higgsfield-character-design

# Higgsfield Character Design — Story Bible

The rest of this skill library answers *"how do I prompt this?"* This skill answers the question upstream of it: *"what am I prompting, and why this and not generic AI slop?"* It is the pre-production layer — premise, world, character, story, and a locked visual style — that you build **before** writing a single generation prompt, then hand off to `higgsfield-prompt` and the model guides.

> **Attribution.** The framework, worksheet structure, and the "world first" method are adapted from Higgsfield's official *Character Design* materials by **@vavavinca**. We reuse the *schemas and method*; all examples here are original. Credit Vinca when sharing.

## QUICK FACTS
*Routing aids — read the linked sections for the actual method.*
- **World first, always.** Lock the world before you cast a character; the world is the gravity that shapes who they have to become [→](#the-method-world-first)
- Six steps, each locks an output you do not revisit: Premise → World → Character → Story Spine → Style Sheet → hand-off [→](#the-method-world-first)
- The flagship artifact is the **9-Question Character Sheet** — thematic role, external/internal goal, psychological/moral need, wound, spark, silhouette, contradiction [→](#step-3-character-9-questions-the-web)
- The strongest anti-slop tool is the **Forbidden List** in the Style Sheet — naming what the world is NOT is often more useful than the palette [→](#step-5-style-sheet-visual-dna-forbidden-list)
- Specificity beats adjectives: if *any* character could say it, it's a stereotype; keep asking **"why?"** until the answer surprises you [→](#anti-generic-drills)
- Fillable worksheets live in `../../templates/character-design/` — hand them to the user or fill them together [→](#templates)
- Construction laws for the sheet as an artifact: **plain grey background** · creature sheets get **two close-ups (mouth open + closed)** · the **face-lock crop** · a **size-ref frame** for scale between two subjects [FIELD] [→](#sheet-construction-laws)
- Once the character **looks** right, don't jump to scenes — run a **screen test**: casting read → role options → playable lines → voice triggers → one audition prompt [EMPIRICAL] [→](#screen-test-audition)
- This skill produces inputs; it does **not** generate. Hand the locked Visual DNA + character sheet to `higgsfield-prompt` [→](#step-6-hand-off-to-generation)

---

## The method: world first

A world is **a system of constraints**. Decide what the world will not let a character do, and you have decided who they have to become. So the order is not negotiable — each step locks an output the later steps depend on, and you don't loop back to relitigate it:

```
1. PREMISE      one arguable sentence, no characters yet
2. WORLD        six dimensions, filled before anyone is cast
3. CHARACTER    9 questions + a relationship web
4. STORY SPINE  10–20 beats, "therefore / but", never "and then"
5. STYLE SHEET  palette + lighting + materials + a FORBIDDEN list (the Visual DNA)
6. HAND OFF     feed the locked sheets into higgsfield-prompt + a model
```

The failure mode this prevents is the common one: open Higgsfield → generate a cool image → realize there's no story or consistency → quit. Build the bible first; the image is the *receipt*, not the recipe.

If the user arrives mid-stream ("I already have a character"), don't force them back to step 1 — locate where they are, check the upstream outputs exist (a character with no world is the usual gap), and fill the missing layer.

---

## Step 1 — Premise

One sentence, **no character names**. It states an arguable claim about people or the world, not a plot. Four fields, then a pressure test (worksheet: `../../templates/character-design/premise.md`).

1. **Theme statement** — a claim, not a logline. *"Belonging is something you build, not something you're owed."*
2. **What it argues** — the testable belief. *"People who wait to be chosen stay invisible."*
3. **The counter-argument** — the opposing truth the story must honor, *or the theme is propaganda.* *"Some people are kept out no matter what they build."*
4. **Emotional promise** — one word + one line. *"Defiance — the thrill of a door forced open."*

**Pressure test (all five):** compresses to ONE sentence (no "and", no semicolon) · contains NO character names · is arguable · has a real counter-argument · names a feeling, not just an event.

---

## Step 2 — World Sheet (six dimensions)

Fill **all six** before casting anyone (worksheet: `../../templates/character-design/world-sheet.md`). Each answer must be specific and must not change when characters arrive.

| Dimension | The question it answers | Original example |
|-----------|-------------------------|------------------|
| **Physical** | Look, sound, smell, climate, geography, architecture | "A tide-city built on stilts; the streets flood twice a day and everyone owns a boat before they own shoes." |
| **Social** | Who has power, how it passes | "Status is measured in dry land. The few who own ground above the tideline never have to row." |
| **Economic** | Currency, what's scarce, what people kill for | "Fresh water is the real currency; salt ruins everything, so sealed jars are inheritance." |
| **Ideological** | What's sacred, shameful, unspoken | "Drowning is shameful — it means you didn't read the water. Nobody says a drowned name aloud." |
| **Historical** | What everyone remembers or has forgotten | "The Great Surge took the old capital a century ago; half the city pretends it's coming back." |
| **Sensory** | The daily textures the body knows | "Rope-burned palms, the green smell of low tide, lantern oil, the constant give of a floor that moves." |

**Done check:** read it aloud — does it sound like *one* world (no contradictions)? Is every answer specific? Will it stay true once characters walk in? Lock it. See also [Hard vs soft worldbuilding](#hard-vs-soft-worldbuilding) for how knowable the rules should be.

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