This is a slippery slope in my opinion. It depends on how far you take it. It's perfectly fine to draw inspiration from external characters and I'd say it's even okay to (partially) utilize names that you like. And if one is just simply using a particular trope, that's probably fine too. However, if you're outright using the full character and transferring it to another world, that's where the problem will be. Personal opinions aside, it comes down to one thing in that regard:
Copyright infringement.
Video games/tv shows/books/etc all have copyrights for a reason. Their characters belong to the original creators, and nobody else. And it's completely understandable. While I may not legally have copyright powers over my character (SE technically does), I'd be downright furious if I saw another "Kylin Felstar" that looked and had an almost identical history to my character. To me, that's stealing my work and passing it off as your own. And that's not okay with me. Likewise, it's not okay with other character creators out there. It's the very reason SE outright disallows names like "Cloud Strife." I challenge someone to find a character in XIV named that, exactly spelled like that. You won't. You'll find "Cloud' Strife" (lots of 'em) with an added apostrophe. But that's the closest you'll get. There's a reason for that. SE doesn't allow it. It's their character and their intellectual property.
Likewise, other character creators (such as anime characters) don't like their intellectual property being used without their permission. That being said, I very highly doubt any of these character creators are going to come after someone for using the character concept in an MMO RP community. But it doesn't make it any more 'right.'
Drawing inspiration from a character you like (whether a particular name or a specific character trait) is one thing. Everyone does that to some extent, even famous authors. Outright using the exact character of someone else is another entirely, and, in my opinion, should be avoided at all costs.
So to answer the question: For me personally, no. I wouldn't take such a character seriously at all. If I see someone RPing a Naruto Uzumaki, I'm rolling my eyes and walking the opposite direction. That's just me though.
I'd challenge you to isolate the particular traits of the character you like and use those as inspiration, rather than just outright using the character itself. Then let the character develop its own identity that's of your own making.
Copyright infringement.
Video games/tv shows/books/etc all have copyrights for a reason. Their characters belong to the original creators, and nobody else. And it's completely understandable. While I may not legally have copyright powers over my character (SE technically does), I'd be downright furious if I saw another "Kylin Felstar" that looked and had an almost identical history to my character. To me, that's stealing my work and passing it off as your own. And that's not okay with me. Likewise, it's not okay with other character creators out there. It's the very reason SE outright disallows names like "Cloud Strife." I challenge someone to find a character in XIV named that, exactly spelled like that. You won't. You'll find "Cloud' Strife" (lots of 'em) with an added apostrophe. But that's the closest you'll get. There's a reason for that. SE doesn't allow it. It's their character and their intellectual property.
Likewise, other character creators (such as anime characters) don't like their intellectual property being used without their permission. That being said, I very highly doubt any of these character creators are going to come after someone for using the character concept in an MMO RP community. But it doesn't make it any more 'right.'
Drawing inspiration from a character you like (whether a particular name or a specific character trait) is one thing. Everyone does that to some extent, even famous authors. Outright using the exact character of someone else is another entirely, and, in my opinion, should be avoided at all costs.
So to answer the question: For me personally, no. I wouldn't take such a character seriously at all. If I see someone RPing a Naruto Uzumaki, I'm rolling my eyes and walking the opposite direction. That's just me though.
I'd challenge you to isolate the particular traits of the character you like and use those as inspiration, rather than just outright using the character itself. Then let the character develop its own identity that's of your own making.
