A character is a person, animal, or figure in a story, play, or movie. It can also mean someone’s moral qualities and personality, or a symbol like a letter or number in writing.
From Old French 'caractere', from Latin 'character', from Greek 'kharaktēr' meaning 'engraved mark, distinctive feature', from 'kharassein' (to engrave). It originally referred to a stamped or carved mark.
Whether it’s a letter on a page or a person in a story, a 'character' is something marked as distinct. Even your 'character' as a person is the pattern of marks—habits, choices—that set you apart from everyone else.
“Character” has been used both for moral qualities and for fictional personae, and literary traditions often defaulted to male characters as universal while coding female characters with narrower roles. Moral judgments about “a woman’s character” historically scrutinized women’s behavior more harshly than men’s.
When discussing people’s character, avoid gendered double standards; when creating fictional characters, represent diverse genders with full complexity.
["personality","persona","figure","individual"]
Highlight the work of women and gender‑diverse authors, actors, and creators who expanded the range of characters represented in literature and media.
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