Conflicts occur when learners interact with pedagogical agents and virtual characters. Such conflicts--arising from technological limitations, psychosocial perceptions, and pedagogical inadequacies--hinder communication and interaction between virtual characters and learners, and impede successful engagement with learning tasks and experiences. To enhance communication and interaction between virtual characters and learners, we propose a three-tier framework of 15 research-based guidelines. This framework enables theorists, researchers, and designers to view virtual characters with a holistic lens, informing the analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation of virtual characters in electronic learning contexts. (Contains 1 table and 1 footnote.)