Character Development & Inspiration!

[Monty Pendleton]

Hi there!

I've seen some awesome recommendations for sites and resources to help develop our characters, but I tend to forget to bookmark them, and then lose them so I thought it'd be a good idea to have a place for everybody to post their ideas and the websites they use, whether it be Pinterest, some random character name or plot generator, a place to find new PBs - anything! Please feel welcome to contribute your own resources, and I'll add them to the table with a note to thank you.

Of course, it's always best and most fun to come up with ideas yourself, but sometimes you get stuck and just need a little inspiration. This is what these resources are intended for!

Important note: Sites marked in *red asterisks* may contain content that is NSFW, not appropriate for young people, or may use strong language. Please proceed cautiously! ^^ Similarly, please let me know if a site you're recommending may contain such content.

Character Development Help

Random Trait Generator	Generator	Generates random character traits! Useful if you're stuck. (Thanks Rowan!)
Character Interest Generator	Generator	Generates random character interests! (Thanks Donna!)
100 Character Development Questions	Questionnaire/ Interview	100 character development questions - great for IC interviews! Some questions need removing to be site-friendly.
350 More Questions	Questionnaire/ Interview	350 more great questions to have your characters think about or answer!
250 MORE QUESTIONS	Questionnaire/ Interview	You know the drill by now.
16 Personalities Quiz	Quiz	A personality quiz to fill out in-character! The results list character strengths and weaknesses and provide plenty of great ideas. (Thanks Daphne!)
World's Largest List of Hobbies	Idea Bank!	An enormous list of hobbies, if you're running short of ideas. (Thanks Donna!)
Hobbies List 2	Idea Bank!	Another awesome list of hobbies. (Thanks Donna!)
Wizarding World Jobs	Idea Bank!	A list of wizarding careers (note that some may need approval on HNZ).
Character Habits and Motionstr	Idea Bank!	A cohesive list of mannerisms and physical habits. (Thanks Donna!)
*Reddit: Childhood Memories*	Idea Bank!	A catalogue of silly childhood memories to aid with developing your characters' backstories.
*Reddit: Childhood Memories 2*	Idea Bank!	More ideas for silly childhood stories.
Traits of the Four Hogwarts Houses	Tumblr Post/ Idea Bank!	A Tumblr post detailing the traits of students in each house. (Thanks Donna!)

*REDDIT IS NOT CHILD FRIENDLY! PLEASE PROCEED CAREFULLY IF YOU ARE UNDER 18


Faceclaim help

General Face Claim Directory	Directory	A directory for play-bys that gives you the ability to filter by gender/age/ hair colour/eye colour/ethnicity/etc.
General Face Claim Directory 2	Directory	Because sometimes the first face-claim website just doesn't have the right play-by.
General Face Claim Directory 3	Directory	You're never going to have to hunt for PBs again! (Thanks Rowan!)
Young Face Claim Directory	Directory	A directory with a few younger/child play-bys. (Thanks Rowan!)
*Model Face Claims*	Tumblr Blog	A blog sharing plenty of model play-bys. (Thanks Alexis!)
*Model Face Claims 2*	Tumblr Blog	More models to use as play-bys! (Thanks Alexis!)
*Models with GIFs*	Tumblr Blog	More models, except these ones are GIF'd! (Thanks Alexis!)
POC Face Claim Directory	Tumblr Blog	A face-claim directory solely for people of colour. (Thanks Alexis!)
Face Claim Helpers	Tumblr Blog	A blog dedicated to helping people find PBs that suit their requirements. Requests are no longer open, but it's a great place to browse for siblings/parents/relative PBs, or PBs of a certain ethnicity! (Thanks Daphne!)

Character Naming

Character Name Generator	Generator	Have a character idea, but can't find the right name? This generator may be the thing for you!
Name Meaning Dictionary	Dictionary	Here you can look up the meaning of a particular name - great if your parent characters would pay attention to this detail when naming their kids! (Thanks Cyndi!)
Name Dictionary	Dictionary	Another name dictionary, only this one allows you to sort the names by country of origin. (Thanks Cyndi!)
Latin Word List	Dictionary	A list of Latin words and their definitions to aid in character naming.

Roleplay/Plot Help

Mini Scenario Generator	Generator	Generates silly situations that might inspire you if you're stuck for ideas in a roleplay!
Situation Prompt	Generator	Another situation generator, with more room for interpretation!
Character Bonding Moment Generator	Generator	Generates a situation in which two characters can bond.
"How Your Pairing Met" Generator	Generator	Generates a place for two characters to have met.
Title Generator	Generator	Generates title ideas for your thread! (Thanks Cyndi!)

Other Resources

Pinterest	Image Catalogue	Browse millions of images, create your own character aesthetic boards, and then share them in our forum! (Thanks Daphne!)
Spotify	Music Streaming	Build your character playlists, and then share them with us in our topic! (Thanks Alexis!)
NZ Demographics	Wiki Article	An interesting resource to help you roleplay your characters from or living in NZ! (Thanks Alexis!)
100 Common Maori Words	Other	Useful Maori words for your characters in NZ to know! (Thanks Alexis!)
Seventh Sanctum	Generator Directory	Lots of generators. (Thanks Rowan!)
Written Kitten	Writing Reward System	Rewards you with pictures of kittens every [x] amount of words! Great for pushing through those writing blocks! (Thanks Rowan!)
Listal	Image Catalogues	A great place to find still images of your characters! (Thanks Daphne!)
Title Capitalisation	Other	Automatically capitalises the correct words in a title! (Thanks Daphne!)

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Awesome idea Claire!!

I'll probably think of more to add, but I always do this quiz for my characters; https://www.16personalities.com/ It gives you a personality type for them that can really help you develop them. The site lists strengths and weaknesses for that type as well as other information that can be really useful. It also doesn't take too long!

If I think of more to add I'll jump back in though I definitely also recommend pinterest! Not only is that a good tool to make character boards, on there I also have a hidden board I just pin random interesting things to that I happen to see, and later when I create a character I look through that board for inspiration. It works really well! (A hidden board can also be a good place to save PB pictures you want to use later for Halloween or another event)

 

[Samuel Phillips]

I'll probably think of more to add, but I always do this quiz for my characters; https://www.16personalities.com/ It gives you a personality type for them that can really help you develop them. The site lists strengths and weaknesses for that type as well as other information that can be really useful. It also doesn't take too long!

This test is really helpful and I would recommend it too! It's super detailed and can give an interesting insight into your characters personality Also I totally agree that pinterest is great and there's a Character Aesthetics thread here if anyone has pinterest boards for their characters and wants to share them

Claire, I absolutely love those situation generators, they're hilarious but also super useful and I know I will turn to them if I'm ever stuck. Thank you for sharing these links

 

[Wyatt Finch]

I like all of this, I also tend to use Tumblr too because it helps me develop head canons for my characters or plot points to play out but the biggest way I develop my characters is just through threads.

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

I haven't got any suggestions to add as such, but just wanted to say I love all these ideas <3

Thank you for posting them Claire!!

 

[Ainsley Lynch]

Oooooh, I love this thread! I used to be a NaNoWriMo ML so I have a LOT of inspiration/development resources bookmarked, I'll have to go through them when I have more time. Right now I'll just drop a couple of links I have off the top of my head

Another faceclaim directory - this one isn't quite as extensive, I use the angeldustmt one more often, but this one tends to have a lot more child actors & a bit more variety of sources. There was another FC directory I used to use quite a bit as well but my antivirus has started flagging it recently (I think due to an ad on the page?) so I won't link to it.

Seventh Sanctum is enough of a classic that I dunno if it's worth mentioning it's got generators for pretty much everything imaginable, if you need a jumping off point for a character or a quick plot twist. I'm also fond of this generator for quick character traits.

Written Kitten isn't really... character development specific, but it's a good way to reward yourself for getting through a difficult reply and I recommend it wherever I can

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Oohh I love these resources!! Would anyone mind if maybe I put everything together on a table in the first post (noting who suggested what!)? Then if ever someone's stuck with something they can find what they're after quickly!

That Written Kitten site is amazing and that is a great FC directory!

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

That table sounds like an excellent idea, do iiiit!

 

[Daisy Parker-Taylor]

Omg Written Kitten will now be my new fave thing ever.

I also love that Personality test!!

I will post some of my links when I am on my laptop

 

[Wyatt Finch]

Model face claims are my fave generally speaking and as gorgeous as the VS models are I've got a few resources that y'all might find handy too.

Some of these might have NSFW gifs/pictures due to the nature of modelling so just be wary of that!
http://lemodeles.tumblr.com
http://cesbeautes.tumblr.com
http://pocfcs.tumblr.com
http://modelsgifed.tumblr.com/


Also I notice a lot of people on HNZ white wash so as a recommendation I'd say maybe learn a bit about whitewashing and the dangers of that as well as maybe a quick google search of your character's playby to see if they are POC or not because it matters. : )

Also also making playlists on Spotify for ships and characters helps too.

Edit: I think it also helps looking at the statistics of New Zealand too. Demographics of NZ. And after having lived in NZ I learned some things that are helpful too but I'm not suggesting y'all just up and move to NZ lmao I just found some interesting colloquialisms that I found strange but was normal to the people there.
100 Common Maori Words - Even Pakeha should know a good chunk of these, yah?

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Super helpful stuff Alexis, thank you!! I'm adding an 'Other resources' section to the table where Pinterest/Spotify/NZ demographics etc. can go

Will also add a NSFW key on anything necessary

 

[Ainsley Lynch]

omg I didn't even think of NZ specific resources but like. if anyone isn't sure if/how something is done in NZ I am literally always willing to help bc writing stuff that's specific to my home is one of my favourite parts of HNZ!!

 

[Wyatt Finch]

You know what is a thought I always had. Since HNZ is obviously a NZ school and most of the kids at the school /should/ be from NZ they would've been taught to do a Haka in grade school before Hogwarts and stuff so maybe before Beauxbatons x HNZ games the team should do a Haka on brooms or something because that's super NZ to me. I don't know.. Just a thought.

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

You know what is a thought I always had. Since HNZ is obviously a NZ school and most of the kids at the school /should/ be from NZ they would've been taught to do a Haka in grade school before Hogwarts and stuff so maybe before Beauxbatons x HNZ games the team should do a Haka on brooms or something because that's super NZ to me. I don't know.. Just a thought.

To be fair I can imagine the NZ students doing something like that if they want to, but then all the other kids from around the world bringing their different cultures and traditions into the school also make it so interesting

 

[Ainsley Lynch]

Kapa Haka is taught at most schools here, a haka before the international game would definitely be fitting! The biggest issue I can see honestly, is that the board doesn't allow for accents over letters which makes it difficult to write in Te Reo. (An issue I run into constantly with Kahurangi...)

I feel like this is getting a little off topic though so here's another couple faceclaim directories
one, two

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

http://fchelpers.tumblr.com/

I don't think it's open for new questions, but the search function on this site is very helpful! This tumblr is basically people asking for faceclaim suggestions and getting help. A lot of questions are about siblings for other face claims, which can be very helpful when making siblings on hnz! Just search the pb name on the left or scroll through

EDIT: To come back to Alexis' point earlier, it's also a very helpful resource for finding play-by's of a certain nationality or ethnicity.

 

[Wyatt Finch]

You know what is a thought I always had. Since HNZ is obviously a NZ school and most of the kids at the school /should/ be from NZ they would've been taught to do a Haka in grade school before Hogwarts and stuff so maybe before Beauxbatons x HNZ games the team should do a Haka on brooms or something because that's super NZ to me. I don't know.. Just a thought.

To be fair I can imagine the NZ students doing something like that if they want to, but then all the other kids from around the world bringing their different cultures and traditions into the school also make it so interesting

My immigrant friends still got into the Haka before rugby games. I'd say most other countries don't have things like the Haka so that wouldn't really be an issue. Maybe the foreign students could feel awkward about it while practicing it or whatever with their team or get just really pumped up because I've watched a few on TV for Rugby games and dang I don't know a thing about it but it still gets me way excited for the game.

@Rowan: we'd probably just have to write as close to without the accents and put the translation to English at the bottom?

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Sounds like an idea worthy of its own board/suggestion!!

These are all amazing and you're suggesting them more quickly than I can add them to the table, hehe. It'll be up soon when it's all coded!

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

I'm really not sure if this appears under another link, but when I was doing Geo's bio recently I was trying to think of things that weren't already present in there, such as what are her lifetime goals, her main fears, her source of inspiration, plus her music/film/art tastes.

Also I am a sucker for visuals when it comes to developing characters. Again, not sure if this comes under items that haven't been suggested because they'd been suggested previously, but it may be an idea to include templates for aesthetical aspects?

Edit because I feel I'm tripping over my words: So in Geo's bio I have a section for her "Instagram" and a part that shows her Aesthetics such as clothing styles. It may be useful to include templates for these since I think visuals are important for distinguishing how a character could be perceived by others.

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Oh before I forget! Listal is a very good source of stills of your pb, and I feel most people know it but it's still worth a mention.

Also: gif hunts. There's too many tumblrs dedicated to them to bother listing them I think But when searching for gifs for any pb I just type 'pb name gif hunt' into google. Those tumblrs are also really nice to just scroll through for inspiration.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Table's up!! I wanted it to be pink and sparkly but this will have to do

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

-Tries to resist the temptation to get sucked back into Bio making-

If I haven't told you today Claire, I you

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

I use this sometimes to help with titles: http://www.fictionalley.org/primer/title.html
I almost never use the titles it generates but it helps jog my own ideas.

I use this to help with names: http://www.meaning-of-names.com mostly because I like to think that my characters' parents would have chosen names for their meaning because it's how I would choose a name for a child. There is another one I use that separates names by country of origin. I'll add it if I can find it. I really like that one.

And I know we are talking about websites here, but I get a lot of inspiration for character ideas and traits and personality and and how to describe actions and reactions from people watching, guess it's the psychology student in me. I travel a lot for work sometimes and work listening to people all day long, and sometimes I'll see someone react to something in a way that's way different than I'd expect and I'll remember it later as I'm role-playing a particular character.

I'm also fortunate enough to work with children of many different ages so it helps when I'm having to roleplay an eleven year old or a teen since it's been a while since I was both of those ages.

---

Found it!! https://www.behindthename.com

 

[Daisy Parker-Taylor]

Found some links!
Here's one called World's Largest List of Hobbies, which helps when I'm like uhmmm what does my character like to do?? Haha! Also along the lines is Character Habits which can help with the way characters do specific things in writing as well as quirky things they do. There is also Character Interest Generator which can be quite quirky and fun, and even if you don't use the ideas it can spark some inspiration. Aaaand another Hobby List.

The Traits of the Four Houses is also find really interesting and helpful for me, gives me character ideas as well as just understanding the houses.

Unfortunately a lot of my links are broken now! But those are what I've got.

 

[Lucas Martinez]

Most of my links are things you need to have subscriptions for that I got half price for nano last year, so let me find what I have that is free!
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