Personality weaknesses: 100 character weaknesses and their strengths

Personality weaknesses are habits of thought and behavior that make someone worse at something that matters: trusting too easily, avoiding conflict, needing to be right, refusing help. Most are a strength in the wrong amount, at the wrong time or aimed at the wrong person. This page is the lookup for those pairings: each of the 100 below names the weakness, then the behavior it can cause on the page, then the upside, the strength it grows from.

The groups borrow their structure from the Big Five, or five-factor model, which describes personality on five broad dimensions: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. Each dimension is a scale with two ends, and some versions score the last one from the other end, as emotional stability. The model doesn't call either end good or bad. The pairings below are this page's, written for fiction, where either end of a scale can be a gift with its own costs: a character can be too trusting or too suspicious, too disciplined or not disciplined enough.

Openness: dreamers and traditionalists

Openness to experience describes curiosity, imagination and an appetite for new ideas. The dreamer and the traditionalist each have a gift, and each gift has a cost.

Weaknesses of curious, imaginative characters

1. Starts more than they finish: four half-restored radios on the workbench, and a fifth bought at Sunday's swap meet. Upside: curiosity.
2. Bored once things work: asks to come off the account the week it starts running smoothly. Upside: a love of novelty.
3. Lives in their head: wins the whole argument with the landlord on the walk over and arrives with nothing left to say. Upside: imagination.
4. Impractical: plans the community garden down to the bee hotels and forgets to ask who owns the lot. Upside: idealism.
5. Can't pick a side: sees every side of the custody fight so clearly that his sister never learns which one he's on. Upside: open-mindedness.
6. Restless: is reading about the next trip on the flight home from this one. Upside: a taste for adventure.
7. Contrarian: argues the other side at dinner, even when it's the side she thinks is wrong. Upside: originality.
8. Overcomplicates: turns a question about the parking rota into a theory of fairness. Upside: a love of ideas.
9. Fussy about beauty: rehangs the pictures in a friend's flat while the friend is making tea. Upside: an eye for beauty.
10. Romanticizes: falls for the town, the job and the landlord's son in the first week, and is disappointed by all three by Christmas. Upside: a sense of wonder.

Weaknesses of practical, traditional characters

11. Set in their ways: still does the shop's accounts by hand and checks the accountant's spreadsheet in pencil. Upside: respect for tradition.
12. Distrusts new ideas: turns down the irrigation scheme because his father farmed without one. Upside: practicality.
13. Takes everything literally: hears “we should get together sometime” as an invitation and turns up on Saturday with a casserole. Upside: plain dealing.
14. Uneasy with feelings: answers his son's long message about the breakup with “Tough. You'll be fine. Need anything from the hardware store?” Upside: stoicism.
15. Narrow horizons: has never been past the county line and takes the evening news's word for what the city is like. Upside: rootedness.
16. Slow to adapt: has dressed the shop window the same way every Christmas since 1987, and the street stopped looking years ago. Upside: consistency.
17. Wary of newcomers: waits until the new family has lasted a winter before lending them a ladder. Upside: loyalty to their own.
18. Can't imagine the unlikely: rules out the vicar as a suspect because vicars don't do that sort of thing. Upside: common sense.
19. Dismisses art and play: calls her son's drawing “very nice” and asks if his homework is done. Upside: seriousness.
20. Clings to the familiar: turns down the year abroad because she'd miss the Thursday quiz at the Red Lion. Upside: contentment.

Conscientiousness: planners and improvisers

Conscientiousness describes organization, diligence and self-discipline. Planners are the people everyone relies on; improvisers are the ones who rescue the evening when the plan falls apart.

Weaknesses of disciplined, careful characters

21. Perfectionist: rebakes the top tier of the wedding cake at 3 a.m. because it leans a quarter inch. Upside: high standards.
22. Can't hand anything off: trains the new assistant for a month and still picks up the phone on the first ring. Upside: reliability.
23. Married to the plan: walks the family past a street festival because lunch is booked across town for one o'clock. Upside: organization.
24. Workaholic: brings the laptop to the beach and calls it “only answering the urgent ones.” Upside: dedication.
25. Judges other people's mess: can't hear about a friend's overdraft without explaining her envelope budget. Upside: self-discipline.
26. Can't switch off: spends the first two days of every vacation unpacking and planning the other five. Upside: diligence.
27. Overprepares: brings forty slides to a ten-minute pitch and never reaches the price. Upside: thoroughness.
28. Scrupulous to a fault: reports a twelve-dollar billing error in the company's favor and holds up the audit for a week. Upside: integrity.
29. Self-punishing: makes one mistake on the rota and works every shift that weekend to make up for it. Upside: responsibility.
30. Rule-bound: waits for the walk signal on an empty street at 2 a.m., in the rain, while his date crosses. Upside: a sense of order.

Weaknesses of easygoing, spontaneous characters

31. Procrastinates: files the tax return at 11:52 p.m. from a hotel lobby computer. Upside: a relaxed outlook.
32. Loses track: double-books Saturday and solves it by going to both, an hour late to each. Upside: flexibility.
33. Forgets promises: says he'll call back in five minutes and remembers on Thursday. Upside: living in the moment.
34. Spends on impulse: buys a round for the whole bar the night she gets the job, before the first paycheck. Upside: a love of celebration.
35. Wings it: improvises the best man's speech and gets the bride's name right on the second try. Upside: quick wits.
36. Treats time as a suggestion: arrives at the airport “with plenty of time” and runs for the gate carrying her shoes. Upside: ease.
37. Skips the boring parts: plans the road trip for weeks and never books a single motel. Upside: vision.
38. Careless with things: lends his car to anyone who asks and finds it at the airport with an empty tank and a parking ticket. Upside: openhandedness.
39. Lets things slide: ignores the drip under the sink until the downstairs neighbor's ceiling comes through. Upside: tolerance.
40. Takes the better offer: leaves a friend's birthday at nine for a party he heard about in the bathroom line. Upside: spontaneity.

Extraversion: talkers and listeners

Extraversion describes sociability, assertiveness and energy. The talker fills a room; the listener notices what the room missed.

Weaknesses of outgoing, energetic characters

41. Talks over people: finishes the shy intern's sentence, wrongly, and keeps going. Upside: enthusiasm.
42. Needs an audience: tells the story of being mugged better each time, and by the fifth telling there were three of them. Upside: a gift for stories.
43. Overpromises: tells the client “Friday, easily” before asking the team. Upside: confidence.
44. Can't be alone: calls three friends from the car rather than drive home in silence. Upside: sociability.
45. Takes over the room: turns the book club into a lecture on the book he liked better. Upside: charisma.
46. Acts before thinking: agrees to the bet before hearing what it is. Upside: boldness.
47. Steamrolls quieter people: runs the family meeting so efficiently that nobody mentions the thing they came to say. Upside: leadership.
48. Can't sit still: starts a new renovation the month the last one is finished. Upside: energy.
49. Hides behind jokes: keeps the funeral lunch laughing and slips out before anyone can ask how she is. Upside: humor.
50. Many friends, few close ones: has three hundred people at his birthday and nobody to drive him to the operation. Upside: popularity.

Weaknesses of quiet, reserved characters

51. Speaks up too late: writes the perfect reply to the insult and sends it the following Tuesday. Upside: thoughtfulness.
52. Hard to read: smiles the same way at good news and bad, so nobody knows which kind to bring her. Upside: self-containment.
53. Avoids new people: skips the welcome dinner, and by the third night of the conference the groups have formed without her. Upside: a preference for depth.
54. Keeps worries to himself: knows the business is in trouble and lets his partner hear it from the bank. Upside: self-sufficiency.
55. Undersells herself: calls the novel she spent six years on “just a little thing about my grandmother.” Upside: modesty.
56. Disappears under stress: turns off her phone when things go wrong, which is exactly when people try to call. Upside: independence.
57. Lets others decide: goes along with the restaurant, the vacation and, eventually, the wedding date. Upside: adaptability.
58. Watches instead of joining: spends the party in the kitchen doorway and remembers every detail of a night she wasn't part of. Upside: an observant eye.
59. Seems cold: says “well done” so quietly that his daughter thinks he missed the prize. Upside: reserve.
60. Shuns the spotlight: turns down the award to avoid the speech, and the funder gives next year's grant to someone who'll make one. Upside: discretion.

Agreeableness: peacemakers and skeptics

Agreeableness describes compassion, trust in others and willingness to cooperate. Peacemakers hold families together; skeptics are the ones who ask the question nobody else will.

Weaknesses of kind, trusting characters

61. Trusts too easily: pays the contractor in full up front because he had such a kind face. Upside: good faith.
62. Can't say no: “Of course I can,” she says, and adds a fourth thing to a week that had room for two. Upside: helpfulness.
63. Avoids conflict: agrees with both sisters, separately, and is found out at the funeral. Upside: tact.
64. Needs to be liked: laughs at the boss's joke about her own department. Upside: warmth.
65. Loyal past reason: goes on defending his oldest friend to the police after the friend has confessed. Upside: loyalty.
66. Forgives too fast: takes back the business partner who emptied the account, because he cried. Upside: forgiveness.
67. Puts herself last: has bought birthday presents for the whole family and can't remember her own last new coat. Upside: generosity.
68. Soaks up other people's moods: reads her mother's face in the kitchen doorway and has a headache by dinner. Upside: empathy.
69. Enables: pays her brother's rent “for the last time” for the fourth year running. Upside: compassion.
70. Gives credit away: thanks the team for the design she drew alone on a Sunday. Upside: humility.

Weaknesses of blunt, independent characters

71. Too blunt: tells the new hire her draft is “fine, apart from the argument.” Upside: candor.
72. Suspicious: runs a background check on her daughter's fiancé before she has met him. Upside: skepticism.
73. Competes with friends: has kept score of every family Scrabble game since 2009. Upside: a drive to win.
74. Won't ask for help: spends a Saturday alone on the roof rather than call his son, who's a roofer. Upside: self-reliance.
75. Holds grudges: still won't buy from the bakery that shortchanged her in 2011. Upside: self-respect.
76. Argues to win: proves he was right about the will, in writing, and his sister stops returning his calls. Upside: conviction.
77. Cuts people off: drops the friend who had one bad year. Upside: clear judgment.
78. Brushes off feelings: tells the crying trainee to take five minutes and “come back a professional.” Upside: toughness.
79. Demands too much: hands back the intern's summary with “Again” written on it, three times. Upside: rigor.
80. Contempt for weakness: survived worse at nineteen and can't see why his son finds college hard. Upside: hardiness.

Neuroticism: worriers and steady hands

Neuroticism describes how strongly someone tends to feel worry, irritability and low moods; its low end is emotional stability. The worrier sees trouble coming; the steady hand stays calm when it arrives.

Weaknesses of sensitive, watchful characters

81. Rehearses the worst: has planned the route to the hospital before the receptionist finishes saying “just routine.” Upside: foresight.
82. Takes things personally: spends the evening decoding why her editor signed off “Best” instead of “Warmly.” Upside: sensitivity.
83. Needs reassurance: texts “we're good, right?” the morning after every argument, including the ones about parking. Upside: attachment.
84. Mood swings: is the best company at the table until one remark lands wrong, and then the evening is over for everyone. Upside: depth of feeling.
85. Catastrophizes: a late reply from her son becomes, by the third hour, a car accident. Upside: vigilance.
86. Jealous: counts how many times her best friend mentions the new colleague at lunch. Upside: devotion.
87. Grades herself harshly: scores her own toast out of ten on the drive home and gives it a four. Upside: self-awareness.
88. Easily overwhelmed: leaves the wedding before the speeches because the music, the lights and the cousins all arrived at once. Upside: acute senses.
89. Reopens old wounds: brings up the forgotten birthday in every fight, because it still hurts. Upside: emotional honesty.
90. Freezes when it counts: stands in the kitchen doorway with the fire blanket still in its packet. Upside: caution.

Weaknesses of calm, unshakable characters

91. Under-reacts: finishes the crossword after the first tremor. Upside: composure.
92. Seems not to care: stays so level through the divorce that the children decide she wanted it. Upside: steadiness.
93. Complacent: hasn't updated the will since the second child was born, and there are four. Upside: security.
94. Impatient with worriers: tells his wife the flight will be fine and reads the paper through takeoff while she grips the armrest. Upside: resilience.
95. Shrugs off danger: swims past the red flag because the water looks calm. Upside: fearlessness.
96. Overconfident: skips the dress rehearsal because opening night will “take care of itself.” Upside: self-assurance.
97. Waits too long: gives the new hire a fourth chance, and the client leaves first. Upside: patience.
98. Won't look inward: asked how he feels about his father's death, describes the funeral arrangements. Upside: equanimity.
99. Stays out of it: keeps so far out of the family feud that both sides think she's taken the other's. Upside: an even temper.
100. Assumes it will work out: spends the deposit on the trip because the bonus is “basically confirmed.” Upside: optimism.

Weakness, negative trait or flaw?

The three words overlap, and writers use them loosely. The difference is the job each one does in a story.

Weaknesses are what make a good character human. Most sympathetic protagonists have several weaknesses and one main flaw. For the full spread of positive, negative and neutral qualities, see the character traits list.

Weaknesses in classic novels

Jane Austen gives one of fiction's best definitions of a personality weakness to Mr. Darcy, in Chapter 11 of Pride and Prejudice (1813). Elizabeth Bennet has been teasing him about his faults.

Both are right, and both weaknesses are shadows of strengths. The unbending judgment that makes Darcy's good opinion worth having makes his bad opinion permanent. The quickness that makes Elizabeth good company makes her read people fast, and in Wickham's case wrong. The novel tests both weaknesses and keeps both strengths.

Austen is exact about the cost. In Chapter 42, Elizabeth, who has “never been blind to the impropriety of her father's behaviour as a husband,” thinks of his “talents which, rightly used, might at least have preserved the respectability of his daughters.” His calm is real, and so is the damage it does.

Choose a pairing from the list

1. Start from the strength readers will like

   Decide what the character is good at and find that strength in the Upside notes above. The weaknesses that grow from it are the ones most likely to feel earned.

2. Pick one weakness to show, not five

   One clear weakness, shown more than once, is remembered. Five shown once each blur into a personality test. Write the pair into the character profile template, which has lines for a strength and a flaw under Personality.

3. Decide how far the story leans on it

   If the cost rises until it threatens what the character wants most, the weakness has become the flaw, and the character flaws list covers that job. If it stays small, it's texture, and texture is fine.

Once a few chapters are drafted, ask the Strokes Assistant to find the scene where the strength helps and the scene where its weakness costs something. If it finds only one of the two, reread that chapter: the pairing may not be on the page yet.

Mistakes to avoid

• The weakness that's really a compliment. “Works too hard” only counts if it costs something the reader can see.
• A weakness with no source. If nothing in the character explains it, it reads as the plot's convenience. The character development questions can help you find one.
• The same weakness across the cast. If everyone avoids conflict, nothing happens. Give a foil the opposite end of the scale.

Practice: find the strength

Each weakness below belongs to an original character. Cover the last two columns, name the strength behind each weakness and one scene where that strength would save the day, then check.