ContinuityIntermediate
Character Knowledge State
Each character knows specific things at specific times.
Principle
A character cannot use information they have not learned.
Takeaways
- Track who knows what, when, and from whom.
- Reveals must respect prior knowledge states.
- Surprise produced by violating knowledge state reads as cheating.
Overview
Character knowledge state is the running ledger of what each character knows at each moment of the story. Continuity errors here are more frequent and more damaging than spatial or temporal ones.
Examples
- A character cannot react to news they have not been told.
- A villain cannot anticipate a plan they did not overhear.
- A confession lands only if the listener was previously kept in the dark.