Where did you draw your inspiration for your characters?

[dustole]

Saladin made the Templar ride backwards on a donkey with a Dunce hat on his head.  Kind of funny.    The noble who was a Knight Hospitalier is the one who got his head chopped off.   

[Revan]

I think the only time where I consciously drew inspiration from anywhere else was with Revan/Sera. Being depraved/evil like a Tilogian looked like fun. I suppose I did also name one of my characters 'Attila' after the infamous hun, but paradoxically, most of his life has been sent as an elite bureaucrat, trader or priest. Not very warlike at all.

[Calanar]

Hm...

Ziode - My ideals. From there he sort of went in his own direction
Scion - Rivalry with Ziode and a regretful past. Again, another who did his own thing.
Silver Phoenix/Night Hawk/Cius - A tough warrior. Some background in Norse mythology.
Kali - Never became a character, but she was a great contrast to Cius and helped mold him.
Arya - The Far East's newest Princess of Thieves. Isolation.
Waleran - Arya's twin. I had a womanizing bard in mind for him.
Soren - Someone who was meant to either be evil or insane.
Crosse - A betrayer. An assassin.
Will - Talent with no ambition.

Edit:

I forgot Serge >_<  Serge was an adventurer who, after an incident at sea, lost his proof of nobility and had to re-earn it. From there, he became one of Beluaterra's strongest warriors and then vanished (sort of) He developed on his own with only that back story as a guide.

[James]

With my newer characters I come up with a name and just let things flow to see how they develop.

For a couple though, they did have some background elsewhere...

Ryndhal was named after a Dwarven warrior I had in an online game called BloodPit (gladiatorial combat with different styles and races). As a character there his first three battles ended when he killed his opponent (kills don't happen that often, so having a record of 3 matches, 3 kills was impressive). Obviously, over the many many years he's been in the game, he's changed from that initial character though.

Rakaarox was named after Jago's horse and has a similar attitude to Jago (Jago being my character from SpellMaster who was one of the main SpellCasters in the Underworld Council, and the first character to ever visit Outer Tilog    His horse was raised from a recently dead farm horse (was still warm when he got there). Fortunately no-one knows about his name's origin, especially fortunate that Pharmakeus never knew... (a former Outer Tilog noble with a liking for horses that went beyond the bounds to be discussed here...))

[Sacha]

Saladin made the Templar ride backwards on a donkey with a Dunce hat on his head.  Kind of funny.    The noble who was a Knight Hospitalier is the one who got his head chopped off.

If you're referring to Raynald de Chatillon and Guy de Lusignan, both were templars AFAIK. And Saladin only spared Guy because Guy was King of Jerusalem at the time of his capture, and as Saladin said, 'A king does not kill a king'.

[Indirik]

There is no specific inspiration for any of my characters. I just toss them in a realm and see what happens.

[Ender]

All of my characters I tend to develop based on their experiences with a touch of backstory and a template to start them out.

My first character, Ender, I have just developed from Day 1 to be a product of his experiences.

Cid was specifically designed to hate what Ender and his concept of Vikings were. From there, he turned into a product of his experiences which happened to equal brutally honest religious zealot.

Weland was meant to be a tamer version of Ender, he died before I ever developed him much farther than that. He pretty much stayed a noble lord with a touch of barbarian in him for flavor.

Corin was meant to be my way of playing a trader for the first time, so I had a sort of wealthy merchant with a taste for the finer things in life in mind for him. I havent strayed far from that but his experiences have changed him from what I thought he'd be at this point.

Edmund/Letta are my way of exploring what I made into Cid down two different paths. One is meant to be what Cid could have been had he not turned into a die-hard zealot and the other had he never became a priest but adhered to his initial beliefs in honor, chivalry, and faith with a distrust for what he believes to be barbarism. So far, so good there, though its early to see what either might become once they've had more experience behind them.

For my adventurers: First was a commoner with no tact and a love for causing trouble, he got himself killed, and the second I thought to try working towards becoming a noble but decided to take a break with him.

[Glaumring the Fox]

Sundar: Baron Harkonnen

The rest I make from their experiences.

[Kurohyou]

Kurohyou: Realized that he was my vessel for projecting my frustrations on the RL into him. He usually sticks around if its fun or to bug a few people that are in need of correction: or are they the same ... -_0

Enzeru: Started off as/continued to be, a loyal servant to his realm. Slowly went into a state of recognizing that the government of Fronen was off its track and decided to change it a bit. (but nooooo....the other characters that were with him couldn't wait a few hours before clicking the rebel button. Oh the fun that came from Enzeru.)

Rain: She is the daughter to my first female character: Hei. Hei was killed in battle, and Rain has pretty much been wanting revenge from the moment she stepped onto Sirion soil. Her name I actually looked up for elvish names, since she is supposed to have a little bit of elvish blood in her courtesy of a RP layout)

So for the most part, they are all slight variations of Kurohyou, but had their own quirks, (and still being developed)

Name wise? I honestly started with the last name first, and then looked up Japanese words that sounded like they would fit well with the last name. Origin to the last name (Bakos) was a combination of 'baka' and my nickname 'kos'

So yeah...