The role of emotion in believable agents is central to creating interactive characters that appear alive and engaging. Believable characters are those that create the illusion of life, allowing audiences to suspend disbelief. This concept has been explored in various media, including literature, theater, film, and animation. Disney animators in the 1930s made significant strides in creating believable characters through their animation techniques, which emphasized the portrayal of emotions to give characters a sense of life. AI researchers have also sought to create believable agents that can think, feel, and live, aiming to build entities that people would genuinely care about. These agents are often built using principles from character animation, such as the importance of emotion in conveying a character's state and actions. Emotion is crucial in making characters believable, as it helps them appear to care about what happens in the world, showing desires and reactions. In the Oz project, researchers attempted to build believable agents by using principles from traditional character animation. They developed a goal-directed, behavior-based architecture for action and coupled it with a component for generating, representing, and expressing emotion. This approach allowed for the creation of characters with specific personalities and emotional reactions. Emotion is a key factor in making characters believable, as it helps convey a sense of realism and life. The Oz project's work on the Woggles, self-animating creatures, demonstrated how emotion could be used to create believable agents. However, there are challenges in balancing the need for abstraction with the need for emotional expression, as seen in the case of Shrimp, whose nervous tick made it more interesting and alive to observers. The concept of believability in agents is not about copying reality but about creating a strong subjective sense of realism. This involves the appearance of reactivity, goals, emotions, and social competence. While there is debate about the role of abstraction in creating believable agents, the emphasis on emotion and personality is essential for creating convincing, persistent illusions of life. The work of artists and AI researchers highlights the importance of emotion in achieving this goal.The role of emotion in believable agents is central to creating interactive characters that appear alive and engaging. Believable characters are those that create the illusion of life, allowing audiences to suspend disbelief. This concept has been explored in various media, including literature, theater, film, and animation. Disney animators in the 1930s made significant strides in creating believable characters through their animation techniques, which emphasized the portrayal of emotions to give characters a sense of life. AI researchers have also sought to create believable agents that can think, feel, and live, aiming to build entities that people would genuinely care about. These agents are often built using principles from character animation, such as the importance of emotion in conveying a character's state and actions. Emotion is crucial in making characters believable, as it helps them appear to care about what happens in the world, showing desires and reactions. In the Oz project, researchers attempted to build believable agents by using principles from traditional character animation. They developed a goal-directed, behavior-based architecture for action and coupled it with a component for generating, representing, and expressing emotion. This approach allowed for the creation of characters with specific personalities and emotional reactions. Emotion is a key factor in making characters believable, as it helps convey a sense of realism and life. The Oz project's work on the Woggles, self-animating creatures, demonstrated how emotion could be used to create believable agents. However, there are challenges in balancing the need for abstraction with the need for emotional expression, as seen in the case of Shrimp, whose nervous tick made it more interesting and alive to observers. The concept of believability in agents is not about copying reality but about creating a strong subjective sense of realism. This involves the appearance of reactivity, goals, emotions, and social competence. While there is debate about the role of abstraction in creating believable agents, the emphasis on emotion and personality is essential for creating convincing, persistent illusions of life. The work of artists and AI researchers highlights the importance of emotion in achieving this goal.