well, it depends. Do you mean like the animated ones or the ones that seem to be original artwork and not just a screenshot of the character?
The animated ones that look kinda like old school Characters....i think you would call them 2-bit correct me if im wrong
THink of Super mario on the super nintendo =]
oh the ones that look like Mega Man characters? Sorry man, I dont know. I know there was an artist on here creating them for people but I dont know where he is at. There might be a site on the web that has templates.
Hopefully, someone with more knowledge will have the answer for you this weekend.
I believe there are sites that have images of the 8bit characters and some of their animations pulled out frame by frame.
Some folks adjust the sprites to look like their own COX characters, which fantastic results. I think there are few threads somewhere around here about it.
Other than that animated avatars aren't too difficult. (I think there was a guide on it in the Players Guide section.
You're refering to Quake's Megas thread. He been tied up with RL stuff for a while, but go ahead and submit your request in his thread...he'll eventually get around to it.
PM Quake, you won't be able to find his thread very easily. XD
Like mine?
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I'd be happy to try to make one for you...but I can't promise anything good.
My 5th Column, for example. Its a scan, I lost the original. 
I am have noticed that some people have some truly unique avatars and was wonering if there was some type of newbie guide to show how to make one of my own........Avatar creation for dumies?