play, or film. A character can be completely made up or based on a real person. This means we can tell if a character is fictional or real. The word "character" comes from an Ancient Greek word, χαρακτήρ. The English word was used during the Restoration period, but it became widely used after appearing in the book Tom Jones by Henry Fielding in 1749. Over time, the word came to mean "a part played by an actor." Before this, the term dramatis personae (from Latin, meaning "masks of the drama") was used to describe characters, focusing on the idea of masks in theater. A character, especially when performed by an actor in a play or movie, creates the illusion of being a real person. In literature, characters help readers follow the story, understand the plot, and think about the themes. Since the late 1700s, the phrase "in character" has been used to describe an actor’s skillful imitation of a role. Since the 1800s, the process of creating characters by actors or writers has been called characterization.

A character who represents a specific group or class of people is called a type. Types include both simple, common characters (called stock characters) and more detailed, unique characters. For example, the characters in Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler (1891) and August Strindberg’s Miss Julie (1888) show specific roles in society related to class and gender. The conflicts between these characters reveal deeper disagreements about ideas and values.

To study a character, we must examine how it interacts with all the other characters in the story. A character’s unique role is shaped by how it contrasts or connects with others through different types of relationships (such as choices, actions, language, and physical space). The way characters and the story’s events relate to each other has changed over time, often reflecting changes in society and ideas about individuality, personal freedom, and social structure.

Creation

In fiction writing, authors create characters that change and grow by using different methods. Sometimes, characters are made up entirely in the author’s mind. Other times, characters are based on real people, with certain traits of that person exaggerated or changed to fit the story.

An author can base a character on someone they know, a famous person from history, a well-known person they have never met, or themselves. When an author uses themselves, it may be to represent their own ideas or experiences. Stories that use famous people as symbols for real events or ideas are called allegorical works. For example, in Animal Farm by George Orwell, pigs represent Soviet revolutionaries. Other stories, like The Paris Wife, use real people and create fictional stories about their lives.

Authors can also create characters based on common types found in many cultures, such as a father figure, mother figure, or hero. Some writers use ideas from psychologist Carl Jung, who described basic character types. When these types are used, the story often follows patterns linked to those ideas.

Another way to create characters is by using simple, flat types known as stock characters. These are usually used for minor or background characters. However, some authors use stock characters as a starting point to build more detailed and complex characters. For example, Shakespeare used the idea of a boastful soldier to create the character John Falstaff.

Some authors choose names for their characters that hint at their personality, appearance, or symbolic meaning. These names are called charactonyms. For example, Shakespeare named a very emotional young man Mercutio, and John Steinbeck named a kind and gentle character Candy in Of Mice and Men. In Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake named a cruel and controlling villain Steerpike. Names can also describe appearance, like Gargantua, a giant in a story by François Rabelais, or Monstro, the large whale in Pinocchio (1940).

Types

In his book Aspects of the Novel, E. M. Forster described two main types of characters in stories: flat characters and round characters. Flat characters are simple and do not change much during the story. In contrast, round characters are more detailed and may grow or change in important ways, sometimes even surprising the reader.

In psychology, round characters can be studied using the Big Five model, which includes five key traits that describe personality.

Flat characters often include stock characters, who are very simple and lack depth. Mary Sues are another type of flat character, commonly found in fan fiction. These characters are usually perfect and have no weaknesses.

Another kind of flat character is called a "walk-on." This term, used by Seymour Chatman, refers to characters who are not clearly described or developed. Instead, they are part of the background or setting.

Dynamic characters change over the course of a story, while static characters stay the same. A well-known example of a dynamic character is Ebenezer Scrooge, the main character in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. At the start of the story, Scrooge is mean and greedy, but by the end, he becomes kind and generous.

In television, a regular character is someone who appears in most or all episodes of a series. These characters can be main or secondary.

A recurring character or supporting character appears often but not in every episode. They may play important roles in multiple episodes.

A guest or minor character appears in only a few episodes or scenes. Unlike regular characters, guest characters do not need to be fully connected to the story's details. They create a moment of drama and then leave without affecting the main plot. However, sometimes a guest character becomes popular and is later made a regular character. This is called a breakout character.

Classical analysis

In the earliest known work about drama, Aristotle's Poetics (written around 335 BCE), the Greek philosopher explains that character (called ethos) is one of six important parts of Athenian tragedy. It is also one of the three things that tragedy represents (1450a12). Aristotle does not mean a fictional person, but the qualities of the person acting in the story and reacting to its events (1450a5). He defines character as "what shows a person's decision, no matter what kind it is" (1450b8). This means some stories might not have characters in Aristotle's sense, because character requires showing the moral traits of those acting. If a speech does not show a decision or avoid one, then it "does not have character" (1450b9–11).

Aristotle believes plot (mythos) is more important than character (ethos). He writes: "The most important part is the structure of events. Tragedy represents actions and life, not people. Happiness and unhappiness come from actions, not qualities. People have certain traits based on their characters, but they are happy or unhappy based on their actions. So, actors do not act to show characters, but include characters to highlight their actions" (1450a15–23).

Aristotle also says that works were first judged by the creator’s status: "Important people created works about noble actions, like hymns and praise-poems, while ordinary people created works about less noble actions, like invectives" (1448b20–1449a5). This led to a difference between tragedy and comedy: tragedy, like epic poetry, is "a representation of serious people" (1449b9–10), while comedy is "a representation of people who are somewhat less noble" (1449a32–33).

In the Tractatus coislinianus (which may or may not be by Aristotle), Ancient Greek comedy is described as having three types of characters: the buffoon (bômolochus), the ironist (eirōn), and the imposter or boaster (alazṓn). These characters are central to Aristophanes’ Old Comedy.

By the time the Roman playwright Plautus wrote his plays two centuries later, using characters to define dramatic genres was already common. His play Amphitryon begins with a prologue where Mercury claims the play cannot be a comedy because it includes kings and gods, so it must be a tragicomedy.