An Extensive Fantasy Character Template + Downloads
Ollie Ander
Is probably just a couple cats in a trench-coat—the hair shedding and sunlight napping are highly suspect.
Have you ever been eager to start a fantasy project only to stall a few chapters in after realizing you don’t know all that much about your characters? Whether you want to forego the road bump or you’re currently experiencing one, this $ Fantasy Character Template$ should be of assistance! Keep track of everything you know, and everything you’ll need to know so you never get a few books in and forget what your protagonist’s best friend’s eye colour is!
Every field comes with a prompt to help in fleshing your characters out more than you ever have before. Downloadable copies of the categories with prompts, without prompts, and a visual character sheet are available below!
Basic Bio
Feel free to add whatever descriptors may have been missed to this category. No character template can be one-size-fits-all, so creator liberties are always necessary.
Character Name: Your character’s "legal name." The one they’re born with or addressed as by the majority of society for their early life.
Name Origin/Meaning: This could be the meaning of their name in modern context (why you the author have chosen their name) and its symbolism, or what their name means in their world.
Preferred Name: Matured characters may have many aliases or change their names throughout the length of the story so it’s best to track them all.
Nicknames: What do they like to be called by friends and which friends? Leave yourself a footnote on nicknames inspired by unique in-story situations to reference back to—remember where that came from!
Titles: This can include formal rankings (High Sorcerer) or given titles (Hero of Particular Small Village).
Gender Presentation: How do others interpret your character’s appearance?
Gender Preference: What is your character’s preferred gender association (if any)?
Pronouns: How are they addressed?
Native Language: What’s their first language?
Other Languages: Can they speak other tongues?
Homeland: Where do they live/where are they from? This section will expand greatly depending on the depth of adventures your character has gone on.
Birthdate: What’s their birthday? Add some general grounding in your fictional history if it works by a different year system.
Relevant Birth Signs: If modern categorizations apply (or are just fun to know) what’s their birthstone, zodiac animal, astrology sign, etc?
Neurotyping: Is your character neurodivergent?
Disabilities: Any physical impairments or mental ailments. How does this affect them?
Appearance
Make sure to update your character’s visual descriptors regularly so you never lose track of how they look. I would highly recommend keeping outdated information rather than replacing the category altogether. It’s frustrating to lose track of older character stats when you might need them later. Either date each entry or save newly updated versions of the file entirely, like "Book One" vs "Book Two" Character Sheets.
Height: How tall they are.
Weight: How heavy they are. You may wish to quantify the numbers here due to fantasy physics. A dwarf will weigh a startling amount compared to their stature.
Physique: Neither of the above measurements really determine a fantasy characters’ overall appearance. Are they proportionately lanky, chubby, toned?
Dominant Hand: Although this is not a physical tell, it does affect how your character interacts with the world and varying small things about them, like which side a sword sheath would be on.
Assumed Age: What age do they look?
Actual Age: In the case of many fantasy races, what is their true age?
Skin Colour: Whether they are under the human spectrum or a colour of the rainbow. Include colour index code for easy reference.
Associated Race: What does their skin colour denote to others? This may differ in the case of your protagonists’ heritage—perhaps mislabeled their whole life based on appearance, or hiding their true identity.
Heritage: Where do they hail from—their actual race? Add a footnote to reference your worldbuilding notes.
Eye colour: What colour are their eyes? Do the eyes change colour and why? A lot of characters lose an eye at some point…
Hair: Their hair’s colour, texture (straight or curly etc), and style (how they wear it).
Facial Descriptors: Any defining characteristics. Everyone has a nose but is it described as "button," are the lips "cupid" etc. And if your character actually doesn’t have a nose, write that down.
Facial Hair: Clean shaven or mutton chop, name the cut and any additional information like whether the hair is short and wiry or long and majestic. Some people have different coloured facial hair from their head, or in discolored patches.
Tattoos: Design, size, placement, and of course, each tattoo’s significance/meaning.
Piercings: Include colloquial terms, placement, and jewelry make.
Scars: Shape, size, body part, and how they got it.
Unique Identifiers: Any other notable physical identifiers not included in earlier sections.
Clothing
For clothing I would recommend writing down all the words you will refer to when describing them, as well as keep visual records. It’s easy to say their cape is "green" only to later wonder just what kind of green another character might actually call it.
Here is a basic template for character visuals, but feel free to take their layout and apply it to any other program you use for aesthetics.
Now, with words, what adjectives do you use to describe them throughout your story? This may seem tedious but can help maintain consistency—and save you a lot of headache later on.
Character Silhouette: How do people interpret them? Intimidating, small, etc.?
Portrait: What "beauty words" apply? Ie. Are they stunning or sallow?
Outfit: What’s the material? Style, make?
Accessories: What jewelry do they wear and where on their body. Including hats, bags, things in their pockets.
Weapons: From bows to staffs, fantasy is full of weapons and they are often a reflection of the character, so don’t spare them at any expense!
Mentality
This section is all about writing down your character’s inner machinations. Not just how they’re identified or what they look like but who they are.
Archetype: What personality trope does your character fall under—"grumpy" or "sunshine?" You can also include their fantasy archetype (like ranger, rogue) if they embody that to their core.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator ($ MBTI$ ): A classic referenceable classification for personality types, ie. INTJ or ESFP.
Personality traits: More specifically, what traits does your character have? These may compliment their archetype or contradict them.
Love/Hates: Just about anything can be a core personality builder, make a quick list of all the things they love or hate. Who knows, maybe hating spiders will come into play at some point later down the line?
Strengths/Weaknesses: Start with objective truths, but feel free to mention the character’s personal biases (like thinking they’re great at something they really aren’t).
Triggers/Phobias: Are there any things your character doesn’t just hate but cannot handle (and why)?
Magic: Although magic can be extensively subcategorized, that will be up to your discretion and worldbuilding. Flesh it out to the best of your ability, and reference out where necessary. What type of magic do they use, $ what’s it’s school$ , how is it practiced/found/earned, what’s it called? Etc.
Skills: What skills does your character have? Think outside of their main identifiers relevant to the plot and give them some hobbies to flesh them out.
Past Work Experience: They may be an adventurer but maybe they used to work on a farm? All relevant skills can be added to the Skills section just above.
Education Level: Based on whatever systems of education your world has available.
Alignment: Refer to the classic $ DnD grid$ of Lawful -> Chaotic, and Good -> Evil. Essentially, what filter of reasoning do they use for their actions?
Moral Code: What are specific cases where your character draws moral lines? Ie. A rogue that’s willing to steal but not to kill.
Belief System: Is your character religious or practicing? Their beliefs may be tied to their upbringing/inherited abilities. Give a brief description but reference to your other world building notes if it’s complex.
Politics: Outside of spiritual beliefs, does your character have stances on how things should be in their society?
Memories: Make a couple jot notes of the top developmental experiences the character’s had and how those shaped their above personality/beliefs. If they got kidnapped by spiders at a young age, that would certainly explain their above aversion to them! Haha…
Relationships
This section could get long if you want to keep track of all the little nuances a character goes through in their relationships—especially with chapter-by-chapter references, if you’re a little freak like me. I would recommend filling this out in short-form and designating a whole separate document to summarize important relationships across a series.
If you are particularly keen on keeping track of relationship dynamics, NovelPad has some excellent $ organizing and tracking features$ to help you out!
Family: The protagonist may have two families, in which case you can split this—the Known family they grew up with vs the Unknown family they lost before becoming an orphan that needs to save the world. Include parents, siblings, close relatives, and non-blood child rearers.
Pets: Do they have any pets? Mention important pets they may have lost.
Friends: Any relevant friends. Of course, you don’t have to bother writing more than the name of those you’ll make their own profile for later.
Enemies: The same goes for enemies as friends—if they’re an enemy they most definitely will have their own profile!
Sexuality: Sexual preference.
Crushes: Is there anyone your character admires?
Past Relationships: Are there any noteworthy relationships from your character’s past that will affect how they treat others going forward.
Active Goal: For the active goal, this will be what your character is fighting toward in-time; their big quest.
Passive Goal: A passive goal can be something more personal. Even though they are going to defeat the evil wizard, perhaps in the meantime they’re excited to try foods while travelling across the continent to get to them.
Life Goal: What is the thing your character wants most? This could be tied to the completion of their story, or something they achieve afterwards when all the adventuring is said and done.
A word .DOC version of this entire list is available to $ download here$ , and a $ blank copy here$ . Take your time, don’t sweat, but definitely do delve into the finer details as much as you can. If you get a little burnout, take a step back and seek some inspiration!
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