Did you know... Pac-Man's gameplay and ghosts were inspired by comic book characters and animation ? Toru Iwatani ( the creator of Pac-Man ) revealed that the power-up idea was inspired by Popeye , who often defeated his arch rival Bluto by eating spinach . Pac-Man's ghosts were also inspired by comic book characters. " Pac-Man is inspired by all the manga and animation that I’d watch as a kid " Iwatani told Wired in 2010. " The ghosts were inspired by Casper or Obake no Q-Taro '' .