Just loaded it and it does not work.
File Not Found: base/graphics/icons/character.png

I'm having trouble reproducing this with Factorio 1.1.21 and 1.1.25.

Is this a startup issue? That file (character.png) is part of the base module. Are you sure you haven't modified/relocated your base data? I don't know why you would, but I can't come up with any other possibility. If you can, tell me a bit about your installation and/or the steps you took to produce the error.

I've scanned into files, not edited them. I have played with mods that change the base character.

After looking into it, I haven't seen a character icon.

The character icon in question is used in part of the game's GUI. It's in the bottom-left, next to your weapon slots, above the armor slot. It's a button to open your inventory. Many people simply press E, but you can click that button to open your character inventory.

Anyway, I think I figured out what's happening. My installation seems to have retained the old files from Factorio 1.0. The character icon was moved from base to core. The new location is: __core__/graphics/icons/entity/character.png

Fix incoming. Thank you for reporting this.