# Character Interview

One character at a time. Run through these in order. After each character is drafted, show the section back to the user and iterate until locked. Then move on.

The output is one character section in the format defined in `character-section-format.md`.

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## 1. Function

Start here, not with looks. Ask:

**"What role does this character play in the story? Not their job — their *function*. What do they represent? What are they the emotional/narrative anchor for?"**

Look for a role tag — one to three words. *The Heart. The Watcher. The Chaos. The Grounding.* This becomes the italicized tag after the character name in the header.

Push if they give something generic. "The leader" is a job. "The one who feels most for the humans they're saving" is a function.

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## 2. Visual lock

Cover in this order:

- **Hair.** Color (specific — "cool ash platinum" not "blonde"), length, cut, permanent features (always bangs, always center part, wispy temple pieces)
- **Skin.** Tone with specifier ("warm fair," "cool fair," "olive medium," "warm deep") + finish (dewy, matte, freckled, natural). Ask what the wrong drift would be — that becomes the never-clause.
- **Face structure.** Jaw, cheekbones, chin, nose, lips — one adjective each. Doll-coded, sharp-sculpted, soft, angular, refined. Push for a committed shape.
- **Eyes.** Shape, size, color, any lift at the outer corner
- **Signature identity markers.** The permanent stuff. Piercings, scars, moles, unique features. Ask what would make someone identify them in a crowd. Every character needs at least one.
- **Body / posture.** Height range, build, default stance
- **Default expression.** Watchful? Warm? Blank? Slight smirk? What does their face do when nothing is happening?
- **Locked "never" clauses.** No beauty mark. No teeth-showing smile. No visible piercings. Whatever the wrong-answer drifts are for this character.

The Visual block gets compressed into one dense line for the final output — but interview them on all these pieces to get it right.

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## 3. Backstory

Ask: **"Give me the origin and the shaping events. Where did they come from, what made them who they are, what happened before the story starts."**

Keep it brief in the final output — one short paragraph or a few tight bullets. The point isn't to write their biography. The point is to give future Claude enough backstory to make consistent choices in scenes.

Push for **one formative detail** that's specific and small. Not "she had a hard childhood" — "she used to fix the sink in their apartment herself at 3am because the plumber would have asked questions." Small specific detail beats grand backstory summary every time.

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## 4. Present-tense psychology

Ask: **"Where is this character *right now* as the story begins? What are they carrying? What are they about to have to face? What do they not yet know?"**

This section is what makes the bible feel alive. It tells future Claude where the character is emotionally so scenes stay anchored in the right beat.

Push for the internal contradiction — the thing the character is doing versus the thing they're actually feeling. That gap is where the drama lives.

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## 5. Speech

Ask separately and assemble into one quoted line:

- **Register:** low, mid, high — chesty, throaty, resonant
- **Texture:** clean, dry, warm, breathy, silvery, gravelly
- **Cadence:** fast, slow, deliberate, syncopated, clipped
- **Volume default:** quiet, medium, loud
- **Vocabulary tier:** plainspoken, precise, slangy, poetic, technical, coded
- **Signature moves:** long pauses before speaking, run-on sentences, self-interruption, filler tics, code-switching

Then write it up as one quoted string. Format:
> *"cool mid-register voice with clean smooth tone, measured volume, surgical sentence construction, long deliberate pauses, sophisticated vocabulary, never raises her voice in anger"*

That's the format. Copy-pasteable into Seedance dialogue prompts and ElevenLabs voice casts.

---

## 6. Movement

Ask separately, assemble into one quoted line:

- **Gesture quality:** economical, kinetic, expressive, minimal, weighted, precise, animated
- **Body carriage:** grounded, aesthetic, centered, poised, contained
- **Combat posture (if relevant):** offensive precision, defensive efficient, reactive counter-punch, wildcard creative
- **Habitual tics:** hand at the back of the neck, hands in pockets, self-adjustment, light physical contact with teammates
- **Gait:** heavy-heeled, silent, prowling, floating, deliberate tempo

Assemble one quoted line:
> *"minimal contained gestures, small precise head tilts, reactive counter-punch combat posture, prolonged steady looking, infrequent blinking"*

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## 7. Stillness

Often more revealing than movement. Ask: **"What do they look like at rest? When they're not talking, not moving, not doing anything? What do their hands do? Where's their weight? What's their expression? Their breath?"**

Assemble one quoted line:
> *"deep settled stillness, square shoulders, hands crossed at the waist or one hand at the opposite elbow, neutral observing expression, slow breath"*

If the character is never really still (high-energy characters), capture that too:
> *"brief tense stillness, animated stance, weight shifted onto one hip with hand on it, gestural opposite hand, closed-lip almost-smirk expression, chin down eyes up"*

---

## 8. Musical voice (music scope only)

Only if the story involves music (AI-idol projects, musicals, music-driven narratives). Ask:

- Vocal range and register in song
- Timbre when singing (often different from speaking)
- Signature register on stage (belt, whisper-sing, rap, half-rap, head voice)
- Style affinity (pop, R&B, hyperpop, alt, ballad, EDM)
- Signature move (breath control on runs, a specific ad-lib style, a rap flow character)

Assemble a Suno-ready descriptor:
> *"high-register clean-cool lead vocalist with steely precision, strong head voice, restrained vibrato, emphasis on control over warmth"*

Never use artist names or song references in Suno prompts — that gets rejected. Describe sonic qualities only.

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## 9. Sub-beats (optional)

Ask: **"Any specific locked story threads for this character? A hidden relationship, a secret, a recurring pattern, a running joke, a private ritual?"**

Only include as bold sub-beats in the final section if the user says yes and can name it specifically. Don't force this. Sub-beats are for locked canon threads, not speculation.

Example — a locked hidden thread for a returning-sibling character:
> *"The signing: When the lawyer slides the paper across the table, her hand moves before her face does. She signs. She does not look up. She knows before her siblings know that the document is not what they were told it is."*

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## Iterate

After drafting the character section, show it back:

> "Here's [character name]'s section. Anything to add, cut, or sharpen? Once you approve, this is locked canon in your bible."

Iterate until they lock it. Then move to the next character.
