characteristic, distinctive, typical

A characteristic quality is one that distinguishes and identifies.

• The Deputy Minister always included that characteristic flourish at the end of her memorandums.

A distinctive feature denotes an attribute that sets a thing or person apart from a type or group.

• The unit has a distinctive approach to training and development.

Typical relates to the characteristics peculiar to the type, class, species or group to which a thing or person belongs.

• The weather was typical of an October day in Ottawa: cool, clear and colourful.