Text is a special kind of object in Illustrator—it’s actually a group. The type object itself is the container, and the actual text characters are like the objects inside a group. You can see this by looking at—that’s right—the Appearance palette. Select a point text object with the Selection tool and the Appearance palette shows “Type” as the target. Switch to the Type tool and select the text and the Appearance palette shows “Characters” as the target.

When you select a text object with a selection tool, Illustrator’s Smart Targeting automatically targets the Type container. You can see Characters listed in the Appearance palette, and double-clicking the Characters listing automatically switches to the Type tool and highlights the text on your artboard. The target is now Characters and you can see the Fill and the Stroke attributes.

When a Type object is selected, the Appearance palette shows the Type as the container and the characters within it.