what ever pigeons smell like
captain pigeon:

Never thought about it but one thing is for sure: Ravening smells like a mix of perfume and marijuana.

Alicia: Probably smells a bit like cocoa butter, cinnamon, and clove
Kattar: Smells like his cologne, so a little bit like flowers, and the other cologne scents, and also the alcohol used to make cologne, though he doesn't generally drink much.
Mrs. Moon: Smells like lavender
Shannon: cologne, but with dominance in sandalwood

That's a good question, gotta say not one I've ever thought off. Considering the part of the story Trespasser is in now (start of Chapter 03), where they've been on the road for longer than anticipated and only having natural bodies of water to clean themselves, I fear both Kyara and Zack would have an aweful sweaty smell

Akala smells like... whatever scent attracts you the most. Part of her illusion ability to get you into submission...

Mr. Blueberry is the only character of mine where I have thought of this...

Cigarettes, Irish Spring, and Nicorette

I actually wrote this for one of the characters in my story!

Still, that Eli could even think to sleep in such a situation astounded him. Fia had wrapped his arm around the man’s waist to keep him upright as they traveled, but at some point during the night, he had nestled his head in the crook of Fia’s neck, blowing warm, even breaths against his skin. He smelled of the forest, Fia realized. Fresh earth, cedar and pine, the newness of spring growth, and beneath that, the faint but characteristic cinder of the shadows.

At some point, I suspect I will get writing out Fia's scent as well

This makes me chuckle so here it goes....

• Astra tends to smell like perfume or lavender since she uses lavender based lotion on her skin.
• Psychoborg smells like metal since he's a cyborg.
• Prince Fau smells like aftershave.
• Prince Ira smells like very strong and expensive perfume.
• Carla either smells like sugar or lemon scented cleaning products depending on what her last task was.
• Gemma smells like perfume.
• Oya smells like spices since her hair oil has some in them.
• Tomara doesn't smell like anything really.
• Emperor Malai literally smells like money and gold.
• Empress Rebecca smells like roses.
• Castor smells like cinnamon.
• Highwulver smells like shampoo since he uses it like body wash (he has hair all over his body).
• King Overlord smells like incense.
• Pen smells like mint.
• Hagela smells like a cross between smoke and chai tea.
• According to Astra, Luno smelled like jasmine as he used use jasmine scented beard wax.

Uh, depends on if they're cooked or not...

Joking aside, I imagine my chickens would smell like dirt, cause that's what they literally bathe in. Except Friar, who would smell cleaner than dirt, whatever that is...

Alec would smell like cologne, to mask old man smell.
Luke would smell musty, cause he's been wearing the same clothes every episode and doesn't do laundry frequently XD
Carl, eh, sweaty Old Spice.
Aldi, lavender, cause she loves purple, including its scent.
Dr. Horace honestly might smell a little off, given his love for foreign cuisines and handling of birds. Cover that with too much cologne, cause he's doing his best.

All the human characters smell like garbage, but the main character lacks scent glands.

For a good number of the story, it's a mix of sweat and deodorant, sometimes no deodorant, sometimes rain-soaked wet dog type mixed in.

Rip smells like deep fried turkey legs on the bone.

I smell like coffee and the ocean

I have been waiting for such a thread to arise. August canonically smells like lemon dish soap. This is something I had already decided and have a genuine reason for, but I will not be disclosing this reason yet.

This is a fun topic thanks!

My characters are all muscle freaks who have spent the last 2 months living rough on the road,
though they do try and bathe and wash their clothes when they can.
Depending on the chapter they either smell of dirt, sweat or blood.
Except Lok, who deliberately masks his scent to ward off trackers,
and Kukui who doesn't smell of anything for some reason...

Najm - Kinda coppery, like they couldn't wash the last bit of blood out from under their fingernails or scalp, their hands reek of it because It's very difficult to clear the shafts where their talons are held, so the blood sits there for a while.
Rahat - Sweat, they're anxious. Also, a little bit like medical balm for their burns.
Alya - a bit like those apple-scented body washes that get made en masse for lil kids. I image that The Tazdahir doesn't splurge on the workers, so they all kinda smell like 4-in-one toothpaste/body wash/shampoo/conditioner. The Apple one just happens to be their favourite.
Qam - hand sanitizer, or mentholated spirits, very sterile. Comes with being a doctor. Also like medical balms, cuz they also have burns.

Maor - Smells like sand, sweat & a bit fishy.
Amin - A bit salty, a little bit of age wood, with savory snack residue.
Sanariya - No one ever know what she smells like. Even Amin with good sense of smell is struggling to catch her scent sitting next to her, maybe some scent of fabric, or feather.

My main OC Lily probally smells like campfire a bit. But in her more dark form she tends to exhale sulpher with her breathe so probally that.

Her love interest AA Samael, I'm not sure. His human form might just be male BO.

Mantodea maybe sage or ions (thunderstorm smell).

Seryhon being a water elemental fae, maybe lake water.

My father and brother mentioned two factors I forgot:

Kattar: would also smell like antiseptic because of the amount of time he spends in the hospital (my father's note)

My brother's note: Alicia would definitely smell like the paint she wipes on her pants the days when smelling good isn't an active decision.

Bobbie probably smells like a cologne with a bit of spice to it.

David also smells like cologne but a more fresh, clean kinda scent.

For some reason I feel like R.J. would smell like fresh linen. Don't ask me why maybe a little earthiness too

Gabriel gives me citrusy vibes.

Randy smells like...motor oil and gasoline lol. Outside of work I could see her wearing a woody smelling perfume.

Adi/Sae grew up in an evergreen forest, joins a traveling caravan as a scout/archer, and eventually learns to use a sword as well, so I imagine she smells like a combination of fir tree, vegetation, road dust, sweat, and steel. On a particularly rough day, there's probably the scent of blood on her, too.

Koreal, by contrast, is a wizard who lives in the city (for now...) so while he's not typically getting sweaty and dirty on the regular, he's often working with a bunch of weird substances. Because of this, it's probably difficult to really pin down what he smells like, and it probably changes from day to day. It's sort of a moot point though, because he's also capable of just... whisking himself clean with a minor cantrip anyway.

I thought about this years ago. Haha!

My main character, Nina, she would smell like a couch. Twiga would more likely smell like a wet dog. And as for Shido? Air, sniff sniff, yeah air.

Eliza Richards: Probably smells like a combination of shea butter, cocoa butter, and castor oil (a girl can't be ashy, and she has to keep her hair moisturized too)
Aaron Park: Probably smells like whatever laundry detergent is used on his clothes as he doesn't wear cologne, or even need deodorant
Ruby White: probably smells like whatever body wash she uses (I imagine, magnolia scent) in combination with the smell of ironed clothing.

For the first 5 episodes Ava probably smells like cow and cat.

Andrew: Old Spice, tropical fruit, and sweat.
Jinho: Citrus and unscented soap. He rarely has to get sweaty, and he doesn't need to wear deodorant, so he just smells very fresh and clean.

Rán: Of herbs, paper and a bit like ozone due to her spending time foraging for them for medicine, she loves drawing which helps her earn money and she did kinda get struck by lightning once, or twice.

Vervain: His scent changes on what magic he uses and mood until Rán mentioned she liked peppermint so that was a consistent scent from that point.

Gretchen: Flowery, she prefers making soaps and perfumes rather than simple medicine like Rán does.

Alex: Paper and oiled leather from their bookmaking business

Hans: Stream water and a bit of some sort of animal scent underneath.

Nox: Lilies and pond water.

Rogen/Edgren: Metal and a bit of B.O.

Aoife: Of bloodied flower fields and salt.

The Vernal Court (which finally make an appearance soon in my story): Overtly floral, with a hint of briskness to the air, like winter is still trying to hold on. The courts smell often like the seasons they are named after. Vernal-soft floral scents, Sommar-heat and citrus, Autumn-Rich, saturated scents of apples and sandalwood, Vetr-ice and cold, mint and a hint of chocolate.

The Trinity: Vervain has said said that they no longer have a scent, but once, they smelled like time. Which to him smells like life and death happening simultaneously and had best described it as watching a flower experience it's life in an instant.

Do writers normally decide how their characters smell? I can't imagine it, like I wrote a character that has extremely advanced smell and knows the distinctive smell of his boyfriend, but I never worked out what smell that even is.

My fae actually have innate scents to them My fae king Lorian has a scent of violets and his partner Nymre - ocean breeze. They also all have particular auras to them.

Hmm, that's interesting.
Vulfgaar smells like he means it. He was a nobleman with a high position in a royal court, so takes good care of himself and his scent is bergamot, wood, musk, some smoky leather and amber.

Beleard smells like shaving soap with a hint of freshness of lemon and vetiver, and warm spices like black pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon, because he cooks a lot.

Yara's scent is wild forest garden... after the rain at night xD It's really complicated, because she works with plants and soil and herbs. She smells of oakmoss, juniper, bitter orange blossoms, black currant buds, nutmeg, myrrh, with a bunch more undertones of rosemary, vetiver, cloves, pine needles and so on.

Pete smells like Dirt, Potatoes and Alcohol.