This is a theoretical question mostly.

Say I want to make 4 characters who are specifically named, look like and are supposed to be Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Woodsman and the Scarecrow. Now I don't want this myself but these are fictional PUBLIC DOMAIN characters. I assume it would be allowed. Nobody could sue.

Another query... We're not supposed to do real people, historical or otherwise. What about Historical fictional characters? Examples would be Beowulf, the Lady of the Lake, Homer, etc.
And what about characters who we're not sure were actually real (but possibly were) like say Robin Hood? Could one make a Robin Hood character without getting in trouble?

Basically my examples are all public domain with the exception of Robin Hood would may or may not have actually existed. :p

Lots of queries!

I think that all of those would be ok. But I'm not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV. ;)

I think you should try it and let us know.

I'm currently levelling a single-blade character named "Cu Chulainn".

I made him thinking that as he's a character from a two-thousand year old legend, he'd be fine, but now your thread is making me wonder.

You have inspired me. I now must make a character named Gilgamesh.

I think it's fine. I might just test it out. :p

It's not against the listed rules so I don't see the problem. But you have to be careful you don't copy a likeness of those characters that IS from copyrighted source.

For example, if you made your Oz characters look like the ones in the movie version you would be in violation because those likenesses are covered. If Your Robin Hood looked like a carbon copy of the Errol Flynn (yay!) or Kevin Costener (cringe!) versions you'd have the same problem. But if you did your own interpretation based on the source it should be alright.

Interesting thread.

is it really that hard to be original? I can think of several names and looks using the character creator that are not trademarked or copywritten.

If you are unsure if some character name and design is or isnt against the Eula, then its probably best not to use it.

Technically, I expect it'd be perfectly fine-- but realistically, you'd probably get passed through the GM Delete mill like anyone else with a character based on something from real life. They're just not going to take the time to say, "oh yes- that's Public Domain so it's fine". :p