there are many 'themed' characters you can choose from, including the overgrown musclebound nordic/orcish warrior, teh dark intelligent powerful mage/sorceror, or the quick agile and secretive bowman. these of course are the mian three cliche images projected into pretty much every rpg on the face of the earth. then of course you can combine two or more of these characters in any proportion or ratio you want.
or you can simple use your imagination ro create a new and original 'genre' of character type and attitude.
another way i have seen people make characters is that they emulate certain characters in movies, like lord of the rings, or other video games, like link from the legend of zelda series.
another factor you could use in creation of your character is functionality, or challenge. i myself have made a character of a custom 'commoner' class, who majors in no combat or magic skills. this proved to be a very good way to make the game a but more interesting, involving, and difficult.

mmm, i wish i could have posts like this 'stickied' or 'pinned' or whatever you guys have.