When I first played an rpg with a basic character creator (the demo of bg2 I think, it's been a while), I made a character that was as close to me as possible.

When I was in a period of playing lots of rpg, I tended to make characters that were far from myself and with lots of variation. So more often than not female, but not always.

And now that I play less rpg again, in the rare case that I start a new game, I again make characters that are close to me in looks. Usually an older greyer version, but still recognizably me.