Character Shrines

• You might be wondering, what exactly is a character shrine? (Not a physical shrine, of course.) A character shrine is a personal website dedicated to a fictional character. These websites often include character analysis, lore, media, and personal reflections.

  Character shrines have been around since the 1990s and were commonly hosted on websites such as GeoCities, Angelfire, and many other free web hosts.

  Here, I would like to share my own experience.

• It all started in 2004. I started in 2004 with the idea of making a shrine for Yuna from Final Fantasy X, because she is also very dear to me. But since there were already many shrines dedicated to her, I decided to write about Seymour Guado instead.

  After that, I created two more shrines: Eternal Swordsman, dedicated to Lloyd Irving, and Master Summoner, dedicated to Sheena Fujibayashi from Tales of Symphonia. When I look back at those websites today, I can clearly see how much my writing improved between my very first shrine and the ones that followed.

  I simply enjoy creating character shrines, and that is what truly matters to me.

  In 2023, I started building a brand new layout for Restless, this time with many years of new research, analysis, and ideas.

  Dutch Note: Restless officially came online on 3 May 2026. I didn't want to launch the website on 4 May, because that is Dodenherdenking (Remembrance Day) here in the Netherlands.

  Originally, my Seymour Guado shrine was hosted on my own domain, Wind's Requiem.net.
  Thanks to Neocities, I have been able to bring Restless back online and continue working on it.

• First, choose a character you truly love.
  Ask yourself:

  • What makes this character so fascinating?
  • Why is this character special to you?
  • What role does this character play in your favourite game, series, or anime?

  Once you have answered those questions, start breaking the character down into different topics, such as:

  • Personality
  • Appearance
  • Voice
  • Story
  • Relationships
  • Character development

  Most importantly, make your shrine unique.

  Don't be afraid to include a little bit of yourself. Your writing style, your hobbies, your interests, and even your own culture can make your shrine feel much more personal.

  I will take myself as an example. I am from the Netherlands, so you will often find small Dutch Notes throughout my shrine. I prefer writing in simple English that is easy to understand, and I have been interested in psychology and history: especially Ancient Egypt - for many years. Those interests naturally became part of my character analysis as well.

  Your shrine doesn't have to be perfect. It simply has to feel like your shrine.