How memorable characters are developed

Going through some of my voluminous notes from the early stages of writing Patriots, I came across this Reason post about the complex character of Watchmen's Rorschach:

Rorschach’s sense of justice may make him hate most of humanity—he brags to himself at the beginning that if mankind begged him to save them, he’d justly say “no.” But by the end he sacrifices himself in the name of avenging the deaths of millions who he doesn’t know.

It's no wonder, given this, why Rorschach is beloved as the heart and soul of Watchmen by its fans. But Rorschach, in fact, was not exactly invented by author Alan Moore. Instead, Moore built him atop a Charleston comics hero called 'The Question', which had been acquired by his employer, DC. And 'The Question' was the creation of the legendary comic book maverick Steve Ditko.

Yet even Ditko is not the end of the Rorschach pattern, because Ditko's character was modeled after Ayn Rand's male protagonists.

Check out that Reason post, it's worth it. 


But wait - there's more!


Here's a synopsis (and a link to 125 pages more) of the legendary early story conference between pop-cult heavyweights George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Lawrence Kasdan for a new character they called Indiana Jones. 


...and a bit more: 'How Do You Come Up with Character Names? An Exhaustive List'