We need a button for "All of the above." Seriously... I'll often think I have the character fleshed out, locked down tight and solid. But as I write the character's dialogue, sometimes they'll spin off in a different direction. Not just in terms of personality, but even in physical description. For example, First Rider Kadien Jess started out like
As he got more lines, I kept hearing Michael Clarke Duncan reading them and my mental image shifted to
By the time the first draft was complete, Kadien Jess had settled into
Now, his basic personality and role in the story didn't change, but the voice and the mental image that came with it evolved through the course of the books.
Other characters have stayed exactly the way I first envisioned them; they haven't changed in the slightest.
Zeddie has pretty much always been
and since the character concept was conceived, Shaifennen Roehe's always been
Pretty distinctive look and feel for each of those characters, but some of them have evolved and morphed from something so far from the original mental image that physically they have no resemblance to the original, and while retaining the core personality, the mannerisms and voice have changed. Others are solid and concrete. About the only change Shaifennen has seen is the thing she does with her hair. (She thinks it makes her less short.)
I find it all quite confusing.