diff --git a/server/normalization/main.py b/server/normalization/main.py
index 87e70fa..2ab3aa4 100644
--- a/server/normalization/main.py
+++ b/server/normalization/main.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import sys
 import enlighten
 from collections import Counter, OrderedDict
 from pprint import pprint
-from typing import List, Optional
+from typing import List, Optional, Union
 
 import click
 from lxml import etree
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
 CUR_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
 TRUTH_DIR = os.path.join(CUR_DIR, 'truth')
+CHARACTERS_DIR = os.path.join(CUR_DIR, 'characters')
 RAW_DIR = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(CUR_DIR, '..', 'data', 'raw'))
 RAW_FILES = os.listdir(RAW_DIR)
 
@@ -158,14 +159,90 @@ def ids():
     """Builds an XML file for identifying character id mappings"""
 
     logger.info("Building ID Character mapping file...")
-    with open(os.path.join(TRUTH_DIR, Constants.SPEAKER_MAPPING_XML), 'r') as mapping_file:
-        root: etree.ElementBase = etree.parse(mapping_file)
+    IDENTIFIER_FILE: str = os.path.join(CHARACTERS_DIR, 'identifiers.xml')
 
-    root = etree.Element("IdentifierList")
-    # mappings =
-    # for speaker in speakers:
-    #     if speaker
+    with open(os.path.join(TRUTH_DIR, 'characters.xml'), 'r') as characters_file:
+        characters: List[str] = etree.parse(characters_file).xpath('//CharacterList/Character/text()')
+        logger.debug('Characters parsed.')
 
+    logger.debug(f'{len(characters)} characters parsed.')
+
+    if not os.path.exists(CHARACTERS_DIR):
+        os.makedirs(CHARACTERS_DIR)
+        logger.info('`characters` directory created.')
+
+    pre_existing: Dict[str, etree.Element] = None
+    if os.path.exists(IDENTIFIER_FILE):
+        logger.debug('Identifier file exists already. Pre-existing Speakers will be kept.')
+
+        with open(IDENTIFIER_FILE, 'r') as identifier_file:
+            preidentifiers: etree.ElementBase = etree.parse(identifier_file)
+
+        pre_existing = OrderedDict()
+        for speaker in preidentifiers.xpath('//SpeakerList/Speaker'):
+            speakerName = speaker.xpath('./RawText/text()')[0]
+            pre_existing[speakerName] = speaker
+
+    root = etree.Element('SpeakerList')
+    splitPatterns: List[str] = [r'\s*,\s*',
+                                r'\s*&\s*',
+                                r'\s+and,?(?:\s+|$)',
+                                r'\s*[\\/]\s*']
+    splitPattern: str = '|'.join(splitPatterns)
+
+    existing_characters_count: int = 0
+    new_characters_count: int = 0
+
+    # Pre-existing character identifiers are kept at the top, in order.
+    for speakerName in characters:
+        if pre_existing is not None:
+            if speakerName in pre_existing.keys():
+                root.append(pre_existing[speakerName])
+                del pre_existing[speakerName]
+                existing_characters_count += 1
+                continue
+            else:
+                logger.debug(f'New speaker: `{speakerName}`')
+                new_characters_count += 1
+
+        # New speaker to insert
+        speaker_element = etree.SubElement(root, 'Speaker', annotated="false")
+        raw_text_element = etree.SubElement(speaker_element, "RawText")
+        raw_text_element.text = speakerName
+
+        split_text: List[str] = re.split(splitPattern, speakerName)
+        split_text = [split for split in split_text if re.match(r'\w{2,}', split) is not None]
+
+        isCompound: bool = len(split_text) > 1
+        isBackground: bool = re.search(r'#\d', speakerName) is not None  # Not fool-proof, but filters some out.
+
+        if isCompound:
+            speaker_element.attrib['annotated'] = "true"
+            annotated_text_element = etree.SubElement(speaker_element, 'AnnotatedText')
+            characters_element = etree.SubElement(speaker_element, 'Characters')
+            annotated_text_element.text = speakerName
+            for sub_character in split_text:
+                subcharacter_element = etree.SubElement(characters_element, 'Character')
+                subcharacter_element.text = valuify(sub_character)
+                subcharacter_element.attrib['type'] = 'null'
+        else:
+            character_element = etree.SubElement(speaker_element, 'Character')
+            character_element.attrib['type'] = 'background' if isBackground else 'null'
+            character_element.text = valuify(speakerName)
+
+    logger.debug(f'{new_characters_count} new speaker elements added. {existing_characters_count} speaker elements preserved.')
+
+    if pre_existing is not None:
+        unseen_chars = list(pre_existing.keys())
+        if len(unseen_chars) > 0:
+            for unseen in unseen_chars:
+                root.append(pre_existing[unseen])
+                logger.debug(f'Character preserved but not seen: {unseen}')
+
+    logger.debug('Exporting identifiers file.')
+    with open(IDENTIFIER_FILE, 'w') as identifier_file:
+        etree.indent(root, space=" " * 4)
+        identifier_file.write(etree.tostring(root, encoding=str, pretty_print=True))
 
 
 @cli.command('all')
@@ -191,7 +268,8 @@ def similar(text: str, destination: Optional[bool], results: int, reversed: bool
     if destination:
         mappingType = "Destination"
 
-    counts: List[int] | List[str] = list(map(int, root.xpath('//SpeakerMappings/Mapping/@count')))  # Parse counts into integers for merge
+    counts: Union[List[int], List[str]] = list(
+            map(int, root.xpath('//SpeakerMappings/Mapping/@count')))  # Parse counts into integers for merge
     speakers = root.xpath(f"//SpeakerMappings/Mapping/{mappingType}/text()")
     if not no_merge: speakers, counts = marked_item_merge(speakers, counts)  # Merge identical speakers together
     if results == -1: