If you've spent any time on r/CharacterAI, r/JanitorAI, or AI TikTok, you've seen people use "chatbot," "AI character," "AI roleplay," and "AI visual novel" as if they're the same thing. They're not. Each one is a different storytelling format with different mechanics and different tradeoffs. This is the definitions page.

AI roleplay chatbot

Definition: a conversational AI that plays a named, defined fictional character with a consistent personality, voice, and backstory, in an open-ended dialogue with you.

Unlike a generic assistant chatbot like ChatGPT in default mode, a roleplay chatbot stays in character. It doesn't break to give you weather updates or summarize PDFs. It plays Sebastian the cynical bartender, or Yuki the magic-school transfer student, or whoever you wrote.

Who it's for: creative writers using AI to draft scenes, fans roleplaying with fictional or original characters, people using AI characters as a kind of interactive fiction.

Examples: Character.AI, Janitor AI, PolyBuzz, Sutorichat, CrushOn, SpicyChat. The big ones in 2026.

AI character

Definition: the actual fictional persona inside a roleplay chatbot platform. The "character" is the unit. The "platform" is what hosts and runs them.

On Character.AI, an AI character is defined by a description, greeting message, definition (long-form personality and dialogue examples), and optional voice. On Janitor AI, by a character card (PNG with embedded JSON). On Sutorichat, by a structured persona bible plus visual novel sprite metadata.

See how to write an AI character that feels alive for the actual format.

AI visual novel

Definition: an AI-driven adaptation of the visual novel genre. Visual novels (like Doki Doki Literature Club, Steins Gate, or Steam Prison) are interactive narrative games with character sprites, backgrounds, dialogue boxes, and branching choices. The "AI" version uses an LLM to generate the dialogue and scene logic dynamically instead of hand-authoring every branch.

The look-and-feel is more game than chat: full-screen art, a speaker portrait, a dialogue box at the bottom, sometimes a "next choice" prompt. The character expression updates in response to what just happened. Sutorichat's visual novel mode is the productized version of this.

Who it's for: people who want a more cinematic, less typing-heavy experience. People who love visual novels but wish they were less linear.

Live character

Definition: a roleplay character with real-time voice, lipsync, and an animated avatar. The AI talks, you talk back, and the model on screen is actually moving.

Live characters are the newest storytelling format in 2026. Sutorichat ships live characters as a built-in mode (Live2D rigs, voice generation, amplitude-driven lipsync, voice activity detection). Character.AI Plus has a similar "phone call" feature. PolyBuzz has voice but without the animated avatar.

How to pick the format that fits you

• You want to write fiction with AI: roleplay chatbot. Character.AI for SFW, Sutorichat or Janitor AI for everything else.
• You want a more game-like, scene-driven experience: AI visual novel.
• You want to hear the character speak in real time: live character.
• You want all of the above in one place: Sutorichat.