# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Genseric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/41 "2002-08-22T02:55:57Z")
Re: Henry “Hotspur” Percy Can this one really count? While the information presented in the works of Shakespeare is highly fictionalized, Henry Hotspur was certainly a real person, thus not “fictional”. I would say no character based directly on a real person depicted with fairly close correspondence to actual historical events would be allowable, e.g. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, or Richard III, or Henry V, or Robert Graves’ Claudius, etc. Some characters are less cut-and-dried like Macbeth, or Hamlet, or even possibly Hector, or Achilles (who might be based on real persons, but are depicted in a manner which is almost certainly wholly fictional). Characters like Dracula would be allowed however, since he is “inspired” at best by the person of Vlad the Impaler. Agreement? Dissent? I’ll further add (or second, third, or whatever, I don’t know numbers…) Annie Wilkes Jack Torrance Randle Patrick McMurphy Abel Magwitch Ebenezer Scrooge Elric of Melnibone Conan the Cimmerian Cthulhu Abdul Alhazred Wilfred of Ivanhoe Queequeg O’Brien ---
**Author:** ![Jurhael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@Jurhael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurhael)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/42 "2002-08-22T04:15:30Z")
"Agreement? Dissent? " Actually, I would agree. If the character is actually a REAL person, then it shouldn’t count, even if the work itself was fiction. Course, NOW I think of that. ☹ But, I don’t see all that many people nominating real people, so I guess I shouldn’t worry. Ehehe ---
**Author:** ![Genseric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/43 "2002-08-22T05:26:22Z")
Aladdin Mowgli ---
**Author:** ![A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_wizard_song_for_thee)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/44 "2002-08-22T05:34:07Z")
Hmph. Can’t believe there isn’t more Faulkner on this list. Well, here are my suggestions… Quentin Compson, _The Sound and the Fury, Absalom, Absalom!_, “That Evening Sun,” “A Justice,” etc. The aforementioned Joe Christmas from _Light in August_ Candace “Caddy” Compson from all the same stuff as Quentin except for _Absalom, Absalom!_ Jewel Bundren, _As I Lay Dying_ Okay, next different authors… Destiny Death Dream Destruction Desire Despair Delerium (all of them from _The Sandman_) Satan from _Paradise Lost_ Marlowe Kurtz (both from _Heart of Darkness_) John Shade from _Pale Fire_ Philip Marlowe from all those books by that Chandler guy Lucio from _Measure for Measure_ Volpone Mosca (two from _Volpone_) Sam Vimes, from many Discworld books Granny Weatherwax, too, from Discworld Uh, and some others… ---
**Author:** ![Susan100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Susan100](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susan100)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/45 "2002-08-22T17:25:53Z")
Darcy! I’d also like to add votes for Iago and Mowgli. I’m glad you guys thought of them. A note to Pelopidas238 - there shouldn’t be any “beating to” a character. It’s by getting multiple votes that characters get on the list! So we should all feel free to list any character we like that other people have mentioned! A character won’t make the list if he, she or it is only mentioned once. ---
**Author:** ![miamouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@miamouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miamouse)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/46 "2002-08-22T20:16:43Z")
More that I remembered: Scarlett O’Hara Esteban Trueba, House of Spirits Pilar and the American, For Whom the Bell Tolls Uncle Julien, of the Mayfair Witch series ---
**Author:** ![miamouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@miamouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miamouse)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/47 "2002-08-22T20:18:13Z")
More that I remembered: Scarlett O’Hara Esteban Trueba, House of Spirits Pilar and the American, For Whom the Bell Tolls Uncle Julien, of the Mayfair Witch series ---
**Author:** ![Doubting\_Robert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@Doubting\_Robert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doubting_Robert)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/48 "2002-08-22T20:28:38Z")
Characters that have inspired so many movies, TV shows, etc., that they have to be considered influential: Tarzan Jane Sherlock Holmes Dr. Watson Dracula Dr. Frankenstein Frankenstein’s monster Captain Nemo Allan Quatermain Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Long John Silver Griffin (The Invisible Man) Robin Hood Maid Marion Friar Tuck Little John The Sheriff of Nottingham King Arthur Merlin Lancelot Guenevere Bambi (yes, he was in a book first) Pinocchio (ditto) Dorothy Gale The Wizard of Oz The Wicked Witch of the West Superman Batman Wonder Woman Swamp Thing Sam Spade Hercule Poirot Winnie the Pooh Alice (in Wonderland) and many characters from the pen of W. S.: Romeo Juliet Falstaff Hamlet Macbeth Lady Macbeth King Lear Puck (aka Robin Goodfellow) A few of the names I have listed may or may not have been real people, but I believe that the fiction written about them has been more influential than anything the people themselves actually did. I hope all of the above are known to most Dopers. I do have to admit that I do not know who some of the characters listed in this thread are. ---
**Author:** ![Doubting\_Robert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@Doubting\_Robert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doubting_Robert)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/49 "2002-08-22T20:54:37Z")
Characters that **Spoke-** named that somehow didn’t get in my first post: Don Quixote Sancho Panza Huckleberry Finn Oliver Twist Ebenezer Scrooge Tom Sawyer Ichabod Crane Othello [Quasimodo(sp?)] The Hunchback of Notre Dame Cinderella (I’ve dropped some characters that I think are important, but that I would not put in the top 100.) Others I missed: Fagin Tiny Tim Iago The Headless Horseman (whether he was Bram Bones or not) Rip Van Winkle August Dupin (sp?) (Poe’s detective) Ulysses (Homer’s character, not Joyce’s) Paul Bunyon James Bond The Shadow (one of the sources from which Batman was born) Doc Savage (one of the sources from which elements of the Superman stories came) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/50 "2002-08-22T22:10:50Z")
I pity you, Jurhael, for starting this thread, because tabulating the results is going to be a terrible job. Hijack/ Just for the hell of it, I’m going to start a thread in GQ asking if shareware exists to help count such votes. /Hijack I want to add more to my list, stealing shamelessly from others here more clever than I. Consider the reapeats as seconds or thirds. I have not voted for any character twice, I think. Hamlet Oedipus Tarzan Jane Atticus Finch HAL Doc Savage Romeo Juliet Lady Chatterly Edmond Dantes Don Quixote Sancho Panza Oliver Twist Hercules Cinderella Ignatius J. Reilly Achilles Bigger Thomas Robin Hood Phillip Marlowe Falstaff Hansel Gretel Jeckyll Hyde Aladdin Bambi The Wizard of Oz The Wicked Witch of the West Wonder Woman Ichabod Crane Fagin My goal: to have the highest percentage of my choices represented in the top 100. It’s like an independent little contest within a contest that we all can play, but I of course will win. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jurhael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@Jurhael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurhael)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/51 "2002-08-22T23:04:38Z")
"I pity you, Jurhael, for starting this thread, because tabulating the results is going to be a terrible job. " Maybe, but it’s fun! I love lists like this and I enjoy tabulating votes. Just that I am concerned about making booboos, so I hope I didn’t! 😃 "Hijack/ Just for the hell of it, I’m going to start a thread in GQ asking if shareware exists to help count such votes. " Well, that would make things easier for me! THANKS! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CMC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CMC)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/52 "2002-08-23T11:22:54Z")
Nancy Drew Ignatious Reilly Dorthea Brooke Ruth Puttermesser in Ozick’s Puttermesser Papers ---
**Author:** ![miamouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@miamouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miamouse)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/53 "2002-08-23T13:09:19Z")
Jurhael, I brought the first page into word, took out everything that wasn’t a nomination, (user names, quotes etc.) and then brought it into XL and alphabetized it. Email me and I’ll send it to you. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/54 "2002-08-23T19:02:04Z")
More… Dr. Faust Peter Pan Golem Brer Rabbit Jack (of beanstalk fame, plus many other Jack stories) Scarlet Pimpernel, The Zorro Baron Munchausen Santa Claus Gulliver ---
**Author:** ![In\_Conceivable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@In\_Conceivable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Conceivable)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/55 "2002-08-23T19:35:32Z")
Anna Karenina Scarlett O’Hara Woodrow Call Augustus McCrae (Gus) Bilbo Baggins Amber St. Claire Oliver Twist Dracula Robin Hood King Arthur Lancelot Hazel-rah Don Juan ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/56 "2002-08-23T22:28:13Z")
Two more: Ivanhoe Black Knight Allow me to lobby a bit for the Black Knight from Ivanhoe. This is such an influential character that it has become a cliche, with references in everything from Monty Python to Batman to Hollywood Westerns. It would be a shame to leave the character off a “100 most important” list. By the way, I’d tell you who the black knight really is, but that’d be a spoiler… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Genseric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/57 "2002-08-24T03:45:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spoke- \* > \*\*Two more: > > Ivanhoe > Black Knight > > Allow me to lobby a bit for the Black Knight from Ivanhoe. This is such an influential character that it has become a cliche, with references in everything from Monty Python to Batman to Hollywood Westerns. It would be a shame to leave the character off a “100 most important” list. > > By the way, I’d tell you who the black knight really is, but that’d be a spoiler… 😉 \*\* See that’s one of those fictionalized historical persons I was talking about earlier. Take a major historical figure, and make up a bunch of stuff about him. Is he a fictional character, now? For example, Mason Weems’ portrayal of the young George Washington, clearly fictional, but based on a real person. Where is the line? ---
**Author:** ![Jurhael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@Jurhael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurhael)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/58 "2002-08-24T04:15:53Z")
“Where is the line?” Hmmmm…I would say that if it’s only based on and happens to share the same name, then it would count as fictional. If it’s the portrayal of the ACTUAL person(I guess like with Henry the 8th in historical stuff), then I would say that it doesn’t count. Make sense? Because this line is blurry, I know… ---
**Author:** ![Entwife](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dc4da7/32.png) [@Entwife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Entwife)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/59 "2002-08-24T04:32:45Z")
Heathcliff from _Wuthering Heights_ ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841/60 "2002-08-24T06:56:05Z")
Atticus Finch Hellboy Bruce Wayne/Batman Clark Kent/Superman Bilbo Baggins Holden Caulfield James Bond Huckleberry Finn Grendel (the original, not the comic book) Dr. Frankenstein Tarzan Uncle Remus Br’er Rabbit [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dope-list-of-top-100-fictional-literary-characters/124841.md?page=4)