History Main / WriteWhoYouKnow

* ''Series/FawltyTowers'': Creator/JohnCleese based Basil Fawlty on Donald Sinclair, an eccentric and irascible Torquay hotelier whom he had observed during a stay in his hotel during a ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' shoot. Among the things Sinclair did to the Monty Python troupe was loudly berating Creator/TerryGilliam's table etiquette, throwing Creator/EricIdle's briefcase out of a window because he believed it contained a bomb, expressing disbelief that Creator/MichaelPalin had pre-booked the TV to catch a show, and starting a loud argument in the reception with Cleese when he requested a taxi. Years after the success of the show, Sinclair's widow contacted the newspapers to complain about the depiction of the character based on her husband, claiming that Cleese had unfairly exaggerated Sinclair's eccentricity, incompetence, and foul temper. [[StreisandEffect Far from salvaging her husband's reputation]], all it did was provoke a lot of independent witnesses (including ''Sinclair's own children'') to also contact the papers with a lot of anecdotes about Sinclair. All of these accounts suggested that, if anything, Cleese had actually ''downplayed'' how irritable Sinclair was. His widow kept silent after that.

* The ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' episode, "[[Recap/RockosModernLifeS2E1IHaveNoSon I Have No Son!]]" has Ralph Bighead create a cartoon called ''[[WesternAnimation/MeetTheFatheads The Fatheads]]'', where he based the titular characters on his parents. Ed and Bev are at first devastated over said cartoon, but learn to take it in stride once Rocko helps Ralph patch up his relationship with them. Near the end of the episode, a grotesque, [[TheDitz dimwitted]] beaver version of Rocko, named "Rollo", is added to ''The Fatheads''.

* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' has this with some of it's main characters.

* The cast of ''Webcomic/{{Multiplex}}'' are making a zombie film in which they all play themselves.
* Webcomic/SabrinaOnline has Sabrina use expies of her own friends and co-workers in her webcomic modeled after her life. Their reactions range from mildly amused to rather peeved.
* Parodied in ''Webcomic/SketchComedy'' when a friend of the cartoonist [[http://thesketchy.com/ic/2010/12/02/and-you-cant-stop-me insists on being drawn into the strip]].
* In ''Webcomic/BanzaiGirl'', Katie's mother uses her daughter as the lead character in her ''Katie's World'' comic strip.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Sunstone}}'' Lisa's characters in her online erotic BDSM writings are clearly based on her and Ally. This causes problems when Lisa decides the logical way to introduce her new friend to the ideas of the scene is to link her to her bibliography. LoveTriangle tropes ensue. It gets even worse when Lisa explicitly writes Anne into the story.
* In the ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive NP'' storyline "Original", Ashley tries ''not'' to do this with her transformation stories, but now she knows people who can actually ''do'' this stuff, it's more difficult. Given the nature of her stories, she realises she needs to create original characters so she can look at her friends without blushing. She ends up creating a totally original scientist who is Elliot in glasses, a totally original assistant who is Susan with glasses and lighter hair, and a totally original test subject who is herself with a different hairstyle. She is completely convinced these are original characters, even though she keeps slipping and imagining them normally. Then she comes up with the idea of a test subject who doesn't get embarassed about this stuff, which makes everyone else ''more'' embarassed, and...
-->'''Ashley''': No, Ashley, that's ''just Grace''.\\
'''Ashley''': That's ''still'' just Grace!\\
'''Ashley''': ''That's just Grace in a hat!''

* Probably the most famous examples in all of comics are the ComicBook/NewGods characters Mr. Miracle aka [[PunnyName Scott Free]] and his wife Big Barda. She is directly based on their creator Creator/JackKirby’s wife Roz which makes him the Scott by extension. The Kirbys were HappilyMarried for over fifty years until his death in 1994.

** He based Seth in ''Film/{{Superbad}}'' off of him as well and Evan is based off co-writer Evan Goldberg.

** In the ''Literature/{{Gone}}'' series, author Creator/MichaelGrant based supporting characters Jack and Brianna off of his son and daughter.

** Lewis based the character of [[Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia Lucy Pevensie]] on June Flewett, a girl who (like the Pevensies) was evacuated during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and came to live in his home. Lucy is named for Lewis' goddaughter, to whom several of the books were dedicated.

* Many of Creator/AnneMcCaffrey's works feature a character named Johnny Green, in memory of her real-life close friend of the same name, who was tragically murdered.
** One character in the ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'' series is modeled on her brother Kevin.
* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' is notorious for this, especially considering that the description of Bella from Creator/StephenieMeyer's own website sounds like a description of... yep, Stephenie Meyer. Even actor Creator/RobertPattinson, who played Edward Cullen, said he felt like he was reading SelfInsertFic.

* Alice, of ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'', was actually a friend of the author, Creator/LewisCarroll. Each of the birds she meets early on in the book are based on her sisters and their nicknames and other things, while Mr. Dodo is Carroll himself.

* Literature/SherlockHolmes was partly based (in both physical appearance and deductive ability) on Doyle's old teacher Dr. Joseph Bell. The likeness was close enough that Creator/RobertLouisStevenson, another student of Bell's, recognised the model from reading ''A Study in Scarlet'' in Tahiti.
** Also, Watson was based on Creator/ArthurConanDoyle himself (example: both were doctors).

* ''Series/{{Workaholics}}'' is a clear example of this, with four of the creators (Kyle, Adam, Blake, and Ders), playing characters similar to themselves named Karl, Adam, Blake, and Ders. The main actors are also writers for the show and have stated that the characters are based on them, but then dumbed down, exaggerated, and thrown into crazy situations.

* A few of the characters on ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen'' are a bit of this: Pauline is based on a restart officer that Reece Shearsmith once had, while Papa Lazarou is based on an eccentric Greek landlord he and Steve Pemberton once shared (there's a good chance that Pemberton's character Pop is based on him as well). Ollie Plimsoles is based on someone Mark Gatiss met in community theatre, with Phil as an AuthorAvatar of Gatiss himself.
* Catherine Tate admits to doing this for [[Series/TheCatherineTateShow her self-titled comedy show]]: Margaret is based on her mother, the "tactless woman" on Tate herself, and Paul and Sam on a couple she knows. She has also claimed that the Aga Saga Woman is based on a woman she met on the King's Road in London and Geordie Georgie on someone who wrote to her asking for charity donations.

* A majority of ''Series/FreaksAndGeeks'' was based on creator Paul Feig's life in Michigan - especially the character of Sam Weir.

* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'': The main characters are based on the real Jerry Seinfeld and his friends Creator/LarryDavid and Elaine Boosler, plus Larry David's former neighbor Kenny Kramer. (Larry David provided the model for George Costanza, which may explain why [[AsHimself David]] was going to play George in the ''Seinfeld'' ReunionShow on ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm''.) The main reason why George got better as a character was because Creator/JasonAlexander found out Larry based him on himself and started playing the character as an exaggerated version of Larry.
* Speaking of which: every main character in ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'' who isn't already ''supposed'' to be [[AsHimself the real thing]]. In fact, Larry said that he'd considered getting someone else to play him in Curb, but thought "ah, who am I fooling?". He also notes that in both Curb and Seinfeld that he wrote things in the plot that happened to him in real life and how he reacted to them. Larry has noted that his Curb persona is slightly more antisocial than he is in real life for the sake of comedy.
* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' is partially based on creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas' younger days: Ted is based on Bays, Marshall on Thomas, and Lily on Thomas's wife.
* Charlie Harper, the (former) star of ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'', is basically the exact same character as his actor, Creator/CharlieSheen, having the same personality traits, the same hedonistic habits, and the same characteristics.

* Some ''Series/DawsonsCreek'' fans speculated that Creator/KevinWilliamson based the gay character Jack on himself. It's true insofar as the main characters are all based on different aspects of Williamson's personality. He has also said that his own coming out, unlike Jack's, was pretty uneventful. Williamson also stated that film-lover Dawson and Joey were originally based on himself and a childhood friend. Though in real-life their relationship was platonic (obviously).
* Many ''Series/HarryEnfieldAndChums'' characters were based on real people Harry encountered; for example, the Lovely Wobbly Randy Old Ladies are based on women he encountered as an easily-embarrassed teenaged delivery boy, and Tim Nice-But-Dim on a period when he had a girlfriend who got invited to posh parties, where he'd have to make conversation with old public schoolboys who were friendly, but had no idea how to talk to anyone who wasn't "something in [[UsefulNotes/{{London}} the City]]".

* Comedian Brent Butt based his character on ''Series/CornerGas'', Brent Leroy, on himself, saying he didn't trust his ability to act.
* ''Series/TheSopranos'':
** Creator/DavidChase claims the relationship between Tony and his mother Livia was based on his relationship with his own mother, Norma.
** Chase's inspiration for Dr. Melfi came from his own psychiatrist at the time, Dr. Lorraine Kaufman, and eventually contributed to the psychological development of some of the characters.
* Creator/JossWhedon based Cordelia Chase in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' on a girl with whom his wife attended high school, and Xander Harris on himself. According to Creator/NicholasBrendon, this is why Xander "gets all the good lines".
** Whedon said of Oz:
-->The only character that was really ever based on somebody I knew is Oz. There was a guy in college I knew, who was short, played guitar, very quiet, incredibly cool, named Oz, and somehow I sort of extrapolated from that and worked him in as a character on the show.
* ''Series/FawltyTowers'': Creator/JohnCleese based Basil Fawlty on Donald Sinclair, an eccentric and irascible Torquay hotelier whom he had observed during a stay in his hotel during a ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' shoot. Among the things Sinclair did to the Monty Python troupe was loudly berating Creator/TerryGilliam's table etiquette, throwing Creator/EricIdle's briefcase out of a window because he believed it contained a bomb, expressing disbelief that Creator/MichaelPalin had pre-booked the TV to catch a show, and starting a loud argument in the reception with Cleese when he requested a taxi. Years after the success of the show, Sinclair's widow contacted the newspapers to complain about the depiction of the character based on her husband, claiming that Cleese had unfairly exaggerated Sinclair's eccentricity, incompetence, and foul temper. [[StreisandEffect Far from salvaging her husband's reputation]], all it did was provoke a lot of independent witnesses (including ''Sinclair's own children'') to also contact the papers with a lot of anecdotes about Sinclair. All of these accounts suggested that, if anything, Cleese had actually ''downplayed'' how irritable Sinclair was. His widow kept silent after that.
* [[http://forums.delphiforums.com/toughpigs/messages/17749/1 According to]] [=ToughPigs=], ''Series/DonkeyHodie'' is based on the experiences Adam Rudman had with his three daughters.
* Otoya Kurenai from ''Series/KamenRiderKiva'' and his antics as TheCasanova were based on ''Kiva'' head writer Creator/ToshikiInoue’s father Masaru Igami (who was notably the head writer for many ''Kamen Rider'' seasons of the Shōwa era) [[https://www.asahi.com/showbiz/column/animagedon/TKY201102210265.html being a complicated]] MrViceGuy as he states in his father’s biography, and Otoya’s depiction as a ChivalrousPervert is reflective of Igami’s redeeming qualities that earned him the admiration of his peers and son despite those flaws.

* Joe Murray wrote the recurring character of Ralph Bighead on ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' as a less stable version of himself. The show's staff caught on and convinced him to do the voice himself - because they wanted an excuse to hear the normally monotone Murray yell.

* Creator/MikeJudge wrote and voiced [[WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead Tom Anderson]] and later [[WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill Hank Hill]] as caricatures of the adult male authority figures he knew growing up in New Mexico.

* On ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', the protagonists are a pair of twins loosely based on creator Alex Hirsch and his twin sister Ariel. The voice of Grunkle Stan originates from a grandfather whom Alex faintly remembers and Soos is based on a friend from college. The idea of the show taking place during summer vacation came from the Hirsch siblings staying with a great-aunt of theirs during one summer.
** Asked to describe the show, he once said "''Gravity Falls'' = ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' + ''Series/TwinPeaks'' + Making Fun Of My Sister."

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' is based on creator Creator/ChrisSavino's own experiences growing up in a large family. That said, the five Loud girls who were given the names of Savino's sisters (Lori, Luan, Lynn, Lana, and Lisa) don't share personalities with their namesakes.

* In the DatingSim ''Videogame/AlwaysRememberMe'', the protagonist is an amateur writer who also dabbles in poetry. If her affection for a love interest is high enough and you choose to have her write something, she will write a poem specifically for that love interest.

* The subject of the art of most items made by the dwarves from ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' depicts events that have transpired within the fortress, which explains, for example, the obsession the inhabitants of ''{{WebVideo/Boatmurdered}}'' had with elephants and screaming.

* ''WesternAnimation/ElTigre'': Series creator Jorge Gutiérrez based the series' fundamental conflict of Manny having to choose between following in the footsteps of his superhero father and supervillain grandfather on his own childhood in Mexico City as the son of an artist and the grandson of a military man. Also, Manny and Frida's personalities are based on those of himself and his wife Sandra.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz are based on Daron Nefcy and her husband, Bobby Miller. [[https://preview.redd.it/lgnjqbvu9kg31.png?width=540&format=png&auto=webp&s=97ee20f586fba4cb20f48daf12b781b6200345d1 The two of them even cosplayed as their respective counterparts once]].

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': During a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMM46cvu86M Q&A session]] at Florida Supercon 2015, [[note]]skip to 24:53[[/note]] Tom Kenny revealed that he based [=SpongeBob's=] iconic voice on a [[SirSwearsALot foul-mouthed]] little person he met during a commercial audition.

* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': Jet was based on the series creator Craig Bartlett:
-->'''Craig Bartlett''': “[[WesternAnimation/HeyArnold Arnold]] was how I felt being a kid and [[WesternAnimation/DinosaurTrain Buddy the T-Rex]] is really optimistic and doesn’t see how anything can’t work out and a friend to all. And Jet is even more so because Jet won’t shut up, you can’t get him down, he is always optimistic and he’s like the music man always bursting into song. When I was a kid, I thought wouldn’t it be fun if everything was a musical and people were always bursting into song. So I feel like he is the best iteration of my kind of personality that we’ve come up with yet.”

* Johnny Sasaki, in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and its sequels, is supposed to be Hideki Sasaki, [[CreatorCameo the character model designer on the first game]], who is apparently known around the office for his habit of spending forever in the toilet and "rearranging the things on his desk to look busy". While he's a ButtMonkey in the original game, his final appearance in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' is rather a lot more sympathetic.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': Richard Castle openly based his character Nikki Heat on Detective Beckett. He also wrote in a character based on himself, as well as thinly veiled counterparts of the rest of the cops Beckett works with. He seems to have done it before, too, such as when he based a character on Powell the jewel thief.

* The subject of the art of most items made by the dwarves from ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' depicts events that have transpired within the fortress, which explains, for example, the obsession the inhabitants of ''{{LetsPlay/Boatmurdered}}'' had with elephants and screaming.

* Otoya Kurenai from ''Series/KamenRiderKiva'' and his antics as TheCasanova were based on ''Kiva'' head writer Creator/ToshikiInoue’s father Masaru Igami (who was notably the head writer for many ''Kamen Rider'' seasons of the Shōwa era) [[https://www.asahi.com/showbiz/column/animagedon/TKY201102210265.html being a complicated]] MrViceGuy as he states in his father’s biography, and Otoya’s depiction as a ChivalrousPervert is reflective of Igami’s redeeming qualities that earned him the admiration of his peers and son despite those flaws.

* For ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'', Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto based the Boos' famous "shy when you're looking, mean when you're not" quirk on the wife of fellow developer Takashi Tezuka--specifically, her frustration at him working long hours.

* Creator/ElliotSMaggin admitted [[CreatorCameo to]] ComicBook/GreenArrow that his dialogue is patterned on the way Maggin himself talks in real life.

* The cast of ''[=TVTome=] Adventures'' are, for the most part, representations of users Chris Niosi met on [=TVTome=] (hence the series title). Chris Niosi himself is represented through the characters [=Kirbopher15=] and Zetto, and is the only voice actor from TTA to reprise their role in the series remake, ''WebAnimation/{{TOME}}'' (apart from a [[spoiler: ContinuityCameo from Edwin Tiong's character Giga.]])

** Heidi (a vampire who dresses as a prostitute to attract humans for the Volturi to eat) was named after one of Meyer's sisters. Um, yeah...

* A common bit of advice given to starting wrestlers trying to formulate a gimmick for the first time is "take the man and turn it up to 11." Take attributes that apply to one's real life and see if there's any aspects that could be turned into an in-ring character. So Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield being a millionaire stock broker persona in the ring reflects his real-life investment savvy and the wealth he built for himself (enough to write a book on financial investing advice).
** Of course this can go a [[{{Deconstruction}} bit too far]]. Wrestling/RicFlair is the "stylin', profilin', limousine ridin', Rolex wearin', kiss stealin', wheelin', dealin', son of a gun" as a wrestler but it's not a far cry from the real life he led outside of the ring in his prime, which really put him in some unfortunate situations later in life with mounting debt forcing him to continue as a performer well into his 50s and even early 60s.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid'': Andreas Deja, the lead animator for King Triton, described the character as being strict and by-the-book and would often get mad at Ariel, then feel guilty afterwards, which reminded him of his own father.

* ''Literature/FearOfFlying'' and its sequels are based on the life of author Creator/EricaJong. Her protagonist is also a writer and also experiences broad success with her first novel, and a number of other details are similar to Jong's own life. With Jong now in her seventies, the latest book predictably addresses aging and death.

* In ''LightNovel/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'', while Mashiro's manga art is impeccable, her storytelling is below par due to her inability to understand emotions. Her editor Ayano recommended she describe the daily happenings in [[QuirkyHousehold Sakura Hall]]. Eventually, her serialized manga ''Nanohana-sou'' is practically what happened in the Sakura Hall at the moment, except that she and her CloudcuckoolandersMinder Sorata switched ''bodies''.