Just a small question! Did you get inspired by some art, a song or two? Maybe a book? A jumble of characters or just one that already exist? A fandom?
Also, do they have a theme song? If so, what is it?
Also, do they have a theme song? If so, what is it?
I think all of my characters are inspired by various things - mythology, religion, songs, books, movies, TV-shows and so on, even if I don't know they are! I can't say that anything in particular inspired me to create them, but I am probably influenced by different kinds of media 
This is a really great question and I always enjoy seeing how different people answer it!
I consider myself somewhat of a visionary. I produce vague concepts in my mind and make them into something more solid. I do this with my art, but also with my characters. When I'm making characters, I tend to make a basic plot or ask a few abstract questions. For example I'll use the one character I have uploaded on this site so far: Libretto.
My first idea was what if you had to deliver something not to a certain place, but to a certain time? What if instead of traveling miles you have to travel years? I take the concept, make a character for it, and twist and mold the information until it fits. I keep asking questions to fill the character out more.
Once I've asked enough questions to get a well-rounded character, I then ask more questions about their surroundings. What or who apposes this character? Do they have family? Pets? Companions? A childhood friend? Are they still in contact with these people? I make more characters around those questions, and soon I have an entire cast for my story.
Sometimes as a writing exercise I will base characters off of a song, flower, or poem, but usually for me it's the other way around. I make a character and then find something (song/flower/poem/etc.) that symbolizes or represents them.
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After a little more thought and reading the post above, I also borrow from mythology/urban legends often! I like to create characters of certain species (angels, banshees, gremlins), and I research all of the information on them provided by different cultures to make my own stylized version of the species. Just as much as I like to make members of a common species, though, I love to make other species. I find it fascinating to consider rulership/government, culture, architecture, technology style, and the likes.
I consider myself somewhat of a visionary. I produce vague concepts in my mind and make them into something more solid. I do this with my art, but also with my characters. When I'm making characters, I tend to make a basic plot or ask a few abstract questions. For example I'll use the one character I have uploaded on this site so far: Libretto.
My first idea was what if you had to deliver something not to a certain place, but to a certain time? What if instead of traveling miles you have to travel years? I take the concept, make a character for it, and twist and mold the information until it fits. I keep asking questions to fill the character out more.
Once I've asked enough questions to get a well-rounded character, I then ask more questions about their surroundings. What or who apposes this character? Do they have family? Pets? Companions? A childhood friend? Are they still in contact with these people? I make more characters around those questions, and soon I have an entire cast for my story.
Sometimes as a writing exercise I will base characters off of a song, flower, or poem, but usually for me it's the other way around. I make a character and then find something (song/flower/poem/etc.) that symbolizes or represents them.
//edit
After a little more thought and reading the post above, I also borrow from mythology/urban legends often! I like to create characters of certain species (angels, banshees, gremlins), and I research all of the information on them provided by different cultures to make my own stylized version of the species. Just as much as I like to make members of a common species, though, I love to make other species. I find it fascinating to consider rulership/government, culture, architecture, technology style, and the likes.
I usually get inspired from anime pictures. Sometimes I create character specifically for a rp. One time I created a character based off of a movie. She'd didn't last long, though. I'm in the process of editing her, but I don't know what to change it to just yet.
So many things. I can turn pretty much anything into a character. Pictures, songs, movies, books, obscure words, games, clothing, abstract concepts that cross my dash on Tumblr, the list goes on. I have characters I made because "okay but what's it actually like living day-to-day with a powerful Healing gift?" and "how do interactions between different dimensions get handled?" and "you know what this fandom needs? a maid".
It gets wild in my head sometimes.
It gets wild in my head sometimes.
That's actually a really good question. The only time I can trace back to when it all started was when I was but a youngun watching Pokémon. The first thing that popped into my head was: "They need another girl so Misty won't be lonely." Later on: "Also, Ash needs a second possible love interest." Finally: "...I know! Why not insert myself? Misty gets a lady friend, and Ash might fall in love with me!" (I was around 9-11 at the time, sue me.)
Since then, character inspiration has been happenstance, from watching anime and thinking what if this was a thing, to just a small spark of an idea going wild in the middle of the night, to just reading what a friend has made and thinking, "well, what if they included this kind of person in their world?" It's something that happens completely at random most times, however.
Since then, character inspiration has been happenstance, from watching anime and thinking what if this was a thing, to just a small spark of an idea going wild in the middle of the night, to just reading what a friend has made and thinking, "well, what if they included this kind of person in their world?" It's something that happens completely at random most times, however.
I have a somewhat hyper-active imagination, and a thinking brain. Many times I get inspiration to make characters or RPs from the most random of things. Even a single word can shoot off an idea, and if it follows through, that idea gets turned into something. That's also why i'm looking into Ruby courses, because, if I can make interesting things on here... just imagine what I could do with some effort, time, and an engine...
But I digress. Many of my characters I have developed are from me playing video games, reading stories, my other hobbies, or by happenstance, just me encountering something that gives me inspiration about something. You'll notice, that "Cairn", vaguely resembles a particular reptiloid from the Quake series of games, as well as his weapons are similar. That's not to say I base everything I create off of something pre-existing, oh no. Not at all. In fact, I have my own unique ideas I happen to come up with every now and then just by pure chance and the wandering of my mind. One example of this is one of my characters called "Myra". (as well as the entire World of Sairia group I've been working on for the past few years, but this thread is talking about RP characters, isn't it?) (I sometimes even create characters that are partially versions of myself who'd I'ed want to be, but it's more so due to inspiration or another thing.)
One day, I just thought to myself, "Hey, it kind of looks like you need a Low-Fantasy-ish character, let's think about that." And boom, Misses Myra spider lady is made. I often stay awake at night, thinking about a majority of things, like "How can I make a character better? Or maybe "What kind of genres am I lacking in? What could I add or improve to the things I have made?" Or maybe... just maybe... things like "What are cats thinking about? What if the moon was actually made of cheese? Aren't llamas technically horses?"
...
As well as I seriously just have an innate ability to make stories and subjects, seemingly out of nothing to go on. Many times I find myself making npcs or buildings in MC (sue me, making stuff with unrealistic physics is somewhat enjoyable.) each with their own little backstories or histories. Like, many times I seemingly just make npcs for what seems to be no dang reason all, (or either just because I think the village or abandoned stronghold i'm building up needs to be more lively, with actual interactible npcs and/or bits of lore and stories here and there.) with their own personalities, how they got where they are now, and even at times I go so far as to list and account for what all of they've been through and what they do. (i've made many village Elders, Librarians, Queens, Merchants, Potential Antagonists, Potential Protagonists, and other unique villagers or individuals for some nonexistant story or setting that only my eyes will ever know about or see. As well as i've probably made a whole lot more I don't even remember or forgot about.)
I'm not entirely sure why I do such a thing, make stories or subjects no one but me will ever get to see, just to be forgotten about and deleted again, just to come back to the modpack and start the whole cycle all over again. I suppose I do it because it's enjoyable? Or maybe perhaps I do it for a much deeper reason even I'm not to sure about myself? Maybe even escapism? Either way, I do it for one reason or another. Maybe I just like to create...? A natural gift for it maybe...? Eh, I dunno. But there ya have it.
But I digress. Many of my characters I have developed are from me playing video games, reading stories, my other hobbies, or by happenstance, just me encountering something that gives me inspiration about something. You'll notice, that "Cairn", vaguely resembles a particular reptiloid from the Quake series of games, as well as his weapons are similar. That's not to say I base everything I create off of something pre-existing, oh no. Not at all. In fact, I have my own unique ideas I happen to come up with every now and then just by pure chance and the wandering of my mind. One example of this is one of my characters called "Myra". (as well as the entire World of Sairia group I've been working on for the past few years, but this thread is talking about RP characters, isn't it?) (I sometimes even create characters that are partially versions of myself who'd I'ed want to be, but it's more so due to inspiration or another thing.)
One day, I just thought to myself, "Hey, it kind of looks like you need a Low-Fantasy-ish character, let's think about that." And boom, Misses Myra spider lady is made. I often stay awake at night, thinking about a majority of things, like "How can I make a character better? Or maybe "What kind of genres am I lacking in? What could I add or improve to the things I have made?" Or maybe... just maybe... things like "What are cats thinking about? What if the moon was actually made of cheese? Aren't llamas technically horses?"
...
As well as I seriously just have an innate ability to make stories and subjects, seemingly out of nothing to go on. Many times I find myself making npcs or buildings in MC (sue me, making stuff with unrealistic physics is somewhat enjoyable.) each with their own little backstories or histories. Like, many times I seemingly just make npcs for what seems to be no dang reason all, (or either just because I think the village or abandoned stronghold i'm building up needs to be more lively, with actual interactible npcs and/or bits of lore and stories here and there.) with their own personalities, how they got where they are now, and even at times I go so far as to list and account for what all of they've been through and what they do. (i've made many village Elders, Librarians, Queens, Merchants, Potential Antagonists, Potential Protagonists, and other unique villagers or individuals for some nonexistant story or setting that only my eyes will ever know about or see. As well as i've probably made a whole lot more I don't even remember or forgot about.)
I'm not entirely sure why I do such a thing, make stories or subjects no one but me will ever get to see, just to be forgotten about and deleted again, just to come back to the modpack and start the whole cycle all over again. I suppose I do it because it's enjoyable? Or maybe perhaps I do it for a much deeper reason even I'm not to sure about myself? Maybe even escapism? Either way, I do it for one reason or another. Maybe I just like to create...? A natural gift for it maybe...? Eh, I dunno. But there ya have it.
My characters are usually born from very basic concepts that I find cool or interesting, but I have found that as I absorb media that appeals to me, I end up taking ideas or themes from them and applying them to the characters I already have. Finding out how to make all these different moving parts work well together is the real joy of creating characters for me. Recently I've been portraying a character who's very involved in very specific cultural scenes and mindsets, so it's been very constructive to watch the movies and listening to the songs that they'd be into, and picking out which parts would influence them or leave an impact. That character grew more naturally than any other I've had so far!
I used to let movies, songs, books, pictures, etc. directly inspire what characters I made, but I left that behind a while ago, as I was never contented with the result - they never felt enough like my own creations for me to be comfortable portraying them for very long. Those times did create the baseline for some characters I still play today, after updating them to my current sensibilities and adding themes that appeal to me more, so I'm still super thankful they happened. They were very helpful to my development as a writer!
I used to let movies, songs, books, pictures, etc. directly inspire what characters I made, but I left that behind a while ago, as I was never contented with the result - they never felt enough like my own creations for me to be comfortable portraying them for very long. Those times did create the baseline for some characters I still play today, after updating them to my current sensibilities and adding themes that appeal to me more, so I'm still super thankful they happened. They were very helpful to my development as a writer!
i think this is a great topic for discussion! 
recently, i've tried to approach character creation with the mindset of "what haven't i played yet, and how can i make this concept engaging for myself?"
as RP is for fun and quite often a form of escapism, i don't see anything wrong with including elements of myself (personal beliefs, hobbies, etc) in my characters, or creating them based on genres and races i like, and it does make seeing through their eyes easier as i can relate more, but i have found that this method has forced me into a bit of a corner creatively. all of those characters are still precious to me, and i often use them to destress and indulge, but i've been surprising myself with how invested i've grown in characters i would normally not have considered.
my advice to those who may be having troubles with inspiration: create the mind first, and the body second. think in broad strokes about what concepts you'd like to explore, about what shaped your character into who they are today, and what will drive them to develop. too often i would become distracted with classes, races, outfits, cool abilities, and when i finally got around to RPing, i'd realise i had no idea who my character was! they would feel like robots with repetitive AI scripts, and would wander aimlessly until an event swept them up and took them somewhere else.
characters should always have a forwards momentum, even if the goals are something small, and everyone is a product of their environment. design around the character, and the void will fill itself in!
recently, i've tried to approach character creation with the mindset of "what haven't i played yet, and how can i make this concept engaging for myself?"
as RP is for fun and quite often a form of escapism, i don't see anything wrong with including elements of myself (personal beliefs, hobbies, etc) in my characters, or creating them based on genres and races i like, and it does make seeing through their eyes easier as i can relate more, but i have found that this method has forced me into a bit of a corner creatively. all of those characters are still precious to me, and i often use them to destress and indulge, but i've been surprising myself with how invested i've grown in characters i would normally not have considered.
my advice to those who may be having troubles with inspiration: create the mind first, and the body second. think in broad strokes about what concepts you'd like to explore, about what shaped your character into who they are today, and what will drive them to develop. too often i would become distracted with classes, races, outfits, cool abilities, and when i finally got around to RPing, i'd realise i had no idea who my character was! they would feel like robots with repetitive AI scripts, and would wander aimlessly until an event swept them up and took them somewhere else.
characters should always have a forwards momentum, even if the goals are something small, and everyone is a product of their environment. design around the character, and the void will fill itself in!
Some of my characters are based off of my own personality, or in other cases, who I wish I was.
For example, one of my characters is a joker who doesn't take many things seriously. But when it counts (such as when a friend's life is in danger) he'll get serious and even risk his own life to protect his friends and, well, everyone. His goal in life is to unite the world in an age of peace and love, so he'll gladly die for complete strangers, or even enemies. All life is precious to him. However, when there is no conflict, he's back to his non-serious, joking self. I love this kind of character because they are so likable. In times of conflict, their humor will become a symbol of nostalgia after a while of being serious.
This character also has a love interest that falls in love with him because of these qualities. She loves his humor and kind heart, but she also loves how he'll quickly get serious when the situation calls for it.
This kind of character is someone I wish I was. I'm not really sure if I fit the mold since I haven't had any sort of conflict in my life to test myself (and frankly, I never wish I get the opportunity to find out).
But I enjoy making characters of all kind. For example, the Elite Seven (Lazule, Lapis, Violet, Phaester, Dynter, Tsuya, Asphalt) are mostly made up of people whose names I randomly came up with, as you can probably guess. You might notice the similarity between Lazule and Lapis, and gemstone Lapis Lazuli. The two are slightly related as far as names go, but Lapis and Lazule have no relation other than being acquaintances. They have no relation to the gemstone itself. All of the members of the Elite Seven have varying personalities (Violet being a sadistic narcissist with a grudge against humanity, while Tsuya is a kind soul who prefers to defuse situations with words rather than fists).
I also enjoy making characters that fit tropes in anime. I have a character that is an extremely shy and introverted girl, while another character is the exact opposite: An outgoing free-spirit who loves to party. But the two girls are best friends regardless.
My point of explaining all of this is that I enjoy playing characters of all types. I usually end up adding a new personality type that I haven't done before when I make new characters. And when I make stories, I tend to try and not reuse the same personality type in new stories if I've used it in a past one. That's not a definite rule of mine, so sometimes I will reuse a personality type that I really enjoy.
I think the one thing that all of my characters revolve around consistently is anime. All of them are based off of either an anime idea that I've come up with, an anime trope, or a real anime. It's because of my love of anime that I do that, so it can't be helped.
But yeah, there's my answer. Sorry if it's too long, or if you've already abandoned this topic
For example, one of my characters is a joker who doesn't take many things seriously. But when it counts (such as when a friend's life is in danger) he'll get serious and even risk his own life to protect his friends and, well, everyone. His goal in life is to unite the world in an age of peace and love, so he'll gladly die for complete strangers, or even enemies. All life is precious to him. However, when there is no conflict, he's back to his non-serious, joking self. I love this kind of character because they are so likable. In times of conflict, their humor will become a symbol of nostalgia after a while of being serious.
This character also has a love interest that falls in love with him because of these qualities. She loves his humor and kind heart, but she also loves how he'll quickly get serious when the situation calls for it.
This kind of character is someone I wish I was. I'm not really sure if I fit the mold since I haven't had any sort of conflict in my life to test myself (and frankly, I never wish I get the opportunity to find out).
But I enjoy making characters of all kind. For example, the Elite Seven (Lazule, Lapis, Violet, Phaester, Dynter, Tsuya, Asphalt) are mostly made up of people whose names I randomly came up with, as you can probably guess. You might notice the similarity between Lazule and Lapis, and gemstone Lapis Lazuli. The two are slightly related as far as names go, but Lapis and Lazule have no relation other than being acquaintances. They have no relation to the gemstone itself. All of the members of the Elite Seven have varying personalities (Violet being a sadistic narcissist with a grudge against humanity, while Tsuya is a kind soul who prefers to defuse situations with words rather than fists).
I also enjoy making characters that fit tropes in anime. I have a character that is an extremely shy and introverted girl, while another character is the exact opposite: An outgoing free-spirit who loves to party. But the two girls are best friends regardless.
My point of explaining all of this is that I enjoy playing characters of all types. I usually end up adding a new personality type that I haven't done before when I make new characters. And when I make stories, I tend to try and not reuse the same personality type in new stories if I've used it in a past one. That's not a definite rule of mine, so sometimes I will reuse a personality type that I really enjoy.
I think the one thing that all of my characters revolve around consistently is anime. All of them are based off of either an anime idea that I've come up with, an anime trope, or a real anime. It's because of my love of anime that I do that, so it can't be helped.
But yeah, there's my answer. Sorry if it's too long, or if you've already abandoned this topic
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