In relation to writing and logo design, a character is part of a font - no matter if the characters consist of pictograms or symbols.

Characters are also used as auxiliary indications for grammatical context, or to provide information on specific accentuation and pronounciation of a word.

The -symbol, for example, is also a character. We only know this symbol and understand it's meaning because we have once learned it.

Currency symbols (Dollar, Pound, Yen, Euro)
Characters: Tildes
Characters: Ligatures