Free character ideas
Character ideas and OC ideas
Original characters to write or draw, sorted by genre, and a generator that builds a random character with a look, a personality, a want, a flaw and a backstory. Every idea was written for this page. The generator writes the character; it doesn't draw one.
- 80 ideas in 10 lists
- A generator with five parts
- Free, no sign-up
Character generator
Build a random character
Five parts: a look, a manner, a want, an obstacle and a past. Roll everything, or keep the parts you like and reroll the rest.
- Look
- A tall woman with a shaved head and a burn scar across one palm
- Personality
- Warm with strangers, cold with family
- Wants
- To buy back the family home
- Flaw
- Lies when the truth would be easier
- Backstory
- Was the only witness to a crime nobody solved
The ideas
Pick a starting point
Each idea gives you a role and a tension. Take the one you want to argue with, then decide what the character wants and what stands in the way.
Fantasy character ideas
8 ideas
Magic, oaths and old debts. Each character comes with a power or a duty, and the price attached to it.
- A royal food taster who has started to enjoy the poisons.
- A dragon who hoards apologies instead of gold, and has never been given one.
- A healer whose magic works only on people they dislike.
- A knight sworn to a kingdom that dissolved while they were away on a quest.
- A witch's apprentice who is far more gifted than the witch, and hides it.
- A mapmaker whose maps show places a year before they exist.
- A god's last worshiper, who is tired of the god.
- An elf who ages backward and has started to forget the future.
Sci-fi character ideas
8 ideas
People shaped by one new technology, and by what it costs them.
- A colony ship's archivist, the only person awake for the whole voyage.
- A clone who outlived the original and inherited their debts.
- A memory editor who can't remember why they took the job.
- An android built to grieve on behalf of busy families.
- A terraforming engineer who secretly wants the planet to stay wild.
- A courier who carries messages faster than light, and reads every one.
- The last human pilot in a fleet flown by machines.
- A teenager who gets text messages from themselves, ten years older.
Villain ideas
8 ideas
A villain is most frightening when they have a point. Each of these wants something a reader could want too.
- A city planner who floods one neighborhood to save a thousand homes, and would do it again.
- A beloved children's author who has stolen every story they ever published.
- A doctor who keeps patients just sick enough that they never leave.
- A revolutionary who won, and now runs the prison.
- A grieving parent who blames the hero, and isn't entirely wrong.
- A charming cult leader who believes every word they say.
- A loan shark who lends only to people the banks turned away.
- A detective who plants evidence on people they are sure are guilty.
Protagonist ideas
8 ideas
Someone who wants something badly and is the wrong person to go after it.
- A retired stunt double who takes one last job and can no longer fall safely.
- A translator who mistranslates a peace treaty on purpose.
- A night-shift nurse who keeps recognizing the same patient in different bodies.
- A small-town mayor who ran as a joke and won.
- A wedding planner who has never been in love.
- A lighthouse keeper whose light has been switched off for good.
- A card player who can see exactly one move ahead and refuses to cheat.
- A ghost who hasn't noticed they're dead, and keeps showing up to work.
Side character and sidekick ideas
8 ideas
Supporting characters with their own agenda. Any one of them could carry a scene alone.
- A best friend who is quietly hoping the hero fails.
- A mentor who teaches the wrong lesson on purpose.
- A rival who keeps saving the hero's life, and resents every time.
- A landlord who knows every tenant's secret.
- A sibling who got the life the hero wanted.
- A cheerful cook who used to be an assassin.
- A child who asks the one question no adult will answer.
- A neighbor who is always watching, for a good reason.
Detective and mystery character ideas
8 ideas
Investigators, suspects and witnesses. Everyone is hiding something, and the best of them hide it from themselves.
- A detective who solves every case except the one in their own family.
- A crossword setter who hides clues to a crime in the Sunday puzzle.
- A housekeeper who has quietly solved three murders and told no one.
- A witness who remembers everything except faces.
- A retired forger hired to spot forgeries.
- A true crime podcaster whose favorite suspect starts listening.
- A small-town pharmacist who knows exactly who takes what.
- An insurance investigator who always finds the fraud, until it's their own.
Romance character ideas
8 ideas
Two people, a reason to be together and a better reason not to be.
- A divorce lawyer who believes in love for everyone else.
- A rival baker in the shop across the street.
- A matchmaker whose own relationships never last.
- A bodyguard assigned to someone who wants to be found.
- A ghostwriter falling for the person whose memoir they're writing.
- A florist who is allergic to flowers.
- A fake fiancé who gets along with the family better than anyone expected.
- Two strangers who meet every year at the same airport and nowhere else.
Horror character ideas
8 ideas
Ordinary people who notice the wrong thing, and the things that notice them back.
- A babysitter who finds a list of house rules the parents didn't write.
- A night guard at a museum where one exhibit moves closer every night.
- A dentist who keeps every tooth, and talks to them.
- A girl whose reflection is always a second late.
- A priest who has stopped believing, and is the only one the demon listens to.
- A real estate agent who discloses every haunting in careful detail.
- A sleep researcher whose subjects all describe the same room.
- A mother certain that the baby she brought home from the hospital isn't hers.
D&D character and backstory ideas
8 ideas
Adventurers with a reason to leave home and a past the dungeon master can use.
- A paladin whose god has gone silent, still praying out of habit.
- A rogue who steals only from other thieves, and keeps a ledger.
- A wizard expelled from the academy for a spell that worked too well.
- A barbarian who left the clan to become a poet.
- A cleric of a death god who runs a very cheerful funeral home.
- A bard hiding from the noble they mocked in a song.
- A ranger hunting the creature that raised them.
- A warlock who signed the pact on someone else's behalf.
OC ideas to draw
8 ideas
Original characters with a strong visual hook, for artists who start from the look and find the story later.
- A beekeeper whose veil hides a pair of antlers.
- A mail carrier for spirits, with a satchel of letters no living person can read.
- A deep-sea diver in a brass suit who hasn't come up in a hundred years.
- A tailor who wears a measuring tape as a scarf and keeps pins in every seam.
- A storm chaser whose umbrella attracts lightning.
- A moth-winged librarian who works the night desk.
- A retired superhero in a faded costume, with a bad knee.
- A street musician whose instrument was carved from a fallen star.
From idea to character
How to turn an idea into a character
Start with the contradiction
The most useful part of an idea is the part that doesn't fit: the gentle person who is furious, the healer who keeps people sick. Write down what the character shows and what they hide.
Give them a want they can act on
A want is something the character can try for this week: a job, an apology, a ticket out. A vague wish like being happy gives a scene nothing to do.
Let the flaw get in the way
A flaw matters when it costs the character something they want. Put them in a scene where the flaw is the easiest choice, and watch what they do.
Use the backstory sparingly
Backstory explains a character; it doesn't move the story. Pick one event from the past that still shapes a choice today, and keep the rest in your notes.
Name them and write a profile
A name sets expectations, so choose one that fits the world and the family. Then fill in a character profile and test the idea in two or three scenes before you commit to it.
Common questions
What is an OC?
OC stands for original character: a character you create yourself rather than one taken from an existing book, show or game. Artists, fan fiction writers, role-players and novelists all use the term. An OC can live in a world you invent or in one you borrow.
How do I come up with a character idea?
Combine a role with a contradiction: a job, a place in a family or a power, plus one thing that doesn't fit. Then give the character a want they can act on and a flaw that gets in the way. The generator on this page builds a character the same way, one part at a time.
Is this a random character generator?
Yes. It picks a look, a personality, a want, a flaw and a backstory from hand-written options, and you can reroll any part on its own until the combination interests you. It writes a character description; it doesn't make images.
Does the character generator use AI?
No. Every option was written by a person for this page, and the generator only combines them. The rolls happen in your browser.
How do I write a backstory for my character?
Pick one event that still shapes what the character wants or fears today, and decide who else was there. A backstory earns its place when it explains a choice in the present; the rest can stay in your notes. The backstory part of the generator gives you one such event to start from.
How do I name an OC?
Choose a name that fits the character's world, family and age, then say it aloud next to the other names in the story so no two sound alike. The character name generator suggests names that fit an era, and the fantasy name generator builds names for invented worlds.
Can I use these character ideas in my own work?
Yes. Use them freely in stories, art, role-playing campaigns, classes and workshops. Once you change an idea and build on it, the character is yours.
Keep going
Give your character a name and a profile
When an idea sticks, name the character and test them in scenes. The character profile walks you through the want, the need, the contradiction and the scene that proves it. The name generator finds names that fit the character's world.
Every idea on this page was written for Inkwell. Use them freely in your own stories, art, games and workshops.