Below are listed the sources for several characters I have used as heroes, villains, and supporting cast NPCs in my various DC Heroes Campaigns.
Being a DC Heroes campaign, of course a lot of the characters draw inspiration from, or in some cases are drawn directly from the comic book stories published by DC Comics.
Prism was partially inspired by the Jem and the Holograms cartoon.
The heroes and villains of the Megaverse are (very) thinly disguised versions of Marvel Comics characters.
The Northguard name comes from the Canadian comic book of the same name, trademark and copyright Mark Shainblum and Gabriel Morrissette. For more info see the Wikipedia article.
The background for the character Nemesis is based on the setting for the Japanese animated Sailor Moon series. (Yes, it is possible to integrate this into the DC Universe: wherever Sailor Moon uses the term Negaverse replace it with "Anti-matter Universe" and the rest falls into place).
Similarly the characters of the Solar Scouts are based on the Sailor Scouts of the Sailor Moon series, with elements of their origins based on the story of Moon Maiden from the JLA Eighty-Page Giant #3 (cover date October 2000) published by DC Comics.
The background of the hero Patriot was inspired by the Vanishing Son series of TV movies.
The character of Michael Bennett (aka Cyberhawk) was originally inspired by the David Xanatos character from the Gargoyles cartoon.
The Banzai Institute is based on the backstory from the movie The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.
The costume for General Kaos of the Sinister Society and the Wild Court is based entirely on the look of M. Bison from the Streetfighter video game and multimedia franchise.
Wonder Boy is the grandson of the Golden Age character Wonder Boy published by Quality Comics in the 1940s.
The following characters are based on or inspired by characters found in the GURPS Supers rulebook from Steve Jackson Games:
The following characters are based on or inspired by characters found in the GURPS Supers Super-Scum supplement from Steve Jackson Games:
The mystic hero White Sorceress comes from the GURPS Supers Supertemps supplement from Steve Jackson Games.
The villain group Deathwish comes from the GURPS Supers module of the same name, published by Steve Jackson Games.
The villain group Hell-Raisers and the team of Flare and the 40 Thieves come from the GURPS Supers module School of Hard Knocks, published by Steve Jackson Games.
The character concepts and technology used by Mystère and the Silver Path were inspired by and partially based on concepts from the novel Count Zero by William Gibson and from the GURPS Voodoo: Shadow War gamebook published by Steve Jackson Games.
The Bishop Twins come from my campaign verion of the Marvel Super Heroes RPG Gang Wars adventure module trilogy.
Solitaire is loosely based on the character of the same name from the Champions RPG, published by Hero Games.
Atlas of the Adventurers is based on the character Captain Atlas from the Champions RPG supplement Golden-Age Champions, published by Hero Games.
The organization C.L.O.W.N. is based on the organization of the same name from the Champions RPG supplement Classic Organizations, published by Hero Games.
PSI is a combination of the version of from the Champions RPG module Mind Games published by Hero Games and the updated version from the Champions: New Millennium RPG published by R. Talsorian Games.
Stronghold penitentiary is based on the location described in the Champions: New Millennium RPG published by R. Talsorian Games.
While Uktena's name and powers are a reference to Native American water spirit creatures, the symbol the character wears comes from the Uktena tribe of White Wolf Games' Werewolf: The Apocalypse RPG.
The following characters are based on or inspired by characters found in the Heroes Unlimited Century Station supplement published by Palladium Books:
The following characters are based on or inspired by characters found in the Heroes Unlimited Gramercy Island supplement published by Palladium Books.
The following characters are based on or inspired by characters found in the Heroes Unlimited Villains Unlimited supplement published by Palladium Books.
Pacific City is based on Night City from the Cyberpunk 2020 RPG published by R. Talsorian Games.
And a special acknowledgement to everyone from my old public school days Marvel Super Heroes game; a lot of those 300+ heroes & villains we came up with have found their way in some form or other into these DC Heroes campaigns a decade (or more) after their creation. So three cheers for Jason Grimmer, my brother Brennan, Brad Neustaedter, Chris Baker, Terry McCallum, Donald McCallum, Weh Ming Cho, Peter Gilbert, and Tommy Lyons. Whether they contributed 1 character or 100, this DC campaign owes them all a debt of gratitude.