人物
じんぶつ · jinbutsu · JLPT N3 · noun
fictional character
👤 人物 = person (人) + thing (物): the stuff a person is made of
人 (jin) means person and 物 (butsu) means thing or substance. Together they name what a person amounts to: their character, or a person of note. Butsu is the same reading as in 動物 (doubutsu, animal) and 植物 (shokubutsu, plant).
人 — pictograph of a standing person
人 is a pictograph showing a person viewed from the side, with two strokes representing the legs and torso of a standing human. In oracle bone script it clearly depicted a figure leaning slightly forward. The meaning has remained 'person' or 'human' throughout its history.