The Player

The Player refers to the playable character in Stardew Valley.

Character customization

The character creation screen.

The following options are available at the beginning of a new game:

Appearance - This includes 24 skin tones, 32 hair styles, 20 accessories, and 112 shirts. All of them can be used by either gender, with the option to randomize appearance. This has no effect on gameplay, can be changed later, and can be augmented with hats and boots.
Name / Farm Name - These are limited to most of the ASCII printable characters, which are spaces, uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and `~!@#$%^&*()-=+[{]}\|;:'",<.>/?_. The length of the name is determined by the total pixel width, and the allowed maximum is restricted to the width of the textbox. (Although " is in the valid ASCII printable character range, the textbox does not seem to accept this character.) Name and Farm Name are sometimes used in dialogues during gameplay.
Animal Preference - This determines the type of pet that arrives on Spring 12 of year 1.
Favorite Thing - This affects the text displayed after eating a Stardrop. The character limits are the same as the Name / Farm Name textboxes.
Gender - This has minor effects on gameplay:
- Characters will use the appropriate pronoun in dialogue.
- Restriction to the men's or women's spa entrance. (Note: Alex sometimes works out in the men's locker room.)
- It is possible to marry an eligible NPC regardless of gender. In a different gender marriage, the woman can become pregnant for 14 days (with no effect on speed or movement) and give birth to a child. In a same-gender marriage, children can be adopted.

Entering ConcernedApe as the Favorite Thing triggers an Easter egg.
Some special keys like the asterisk will trigger a certain sound.
A star can be added to a name with the + character.
There are no character traits in Stardew Valley. When presented with in-game cutscenes and dialogues, any answer can be chosen without impacting the story, though some may slightly impact friendship. It is possible to befriend most NPCs, and there are no mutually exclusive friendships. (Some NPCs like Gunther have no friendship status.)
Naming your character using an internal object ID number in brackets will give you the item that corresponds with the number whenever an NPC mentions you by your name. For example entering [645][499][163] will give you an Iridium Sprinkler, Ancient Seeds, and a Legend. NPCs tend to say only the second two numbers, so be warned. (This exploit also works with children and animals.)
- Note that the game may only accept 14 characters for the player name, so one of the items used must be only 2 digits instead of 3.