100 Questions to Ask Your OC

Hello, folks! The purpose of this exercise is to delve deep into a character's mind and tease out interesting eccentricities about them, the bits and pieces of unique information that make them special. Each question is designed to help think about the character more and understand them. Whether you're responding to one question or all of them, hopefully your character speaks to you all through it!


PERSONALITY PROFILE
   1. People don't behave the same way all the time. In fact, they generally have a mask for every social group -- friends, family, business. Sometimes they have a different mask for different groups of friends. How does your character act around different people? How does their personality shift and change?

   2. Your character has been brought to a party and promptly ditched. They don't have a ride back home. How does this work? How comfortable are they around all of these strangers? Do they interact?

   3. It's kind of awkward - what subjects are likely to make your character hesitate, flush, stumble on their words, etc.?

   4. Is your character more dominant or submissive to the people around them? Do they tend to follow others' orders and wait for people to give them instruction in life, or do they charge ahead and make decisions on their own?

   5. What happens when your character doesn't get what they want?
   
   6. What's the character's self-esteem like?
       a. Does it change over the course of the story?

   7. What's one flaw about themselves that they hate the most and wish they could change?

   8. How does their personality shift when someone gets to know them well?

   9. Do they prefer time alone, or with other people?

   10. Is it easy for this character to tell someone "no" when they don't want to do something?

   11. If this character were to describe their own personality, how would they do it?

   12. Is this character aware of their flaws?

   13. How has this character's personality changed from childhood to adulthood?

   14. Who influenced this character's personality? Did they pick up any mannerisms or traits from someone?

   15. Does this character express affection? Are they comfortable doing so?

   16. When frightened, will the character "fight" or "flight"?

   17. Does this character ever put someone else's needs in front of their own?
       a. If there are only rare exceptions, why is that the case?

   18. If this character suffered amnesia and lost all their memories, what would they be like?

   19. How does the character's living space reflect their personality?

   20. What's one thing that other characters wish they could change about this character's personality?

EMOTIONAL PROFILE

   1. How easy is it for your character to feel anger? What's usually a good tip off that they're experiencing it? (Physical reactions, movements of appendages, etc.)
       a. Sadness?
       b. Happiness?
       c. Fear?

   2. What state of mind is the character usually in?

   3. Are there any emotions the character is particularly afraid of, or really resents having to feel?

   4. How easily does this character trust their feelings with others?
       a. Has anyone ever betrayed them?
       b. How did it affect their ability to trust?

   5. Can this character easily hide their emotions?
       a. Do they find it difficult to express emotion, thus tend to look neutral?

   6. How well can this character resist their emotions and impulses?

   7. Does this character ever get violent (with others, objects, themselves) when feeling any certain emotions?

   8. Has this character contemplated suicide?
       a. Self-harm?
       b. Physically injuring others?
       c. Killing others?

   9. Does the character have any triggers? Why do these things trigger them?

   10. What would hurt this character so badly they couldn't even breathe?

   11. What is guaranteed to make this character smile?

   12. If the character could remove one emotion from their life, which would they choose?

   13. If they're feeling upset, who are they likely to talk to for comfort? Or do they keep it inside?

   14. How would this character cope with losing someone extremely close to them?

   15. How does this character look and feel when crying?

   16. If the character had to live out the rest of their life either perpetually angry, sad, or frightened, which would they choose?

   17. Does this character tend to blame or punish others for their own emotions?

   18. Is this character empathetic, and tends to be influenced by the emotions of others?

   19. What is the strongest emotion they have felt?
       a. What event caused that?
       b. How would they react if that happened again?

   20. If the character were to come face to face with their darkest fears in a nightmare, what would be the scene?

PHYSICAL PROFILE

   1. Based on the current diet and exercise your character has, where do you see them physically in five years?

   2. How agile is this character? Can they dodge easily? Or are they clumsy?

   3. Describe the muscle content of your character. Are they untrained and soft? Or lithe and powerful?

   4. What kind of body fat percentage do you suppose they have?

   5. Do they have any scars? Where did those scars come from, and how did they get them?

   6. Describe some hairstyles your character has had in the past.
       a. How about the present? What's their hair like now?

   7. What are their teeth like? Any cavities? Root canals? Does their dentition ever hurt?

   8. Do their arches ever fall? That's painful.

   9. How much endurance do they have? Do they easily get tired during a workout?

   10. How easily can they bear pain?

   11. How long can this character sit still?
       a. Do they shift a lot when sleeping?

   12. What do their nails look like? Do they bite them?

   13. How hairy is this character?
       a. Arms?
       b. Legs?
       c. Underarms?
       d. Eyebrows?
       e. Everywhere else

   14. What is the most imperfect part of this character's body?

   15. Do they get cold easily?
       a. How about overheated?
       b. Seasick?
       c. Do barometric changes in pressure affect them?

   16. How do they react to getting an illness? Think about sore throats, achy bodies, headaches, stuffy noses, runny noses...

   17. Is this character's body sensitive to touch?
       a. Do they have any unusual erogenous zones?

   18. How strong are this character's basic senses? Sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell.

   19. If this character had to permanently lose one of their senses, which would they choose?
       a. What if they could only have one sense, and had to lose the others?

   20. Does this character have any unusual limbs or physical features?

PREFERENCES AND PEEVES

   1. What's the state of your character's kitchen? What kind of foods do you find in it? Is it... clean?

   2. If they could only eat one type of food for the rest of their life, what would they choose?

   3. What kind of clothing does this character like wearing and why?

   4. How does this character feel about piercings?
       a. Tattoos?
       b. Dyed hair?
       c. Revealing clothing?
   
   5. What's something that turns this character on?
       a. And what's a definite turn-off?
       b. Do they have any kinks?

   6. How does this character feel about animals?
       a. Would they want any pets?
       b. What animals are their favorite?

   7. What type of movie is this character most interested in watching?

   8. If this character could master a skill instantly, which would they choose?

   9. Are there any behaviors that other characters do that irk this character?
       a. Does the character ever voice their annoyance?

   10. Would this character rather create something or destroy something?

   11. What kind of comedy does this character prefer? Toilet humor, vulgar, slapstick, morbid, etc.

   12. If they could stay at one age forever, which age would they choose and why?

   13. If the character could only wear clothing of one color, which would they choose?

   14. Describe the character's favorite possession. Where did they get it, and why are they so attached?

   15. What is the character's favorite weather?

   16. Do they prefer sweet, salty, sour, meaty, spicy, or neutral tastes?

   17. Would they rather sleep in a cold room or a warm one?

   18. Are there any hobbies this character absolutely hates and would never want to do?

   19. What's the easiest way to annoy this character?

   20. Are their interests and likes socially appropriate?

ALL ABOUT HISTORY

   1. Describe a scenario that has impacted your character and caused them extreme happiness.
       a. Fear?
       b. Disappointment?
       c. Depression?

   2. What is the character's first memory?

   3. Has the character ever experienced deja vu? Do you happen to know why?

   4. Sensations are powerful things, and often certain scents, sounds, touches, etc. can invoke memories strongly associated with them. Which have imprinted in your character's mind?

   5. How'd they get along with their parents and/or other relatives?

   6. If your character had to choose one friend they've valued over all others, who would it be?

   7. What's the worst injury they've ever gotten?

   8. How many places has this character lived in? What stands out most about those places to them?

   9. If the character could erase one memory from their mind, what would it be?

   10. What was the character's economic situation?

   11. What are the character's three clearest memories?

   12. If the character could go back and speak to a younger version of themself, what would they say?

   13. If the character could go back and choose their sex at birth, what would they choose?

   14. Describe the character's love life throughout the years.

   15. How did the family that raised this character influence them?

   16. If this character could "unmeet" someone in their life, who would they choose?

   17. If the character could choose different parents for themselves, who would they choose and why?

   18. Does this character feel guilty about anything in the past?

   19. If the character were asked to associate an adjective with different stages of their life, what would they choose and why?

   20. If the character could choose to have themselves born at a specific time period, which would they pick and why?


Hope you enjoyed the questions!