Document metadata
type: research-request
status: open
updated: 2026-08-13
research_sequence: 22-of-30
Research Request — Character Identity and Appearance Continuity
Story question
How can one character remain recognizably the same person across age states, rejuvenation, pose, camera angle, expression, wardrobe, light, and partial occlusion?
Scope
Study human face-recognition evidence, identity-preserving image-generation research, reference-image selection, and perceptual identity cues. Test Sylvan and Samuel separately. Do not promote a generated likeness or age state to canon.
Required output
- Ranked immutable, slowly changing, and scene-variable identity cues
- Reference set design and ordering rules
- Appearance-timeline interpolation policy
- Failure taxonomy for copy-the-photo, age drift, face drift, and role leakage
- A repeatable benchmark matrix and scoring rubric
Development gate
Add identity packets or interpolation only when the report defines measurable pass/fail behavior and identifies which missing anchor states still require author approval.