public IActionResult Latest(int num = 10) { var sampleCharacters = new List <CharacterViewModel>(); // add a bunch of sample Characterzes for (int i = 1; i <= num; i++) { sampleCharacters.Add(new CharacterViewModel() { Id = i, Name = String.Format("Sample Character {0}", i), Sex = RNG.Dice(2) == 0 ? Sex.Male : Sex.Female, CreatedDate = DateTime.Now, LastModifiedDate = DateTime.Now }); } // output the result in JSON format return(new JsonResult( sampleCharacters, new JsonSerializerSettings() { Formatting = Formatting.Indented })); }