Character Bio: Domenic

Mini-Bio exercise from Characters, Emotions and Viewpoint by Nancy Kress

Character Name: Domenic Dana

1) Age: 25


2) Birthplace: military camp, eastern part of the Realm


3) Marital Status: Single


4) Children and ages: nonw


5) Living arrangements (i.e. lives with wife and three young children, rents a ramshackle apartment alone, has a tent in nomadic tribe with three concubines):

Old but well maintained tent in a military encampment – currently, Camp Amphibian

6) Occupation, including name of employer if applicable:

Commander in the Crown’s Military. Career officer.


7) Degree of skill at occupation (beginner, really competent, experienced but a bumbler, etc)

Very competent leader and organizer. Competent swordsman, but not unusually so.

8) Characters feeling about his occupation (loves it, hates it, regards it as “just a job”, has mixed feelings, is actively seeking other employment, etc)

Loves it and lives it. He’s worked very hard to be where he is.

9) Family background (whatever you think is important: ethnicity, siblings, parents, social status, clan affiliation, total repugnance toward everybody he knew before the age of twelve, etc)

Born to a drunkard soldier and a laundress, who are now mooching off Domenic’s uncle (father’s brother) on a small farm. Domenic scorns his father’s dunked incompetence and his father scorns Domenic’s officer status.

10) What three of four things does this person value most in life? (i.e. Success, money, family, God, love, integrity, power, peace and quiet)

1. His job and rank
2. Respect of his superiors
3. Obedience of his subordinates
4. Being competent

WHY?

Dom is the first in his family to make something of himself, and everything he has he’s earned by himself. His father, an incompetent drunkard of a soldier, didn’t allow Dom to apply to the Academy (where elite officers “Servants of the Crown” are trained from childhood), but Dom climbed the ranks out in the field. He’s given so much to attain his current rank and position, that he defines himself by it. Having no money or family connections, he rose through the ranks through hard work and competence alone.

11) What three things does he fear most?

1. A “glass ceiling” (he is a “field officer” not a Servant of the Crown, and he fears that may eventually prevent his advancement)
2. Becoming a drunkard like his dad (his father disgusts him. Dom does not drink at all)
3. Death (A reality for a soldier… he’s embarrassed about the fear.)

12) What is this person's basic underlying attitude about life? (i.e. "things will usually turn out all right," or "they're all out for themselves," or "it's best to expect nothing because then you won't be disappointed," etc.)

“You must work for what you want.”

Why? Because he did. This makes him uneasy around people who got advantages, such as Servants.

13) What does she need to know about another person in order to accept that other as "all right" and trustworthy?

He needs to see their competence in their job, their “honest” hard work, and their adherence to military life. Anyone who’s breaking rules is suspect as well as anyone with special advantages.

Why? He’s judging people by the only measure he knows.

14)What would cause this person more pain than anything else possible?

be publicly humiliated and stripped of his rank for doing something wrong (something that Dom would agree is incompetent)

Why? Because it would make him a loser like his father and cost him what he’s spent a life building.

15) What would this person consider the most wonderful thing that could ever happen to him?

To have his parents and family acknowledge his success and be proud of him

Why? Dom has done everything in his power to succeed, but there is still something that’s bugging him that he can’t quite put his finger on. He is exactly where he wants to be, yet he still does not fill “fulfilled”.

16)What three words would she use to describe herself, accurate or not?

1. Hard working
2. Squared away
3. Clean-cut

17) How accurate is his self-description?

Accurate

18) What organization most embodies this person's values? (i.e. Mensa, Daughters of the American Revolution her church, Aryan Pride, PTA, etc)

The military

19) Does he belong to this group? Yes / No. If not, why not?

yes