Characters - Definition and Overview

In general, a character is a distinctive significant mark or feature. The word originates from the Greek word χαρακτηρ via the Latin word character, an instrument for marking or graving. The word is used in several specific senses:

• Personal character:
  • A person's moral predispositions or attitudes; see moral character, losers in literature.
  • In psychiatry, a character structure is a constellation of enduring motivational and other traits that are manifested in the characteristic ways that an individual reacts to various challenges. See character structure.

• A fictional person from a book, play, or other fictional work; see fictional character.
  • In roleplaying games, the role or persona assumed by the player within the fictional world of the game; also, the figurine or token that represents this character, used to map out movement relative to obstacles and other players' characters.
  • A video game character can be either a player character or a non-player character (NPC)
  • When someone takes on the role of a fictional character, or a role in a role-playing game, they are said to be in character; when they drop out of this role, they are said to break character

• Units of information:
  • A grapheme such as a letter, Chinese ideogram, numeral; or punctuation mark. More generally, the components of an alphabet. See also typography.
  • In computing, a unit of information in computer storage or communications; see character (computing).

• A movie released in 1997; see Character (film).

• In Catholicism, a sacramental character is a supernatural mark made on a person's soul by some sacraments.

• In mathematics, there are several meanings of the word character, all related to the idea of homomorphisms into the complex numbers. See character (mathematics).