I've recently started a new young adult piece of writing - I don't know if it'll become a fully fledged novel just yet. I've kind of fallen at the first hurdle with this one though. Long story short, I created a really cool character - a centuries old undead mage/wizard who sold his soul to have magical powers, but was trapped as a skeleton for the rest of eternity when he died. He'll be acting as a kind of reluctant secondary antagonist in that he doesn't want the MC to die or fail, but he was the one who 'got him into this mess'. Anyway, even though I've never even picked it up, the thought of googling Skullduggery Pleasant came into my head last night - I think maybe because he's quite a popular 'skeletal' character - and I can tell just from reading the wikipedia entry that there are similarities. Anyone who's read the book(s): what do you think?
I haven't read the books but I'll repeat what I've just said in another thread a few minutes ago. Don't let the fact that your idea/character may be similar to something done previously. Humans have been writing for thousands of years; chances are somebody has written something similar. It's not just about whether or not your idea/character is something entirely unique; it's about whether you can do something unique with that idea/character.
I was thinking more of Skeletor, or perhaps Mamra. Does your antagonist recite the following words ever: "powers of ancient evil, transform this decaying form into Mamra, the ever living"? And if not, why not?
There's always some sort of chosen one trying to save the world from some sort of impending doom. The question you should ask yourself is: 'How can I write this?' If that sort of thing fascinates you, then play with it. Go nuts.
It can almost sound like Lord Voldemort in a certain sense, too, but it's always better to not look at how something might be the same as a previously published character/work, but how you can make yours stand out. I'm not familiar with the character you mentioned, but maybe you can spend some bonding time with your mage and hash out his biography! That usually helps me out, try a roleplay even if that's your cup of tea!
