# The Most Iconic Domestically-Created Character for Each Country **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 16, 2020, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263 "2020-08-16T15:14:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/21 "2020-08-16T16:02:58Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Japan: Godzilla Or Hello Kitty. Or Pikachu. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/22 "2020-08-16T16:03:15Z")
Australia: [Skippy the Bush Kangaroo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skippy_the_Bush_Kangaroo) Was Wilhelm Tell fictional? Or just his deed? (A good suggestion either way, but I stick with Heidi) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/23 "2020-08-16T16:04:43Z")
Denmark: The Little Mermaid ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/24 "2020-08-16T16:05:41Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Australia: [Skippy the Bush Kangaroo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skippy_the_Bush_Kangaroo) Is Mad Max too recent? ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/25 "2020-08-16T16:08:31Z")
No, and it is a good one too. Or Tank Girl. But as you wished for 200 countries I thought we ought to get started, we can sort out the weaker candidates later. The worst suggestion still may work as a brainstorming spark. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/26 "2020-08-16T16:08:51Z")
I would have said Anne of Green Gables for Canada. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/27 "2020-08-16T16:09:36Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Was Wilhelm Tell fictional? Or just his deed? (A good suggestion either way, but I stick with Heidi) From all I’ve heard, he is as fictional as Robin Hood, in the way that maybe there have been some rebel types in old England and Switzerland, maybe named similarly, who probably never did any of the deeds that were told and who never appeared in any written official documents. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/28 "2020-08-16T16:12:31Z")
Israel: Adam and Eve. (or maybe Irak, as there is where the Garden of Eden was supposed to be?) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/29 "2020-08-16T16:13:31Z")
King of the Royal Mounted was written by a Yank. Renfrew of the Royal Mounted was written by a Scot-turned-Yank. Have any famous mounties been created by actual Canadian writers? France: D’Artagnan and the Three Musketeers. Russia: [Ilya Muromets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Muromets), [Dobrynya Nikitich](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobrynya_Nikitich) and [Alyosha Popovich](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alyosha_Popovich) : the Russian version of the Three Musketeers Italy: Maciste. Greece: Herakles. Israel: Samson. Iran: Rustam. Iraq: Haroun-al-Rashid Some of these were real people. But the legends probably bear little resemblance to the reality. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/30 "2020-08-16T16:14:58Z")
Russia: Raskolnikov ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/31 "2020-08-16T16:15:38Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Israel: Adam and Eve. (or maybe Irak, as there is where the Garden of Eden was supposed to be?) I thought about Israel, but didn’t want to tackle it because there are so much figures to choose from, and you have the problem that we’ll probably never know if all these figures really existed. But if I had to pick, I’d choose Moses. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/32 "2020-08-16T16:16:12Z")
All of the good ones I can think of for The Netherlands seem to be the product of American author [Mary Mapes Dodge](https://en.wikipedia.org/api/rest_v1/page/mobile-html/Mary_Mapes_Dodge) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/33 "2020-08-16T16:17:08Z")
Or maybe The Littlest Hobo? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/34 "2020-08-16T16:19:16Z")
Austria: Bambi. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/35 "2020-08-16T16:20:02Z")
For the biblical and legendary characters to qualify, I think they need to have been embraced by popular culture in some way. I’m not familiar enough with pop culture in places like Israel to know which ones have made that transition. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/36 "2020-08-16T16:23:17Z")
Colombia: Aureliano Buendía ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/37 "2020-08-16T16:31:26Z")
Mexico: Who’s more iconic, El Santo or Blue Demon? Cantinflas. China: Sun Wukong, the Monkey King. India: Rama. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/38 "2020-08-16T16:31:44Z")
Rudyard Kipling was born in India, which opens up several possibilities. I’m not sure which if any of those characters have been embraced by Indians though. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/39 "2020-08-16T16:32:18Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > For the biblical and legendary characters to qualify, I think they need to have been embraced by popular culture in some way. I’m not familiar enough with pop culture in places like Israel to know which ones have made that transition. In this case, Robin Hood, King Arthur and Willhelm Tell definitely qualify. For biblical figures, you can at least make the case that there were two huge Hollywood versions of the Ten Commandments with Moses as leading character, as well as Samson and Delilah movies. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/40 "2020-08-16T16:35:10Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Who’s more iconic, El Santo or Blue Demon? > Cantinflas. I’m sure riots have been sparked by the debate over the greatest luchador. Was Cantinflas a character like Chaplin’s Little Tramp, or was that just an actor’s stage name? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263.md?page=3)