How old does a character have to be to be considered a character?

Question

I've just started to write a short story where the characters are a group of siblings (its not at cliche as it sounds). I was thinking about having the youngest still be an infant. The thought just passed through my mind, how old does a character have to be to be considered a character? I mean the baby wouldn't be able to talk, and would pretty much only be described through descriptions/action. Just wanted to see other peoples opinions.

Answer 1

Favorite Answer

Doesn't matter if they can talk or not, if they are intrinsic to the story, they are characters. After all, there have been books about dogs (Lassie Come Home) and horses (National Velvet) and many others, where an animal is one of the main characters in the book.

If you have a group of siblings and one is an infant, then that infant is also a character in your story because other people will interact with him or her.

Answer 2

If they're there, I would consider them a character. Actions of a baby could definately do some different things to a story, and other characters would have to care for it, creating openings for certain people to leave rooms and such.

Answer 3

Still a character! Make sure you write the part well though, without dialogue or a substantial thought process, you need to portray everything very clearly in action.

Answer 4

a character doesnt have to be a certain age. the character could still be in the mom and count as a character

Answer 5

Even if it's described by someone else, it's still a character.

Answer 6

As old as you want them to be! There's no rules to writing fiction :)