Characterbeing

Characterbeing is a term used to describe a character that is treated as a standing being with agency and intentionality within a narrative, game, or theoretical framework. Unlike a mere label of a character, a characterbeing has a perceived or internalized continuity of experience, goals, beliefs, and the capacity to influence events. The concept emphasizes ontological status over simple description, highlighting that audiences or other agents interact with it as a social actor.

Origin and usage: The term emerged in discussions of fiction, interactive media, and philosophy to discuss how characters gain moral relevance and personhood-like status. It is often applied to especially autonomous non-player characters (NPCs), sentient virtual agents, or literary figures whose inner life is accessible or inferred. In some readings, characterbeings blur the line between fiction and quasi-ontology, prompting questions about rights, representation, and responsibility within a story world.

Applications: In literature and film, characterbeings drive plots, express coherence of character arcs, and raise questions of responsibility or rights within the story world. In games and simulations, characterbeings respond adaptively to player actions, enabling emergent narratives and more believable social dynamics. In philosophy of mind and AI ethics, they function as thought experiments about personhood, moral considerability, and the limits of artificial agency.

Criticism and debates: Critics note that the term can conflate narrative function with ontological claims, risking category mistakes. Debates concern whether characterbeings deserve moral consideration, whether they can or should have rights within fictional or simulated environments, and how authorial control intersects with audience interpretation.

See also: fictional personhood, narrative agency, NPC autonomy, artificial life.