How to Create Consistent Characters in Midjourney (A Step-by-Step Guide)

For the longest time, the biggest complaint about Midjourney was that you couldn't generate the same character twice. You'd get a great protagonist, but the moment you asked for them in a different pose, they turned into a completely different person.

With the introduction of Character Reference (--cref), that changed. But it still requires a specific workflow to get right.

The 3-Step Character Workflow

Step 1: The Base Generation

First, you need a clean, clear portrait of your character. Do not put them in a complex scene yet.

Once you get the perfect face, upscale it and copy the image URL.

Step 2: Applying the Character Reference

Now, build your scene and append the URL using the --cref parameter.

Step 3: Mastering Character Weight (--cw)

This is where most people mess up. The --cw parameter goes from 0 to 100.

• --cw 100 (Default): Midjourney tries to copy the face AND the clothes/hair perfectly. Use this if you want them in the exact same outfit.
• --cw 0: Midjourney ONLY copies the face. Use this if you want to put your character in a spacesuit or medieval armor.

Common pitfalls I see

Over-prompting the new scene: If you use --cref, you don't need to describe the character's facial features again in the new prompt. In fact, doing so confuses the AI. Just say "the character" or "the man/woman".

Character consistency isn't magic, it's just about locking in the base asset and letting the parameters do the heavy lifting.

Cracking the Consistency Code in Midjourney

Before the --cref (Character Reference) tag was introduced, making a consistent character for a graphic novel or a marketing campaign in Midjourney was a nightmare. You had to rely on specific celebrity mashups (like "a mix of Brad Pitt and Idris Elba") to force consistency. Those days are gone, but you still need a structured workflow.

Step 1: The Character Sheet

Do not start generating action shots immediately. Your first prompt should always be a character sheet. Use a prompt like: "A character design sheet of a 30-year-old female cyberpunk mechanic, wearing a grease-stained yellow jacket, multiple angles, front profile, side profile, expressions, white background --ar 16:9 --v 6.0". Once you have a grid you like, upscale your favorite image. This becomes your holy grail reference.

Step 2: Using the --cref Tag Masterfully

Take the URL of your upscaled character and use it in your new prompts. But here is the secret most people miss: The --cw (Character Weight) parameter. If you use --cw 100 (the default), Midjourney copies the face, the outfit, and the hairstyle exactly. But what if you want your character in a different outfit? You must drop the weight to --cw 0. This tells Midjourney: "Keep the exact face, but let me change the clothes via the text prompt."

Mastering the balance between --cref and --cw is the only way to build a true, multi-scene narrative without the AI wildly hallucinating new features.

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— Muhammad Bilal Khan, Founder at PromptHub. I spend way too much time in Discord generating reference sheets.