A Goodreads user asked Jerry B. Jenkins:

Hey Mr. Jenkins- I’m a huge fan of Left Behind and a reader of your writing blog. I was wondering how you came up with the character of Nicolae Carpathia?

Jerry B. Jenkins Needless to say, creating an Antichrist character was quite a challenge. He's the ultimate villain and, according to our view of Scripture, will be so attractive and charming that for the first three and half years of his reign, he will not only NOT be recognized as the AC, but will be assumed to be God incarnate. I knew I was on the right track when one of my sons--then a teenager--read the initial draft and said, "I hope this guy's not the antichrist, because I like him." :)

Dr. LaHaye believed the AC would have Roman blood, so to avoid the Italian cliche, I made him Romanian.

His name was easy, as the late evil dictator of Romania was a Nicolae, and I used the Transylvania mountain range as his last name. A critic said that if he was American, I would have called him Joe Rockies. Ha!

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