One of the best characters I had wrote was based off an individual I knew. Who, when I presented it to them, were simultaneously horrified that they were the inspiration, the persona, for a monstrous thing - imagine a timid, uncertain, flighty soul who lusts for power having it suddenly and recklessly abusing it - and at the same time willing to concede that would be the most likely of outcomes. Of course it edged more closely to the grim and the dark tones, yet it made for a wonderful experience; the idea of what a well known would almost assuredly do.