As weird as the characters (and settings, in the above case) of the Star Wars universe are, they all have an origin of sorts. The creators have been asked time and time again where they got their ideas, and the answers range from goofy (literally) to sublime. A few come from previous movies, which makes sense for movie makers, like the cantina in the wretched hive of scum and villainy. Others were inspired by real people, although we'd like to know what those people thought about it.
That's two. You can see the other top inspirations for Star Wars characters at Cracked.