When I said characters I had specifically his protagonists in mind.
Ya know, its been a while since I've read Hesse. I'm trying to remember which books of his I've read. I first read Siddhartha, and later I read Steppenwolf and The Glass Bead Game. I read some of his other books, but I can't recall what they were now. I might've read Demian. I'm pretty sure I never read The Journey to the East.
I've seen some interesting adaptations of his novels. Steppenwolf was made into a decent movie. Siddhartha was filmed in India, but you could tell that the conservativism of India couldn't quite do respect to the story. Even so, if you enjoyed Siddhartha the book, its worthwhile watching the film version. Actually, I'd recommend a different "version" of Siddhartha. It was also translated as a spaghetti western which is very amusing.
As for the topic at hand, I find it interesting that Jung and Hesse knew eachother. Hesse, without my knowing it at the time, was my introduction to Jung's ideas. I've read that Hesse particularly focused on the typological distinction of Introversiona and Extraversion, and I can see that in some of his works.
I would try to say more, but its just been too long since I've read Hesse.