What inspired you to write/draw your own work? I'm not talking about outside inspirations, I'm talking about movies, video games, books, etc. that inspired you to write something, even if it did begin as a how you'd do it... before you knew it, you had your cast acting out something original you made in your own fictional world?

I very seldom write anything that's fantasy- whether it's swords or sci-fi, so most of of my list is going to be that, but I am trying to research other mediums.

Books/comics

Lord of the Rings
The Harry Potter books
The Redwall series
Raymond E. Feist- ANY series
Undersea
The Crossgen comics (any title)

Video Games

Vagrant Story
Final Fantasy VI, IX, X and online
Xenogears/saga
Saga Frontier
Shadow of Destiny
Metal Gear Solid
Chrono Trigger and Cross
Star Ocean(all, though the second story had the most impact)
Drakengard
Dragon Warrior

Movies and Series

movies-
Willow
Star Wars
The Dark Crystal
Monsters, inc.
Ladyhawke
The Postman
Braveheart
Dragonheart

series-
Highlander
Batman: TAS
Beyond Belief: Fact or fiction?

Anime-
Record of Lodoss Wars
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Maison Ikkoku
Ronouni Kenshin
Battle Angel Alita
Gunsmith Cats
Chrono Crusade

As a writer, I was inspired generally by sci-fi/fantasy authors - Terry Brooks, Robert Jordan specifically. I don't get much time to write anymore though

As an actor/playwright, I draw heavily on English comedy, specifically Monty Python, Blackadder and Douglas Adams.

I am gifted in writeing stories oh well

Movies

The evil dead
Van helsing
Mouln Rouge
Termantor
The mummy
Harry potter
lord of the rings


Games

Tekken
Devil may cry
Bloodryane


Books[U]

Dracula
Blood sinester
across the nightingle floor
the vampire prince
Chinesse Cinderllea

Movies:
Metropolis (1927 - not the anime one)
Nosferatu (1922)
The Matrix
Indiana Jones
James Bond
old Sci-Fi moster flicks

Books:
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (full version)
The Odyssey
From Russia With Love
Candide
Gulliver's Travels
The Lost World (not the Jurassic Park one)
Ghost in the Shell

Games:
Final Fantasy VII
LoZ: WindWaker

Biggest influences. Personal experience.

Must be nice to not see a movie, read a book, or play a game and be able to create your own stories "what-if"ing them...

This is a thread about what MOVIES, BOOKS, VIDEO GAMES, ETC. gave you ideas for some of your work. Did you end up making up your own story off a fanfic of What Would you have done if I was the hero in Chrono Cross at (favorite moment from the game)? Would you have spit on Star Ocean 2's ten wise men, just to provoke a fight early? How about movies- would you have been more rational than Mad Max? Did you ever think about what you would have done different in your favorite crime drama? Books- If you were Frodo, would you have done things different? If you were friends with Harry Potter, would you have helped him think things out?

Then you decide that you got a cool story and create a whole new world and exclude the characters that aren't yours, and the rest is history?

That's the thread topic- personal experience doesn't count for this discussion.

Thank you for pointing that out.

I am very often inspired to create scenarios which portray personal experience. Plus, Video games inspire me quite a bit too. I like those 'free' video games when you can just go around and explore; those help the most.

Maynard from Tool...or any of the Resident Evil movies...

Harry Harrison is probably my biggest influence. Love his writing style.

My own life and sods law and uncessesary bad karma.

I find inspiration all over the place...

Music - It doesn't have to be a whole song, maybe just a particular lyric within. This is probably where the greatest part of my ideas come from.

Games - Those with awesome stories like the Legacy of Kain series, Kingdom Hearts, Diablo.

Movies - Movies that go beyond your typical action/thriller are always good to watch.

TV Shows - Good to watch to figure out character development.

Dreams - The crazy things that go on inside my head at night almost always contain interesting storylines....

people i have met in real life

movies: Little women

Book: Little Women

Loves that Little Women( my fav)

Also I really enjoy watching cartoons so my cartoon drawings are from usually rugrats. Something in that nature.

I was always inspired by sci-fi, fantasy and horror writers. Back in the day, when I was still in college, I wrote some amazing stuff while under the influence of alcohol but I can't do that anymore.

Books:
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Sword of Truth Series: Wizards First Rule - Faith of the Fallen
ALL Gary Paulsen books
[Quite a small list here]

Movies:
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Excalibur
King Arthur [New]
War of the Worlds
Braveheart
Gladiator
Hidalgo
Star-Wars
Stargate
[I usually study technique and emotions in movies]

TV Shows:
Star Trek
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Enterprise
[Sorry, huge trekkie]
Stargate SG-1
Battlestar Galactica
The Lost World: [The one by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]

Music:
Folk, blues, and some other certain types of music are really inspirational. I also listen to New Age/Ambient/Native American music when I am writing for concentration.

Mythology:
Norse mythology has been a HUGE inspiration, aid, and hobby for me ever since I first learned a lot about it. The simple lessons or heroics in each tale shows me more and more how the mind reacts to stories, characters, and settings, so I try my best to warp each to my liking.

Games
Rune: This is the best and most inspirational game I have ever played, period. It got me into Norse Mythology, and writing even more, as well as mapping with 3d's, and some scripting.
Rune: Halls of Valhalla
Stronghold: Was fun to stage huge battles and got me wanting to write about them.
Eternal Darkness: I've never played a game with a better storyline. It's been extremely influential and is still fun to play although I've beaten it on all three paths.
Postal II: Blood. That's all I need to say.
Anarchy Online: Great story to the game if you actually read up on it. It's given me a few ideas.

Dreams
Like said above, some of my inspiration -- actually a lot of it -- is from dreams. I'm even planning to use a being in a story that was from one of my dreams. It doesn't have a name but it's so ugly, sad, and strange, that it has to be in a story.

And the best of all...:
People. I don't know how you can get better inspiration than from watching how others act, and react. It teaches you a lot about human nature, and teaches you even more about character development and personality. Any person will do, including stars.

Oh, I forgot one...

Music Videos - Fitting a whole story into 4 minutes of pictures is an amazing feat, but there always seems like there could be more to these stories than they show.