Character Breakdown Template

Name (includes nicknames)

Age/ Birth Month
Sex
Occupation

To attribute personality to the character

and situate your scenes. It also helps with
dialogue.

Physical Description

To attribute personality to the character.

Also great to have the person’s body
build in mind when writing.

Archetype e.g the Warrior, the shy girl turned vixen, etc
Schools

Many times, this helps in the consistency

of your story. It can also show the
“class” of the person or life experiences

Quirks

This helps differentiate Character A from

B.
It’s also a great way of attributing
personality to a character. It also helps
with dialogue.

Life Philosophy/ Beliefs

This, of course, shows what the person

believes in and the reason behind the
actions they CHOOSE to take at each
point of conflict.

Inner Fears and struggles

This shows what would ordinarily stop

the person from achieving his/her goals

What drives him/her?

This helps you put in perspective the

reason behind the character’s actions.

Glaring goals in the movie

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 What is the outward goal of the
protagonist? It must be explicit, clear.
For example, Character A wants to rob a
bank.

Challenges to his/her goals

What/who stops the character from

achieving this glaring goal?

This can also help craft strong conflicts

in the character’s narrative arc.

Siblings

Good background for additional

personality. Plus, if a relation/sibling
drops in midway, there should be a
reason.

Parents

Same as above

Character’s Main Story & Background

Create the arc of the story, introducing

conflicts. This also helps with crafting
the character’s dialogue and motivations

Secondary Story

This goes beyond what the audience will

root for to why the audience will root for
the person; what is the person’s internal
motivation and internal struggles.

This is really the backbone of the story.

How does s/he transform at the end of

the series/movie?

One of my most important things to note.

The character in the beginning should
not be the same at the end.

The character must have learnt

something new, overcome a challenge or
changed his/her/its ideology, status or
position.

Extra Details

---Copy and paste for as many characters as you have---

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