New and Improved Character Survey of Doom
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
He's about medium height and slim build, but muscular. He works out a bit as he can be slightly vain sometimes.
2. How old is he?
31
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
It depends on his mood. When he's trying to impress someone he has very good posture but when he's sulking or upset he slouches pretty badly.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
He's generally fit and likes to jog and do some light weightlifting on the side.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
He moves pretty clumsily, actually. He likes to think he's very debonair and graceful but he isn't.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror?
Arlen is extremely attractive, and he knows it.
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
He has fair skin but he holds a tan pretty well in the summer. He has a long scar that runs the length of his back that he got in an accident when he was a teenager.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style. it's pale brown and cut in a short, contemporary style, and it's soft to the touch when he doesn't use gel.
9. What color are his eyes?
gray-blue
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
He doesn't like to shave often, thinking it's attractive to keep a bit of stubble.
11. What are his chief tension centers?
What?
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit?
He dresses casually, in t-shirts and jeans for home and button-ups, blazers, and jeans for work. He wears what he wants and likes neutral colors and things that go with his eyes. He HATES dressing up.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
Yes, he likes to pick things that will flatter him.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences?
When he's at work he'll wear a nice buttonup shirt with a blazer over it, and at home he's more likely to wear a polo or a tee. He wears jeans no matter what, though he does have some dress pants for important meetings.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
Boxer-briefs. Usually white, black, or gray.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
He has a mid-deep, relaxed voice and it's a bit gravelly at times.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
He speaks with a lot of fluidity and confidence, and he speaks evenly. He doesn't think about what he's going to say much, and so things come out immediately without hesitation.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
He says "anyway" and "so" at the beginning of sentences a lot. He likes to use slang terms he makes up himself.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
He speaks English, and a bit of Welsh, as his grandmother was born there.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
He talks a bit more formally in front of his grandparents.
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
He's always an impromptu speaker. He rarely thinks before he speaks which makes him seem both very confident and very reckless.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
He's very eloquent, but when he's really upset sometimes he is reduced to babbling.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
He's about a normal level of book-smart and he's very street-smart. He knows how to get what he wants.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
He's very impulsive.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
He's very intuitive and idealistic. Generally he thinks of terms in the way he wants them to be rather than in terms of how they actually are.
4. What kind of education has the character had?
He graduated from Eden Valley Public High School and went to college at the University of Minnesota in Rochester, where he majored in business management with a bachelor's in art history.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
He loves to learn about foreign cultures and languages. He has a good head for business and he knows his way around art, which he absolutely loves.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
Extrovert
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
He's very cheerful and laid back generally, though he can often fly off the handle easily when someone says something to upset him.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
He's very enthusiastic and confident when meeting new people and trying new things. He doesn't have a lot of reservations.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
He acts first if he thinks action needs to be taken. He rarely has to react.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight?
Fight.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
He makes a lot of very morbid jokes and has a sarcastic sense of humor. He jokes about death a lot and pretends to be a racist, though race isn't really one of the things he notices about people.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?
He's a recovered alcoholic and drug addict, and he attends AA meetings and was in rehab for quite a while several years back. He also has a mild case of dissociative identity disorder, though he has decided this himself and is yet undiagnosed. Chances are he is wrong.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
As a child, his father gave him one of his war medals and told him that he would someday do something worth getting a medal (he had dreams of Arlen becoming a doctor), which made him want to strive to be his best. He was also greatly affected by the death of his daughter.
14. What does he fear?
Losing the people close to him, subway restrooms, small spaces
15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
He wants to become the kind of person his loved ones will respect and be proud of. He also wants to honor his daughter's memory by painting her mural on the blacktop of her favorite playground.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
Underneath all that confidence and bravado, he is actually afraid of himself.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
He and his mother are very close. She is a police sketch artist and taught him to appreciate art at an early age. His father is a Navy Seal and though their relationship is a bit more tense than he and his mother's, they love each other dearly and spend a lot of time together.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
He has a seventeen-year-old sister named Henrietta, who he calls "Henri". He is very protective of her and spends as much time with her as he can, though he doesn't get back to Eden Valley as often as she'd like.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
His wife's brother, Benjamin Sullivan, is like a brother to him, and they are very close. Arlen often asks him for advice over the phone.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them?
He eventually grew very close to Chloe Hathaway, a woman he met on a business trip.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
His best friend at this point would probably have to be Benjamin. Though Benjamin is quite a bit older than he is, they both grew up in the same town for quite a while.
6. Does he have other close friends?
His wife has always been a close friend of his, and he has a lot of friends from companies he works for an from AA. One of his closest friends is Charles Dunway, a painter whose work he has turned into ad campaigns. They have a very strong business relationship.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
Arlen naturally gets along with people well and he is very good at charming people and making good impressions, though there are some people he just can't get along with.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends?
Family. His sister and parents are very dear to him.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
He is currently married to his childhood friend Benjamin's sister, Lena. They have been married since directly after college. It was a marriage he rushed into because she was pregnant, and he wasn't really even sure if he wanted to get married.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
No, but he has been unfaithful before.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
His first crush was a girl named Marley Pinkerton in third grade, and his most recent crush is probably Chloe.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
Fun, spontaneity, and excitement. He likes a girl who will catch him by surprise. He also loves intelligent women. He can't stand stupid ones.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
A number of years ago he had a daughter named Samantha that he was very close to and spent most of his free time with. He absolutely adored her and doted on her constantly. One morning while he and Lena were having an argument, she was walking along the side of the pool in the back yard and fell, hitting her head on the edge, and drowned. Arlen still blames himself.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
Not really. He's generally easy to get along with.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale?
He loves women, and is mostly straight but would probably be a 1 or 2 on the scale. His orientation is not something he thinks about often but he does think about girls a lot.
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
Arlen absolutely loves sex. It's one of the things he's good at and gives it his all. It's pretty important to him, though recently he and his wife's sex life has gone south due to her increasingly depressed condition after their daughter's death.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
He is extremely turned on by biting. clawing, scratching (not hard enough to draw blood), and being dominated by a woman. He loves multiple orgasms and sometimes won't stop until he and his partner have both reached climax twice. He's turned on by touching a woman just as much as he is by being touched, sometimes more. He loves to feel and to taste. Most of his turn-offs involve unintelligent women. He has quite a few weird habits, though he doesn't talk about them until he knows someone very well. He likes to kiss with a lot of tongue right before he climaxes, though that isn't very strange XD
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type?
Arlen is an Aries- Arians have a tendency to act like a dynamo of energy when they set their mind on achieving some goal. They can sometimes act so quickly that they later discover that they should have put in just a little more thought before starting. Action and achievement are important and slow pokes that get in the way, watch out! Aries may step on your toes. Aries enthusiasm rubs off onto others and they get involved in something, others are ready to follow. Selfishness, which sometimes includes a need to control others, tarnishes their otherwise positive and adventurous spirit. They need to have empathy and concern for the needs of others. As a lover, they are passionate, giving and enterprising.
He fits it quite well, besides the selfish part.
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?
He is agnostic. He isn't really sure what to believe anymore. He resents God for not saving his daughter though he also blames himself for the incident. He was raised Catholic but has since denounced his faith.
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
Yes. He believes in always helping others and putting them before himself no matter what, and always doing everything possible to protect the people around him even at the cost of his own life. Nothing in the world could make him compromise it.
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
He is tolerant of people with differing opinions, but only to the point where there could be a small argument for which he will later apologize. Unless it's religion, in which case he is very intolerant and won't even listen.
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
He thinks that everyone who believes in any particular religion is a nut job.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
He's comfortable financially.
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
He's a bit of a party boy. His home life is not exactly desirable so he spends of his time out and so by cause and effect he tends to be the life of the party.
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
He lives in a nice, comfortable house in Chicago. It's generally well-maintained and clean, though not as much since he lost his daughter. He shares the home with his wife, Lena.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
He loves to buy originals of his favorite paintings and books of art and poetry. He loves to read and therefore he buys a lot of books. He and his wife are avid readers.
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
Arlen is an independently operating graphic designers, who does ad campaigns for major companies. He loves his work and his artistic abilities and people skills have made him very successful. Sometimes he wishes he had become a doctor like his father wanted, however, because the paychecks are more steady and dependable.
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
He loves art and history and spends his time drawing, reading novels and poetry, and listening to 80's music.
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
He loves to eat. He eats a lot of junk food and he loves to cook, which he does quite often because his wife is rarely well enough to make dinner. Making big gourmet meals is something he loves to do, and he loves when something he makes can put a rare smile on Lena's face. He loves alcohol but doesn't drink it often. He has a mad, passionate love for chocolate.
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color? red/gray/black
2. Smell? pine trees and Axe Dark Temptations
3. Time of day? mid-evening
4. Season? autumn
5. Book? Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Childs is something he is currently interested in
6. Music? 80's rock and college rock
7. Place? his favorite place is the cabin his family used to stay at in the summer when he was a child
8. Substance? tequila
9. Plant? oak tree
10. Animal? dog
END
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