Being able to identify object classes and types is a really useful ability.

isinstance(<object>, <class>)

Tells you whether or not something is an instance of a particular class.

>>> isinstance('a', str)
True
>>> isinstance(5.2, (int, float))
True
>>> isinstance(5.2, (str, bool, dict))
False
>>> isinstance(True, int)
True

issubclass(<class>, <class>)

Tells you whether or not something is an instance of a particular class.

>>> issubclass(bool, int)
True
>>> issubclass(str, int)
False

>>> issublcass(Thief, Character)
True

type(<instance>)

The type function tells you the type of object that an instance is.

type(kenneth)
<class 'thieves.Thief'>
>>> kenneth.__class__
<class 'thieves.Thief'>
>>> kenneth.__class__.__name__
'Thief'