History Main / CharacterCheck

A Character Check is when a character displays or makes reference to a personality trait that hasn't been brought up in the narrative for quite some time. Very common with {{Jerkass}} and/or antagonist characters who have since [[TookALevelInKindness taken a level in kindness]] or a turn for the comedic, this trope is often a quick affirmation that despite recent developments, what used to be a defining aspect of the character is still very much present, even if it doesn't come up in the story as often as it used to. Alternatively, if the check is themselves or someone else pointing out or realizing that they ''don't'' act that way anymore, it can serve as a declaration of how much a character has changed. It can also serve as a self-aware CallBack to [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the early days of a work]], when the writers were still trying to figure out the personalities of their creations.

* One of the biggest complaints of the series finale of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' is that [[spoiler:Barney returns to his womanizing ways from seasons 1-5 after he and Robin get divorced]].

* WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck has two very clear personalities: the Screwball CloudCuckooLander -- which is how he originally was during his debut and early years, followed by the {{Jerkass}} with a big case of SmallNameBigEgo and an intense greed streak. Nowadays, it is the latter personality -- the perpetual arrogant loser -- that takes center stage and has become the one most audiences are familiar with, thanks primarily to director Creator/ChuckJones making ample use of it. However, some productions that utilize this version of the character do attempt to merge the two personas, such as a more grounded trickster who is willing into "screwball mode" to gain an edge ala the Robert [=McKimson=] shorts or a snarky egotist with a thin grasp on reality as seen in ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow''.

** In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'', the usually kind and emphatic Sunset Shimmer also started out as the spin-off series' first BigBad. The character still has the HairTriggerTemper she boasted prior to reforming, occasionally being easily set-off and prone to throwing out volleys of insults and threats until calmed down.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Da Orks in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' have a gestalt psychic field that allows them to impose ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve onto the material universe, mostly for the purpose of making their ramshackle technology actually ''work''. Occasionally a writer would try to make an Ork pick up a tree branch that he thought looked like a gun, and start magically firing bullets with it. These days this doesn't happen so much, partly by clarifying that [[BookDumb Orks aren't quite that stupid]], and partly by establishing that most if not all Ork technology do work in human hands, they just work ''better'' in an Ork's hands.
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* ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'': Zenitsu Agatsuma became considerably more serious and focused at the end of the Hashira Training arc, having received a shocking letter regarding [[spoiler:the death of his master Jigoro Kuwaijama]]. Zenitsu remained focused all the way to his match against [[spoiler:Kaigaku, whose betrayal of the demon slayer corps was directly tied to Jigoro’s death]]. That event greatly developed Zenitsu into a fully-realized hero, but right after the narrative made sure to ground Zenitsu in his loud whining as he and his friends, move towards the next battle in an extremely tense and serious arc. As such, Zenitsu grows more brave and knows how to act serious during battles, but his core comedic antics outside battle remain firm.

* WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck has two very clear personalities: the Screwball CloudCuckooLander -- which is how he originally was during his debut and early years, followed by the {{Jerkass}} with a big case of SmallNameBigEgo and an intense greed streak.[[note]]Once in a while, there were also shorts where the two personalities are merged, most often by Robert [=McKimson=].[[/note]] Nowadays, it is the latter personality -- the perpetual arrogant loser -- that takes center stage and has become the one most audiences are familiar with, thanks primarily to director Creator/ChuckJones making ample use of it. However, some productions do attempt to merge the two personas, to varying degrees: ranging from occasionally slipping into "screwball mode" when it would give him something of an edge to being an snarky egotist with a thin grasp on reality (e.g. ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'').

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', Zenitsu Agatsuma becomes considerably more serious and focused at the end of the Hashira Training arc, after he received a letter that shocked his very core as it was the news of [[spoiler:Jigoro Kuwajima's death, his beloved master]]; Zenitsu remains focused all the way to his match against [[spoiler:Kaigaku, revealing the tragedy Jigoro's death was in direct association with Kaigaku's betrayal of the demon slayer corps by turning into a demon himself]]. That event greatly developed Zenitsu's character into a fully realized heroic demon slayer, but right after the narrative makes sure to place Zenitsu back into his more comedic loudness and whining for a little while as he, and his friends, move towards the next battle in an extremely tense and serious arc: the Infinity Castle; as such Zenitsu grows more brave and knows how to act serious during battles by then, but his core comedic antics outside battle have not been erased.

A Character Check is when a character displays or makes reference to a personality trait that hasn't been bought up in the narrative for quite some time. Very common with {{Jerkass}} and/or antagonist characters who have since TookALevelInKindness or a turn for the comedic, this trope is often a quick affirmation that despite recent developments, what used to be a defining aspect of the character is still very much present, even if it doesn't come up in the story as often as it used to. Alternatively, if the check is themselves or someone else pointing out or realizing that they ''don't'' act that way anymore, it can serve as a declaration of how much a character has changed. It can also serve as a self-aware CallBack to [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the early days of a work]], when the writers were still trying to figure out the personalities of their creations.

** The Fourth Doctor episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E4StateOfDecay State of Decay]]" does this for ''two'' neglected personalities of the Doctor. After several serials of the Doctor's characterisation being unusually dark, grumpy and [[TheChessmaster Chessmasterly]], "State of Decay" returns him to the witty and capricious mode he'd been in for the previous three seasons -- but the story itself is written with all the characteristic tropes of his ''first'' three seasons, being a GothicHorror {{Pastiche}} about weakened ancient godlike beings attempting to regain power. (Partial explanation: "State of Decay" was a recycled script. It was originally from the Gothic Fourth Doctor period that had been scotched at the time by ExecutiveMeddling and was later resubmitted; by that time the show's management had changed twice.)

** The TARDIS started out broken; completely unsteerable to the point where the Doctor can never leave a place and time that he's not completely done with, because he can never return. During the Fourth Doctor's tenure, he switched to using the "secondary control room", which allowed him to steer the TARDIS for the first time ([[FanWank onscreen, anyway]]), although due to his personality he often wouldn't and even installed a "Randomiser" to make control of it impossible again. The new series establishes right from the very beginning that the Doctor knows how to fly his TARDIS now, showing it capable of maneuvers stated to be completely impossible for most of the Classic Doctors (the earliest example being the Ninth Doctor's AndAnotherThing rematerialization in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E1Rose Rose]]"), but every so often a story will start with the Doctor mis-steering the TARDIS and ending up somewhere unwanted, such as "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E7TheIdiotsLantern "The Idiot's Lantern"]] ('50s Britain and not '50s America), [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E2ToothAndClaw "Tooth and Claw"]] (the Victorian era rather than the '70s), and completely [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]] in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E4AliensOfLondon "Aliens of London"]] (twelve months after Rose left instead of twelve hours). This is lampshaded during the Eleventh Doctor's tenure; the TARDIS briefly gains the ability to talk, and at one point the Doctor accuses her of never taking him where he wanted to go. She retorts that she always took him where he ''needed'' to go.

* ''ComicBook/XMen:'' The villain of the ''New X-Men'' arc "Planet X" was ''meant'' to be this; Magneto reverting back to his silver age CartoonishSupervillainy, since Grant Morrison disagreed with the NobleDemon characterization he'd received from the 1980s onwards. Fan reception was anything but positive, and soon enough in ''Excalibur'' Magneto appeared and was written as being confused when the storyline was brought up (with good reason - the story ends with "him" being decapitated, and yet there's Erik, head still attached to his neck). Later retcons suggest the "Magneto" the X-Men fought was someone else possessed or brainwashed, but it's never been fully clarified one way or another.

** Gwenpool herself has her first defeat when she goes up against [[Characters/{{AIM}} M.O.D.O.K.]], dismissing him as "that lame supervillain who looks like [[{{Cephalothorax}} a giant floating head]]." Unfortunately for her, whilst that's his MemeticLoser reception, the comics have always portrayed M.O.D.O.K. dead seriously as a super-smart sadist who is always CrazyPrepared for opponents, wields PsychicPowers with extremely destructive capabilities, and actively revels in killing and torture.