[quote=MatthiasAngel]So much yes. Especially when it's a copy/paste from deviantART and no credit is given to the artist. Remember what OC stands for. Sometimes I think people see a cool picture and turn it into their character, rather than create one on their own and use a picture as a basic reference.[/quote]

I'd like to comment (a little late, maybe) that when an image is needed, it will rule the appearance of the character. One can write as long as a description as one likes, the image will still say a thousand words more. As such it is incredibly hard to first create the character and then try in vain to find an image that suits the character. So, yes. In the scenarios I need an image, I would find the image before fleshing out the character. Of course, I create the base first and consider the backstory, but then I need to find the image. Afterwards, I make sure to have the aura of my character and the aura of the image to match. Otherwise, it would just be a boatload of more work. I would greatly advice to try to find an image really early in the creation phase if an image is needed unless one has an artist who could imagine drawing your character. That's my opinion on that.