Shoots back, revealing a little bit of character (5)
I believe the answer is:
serif
'a little bit of character' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'shoots back' is the wordplay.
'shoots' becomes 'fires' (firing is a kind of shooting).
'back' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'fires' backwards is 'SERIF'.
'revealing' is the link.
(Other definitions for serif that I've seen before include "Feature of some typefaces" , "Short line at the end of the main strokes of a printed character" , "Detail on some typefaces" , "Little bit of character" , "Slight projection finishing off printed letter - puts fires out" .)