How do you learn to draw and design video game characters. I want to learn to draw them so I can eventually make my own flash games.

Do you want to learn to model them? Or texture them? Or draw them? I'm a bit confused. As far as drawing them, I would suggest doing a Google search for character drawing tutorial or character art tutorial or something around those lines. Otherwise check the gamedev articles for good references.

If you mean, designing characters on paper, draw anatomy. Getting basic human anatomy is one of the hardest things to draw. Focus on getting human proportions. Don't worry about shading and lighting until you get your proportions right.

Go to school and take classes that teach you how to draw.

I agree to all above, though I would recommend you the book series called "How to draw Manga". It's good for starters, and is divided into many categories, such as anatomy, dressing, male, felame, cartoon, horror, fantasy, you name it...