On live I had a few different iterations of Scarlet Shocker spread across Defiant & Union (we only had two English speaking shards back then) and here I've created Glass Fox and Vitric Vixen who are effectively two poles of the same character - there's an entire thread about it in the not too distant past if you're interested.
I found that the latter combo was nigh impossible to play as a contiguous whole so they are largely retired, but I do love the concept of a glass character that once shattered rebuilds itself in a tougher variant.
I got bored with different versions of Scarlet and I found they quickly became autonomous characters in their own right in my mind.
What I don't grok with the OP is the difficulty in coming up with an original concept for a character. I find that one of the easiest things to do - often the concept comes first, then the power sets are taken to fit the character. A great example of that is I came up with the notion of the Praetorian Imperial Secret Service; an organization with a singular objective of keeping Emperor Cole's legacy alive at all costs. Then I needed a character who would fit that, fanatical, dedicated, tough, but not invincible, and able to boss the field of play, that fitted my play style. That became a no-brainer; a Plant/TA controller (this was live when that was a very respected combo and I tend to shy away from melee and VEATS weren't a thing) and all I had to do then was come up with a costume (gold and white of course) and name. Once all the background was slotted into space the name was simple enough; Barbed Quarrel.
Yeah... I over think shit sometimes!