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:
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 roleplayinggames, 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.
In mathematics, there are several meanings of the word character, all related to the idea of homomorphisms into the complex numbers. See character (mathematics).
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Quite distinct from the technical meaning which the term character possesses in theological controversy is that attached to it in the language of common life, as well as in the literature devoted to psychology, ethics, and education.
Character is in fact the outcome of a series of volitions, and it is for this reason we are responsible for our characters, as we are for the individual habits which go to constitute them.
As it is the function of ethics to determine the ideal of human character, so it is the business of the theory or science of education to study the processes by which that end may be attained and to estimate the relative efficiency of different educational systems and methods in the prosecution of that end.
Some 18th and 19th century texts, on the other hand, represent characters' names by the use of a single letter and a long dash (this convention is also used for other proper nouns, such as place names).
Minor characters, or stock characters, are often the focus of this kind of analysis since they tend to rely more heavily on stereotypes than more central characters.
The protagonist (main character, sometimes known as the "hero" or the "heroine") of a novel is certain to be a round character; a minor, supporting character in the same novel may be a flat character.
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