Sometimes I run across characters in books that remind me of other people in songs.
I’ll give you an example. I figure Alice Cooper’s “Little Patty” in Dead Babies is probably a relative of Stephan King’s "Randy’ who became a vampire snack in 'Salem’s Lot. It’s the same sort of situation. The small child of nasty parents comes to a very bad end.
It doesn’t have to be just books and songs. Is there a movie character that reminds you of a TV show? How about poetry? “Macavity the Mystery Cat” sort of reminds me of the “Midnight Louie” books. See where I’m trying to go with this?
I’m sure I’ve come across characters who remind me of other unrelated characters before, but can’t think of any at the moment. A lot of characters in songs - or just the songs themselves - have served as inspiration for characters in my own stories (most of which have yet to be actually written :rolleyes: ).
That said, the baby in the Alice Cooper group’s “Dead Babies” is Little Betty. And I’ve never read Salem’s Lot, or any Stephen King works, for that matter. But that song inspired my own song - “Baby Truck”, which I actually sent to Alice with a fan letter years ago. (Don’t know if he ever got it though.)
As a long-time Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, there was something about the comic-book character Cassidy (from Preacher) that felt familiar. He reminded me so much of Spike that I wasn’t even really all that surprised when, partway through the first book, he opens wide and takes a guzzling drink out of someone’s neck – OMFG he’s a VAMPIRE!
From that point on, I could only hear James Marsters’ voice when I read the series.
That’s interesting. Especially when you consider how many elements of Spike and Giles are drawn from John Constantine. I suspect that Joss Whedon and Garth Ennis are fans of each other.