prototype characters?

i read somewhere that when shakespeare was writing "Romeo and Juliet" he had already begun work on "Hamlet" and that the character of Romeo is thought to be a mere prototype version of Hamlet.
i was thinking that this may be true of finalfantasy. i always thought that some aspects of Cloud’s personality resembeled a toned down Squall. As shakespeare did, I was wondering if the writers of ff had explored character traits in Cloud before commiting them fully to one character in Squall.
what do you think?

It’s possible, I suppose.

Cloud and Squall are of a similar vein in that they don’t seem to give a crap about anyone else at the start of their respective stories. The thing I like about Squall is his willingness to reform himself for the one he loves. Everyone will always claim Cloud is better than Squall, but it was Squall whom I had more respect for at the end of his game.

Then again, maybe Square were just too lazy to form a unique character.