Sometimes the guy with the PhD can’t figure out how to start a lawnmower… Intelligence is a funny thing.
How does your character tick? These menus will help you with a range of possibilities to shape your character’s choices, wise or otherwise.
Intellectual Traits Menu
- brilliant, intelligent, high IQ,
- wise, sagely, profound,
- insightful, intuitive, incisive
- idiotic, doltish, moronic,
- bone-headed, stupid, thick, dumb as a post,
- motivated, has initiative
- recalcitrant
- accredited
- dopey, dull, slow, lacking, obtuse, thick, dim,
- tricky, sly, sneaky,
- satirical, comical, ridiculous, absurd, twisted,
- explicable
- doctrinaire, indoctrinated, cultish, imposing, rigid, firm, unyeilding, dogmatic, inflexible, zealous, fanatical,
- intolerant, bigoted, single-minded, blinded, uncompromising
- impressionable, naive,
- silly, goofy, off-the-wall, foollish
- comical, comedic, humorous,
- argumentative, inconsiderate
- persistent
- impressive
- able
- unable
- lucid, clear, understandable
- insane, mad, crazy, crazed, maddened,
- independent
- manipulative
- accomplished, skilled, trained, schooled
- abstracted
- eager
- pedantic
- abstruse
- careful
- preoccupied
- absurd, ludicrous
- logical
- illogical
- perfectionistic, thorough,
- absent minded, aloof, disconnected,
- precise, exact, measured, concise, direct, bold, accurate,
- ignorant, blind, unknowing, unknowledgeable, unaware,
- incongruous
- philosophical, scholastic, theoretical, scholarly, pedagogic, pedantic,
- abstract, obscure, vague, sketchy, unclear,
- inattentive, unperceptive,
- well-trained, capable, able,
- dense, stupid, imbecilic,
- judicious, critical, judgmental, skeptical,
- witty
- abstruse
- simple, simple-minded, simpleton,
- well-educated, uneducated, highly educated, publicly educated, privately educated,
- impotent
- luminous, grand, big thinker,
- thoughtful
- prudent,
- resourceful, creative, ingenious
- genius,
- omnipotent, mind reader, psychic, all-seeing, all-knowing, can read others’ thoughts, seer, oracle
- inspired,
- smart, bright, quick, fast thinking,
- foolish,
- alert, perceptive, quick, intuitive,
- quick-witted, sharp,
- cutting, biting, sarcastic, ironic
- stimulating, interesting, compelling, charismatic,
- intellectual, academic, knowledgeable, scholarly, professorial,
- simple-minded
- single-minded, focused, knows what they want,
- lights are on but nobody’s home; not the sharpest tack in the box; one rung short of a ladder;
Types of Intelligence Menu
Intellect is as varied as snowflakes. Be sure to give your characters’ minds some layers … there is no end to the “types” of intelligence you could play with:
- creativity, art, inventiveness, ingenuity, craftiness,
- knowledge, book smarts, learning, professional,
- wisdom, application, intuition, feel,
- spatial, dimensional, directional, temporal
- orientation, representation
- athletic, combat,
- numeric, mathematical, sequential,
- business, financial,
- literary, linguistic,
- mechanical,
- natural, environmental,
- introspective, internal, psychological
- interpersonal,
- metaphysical, magical, spiritual
Notes on Intellectual Traits
- There is a difference between intelligence and wisdom. There are many “smart” people who are not very wise. Big brains don’t always make good decisions; likewise, those with less “book smarts” may have great intuition.
- High intellect can be charismatic or it can be socially problematic. High intellect doesn’t always mean social or emotional intelligence. Check out Emotional Traits to fill out some character ideas in that regard.