Really big character survey

[astro_girl]

Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is she heavyset, thin, short, rangy?

Zoran is fairly short (low four-foot range) and fairly typical in build for a young girl. She's probably going to end up tall if she's ever aged up, since even young she's especially leggy in a dancer or model sort of way.

2. How old is she?

Zoran's less than a year old, though psychosocially she's somewhere in the 8-12 range. It's great to be a robot!

3. Describe her posture. Does she carry herself well or does she slouch?

Zoran tends see-saw between great nervous energy and utter dejection and exhaustion. Most of the time she carries herself confidently and stands tall, though when sulking or intimidated she tends to curl up in a ball.

4. How is her health? Is she fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?

Zoran's a robot. No malfunctions reported, sir!

5. How does she move? Is she clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?

She's got that adolescent-cat sort of clumsiness where she trips on her feet sometimes when trying to do something too complicated or too quickly. Typically she's expansive and expressive in her movements, the better to get people to notice her, though when she wants to be sneaky she's capable of stealth.

6. How attractive is this character physically? How does she perceive herself in the mirror?

She's too cute for that. Zoran's got the sort of appeal most young children have.

7. Describe her complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?

Clear due to being made of specialized plastic.

8. Describe her hair: color, texture, style.

Zoran's "hair" is really molded armor. It's got a little bit of "give" to it-- about as much as the tip of a nose-- with metal underneath to hold the shape in place. Her hair is also black and shiny due to having been painted over with glossy paint rather than left the same matte color as the rest of her skin. It's probably the most obviously inhuman thing about her.

9. What color are her eyes?

A milk-chocolatey brown. Kind of doe-eyed.

10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?

She would insist that she has an invisible but obvious sign declaring her Astro's sister, since everyone seems to start conversations by asking some variant of "Aren't you Astro's sister?"

11. What are her chief tension centers?

Head/forehead due to frequent scowling and pouting. Shoulders when she's upset. Zoran doesn't tend to hang onto tension outside of certain emotional states.

12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does she have six of the same suit?

Her favorite outfit is a pink ballerina-like set reminiscent of Dee Dee from Dexter's Lab (probably not unintentional character design there, either). Zoran tends toward utilitarian-but-cute clothes in general and favors pastels, primarily pinks, yellows, and oranges. While the ballerina clothes are the ones she's most frequently seen in during canon, she does have alternate outfits and will change to suit her upcoming adventures.

13. Do her clothes fit well? Does she seem comfortable in them?

Zoran's a bit of a clothes-hound and makes sure she looks too cute in everything.

14. Does she dress the same on the job as she does in her free time? If not, what are the differences?

It's implied that Zoran attends school, and she seems to wear nicer school clothes and changes when she's off.

15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?

Whatever scarily pink and cute underoos are in style. Fear when Zoran decides she needs to start wearing training bras to catch up with the other girls.


Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?

Child's register at the moment, though she'll probably settle into a more alto voice if she's ever aged up (it's kind of a lower-end soprano right now). Squeaks when she get over-excited or upset.

2. How does she normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does she talk easily, or does she hesitate?

Fast, stream-of-consciousness speaking. Next to no brain-mouth filter. And often as loudly as possible, louder if she's worked up.

3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?

The more worked up she is, the faster she speaks. As above, her voice tends to break into squeaks on certain syllables, and this is more pronounced the more worked up she is.

4. What language/s does she speak, and with how much fluency?

Being a robot, probably most of them to a relatively fluent degree. Definitely English and Japanese.

5. Does she switch languages or dialects in certain situations?

No-- she'll speak in whatever's appropriate.

6. Is she a good impromptu speaker, or does she have to think about her words?

Zoran? Think before speaking?

7. Is she eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?

She's somewhere in the middle, leaning towards inarticulate just because when there's something important to say she's often desperate to hang on to someone's attention long enough to say it. This will probably change through maturity.


Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is she book-smart or street-smart?

She's quite clever, partially because of having an eidetic memory and partially because she's such a trouble-maker. Being young, she's a bit naive and hasn't quite settled into being book/street smart per se yet.

2. Does she think on her feet, or does she need time to deliberate?

Definitely thinks on her feet. Too impatient to deliberate most of the time.

3. Describe the character's thought process. Is she more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?

Intuitive and idealistic, somewhat like her brother in that regard. Zoran's slowly growing in logical skills due to her desire to become a detective.

4. What kind of education has the character had?

Aside from downloaded basic skills, Zoran's lodged in fourth grade. She's been secretly studying up on skills she thinks a detective should have, which involves reading a lot of Sherlock Holmes and books on being a police officer and crime scene investigation.

5. What are her areas of expertise? What, if anything, is she interested in learning more about?

SOLVING CRIMES OMG! Zoran also likes art, science, and history and is crazy to get involved in some kind of sports or other physical activity, though this is partially because she's jealous of Astro's involvement on the rocketball team.

6. Is she an introvert or an extrovert?

Extrovert, though she's not necessarily fond of people.

7. Describe the character's temperament. Is she even-tempered or does she have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?

Mood-swingy with a fast temper, though how much of this is related to her deep-seated need for attention is anyone's guess. Generally cheerful, though prone to fits of rather black melancholy. Driven and stubborn and willing to throw herself at things again and again to get what she wants-- getting her to change her mind is often the only way to get her off a course of action.

8. How does she respond to new people or situations? Is she suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?

Enthusiastic is an understatement. She tends to be a little shy or suspicious around non-robots if only because that's led to her getting attacked and kidnapped before. Tends to freeze in dangerous situations and scream for her brother.

9. Is she more likely to act, or to react?

Mostly reactive, though this is partially due to her age.

10. Which is her default: fight or flight?

Flight/scream, depending. Her tolerance for holding ground is slowly improving.

11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does she appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?

Zoran loves jokes and pranks but lacks the subtlety needed to appreciate some other forms of humor. Bathroom humor is more gross than funny. Loves physical comedy.

12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does she deal with them?

Robots don't get mental disorders.

13. What moments in this character's life have defined her as a person?

Zoran has been primarily defined in terms of her brother, Astro, and struggles to break free of that and be her own person. Still, there have been a few watershed moments for her. Pluto's death affected her profoundly even if she didn't (still doesn't) say much about it. Meeting Wally and getting to work as his assistant gave her confidence to move forward on her own.

14. What does she fear?

Being ignored. Being left behind. Being useless. People trying to force her into a sad fate like Pluto's. Getting killed by people who hate her for no reason.

15. What are her hopes or aspirations?

Being a DETECTIVE!!!11!!!one!! Reaching a point where she's known as Zoran instead of Astro's Little Sister. Maybe even finding True Love, though that last one's a bit more out of loyalty to fairytales.

16. What is something she doesn't want anyone to find out about her?

She's afraid of people mocking her for her fears and dreams. She'd also hate for anyone to find out how serious she is about some of them, for fear of being told that's not what a lady does.

Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with her parents.

Zoran likes Dr. O'Shay. Really. He's like a bit teddybear. She kind of respects him, but he's gone a lot of the time. Nora has been something like Zoran's mom since the beginning, and even though it's fun to drive Nora up a wall, she loves Nora and likes to try and make her happy.

2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?

You could write a book about Zoran and her older brother Astro. She loves him dearly but at the same time she hates him a little bit because he casts such a big shadow on her life-- she's too young to be able to articulate that last bit, but she feels it. Still, Zoran would walk through fire to save her brother if she had to, and knows he'd do the same for her.

3. Are there other blood relatives to whom she is close? Are there ones she can't stand?

Zoran's kind-of related to Dr. Tenma through Astro. He's creepy. She'd kind of like to punch him for making their lives so hard and thinks he's stupid for not getting the fact that Astro doesn't like him.

4. Are there other, unrelated people whom she considers part of her family? What are her relationships with them?

Yuko, Dr. O'Shay's assistant, is kind of like an aunt/nanny. Her uncle, Wally, is kind of like a crazy uncle/sensei.

5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?

Zoran's friends are primarily animals, a source of much angst. She also pals around with Astro's friends at times. Her best friend is probably Wally, even though he's more like family. They met when she was trying to investigate a ghost reported in some transit tunnels and she scared Wally silly.

6. Does she have other close friends?

The next closest is probably Houdini, a bird she rescued not long after she was activated. Since Zoran can communicate with animals, it's not too weird.

7. Does she make friends easily, or does she have trouble getting along with people?

Zoran's very friendly and outgoing, though her volatile nature often drives people away over the long-term. Most of her classmates won't have much to do with her between her temper and the fact she's a robot-- she's not as forgiving of people's ignorance.

8. Which does she consider more important: family or friends?

Both at this point since she has precious few of either.

9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has she been married more than once?

Little kid. Single. Duh.

10. Is she currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?

Nope. See above.

11. Who was her first crush? Who is her latest?

Pluto was her first and so far only crush. She's kind of off romance because of what happened to him.

12. What does she look for in a romantic partner?

Apparently the ability to beat the snot out of people, make flower crowns, and listen to her.

13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does she relate to them? If no, does she want any?

Uh, no.

14. Does she have any rivals or enemies?

See weird sibling rivalry with Astro.

15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does she fall on the Kinsey scale?

Uh, little kid. And robot, which would also probably short-circuit the Kinsey scale since there's no biological drives to interfere with relationship formation.

16. How does she feel about sex? How important is it to her?

Too much kissy-face is icky and gross. And it's probably the reason why adults are stupid.

17. What are her turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?

Little kid, dudes. :|

Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does she fit type?

Zoran's sign is not mentioned in canon. Personality-type wise, she'd probably clock in as a late Leo, with a current emphasis on some of the less-desirable personality traits. (I'd say a water sign due to her prickly nature, but honestly all that attention-grabbing is classic Leo)

2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in her life?

She has a vague sort of idea about there being some kind of higher power out there, but isn't really too invested in religious belief. If anything, she finds spiritual meaning in nature.

3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?

Not particularly. She has a vague idea that detectives should have one, but hasn't tried to formulate one yet.

4. How does she regard beliefs that differ from hers? Is she tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?

Mostly curious. Other people are weird.

5. What prejudices does she hold? Are they irrational or does she have a good reason for them?

Zoran doesn't like humans in general much. Detective Tawashi is always accusing Astro and Dr. O'Shay of things, her classmates made fun of her and now they won't have much to do with her, and she's been attacked by anti-robot humans a bunch of times. Sometimes individuals can get an OK (Astro's friends are pretty cool) but she's not likely to trust humans right away.

Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is she rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?

Usually poor due to often cheerfully blowing her allowance on shopping sprees.

2. What is her social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected her?

Right now she's somewhere in a gray zone between minor child and valuable property due to the weird legal situation robots exist in and her unique traits. Either way she doesn't like it.

3. Where does she live? House, apartment, trailer? Is her home her castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does she share it with others?

She lives at home with Dr. O'Shay in a quiet part of the city. Nora does most of the house-work but makes Zoran help, especially in keeping her room neat. This is a travesty, of course.

4. Besides the basic necessities, what does she spend her money on?

Clothes, books, stuffed animals, art supplies.

5. What does she do for a living? Is she good at it? Does she enjoy it, or would she rather be doing something else?

Zoran is currently a fourth-grader. She's good in school, though not too enamored with school in general, and she hates math. She'd rather be doing DETECTIVE TRAINING!!

6. What are her interests or hobbies? How does she spend her free time?

Shopping, playing in the woods with her animal friends, bothering Astro and his friends, reading on the down-low.

7. What are her eating habits? Does she skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?

Zoran's addicted to junk food and has made it a personal goal to try every sweet known to man. She also loves attempting to cook. Being a robot, she needs to take in energy capsules on a regular basis as well, and will often use that as an excuse to avoid anything icky. (Canon is literally all over the place on this, with whether or not she eats changing from episode to episode!)

Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is her favorite:

1. Color? pink/yellow
2. Smell? wildflowers
3. Time of day? afternoon or the middle of the night on a full moon
4. Season? summer, especially late summer
5. Book? Harriet the Spy
6. Music? Half of the Katamari Damacy soundtracks
7. Place? the forest, anywhere out of the way
8. Substance? chili chocolate-- the stuff with real chilis in it
9. Plant? any flowering weed, especially dandilions
10. Animal? bird


END
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