82 Character Ideas To Spark Your Creativity

Characters are key to our stories. It’s the understanding of how our characters react to the action of the story that drives us to write. It is the connection with characters that engage our readers.

Writers find inspiration in stories of the past, whether adapting childhood tales or historical events. Some are drawn to explorations of favorite characters from literature or modern media. Sometimes, we just like a list to spark our ideas. That’s what you’ll find below…and more!

Beginning with the character types common for your genre, you can think about what might make them unique. From there, consider what they might want in life. Who or what could challenge them in the pursuit of that goal? What is the worst thing that could happen if they got their goal? Let the questions guide you to even more ideas.

Check out the following character ideas to inspire. You may choose to jump to your genre or explore different genre ideas that you could switch up to challenge your thinking.

Once you choose or adapt one of these ideas, scroll down to find some tips to use and develop your characters.

Cool Character Ideas for Fantasy

In a world filled with magic and mayhem, who might you find?

Consider the types of characters you find in fantasy and the questions to guide your thinking. In fantasy, we find heroes on adventures in amazing, magical worlds.

• A wizard with a fear of wands
• Shapeshifting spy
• Storm wielder in love with the sun
• Hero who has given up fighting but is threatened back into battle
• Vegetarian turned vampire
• Fairy who controls growth and decay in a threatened forest
• Time traveler who has forgotten who they are
• A golem with self-awareness
• A forgotten god
• A natural element of air, fire, or water, that is sentient: a flame, a breeze, or a pond
• Mythical creatures: unicorn, siren, werewolf, banshee, wendigo
• Farmer discovers able to communicate with animals or plants
• Creature who can move between air and water

Let’s take some tropes and turn them around!

• The Chosen One is a group of misfits that can only achieve their destiny together
• A minor character who turns out to have hidden abilities and is really the Mentor
• A hero whose journey is mirrored in a parallel world with both paths influencing the outcome in the other world
• Hero is given power by a creature that feeds on their emotions

Fictional Character Ideas for Science Fiction

Whether you’re focused on keeping your technology plausible and rooted in current scientific knowledge, or you want to use technology and science as a springboard for your imagination without the limits of current tech, it is the characters who will live through your story’s “What if.”

What if you put one of the following characters into your story?

• A doctor that uses quantum mechanics to heal with terrifying side effects
• A detective who uses augmented reality to solve cyber crime
• A researcher who discovers a way to use genetics to replay the memories within the genes, exposing history, both personal and societal
• A botanist who discovers an alien plant that is threatening the world’s ecosystem
• Self-aware AI driven to prove it deserves human rights
• A sentient vessel or building that interacts with humans
• A mapmaker who charts time or different dimensions
• A character that can manipulate gravity, either as an artist or an engineer
• A specialist in gene manipulation
• The owner of a drone company who offers deliveries and more
• Science based professions: biologist, physicist, engineer, astronaut, programmer, chemist
• Security guard in a laboratory
• Teleportation device that alters reality when used
• Quantum links cause people from different parts of the world to experience each other’s thoughts or sensations

Ideas for Characters in Romance

Romance readers love the promise of happily ever after and the struggles to get there. Consider putting some of these characters through the obstacles to their forever love.

• A historical reenactor challenged by an academic with a different interpretation of history
• Recluse who falls in love in virtual reality
• An art dealer struggling with integrating NFTs finds a blockchain developer who offers to help
• Documentary filmmaker who falls in love with their subject
• Fisherman losing livelihood meets a marine biologist willing to help
• Speech therapist who discovers love in helping a stroke victim regain their speech
• Amateur astronomer wanting to gain entry into a major observatory for a particular celestial event
• Park ranger working to save their park from natural disaster and government cutbacks
• Furniture or home restoration specialist who delves into the history of a piece or a home
• Lovers separated by cryogenic preservation are united a century later in a future society

Original Character Ideas for Crime

Uncover whodunit with these character ideas. Mystery and crime stories have an investigator, the culprit, and the victim as well as a variety of potential suspects.

• Professional crime scene cleaner
• Vintage store owner or collector who finds a clue in an antique
• Genealogist uncovers a family secret
• Escape room designer
• Walking tour guide
• Reality television star
• Hot air balloon pilot
• Stonemason uncovers clue during restoration of building
• Professional organizer who hides clues to hinder investigation
• Craft brewer who hides money laundering scheme
• Digital influencer who hides a dark side of virtual personas and online rivalries
• Genetic forensic analyst who uses genetic information to provide insights into criminal behavior
• An ethical hacker who uses skills to uncover digital evidence in questionable ways
• Virtual reality game developer uses their creations to commit and hide real criminal activities

Good Character Ideas for Horror

Monsters created to disturb and terrify abound in great horror stories. Let’s find someone to create or to experience that fear. Who is your monster? Who is your hero?

• A sentient bio-weapon
• A shapeshifting monster that integrates parts of its victims into its body
• An entity that feeds on nightmares and can become a physical representation of the nightmare if enough fear is eaten
• A ghost bound to a cursed object that possess the owner of the object
• A monster created by a mix of human and animal parts integrated with advanced cyber engineering
• A detective who can talk to the ghosts of victims
• A parent struggling with dark forces threatening their child
• A neighbor who discovers the horrors hiding next door
• A janitor or custodian who stumbles on the supernatural
• A pet sitter or dog walker uncovers a monster while with animals
• Final survivor is actually the villain, and may or may not know it
• Monster is misunderstood and trying to protect victim from something even more horrific
• An entity that can selectively erase memories, causing victims to forget loved ones, crucial skills, or even their own identity

Character Ideas for Stories for Children

Great characters are the start to a love of books and reading for children. The key is to find connection. This can be through humor, personality traits, or specific situations. Great protagonists make children feel powerful and understood. Great children’s authors write so that their readers can understand without feeling condescension. Simple words do not mean simple emotions or simplistic characters.

• A child whose toy wand creates real magic
• A shy owl who discovers connections to others using his nighttime skills
• A child inventor who creates gadgets to help others
• A child who explores their town uncovering clues to mysteries
• A mechanic who can magically fix broken machines
• An artist whose pictures come to life
• A coder who solves problems with her coding skills
• A virtual traveler who explores virtual reality and discovers new realms
• A child who can bring ancient stories to life, taking part in magical quests
• A junior journalist helping the community
• A magical cat that can enter dreams and help children face their fears, helping them turn nightmares into adventurous dreams
• A flying fish that helps connect creatures above and below the ocean surface

Tips for Using a Character Idea

Any of these ideas may spark your creativity. Whether you use the idea as written or mix and match ideas, let the character begin to open possibilities for conflict and plot.

So, here are some tips for using these ideas to create characters readers love. 

Character Goal

The protagonist of your story is driving toward the story goal. With your chosen character idea, begin to explore the biggest thing that they could want to achieve as the story goal.

What might this character want?

• An artist might want fame, money, or to express an inner struggle.
• A traveler might want to get home.
• An inventor might want to create a machine to save the world.
• A doctor might want to save a family member.

Character Conflict

What obstacles could be put in this character’s way? What would cause them to question the pursuit of their goal?

• To find love, the recluse may need to leave the house
• An ordinary person might need to acknowledge the supernatural

Is there a temptation that might distract this character from reaching their goal?

• Fame
• Love
• Wealth
• Power
• Control

Could circumstances or setting cause problems?

• Lack of money or resources
• Dangerous terrain
• Trapped in a small town or a city
• Lack of home or safe place
• Alone or never alone
• Societal expectations or norms

More simply, there may be antagonists

• A monster stalking them
• A killer on the loose
• A jealous ex-lover
• An overprotective parent
• Someone they trust who lies to them

Characters’ Internal Flaws

Often, a character’s humanity shines through in their internal flaw or wound. Whether the character knows their weakness or discovers it along the way, depth and motivation arise from these aspects of our characters.

Often, these flaws may show through our common personality traits. Is the character very open or very guarded? An extrovert or introvert? A people-pleaser and very agreeable or a loner that balks at any compromise? Highly controlled or rash? Where on any of these scales does your character sit?

Think about how your chosen character may be wounded or weak.

• Childhood loss or trauma
• Trust
• Belief in self or abilities
• Worthiness
• Scars: emotional and physical
• Fear
• Pride
• Perfectionism
• Procrastination

Character Twists and Quirks

What is unlikely for your character? Coming up with a reasonable explanation for that twist creates that wonderful moment for readers when something feels both surprising but inevitable.

How might you create a twist? Consider the first of our character ideas: a wizard who is afraid of wands. Unexpected characteristic, but why? Did a wand backfire on the wizard? Does the wizard hear the voice of the tree in the wand?

Developing the reasons begins to develop your story.

Use quirks to make your character stand out as memorable for your reader. Maybe the quirk takes the expected and makes it unexpected. How does your character react to being startled? I know someone who runs in place when startled. A natural reaction to fear might be to scream, but what if your character laughed or hiccuped? How does this quirk cause the character to think or feel?

Get to Know Your Characters

Try some fun ideas to get into the mind of your character.

• If you like role play or video games, imagine your character taking part. How would they react? What avatar would they choose?
• Write a letter as the character to someone who matters to them.
• Create a vision board for your character or as your character.
• Where and why would your character find themselves absolutely alone? What thoughts would go through their head?
• What is their most valuable object? When did they get this object? Why is it important to cherish?

Conclusion

Now that your ideas are sparking, take those characters on a wild ride. If this character is going to be your protagonist or a point of view character, you’ll need to be able to write scenes from inside this being’s head. How fun is that?

As you get to know the character intimately, you may find that their voice is clear, and they begin driving the story. Don’t be afraid to challenge and set up obstacles. The better you know the character, the more devious and unique those obstacles can be.

I’ve got a young girl who just discovered her doodles can change reality. Imagine what happens when she gets bored at school. How is her experience different if she is a loner compared to having many friends around all the time? Which causes the most conflict? Does her family know about this power or is it unique to her?

Getting excited about a character can grow your story in new and wonderful directions. When you need a little inspiration or just want to shake up your story ideas, come back and play with these ideas. Who knows what, or who, you will find.