You know IMO the Australian company Cyclone comics had the most original characters.
1. A guy who is an alien and a human descendant from witches occupying the same body granting the soul power of one and the psionic power of the other
2. A Mild TKer implanted with a device that draws power from a specially designed power cane so that his TK was at vast levels
3. A werewolf who was what he was because his gypsy parents were experimented on by the Third Reitch
4. A guy with super strength not from a super soldier serum but a virus that is lethal to 99% of people unless they have either a rare blood disorder ( like him) or are mentally insane ( like one of his enemies)
5. An alien space ranger who is a walking bipedal platypus with a bionic arm and a bad attitude
you can blame Dave Cockrum for that.From what I heard, Nightcrawler was supposed to be a member of LOSH.But Cockrum decided to bring Nightcrawler into Marvel when he left DC.Only thing we can say now is that the LOSH would pawn the X-men.
I got to disagree with you on this one.Chaos King's back story of being the darkness and chaos that existed before everything else in creation came from Amatsu-Mikaboshi's story(Read the letters of Shinkiji Yukiko for more details).If you do happen to read the Letters of Shinkiji Yukiko, you'll be surprised on how Marvel was almost close to mimicking Amatsu-Mikaboshi of Japanese mythology.Not to mention CK came from the Japanese Gods called Amatsu-Kamis in MU.And if copy right is concerned, CK was based on a God of Mythology.And Gods being used in fictional writing falls in the "Public Domain" category.Therefore, CK is not a rip off of Nekron since he's back story is based on Japanese Mythology(public domain).
IMO DC is focused more on feats and pushing power levels and sets to what seems like PIS to casual readers. so they have really cool feats and imaginative ways to use powers.
I think the actual characters in marvel themselves are more unique and less archetypical overall.
DC has always been about grabbing other companies. Charlton, Wildstorm, to name a few. Now DC has merged Vertigo and WS in one universe. DC has this, IMO.