# The Dope List of Top 100 fictional literary characters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 21, 2002, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841 "2002-08-21T02:11:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/21 "2002-08-21T15:52:23Z")
[ul]Dr. Frankenstein Frankenstein’s monster Don Quixote Sancho Panza Huckleberry Finn Oliver Twist Ebenezer Scrooge David Copperfield Tom Sawyer Dracula Bruce Wayne/Batman Atticus Finch Sam Spade Tarzan Clark Kent/Superman Captain Ahab Hawkeye (not the comic book Hawkeye, ya geeks)😉 Ichabod Crane Othello Hamlet King Lear King Arthur Lancelot Tom Joad George and Lenny (Of Mice and Men) The Hunchback of Notre Dame Cinderella Hannibal Lecter [/ul] ---
**Author:** ![miamouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@miamouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miamouse)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/22 "2002-08-21T16:06:21Z")
My list may not be as long as the rest of yours, but a lot of them are repeats anyway. More if I think of them later. The first three are new nominations I think. Eva Luna Piers Anthony’s Satan and Gaea Fezzik, the Dread Pirate Roberts and Inigo Montoya Plus some repeats: Hamlet Holden Caulfield (Catcher In The Rye) Scout, Atticus Finch and Boo Radley Harry Potter Gandalf Ramona Marius Don Quixote and Sancho ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/23 "2002-08-21T16:08:03Z")
Oh yeah: Uncle Tom Simon LeGree (sp?) Captain Nemo Beowulf ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/24 "2002-08-21T16:25:39Z")
Sam Spade The Brothers Karamazov Ignatius J. Reilly Alf (Henry Miller’s alter ego, not the lovable sitcom alien) Hank (Charles Bukowski’s alter ego) Rebecca Yossarian Patrick Bateman Norman Bates Raoul Duke Dr. Gonzo ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/25 "2002-08-21T16:30:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Let’s put together a list of the 100 most important/liked/respected/loved/influential fictional literary Well, I submit that “important” is not the same as liked/respected/loved. Nobody loves Dracula, but he is an important, influential, nay archetypal, character. ditto with Captain Nemo or Gollum. Harlan Ellison wrote an essay on the seven literary characters recognized around the world, but I can’t find a link, so I’ll give my lists. \*\* Absolutely world famous/ automatic inclusion\*\* Tarzan Sherlock Holmes Superman Dracula Frankenstein’s monster (although the image everyone recognizes comes from the 1931 film, the monster is a literary creation) **Great Literary Characters Worthy of Inclusion** Elizabeth Bennet, _Pride and Prejudice_ Tess Durbeyfield, _Tess of the D’Urbervilles_ Miss Clack, _The Moonstone_ Molly Bloom, \* Ulysses\* Leopold Bloom, _Ulysses_ Stephen Daedalus\* Ulysses, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man\* Mrs. Proudie, _Barchester Towers_ Julien Sorel, _The Red and the Black_ Baron de Charlus\*, In Search of Lost Time\* Odysseus, _The Odyssey_ Achilles\*, The Iliad\* Satan, _Paradise Lost_ Harry Flashman, the Flashman books by George MacDonald Fraser Becky Sharpe, _Vanity Fair_ Candide, _Candide_ Rabbit Angstrom, \*Rabbit Run[i/] and its sequels ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/26 "2002-08-21T16:31:49Z")
A few that may not have been named (sorry if any repeats) Long John Silver Jim Hawkins Kilgore Trout Oliver Twist Fagin David Copperfield Emma Bovary Anna Karenina Alice Ulysses ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/27 "2002-08-21T16:37:00Z")
And I left out Joe Christmas, _Light in August_ Bigger Thomas, _Native Son_ Fiver, _Watership Down_ ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/28 "2002-08-21T16:58:01Z")
Rip van Winkle ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/29 "2002-08-21T17:05:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spoke- \* > [BHawkeye (not the comic book Hawkeye, ya geeks)😉 > \*\* Of course not! You mean the Hawkeye from M_A_S\*H 😃 Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/30 "2002-08-21T17:12:37Z")
Oh, and Tevye, from the stories by Sholom Aleichem Bertie Wooster and Jeeves Peter Wimsey Hercule Poirot Miss Jane Marple ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/31 "2002-08-21T17:45:25Z")
Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler Gandalf, Frodo, Bilbo, et al Harry Potter Flagg (from various Stephen King books) Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/32 "2002-08-21T18:10:16Z")
Book magazine recently put out their own list of 100 Greatest Fictional Characters and someone (can’t recall who) started a thread at that time for us to quibble with it or propose our own. I think that was back in April, possibly March, because I subsequently got subscriptions for that magazine for my mother and mother-in-law. At any rate, another vote for Elizabeth Bennett in “Pride & Prejudice” here. ---
**Author:** ![Bindlestiff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Bindlestiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bindlestiff)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/33 "2002-08-21T18:16:13Z")
Valentine Michael Smith Jubal Harshaw Lazarus Long Robin Hood These need to be added to the list. I’ll enter a more inclusive list later to contain all the duplications that seem appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Susan100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Susan100](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susan100)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/34 "2002-08-21T21:20:08Z")
Tarzan Elizabeth Bennet Hamlet Othello King Lear Macbeth Robin Hood Francis Crawford of Lymond (books by Dorothy Dunnett) ---
**Author:** ![Jurhael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@Jurhael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurhael)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/35 "2002-08-21T23:25:30Z")
“Another nomination here for Atticus Finch. He gets on the list!” He sure does. Him, and quite a few other people. Yes, I am keeping track and I hope I don’t make any booboos. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/36 "2002-08-21T23:30:45Z")
Couple of votes for Sam Spade but none for Phillip Marlowe? The Cat in the Hat ---
**Author:** ![Pelopidas238](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ab992/32.png) [@Pelopidas238](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pelopidas238)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/37 "2002-08-21T23:39:32Z")
Three from Shakespeare: Sir John Falstaff Henry “Hotspur” Percy Iago Also: Dorothea Brooke (Middlemarch) Mephistopheles (various versions of Faust) ---
**Author:** ![Pelopidas238](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ab992/32.png) [@Pelopidas238](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pelopidas238)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/38 "2002-08-21T23:43:30Z")
Oh, I didn’t notice you beat me to Iago, **glass onion**. ---
**Author:** ![Pelopidas238](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ab992/32.png) [@Pelopidas238](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pelopidas238)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/39 "2002-08-21T23:52:02Z")
Three from Shakespeare: Sir John Falstaff Henry “Hotspur” Percy Iago Also: Dorothea Brooke (Middlemarch) Mephistopheles (various versions of Faust) ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/40 "2002-08-22T00:53:04Z")
I’ll put in a vote for Alex, of _A Clockwork Orange_. I’m not sure if that’s the same Alex that **Genseric** and **glass onion** listed or not (there being several books that are evidently well known by every Straight Doper except me). I also like, love, admire, respect, and/or find influential: Hansel Gretel Winston Smith\* Hannibal Lector\* Frankenstein’s Monster\* Paul Sheldon Carrie Sam (I am Sam, Sam I am . . .) Holden Caulfield\* Bagoas (the “Persian Boy”) Bilbo\* Frodo\* Gandalf\* Bond, James Bond\* Sheriff Pangborn\* Skeeve Aahz Louis the Vampire Mephistopheles\* Robinson Crusoe\* Gollum\* Wolverine C. Auguste Dupin Ender Wiggins\* Mercutio The kids from Stephen King’s _It._ Peter Parker (in comics and novels) Sam Gamgee Leland Gaunt Ian Malcolm Alexander the Great (more than one fictional version; the real person is pretty interesting as well) The Invisible Man Jeckyll Hyde Ibn Fadlan (I only know Crichton’s version) Christine Richard Blade Legolas Strider Treebeard Ghost (of some of Poppy Z. Brite’s novels) Jack Torrance (and the hotel if it can be said to be a character) Also, many versions of the Devil Himself and His Various Evil Minions. I like early versions of the Vampire Lestat, although he lost much of his appeal when he became invincible and even more of his appeal when he had his breakdown . . . so, I dunno. - These people have already received votes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841.md?page=3)