The Sherlock Holmes character has been redone and reimagined in TV and movies probably dozens of times. Both the actual ‘Sherlock Holmes’ character, and also characters who are not, but are clearly modeled after Holmes, in the “brilliant master detective who does not relate to other people in a normal way, and usually has a sidekick to help him negotiate ordinary life” mode. Like Dr. House on ‘House, M.D.’ who had Dr. Wilson as his Dr. Watson. Bill Pullman was in a movie called “Zero Affect” in which he played a drug addicted, emotional mess who was a master detective. Ben Stiller played his ‘Dr. Watson’ surrogate in that movie. The ‘Monk’ character was also very Sherlockian.
Hollywood obviously loves the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ character. It got me wondering what other characters have been done and redone so often, either the actual character or thinly disguised analogues, they’ve become tropes, and I couldn’t really think of another to rival Sherlock. The Frankenstein monster, maybe? Robin Hood?
The anti-Holmes is the private eye. That trope is based on Sam Spade, Dashiell Hammett’s character. He only appeared in one novel and three short stories, but Raymond Chandler’s Phillip Marlowe, an obvious Spade successor, appeared in a series of books, most of which were turned into movies.
James Bond created the modern spy/action thriller, and spawned imitators almost instantly.
Dracula is far more a character out of plays and movies than from Bram Stoker’s novel, and there’s been zillions of movies that copy one another to reinforce that. Similarly, Superman spawned the superhero genre.
The wise-cracking bumbler who comes up on top in the end is largely based on Bob Hope’s character in the 1930s and 1940s. Plenty of comic sidekicks existed but he was first to make it the starring role. Woody Allen always credits Hope for his character.
Thinking about it, lots of actors created personas that were copied endlessly. Tom Mix was the archetypal cowboy in silent films and John Wayne in talkies. Jean Harlow was the first Platinum Blonde. Marlon Brando was the tormented brooder.
Are you looking for characters about whom many movies were made or characters who started a trope that many others imitated? And what about television?
Not sure what distinction you’re making in your first question, but as to the second question, sure, both TV and movies are fair game. Great examples given, btw. Dracula especially- Dracs might rival or even beat Sherlock in the number of incarnations he’s had.
John Carter/Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers – intrepid hero having adventures in the future or on another planet. You can see it in Luke Skywalker, for instance. Note that the heroes are often outsiders and has to learn about what they’re getting into.
The trope is young girl (or teens or twenties actress) who is dumped into a ceazy fantasy land where she faces challenges (with the help of companions picked up along the way) and perseveres. Examples (that aren’t actually called a variety of Alice in Wonderland) off the top of my head include:
The Wizard of Oz Spirited Away Mirrormask Coraline Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror Birthday Wonderland
I’d say it’s more the situation than the character that’s the trope, there.
Besides which, from one angle, Alice In Wonderland (the original book, at least) has more in common with Monty Python and the Holy Grail than with any of the works you mentioned: it’s an excuse for a series of comedy sketches.
I think @Darren_Garrison is right about the trope, but I think @Exapno_Mapcase and @Thudlow_Boink have a point about Alice. She’s not so much the hero of an adventure in a magical land as someone who a bunch of weird stuff happens to. Dorothy is I think closer to the ur-trope. Alice is a clear forerunner to Dorothy, though, so I think it’s a bit of a toss-up.
Whichever you count as the ur-trope character, I think there is definitely a trope there: the girl (young woman in some revisionist versions) who goes on a magical adventure in an Otherworld, opposes a villain, and wins through by being brave, clever, kind, and making friends.
Son Goku (The Trickster Monkey King) Inspired dozens of anime characters in everything from Dragonball Z to One Piece,
Jennifer (Veronica Lake) in I Married a Witch lead to Bewitched which lead to Sally the Witch which lead to Minky Momo which led to Sailor Moon and dozens of other magical girl characters.
Speaking of Sailor Moon it was loosely based on The Tale of the Grasscutter (also known as The Tale Of Princess Kagura) variations of which appear in many anime.
The Scarlet Pimpernel. The secret identity as a foppish dandy while having adventures as a masked crusader. The direct fore-runner to Zorro and The Shadow (and a host of other lesser Mystery Men), and through them to Batman, who became a trope of his own.
Moriarty is an even more widespread trope that Holmes himself. There are lots of Holmes-type heroes but there are even more Moriarty-style super-villians.
Not super well known but William Simonson, the boardmember “suit” working for the Soylent Corporation (who is killed for knowing too much) in Soylent Green, was the origin of the “corporate suit from evil Megacorparation” trope (or is according to this article) . Its so widespread in modern movies that you don’t even have to explain a megacorporation is evil, let alone what it hopes to gain and how it plans to get away with it.