Character

The term character or avatar refers to the figure controlled by the player through the game controls. All of Terraria&#39;s gameplay revolves around actions performed by the character, and the camera is nearly always locked to place the character in the middle of the screen.

The term player is often used as a synonym with character, but may also refer to the person accessing the game if the topic is unrelated to character mechanics.

Only one character can be played at a given time (in similar fashion to how the player may only access one world at a time), but the player is free to create as many characters as they desire. Characters are not locked to worlds, hence it is, for instance, possible to start playing in a new world with a powerful character from another world.

Items held in any part of the character's inventory (including slots for equipment, armor, ammo, and dyes), or any of the personal portable storage items, are all stored with the character, who will bring them to whatever world they enter.

Creation and customization
Characters are created in the game's main menu through the Single Player option. This provides the player with the options of selecting an already made character for playing, creating new characters, favoriting them, integrating them with the Steam Cloud in order to easily access them on different computers, and deleting them.

Character creation is accessed by clicking "New" and presents the player with a multitude of customization options:
 * Hair: allows choosing hair color and hairstyle. Both can be changed in-game through the Stylist, which also offers even more hairstyles to choose from. Note that hair is usually hidden by armor or vanity items unless the Familiar Wig is used.
 * Eyes: allows choosing iris color. The cannot be changed.
 * Skin: allows choosing skin color.
 * Clothes: allows changing the color and appearance of the various default clothing items the character is wearing (character styles). These can be changed in-game at a . Note that default clothing is usually hidden by armor or vanity items unless the Familiar clothes are used.
 * Male/Female: determines character gender. Both genders are equal in ability but differ in armor appearance, hurt sound, and some NPC dialogue. Gender can be changed in-game by using a.
 * Softcore/Mediumcore/Hardcore: determines penalty upon character death.
 * Random: randomizes the above options of hair, eyes, skin, clothes, and gender.

Empowering the character
Much of Terraria&#39;s gameplay revolves around making the character stronger in order to defeat enemies and bosses. The character becomes stronger in the following ways:
 * Real-life player skill improvement in mastering the game controls.
 * Increase of health and mana through Crystal Hearts, Life Fruits and Mana Crystals.
 * Equipping weapons, armor, accessories, and summoning minions.
 * Being under the effect of buffs.