u/ADNZui

For context. Not entirely new to writing, I have been crafting characters worlds and outlines for my entire life. But the difference is obviously for personal use. Not anything I'd want to publish. But thats changing as I take the dive into more formal writing and of course the dream has always been to maybe be published someday. However, I'm not entirely familiar with the etiquette of having characters blatantly inspired by others, and worry about unintentionally plagiarizing another's work. For example. I have a character inspired by a certain video games character who's overall design and demeanor I love. Confidence, abilities, style, et cetera. As I try to write this outline I just find myself cherry picking more and more from this character until I worry the only key difference is backstory and motivations. Obviously its hard to not come up with an idea that someone else hasn't had already, but theres obviously a point where it becomes stealing another's work. How do you draw that line for yourself?