Anyone make a character out of Blender?

I haven't seen anything about people making their characters from Blender. I assume it's possible (I've made many objects from it. I hear some things about baking animations and such. Is using Blender not a smart modelling tool for character creation? I would think a free tool would have more support. Who has the cash to purchase modelling software anyways? It's almost like the lack of support is promoting piracy.