diff --git a/tetra/items.py b/tetra/items.py
index 3566a19..e059c68 100644
--- a/tetra/items.py
+++ b/tetra/items.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ def __init__(self, itempath):
         jsonobj = json.loads(open(itempath, encoding="utf-8").read())
         self.name = jsonobj["name"]
         self.desc = jsonobj["desc"]
-        self.char = jsonobj.get("char", None)
+        self.char = jsonobj.get("char", "?")
         self.media_path = jsonobj.get("media_path", None)
         self.need_input = jsonobj["need_input"]
         self.answerhash = jsonobj.get("answerhash", None)
diff --git a/tetra/maps.py b/tetra/maps.py
index 346cc79..1c2f4b8 100644
--- a/tetra/maps.py
+++ b/tetra/maps.py
@@ -63,11 +63,11 @@ def render(self, settings):
     def place_item(self, item_name, game):
         if not (item_name in self.items.values()):
             coord = list(self.items_ref.keys())[list(self.items_ref.values()).index(item_name)]
-            if(game.item(item_name).char != None): self.fmt[coord] = game.item(item_name).char
+            self.fmt[coord] = game.item(item_name).char
             self.items[tuple(coord)] = self.items_ref[tuple(coord)]
 
     def remove_item(self, item_name, game):
-        if(item_name in self.items.values):
+        if(item_name in self.items.values()):
             coord = list(self.items_ref.keys())[list(self.items_ref.values()).index(item_name)]
             self.fmt[coord] = self.fmt_ref[coord]
             self.items.pop(tuple(coord))