ABSTRACT
Children adopt a setting from a medium forming a world in which they develop their make-believe world. The varied possibilities for the child seem therefore to not come necessarily from the character himself/herself, but rather from the type of the relationship with the character. The child may wish for a friendship with the character, to identify with him or her, and may even wish to be that character. Adopting a character's costume presents a subcategory of the desire to become like the character in some way. Through complementing themselves with qualities of their favorite characters, children are able to experience their wishes for adventures, for being special or for having unusual power. Children also employ characters abstracted from media content in their make-believe worlds in a variety of ways. They might adopt a character's personality as a whole, or incorporate specific traits such as abilities, appearance, names, or costumes.
