# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/101 "2020-08-18T13:17:07Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Finland - Tom Oh yea, I know Tom. He works in accounting. > [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > US - either Pepe the Frog or Niel Hamburger Pepe the Frog? As our most iconic character? I don’t even know who that Neil guy is. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/102 "2020-08-18T13:33:41Z")
> [@motu](#): > > John Bull > > Uncle Sam > [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > USA: Uncle Sam > [@Crane](#): > > US - **Uncle Sam** I’d say that Uncle Sam is more of a symbol or personification of the US than a character. (Similarly for John Bull.) He’s not so much an iconic character as he is a literal icon. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/103 "2020-08-18T14:27:52Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > > [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > > > Finland - Tom > > Oh yea, I know Tom. He works in accounting… Not sure who’s being whooshed here, but that’s [Tom Of Finland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_of_Finland) included in an inadvertent list of iconic _real_ people. j ---
**Author:** ![Skunkdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Skunkdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skunkdog)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/104 "2020-08-18T14:41:51Z")
For France - Babar the Elephant or Jean Valjean. For Great Britain - Paddington Bear ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/105 "2020-08-18T15:04:05Z")
US: Ronald MacDonald or Mickey Mouse England (not UK): Robin Hood (…Harry Potter?) France: Asterix The Gaul, The Count of Monte Christo Spain: Don Quixote Japan: Hello Kitty Germany: Hansel and Gretel ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/106 "2020-08-18T15:24:00Z")
> [@Skunkdog](#): > > For Great Britain - Paddington Bear Paddington hailed originally from darkest Peru, I believe. The UK suffers from the same thing as the US - an awful lot of characters stretching back hundreds of years, all fairly well know to most on this english-speaking site. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/107 "2020-08-18T16:26:31Z")
Hamlet and Beowulf both hailed from Denmark (or maybe more precisely Sweden in Beowulf’s case), so does that mean that can’t be the most known British characters? ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/108 "2020-08-18T17:06:04Z")
I’m not smart enough to know the difference ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/109 "2020-08-18T17:09:34Z")
> **[National personification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_personification)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > A national personification is an anthropomorphic personification of a state or the people(s) it inhabits. It may appear in political cartoons and propaganda. > Some early personifications in the Western world tended to be national manifestations of the majestic wisdom and war goddess Minerva/Athena, and often took the Latin name of the ancient Roman province. Examples of this type include Britannia, Germania, Hibernia, Hispania, Helvetia and Polonia.... ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/110 "2020-08-18T17:12:29Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > > [@Skunkdog](#): > > > > For Great Britain - Paddington Bear > > Paddington hailed originally from darkest Peru, I believe. True but the character’s in-story origin didn’t seem to need to be from the country in question, just that the character is domestically-created. ---
**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 18, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/111 "2020-08-18T17:45:15Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > True but the character’s in-story origin didn’t seem to need to be from the country in question, just that the character is domestically-created. Superman can breath a sigh of relief… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/112 "2020-08-18T17:47:19Z")
As long as he doesn’t blow down a building while doing so. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/113 "2020-08-18T18:26:29Z")
Doremon is supposed to be the most popular cartoon in Japan. So Doremon for Japan. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2020, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/114 "2020-08-19T13:02:11Z")
Oh, an anthropomorphic personification, but Uncle Sam is a real person. When I was a kid he ran for President every 4 years. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/115 "2020-08-20T14:59:55Z")
For Australia, the most iconic character has to be the Jolly Swagman. Failing that, how about The Muddle Headed Wombat. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/116 "2020-08-20T15:10:32Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Sweden: [Pippi Longstocking](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pippi_Longstocking) (aka _Pippilotta Viktualia Rullgardina Krusmynta Efraimsdotter Långstrump_ ) I was never exposed to the Astrid Lindgren books, so: **Lisbeth Salander** ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/117 "2020-08-20T16:31:32Z")
Winnie the Pooh for Canada? Although the author was British - the bear upon which the stories were based was from Canada, and named after the city of Winnipeg. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/118 "2020-08-20T19:28:29Z")
How about Dr Who? Definitely iconicly British but with multiple identities Winnie the Pooh, iconic for every British child Hercules has to be iconic for someone - so iconic he is the original one name character - (except for Adam) Lord Greystoke, not for being English but of English extraction. I think Dracula is iconic for Transylvania - even if its a Britsh author Frankenstein - not entirely sure where it is supposed to be from ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/119 "2020-08-20T19:44:35Z")
Cendrillon (Cinderella) for France? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263/120 "2020-08-20T22:02:36Z")
The bear upon whom the books was based was a teddy bear owned by Christopher Milne. He was named for Winnipeg the Bear, but she had nothing to do with the inspiration for the books, aside from providing the name for the toy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-iconic-domestically-created-character-for-each-country/918263.md?page=7)