What are Game Characters?

This paper aims to present the status of the forthcoming Ph.D Dissertation: What are Game Characters? The topic of this dissertation is the notion of game characters, their connection to other media, and how characters are communicated by games. Characters appear in all sorts of media and within a range of publications whether these are novels, films, television series, theater, etc. Each medium embodies characters in different ways so that there exists a variety of methods through which characters are presented to us. Even more so, within a single medium, different publications do not necessarily have to present a continuity between characters even if these characters appear to be the same ones. Specifically games provide us with an interesting challenge, as games embody characters in such a way that players can influence them and their development. In this presentation, I will present my current understanding of the notion of game characters, and their theoretical issues: how does a game entity transform into a character? How are game characters connected to their counterparts in other media and publications? Can we speak of the same character? Finally, how do games communicate characters?