Nucci (this issue) gives a compelling conceptualization of the ideas needed to understand character as a multifaceted developmental system. In this article, we focus on the idea of coherence as it applies to understanding character development, education, and assessment. Using ideas from relational developmental systems (RDS) metatheory, we rationalize the fundamental significance of coherence for studying character virtues. We propose that coherence may be understood in at least 3 interrelated ways: as the appropriate application of morality to a particular situation; as the appropriate application of morality to a particular situation; as employing the right virtue, in the right amount, at the right time (Aristotle's concept of "phronesis"); and as an integrated system of moral concepts. To test these ideas, we point to the need for innovations in developmental methodology and collaborative science that we hope will mark the future of RDS-based studies of positive character development.