Premade characters can be a great source for inspiration but generally I prefer creating my own unique characters with some having pretty fleshed-out and in-depth backstories.
Started off with basic in-group play-by-post RPs on the Bioware Social Network under the name of Nihlus Kryik (sue me EA). After I lost interest in BSN it wasn't untill a couple of years ago that I resumed my interest in roleplay on the Facepunch forums.