Compelling characters are at the heart of every great story.
As a writer, screenwriter, game designer, or storyteller, you know that well-rounded, believable characters can make or break your project. But as you begin writing, how do you keep track of all those little details that give a character depth?
A character profile template is a simple yet effective way to ensure your characters are consistent, engaging, and true to the world you’re building.
By filling out a character profile, you create a clearer picture of your character’s appearance, eye color, background, education, motivations, best friends, quirks, long-term goals, and everything else that makes them come to life on the page or screen.
In this blog post, you’ll find useful character profile templates that can help you build believable, compelling characters and keep them sharp through every plot twist.
Free Character Profile Template for Writers & Creators
- What are Character Profile Templates?
- What Makes a Good Character Profile Template?
- 15 Free Character Profile TemplatesÂ
- 1. ClickUp Book Planning Template
- 2. ClickUp Story Outline Template
- 3. ClickUp Storyboard Template
- 4. ClickUp Story Planning Template
- 5. ClickUp Game Design Document Template
- 6. ClickUp Book Proposal Template
- 7. User Persona Template by ClickUp
- 8. PDF Character Profile Template by Dabble
- 9. Character Profile Template by Twinkl
- 10. Character Profile Breakdown Template by Set Hero
- 11. Game Character Profile Template by Milanote
- 12. Character Traits Book Template by TPT
- 13. Blank Character Profile Template by TPT
- 14. Character Profile Form Template by JotForm
- 15. Character Profile Template by Jotterpad
- Bring Your Stories and Characters to Life With ClickUp
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat are Character Profile Templates?
Character portfolio or character profile templates are pre-made layouts that help writers organize everything about a character in one place, from their physical traits and backstory to their personality, relationships, goals, childhood experiences, and unique traits. They’re designed to help you fully flesh out a character, inside and out.
For example, you’re not just writing ‘Sarah is brave.’ With these storyboard templates, you go deeper: Why is she brave? Maybe she grew up protecting her younger siblings or extended family. What are her flaws? Maybe she hides her fears by cracking jokes. What is her dream job, what’s her biggest accomplishment, what scares her, and how does she talk when she’s nervous?
💡 Who can use character portfolio templates?
- Fiction writers planning detailed novels
- Podcast writers creating scripted audio stories
- Webcomic creators keeping characters consistent
- Game developers building story-rich characters
- Screenwriters and filmmakers planning character arcs
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Makes a Good Character Profile Template?
An effective character template goes beyond asking surface-level details. Instead, it helps you think like your character so they act, speak, and grow in a way that feels real and true to your story.
Here’s what makes a great one:
- Prompts with depth: Prompts you to ask meaningful questions that add depth to your characters, such as ‘What past event still shapes them?’
- Room for nuance: Lets you explore contradictions, like a character who’s confident at work but insecure in relationships
- Story-relevant questions: Helps you answer things that directly affect your plot or scenes, like how they react under pressure or speak when angry
- Customizability: Adds uniqueness to your work by letting you tweak or add fields to match your genre, writing style, or process
- Collaboration-friendly: Supports teamwork with comments, shared access, and virtual whiteboards for brainstorming if you’re co-writing or working with editors
- Compatible with writing tools: Templates that integrate with book writing software make it easier to keep your character development aligned with your manuscript
Summarize this article for me please15 Free Character Profile Templates
Now let’s explore some free character profile templates that help you create characters with distinguishing features your audience won’t forget.
1. ClickUp Book Planning Template
Whether you’re outlining your first chapter or tracking your character arcs, the ClickUp Book Planning Template helps you break the process into clear, manageable steps. The template offers multiple Kanban Boards tailored to different stages of the writing process.
Why you’ll like it
- Add Custom Statuses like Prewriting, Writing, Revision, Editing, and Publishing, so you can visually track where each scene or chapter stands
- Arrange scenes by their role in the story structure: Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, or Resolution with the Plots Board
- Switch to the Chapters Board to view scenes by chapter
Ideal for: Fiction authors writing multi-POV novels with overlapping timelines, detailed character arcs, and chapter-level planning.
2. ClickUp Story Outline Template
When you’re preparing for a storytelling-based presentation, ClickUp’s Story Outline Template helps you organize all the ideas, research, and plots in one place.
Why you’ll like it
- Organize a novel or story project by scenes and plot structure with the Story Stages List View
- Use a Kanban-style layout where each column represents a stage or event in the story’s progression
- Visualize the story arc, rearranging scenes easily, and keeping track of what has been written versus what is still in progress
Ideal for: Novelists or screenwriters creating a storytelling presentation.
💡 Pro Tip: If you’re running short on time or inspiration, you have ClickUp’s built-in AI editor, ClickUp Brain, to help you out. Using AI prompts, you can explore additional angles for your storytelling, beyond the most obvious ones. As your brainstorming partner, it also helps you with character dialogues, scene descriptions, and improving the overall narrative flow.
Moreover, ClickUp Brain gives you critical feedback on your work to help you refine it further.
3. ClickUp Storyboard Template
Directing a short film, scripting cut scenes for a video game, or planning an animated series, but struggling to lay it all out visually?
The ClickUp Storyboard Template is a beginner-friendly, drag-and-drop whiteboard template that provides six structured frames to ease the process. The template is also color-coded and visually intuitive, making it easy to follow even for first-time users.
Why you’ll like it
- Map what happens, what’s said, and how it sounds with a dedicated space for Action, Dialogue, and Audio + FX in each scene panel
- Mirror a classic storytelling arc: Exposition, Conflict, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution, and an additional Exposition block for flashbacks or secondary plots
Ideal for: Filmmakers, game developers, animators, and creative teams who need a visual, scene-by-scene breakdown to plan story-driven projects.
4. ClickUp Story Planning Template
What if every character in your story had a digital profile with values, flaws, powers, and pet peeves? The ClickUp Story Planning Template helps you do that.
This brainstorming template provides detailed character lists that outline traits for protagonists, antagonists, and other characters, highlighting their goals, values, dark sides, and leadership styles.
Why you’ll like it
- Organize your entire plot, track revision stages, and manage each story element like tasks on a to-do list with the List View
- Write character backstories and external conflicts, scene drafts, or other notes, and link them to your main planning board
- Track the sequence of events and which characters are involved in each one with scene breakdowns
Ideal for: Fiction writers developing multi-book series or webcomic creators planning character-driven arcs.Â
Read More: Best Outline Generators for Content Creators
5. ClickUp Game Design Document Template
Successful game developers map out everything before the first pixel is drawn or a single line of dialogue is written, from mechanics and story arcs to soundtracks and boss battles.
You can do the same with ClickUp’s Game Design Document Template.
Why you’ll like it
- Describe your game type (e.g., platformer, RPG, FPS), target audience, platform (mobile, PC, console), and what makes your game unique with ClickUp Docs
- Break your doc into sections, such as ‘Story Premise,’ ‘Target Audience,’ or ‘Gameplay Loops, ’ and use headers, checklists, and bullet points to stay organized
- Get a clean, distraction-free space to brainstorm everything from genre and theme to unique gameplay mechanics
- Use ClickUp’s Collaboration Detection feature to work seamlessly with your team in real time. Whether you’re editing a doc or dropping comments, it shows you exactly who’s viewing, typing, or making changes, so nothing overlaps
Ideal for: Indie game developers, small studio teams, or student game design groups who need a structured way to manage every part of their game.Â
Read More: Why Is Document Version Control Important?
6. ClickUp Book Proposal Template
Writing the book is hard enough, but convincing someone to publish it? That’s another challenge. The ClickUp Book Proposal Template helps you build a solid, professional proposal highlighting your book’s potential.
It walks you through the critical parts of a book proposal: your book’s objective summary, outline, sample chapters, and your background as an author.
Why you’ll like it
- Start in Doc View to draft your summary, market analysis, and pitch details
- Use Custom Views in ClickUp to manage more than just the writing part of your proposal
- Switch to List View to break the proposal into tasks like ‘Write author bio’ or ‘Attach sample chapters,’ and check them off as you go
Ideal for: First-time authors, self-publishers, ghostwriters, or anyone helping someone else submit a book idea.Â
📮 ClickUp Insight: Nearly 88% of our survey respondents now rely on AI tools to simplify and accelerate personal tasks.
Looking to generate those same benefits at work? ClickUp is here to help! ClickUp Brain, ClickUp’s built-in AI assistant, can help you improve productivity by 30% with fewer meetings, quick AI-generated summaries, and automated tasks.
7. User Persona Template by ClickUp
User personas help designers, developers, and marketers better understand their customers and create memorable experiences. ClickUp’s User Persona Template is designed to help you create, manage, and track customer profiles.
Why you’ll like it
- Gain insights that help you understand your audience better
- Visualize how users interact with your product or service
- Create a shared language for teams to understand their users
- Build personas and collect relevant information with the User Persona Form View
- Segment personas and easily compare demographic information with the By Gender View
- Pinpoint which product features and designs should be given priority
Ideal for: Marketing professionals and product managers who’d like to understand their users in depth
8. PDF Character Profile Template by Dabble
The PDF Character Profile Template by Dabble is a detailed, fill-in-the-blanks-style template that helps you flesh out your characters so they’re no longer strangers.
Why you’ll like it
- Get writing prompts that dig deep into demographics, psychology, communication style, relationships, and character growth
- Go deep into each character’s relationships, core values, conflicts, and motivations
Ideal for: Novelists or screenwriters adding depth to existing characters or building compelling original characters.
9. Character Profile Template by Twinkl
The Character Profile Template by Twinkl serves as an educational tool to help young writers develop characters for creative writing assignments and story planning.
Why you’ll like it
- Focus not only on how a character looks or sounds, but also explore why they act the way they do
- Get a space to visualize each character, through a hand-drawn sketch, a pasted reference image, a nickname, or even a mood board
Ideal for: Teachers facilitating lessons on character development and storytelling.
10. Character Profile Breakdown Template by Set Hero
The Character Profile Template by Set Hero is a structured worksheet designed to help screenwriters build detailed, believable characters. There’s a balance of structured fields and open space so you can go deep with layered descriptions.
Why you’ll like it
- Capture general information, such as birth date and hair color
- Focus on how the character interacts with others using the ‘Personality’ section
- Explore their internal world, including emotions, ambitions, beliefs, and personal goals with the ‘Inner Psyche’ section
Ideal for: Filmmakers aiming to develop well-rounded, consistent characters for psychological thrillers or coming-of-age fiction.Â
11. Game Character Profile Template by Milanote
Milanote’s Game Character Profile Template gives you a visual, structured space to develop characters with rich backstories, distinct personalities, and design elements that support gameplay and narrative.
Why you’ll like it
- Map how the character moves, fights, and reacts to the world around them
- Choose your character’s archetype and build the backstory
- Include sketches, armor designs, clothing styles, or facial expressions to elaborate character appearances and styles
Ideal for: Indie game developers and character artists working on story-driven games.Â
12. Character Traits Book Template by TPT
The Character Traits Book Template by TPT is a fun, easy-to-use tool that helps students analyze the characters they read about. It’s perfect for book reports or reading assignments
Why you’ll like it
- Get a simple structure to explore what the character looks like, what they like or dislike, their personality traits, who they’re connected to, and what challenges they face in the story
- Explore not just what the character does, but why they do it
Ideal for: Middle school teachers who want a structured, engaging way to help students explore literary characters in more depth.
13. Blank Character Profile Template by TPT
The Blank Character Profile Template by TPT is designed to help students with character development and analysis.
Why you’ll like it
- Describe your character’s look with the ‘Physical Appearance’ section and use the included blank box to draw a picture
- Use the ‘Important Quotes’ section for storing your character’s signature lines or internal mantras. For example, if your heroine always says, ‘If I want something different, I have to become someone new,’ that could influence how she handles conflict and motivation
Ideal for: Beginner writers who are learning how to create their first character profiles with both visual and written elements.
14. Character Profile Form Template by JotForm
The Character Profile Form Template by JotForm uses a form-like format where you can add or modify fields to match the details you want for your characters, like physical traits, personality, backstories, and relationships.
Why you’ll like it
- Fill in the information for each character, which helps you keep things consistent throughout your project
- Add depth to each character with specific fields to capture their economic status, religious beliefs, political views, as well as their hobbies and interests
- If you’re working with a team, you can also share the form to gather input from others
Ideal for: Young adult fiction writers building characters who deal with identity, relationships, and social pressure.
15. Character Profile Template by Jotterpad
Jotterpad’s Character Profile Template feels like opening a scrapbook for someone who’s about to star in your next story.
What sets this template apart is its balance of simplicity and depth. It doesn’t overwhelm you with many fields, but it gives you just enough structure to spark ideas and build momentum.
Why you’ll like it
- Draw your character from scratch or paste a Pinterest reference in the space for a photo or sketch
- Get straight-to-the-point prompts like Name, Age, Place of Birth, and Nationality to flesh out characters
Ideal for: Short film scriptwriters who need to brief actors or team members on each character’s identity in a single snapshot.
Read More: Best AI Script Generators
Summarize this article for me pleaseBring Your Stories and Characters to Life With ClickUp
Whether you’re creating a gritty anti-hero with a criminal record, a lovable sidekick, or a complex main character with layers of internal conflicts, strong characters are what make stories unforgettable. But keeping each character’s life details straight? That’s where it gets difficult.
With the right character profile template, you can organize your entire creative process, from backstory to dialogue quirks. ClickUp’s templates take the process a step further by letting you collaborate with editors or co-writers and keep every detail connected.
Sign up for ClickUp today to make character development easier, faster, and way more organized.
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
