# True or False- Harry Potter is the most famous literary character in the last 50 years? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238 "2010-04-24T20:53:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/101 "2010-04-27T21:11:52Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > At the library I work at, the requests from kids follow a very specific pattern: > > #1 Whatever is the kid favorite du jour > #2 STAR WARS! > #3 Harry Potter > > And the best part is, if they’re young enough they think that Star Wars is this amazing brand new thing that _they_ just discovered. Well then, it’s settled. There is simply no rebutting that ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/102 "2010-04-27T22:16:32Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > But ask the converse… are there a significant number of people who know who Harry Potter is, but not Darth Vader? I’m not sure. I would think most kids these days know who Darth Vader is, but… I admit I’m not really sure how popular Star Wars is with kids under the age of, say, 15. I teach 7th Grade. I used to use Darth Vader as an example of an antagonist(especially one who transforms into a protagonist). However, I’ve had to change it due to lack of recognition. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/103 "2010-04-27T22:46:18Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > Well then, it’s settled. There is simply no rebutting that I didn’t say you could rebut it. I’m merely using it as an example that shows that Darth Vader is known by kids today. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/104 "2010-04-27T22:56:04Z")
A further datapoint… Three eight year olds are marching in front of me right now shouting “We’re getting Star Wars!” over and over again. And yes, it is the original trilogy, not the prequels. ETA: And that should be “couldn’t” in my post above. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/105 "2010-04-28T00:40:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Plus, the first Harry Potter book came out in 1997. Someone who read that at the age of, oh, I’ll go with eleven, back then, is today an adult. And somebody who was already an adult when the first book came out, now feels really old. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/106 "2010-04-28T00:57:35Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I teach 7th Grade. I used to use Darth Vader as an example of an antagonist(especially one who transforms into a protagonist). However, I’ve had to change it due to lack of recognition. As an ESL teacher in Korea, I will say that Harry Potter is the only example I can use with the expectation that ALL of my students (elementary and middle school) will know what the hell I’m talking about. Twilight is probably a close second. James Bond as well. Star Wars? Psh. Maybe some of my geekier students would know. The majority of them wouldn’t recognize him at all. In terms of international recognition, there really is no beating Harry Potter, I think. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/107 "2010-04-28T01:16:09Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Just for fun I put all the names given up against Harry Potter in Googlefight, and the only one that Harry didn’t squash easily was [James Bond](http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=Harry+Potter&word2=James+Bond), who is disqualified due to age. Yes, even Frodo [lost badly](http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=Harry+Potter&word2=Frodo). Frodo is not the most popular character from lord of the rings, Gandalf is. ---
**Author:** ![williambaskerville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@williambaskerville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williambaskerville)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/108 "2010-04-28T05:58:31Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > A further datapoint… Three eight year olds are marching in front of me right now shouting “We’re getting Star Wars!” over and over again. > > And yes, it is the original trilogy, not the prequels. > > ETA: And that should be “couldn’t” in my post above. Well a further data point : my 10 year old daughter asked about a year ago to watch the Star Wars DVDs (original trilogy). She watched them, didn’t think they were very good and hasn’t watched them again. I just asked, she doesn’t know who Darth Vadar, Han Solo or Luke Skywalker are. She could write a thesis on Harry Potter, and Lord of The Rings (she’s even read the Silmarillion). ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/109 "2010-04-28T11:27:20Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > The movies were hyped because the book success came _first_. If it wasn’t already such a huge success as a book series, the movies would have come and gone with little fanfare. That Percy Jackson thing some people have mentioned didn’t do anything spectacular at the box office, $87 million. I’m another one of the people who’s just had to look up Percy Jackson. I don’t think that he’s even contention for being in the top thousand, let alone as being the most well known character inthe world. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/110 "2010-04-28T11:38:07Z")
Its depressing how many times Darth Vader has been mentioned in a thread about literary characters. Give me a break. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/111 "2010-04-28T13:49:04Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Not a doubt in my mind. > I’m surprised there’s even a debate here; Harry Potter is unquestionably a more famous character than Robert Langdon, and it’s not a close call. More Potter books have been sold, the movies have sold more tickets, and there’s more tie-in stuff. You didn’t see giant, thousands-of-fans read-ins for Robert Langdon books. And as has been pointed out, as a CHARACTER, Langdon barely exists anyway. If we counted Darth Vader - which I don’t think we should - he’d probably beat the Boy Who Lived, but what’s for sure is Robert Langdon’s an also-ran in this race. Case in point- I’ve read the Davinci Code, seen both the movie and the sequel, and still, the first time Robert Langdon was mentioned upthread, I went: “The [author](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ludlum) of a bunch of thriller novels? What?” ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/112 "2010-04-29T15:36:16Z")
I would say the answer is probably true. If the title of the thread were “…most famous literary character created in the last 50 years…”, it would most definitely would be true. The term “literary” implies a character originally created as a character for literature, thus eliminating characters created for other media and then backing into literature. I would say, perhaps under the existing thread, Sherlock Holmes or Holden Caufield or James Bond could give the kid wizard a run for his money (or Rowlings’ money). Still Harry is pretty much at the top. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/113 "2010-04-29T18:57:27Z")
Pippi Longstocking? Do the Sesame Street characters count? Elmo, Bert& Ernie, Big Bird, Cookcie Monster? Kermit and miss Piggy? ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/114 "2010-04-29T19:02:50Z")
Stephen Kings Carrie? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/115 "2010-04-29T19:23:18Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Its depressing how many times Darth Vader has been mentioned in a thread about literary characters. The thread _title_ has Harry Potter. I guess it’s more clear that HP was first a character from a book, but both are cultural touchstones, and people will know who Harry Potter is and who Darth Vader is in 100 years. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/116 "2010-04-29T19:42:08Z")
> [@](#): > > At the library I work at, the requests from kids follow a very specific pattern: > > #1 Whatever is the kid favorite du jour > #2 STAR WARS! > #3 Harry Potter > > And the best part is, if they’re young enough they think that Star Wars is this amazing brand new thing that they just discovered. Actually, that’s evidence that many kids _haven’t_ heard of Star Wars, since if there are a bunch of kids who’ve only just heard of it, then there are also a bunch who haven’t quite heard of it yet. As for adults reading the Harry Potter books, my mom was reading them even before they were famous. She’s the one who introduced me (also then an adult) to them, not the other way around. She was an elementary school teacher, which would of course put her ahead of the curve for childrens’ literature, but it’s well ahead of the grade level of any of her students. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/117 "2010-04-29T21:50:55Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Pippi Longstocking? The first Pippi Longstocking book was published in 1945, so too old for this thread. I’d considered the title character in _The Little Prince_ as a possible contender, since the book is well-known internationally, but it’s also too old (1943). > [@](#): > > \*Do the Sesame Street characters count? Elmo, Bert& Ernie, Big Bird, Cookcie Monster? Kermit and miss Piggy? \*I don’t think characters created for television would count as “literary characters”, even though they have appeared in books for children too. I also remember reading recently – I think in _Newsweek_, but I’m not certain – that the Muppets aren’t anywhere near as popular with young kids as they used to be. I think that was in regard to the _Muppet Show_ Muppets rather than the _Seasame Street_ gang, though. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/118 "2010-04-29T22:32:38Z")
> [@](#): > > I think that was in regard to the Muppet Show Muppets rather than the Seasame Street gang, though. Well, that stands to reason, given that they’re not on TV any more. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238/119 "2010-04-29T22:48:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Well, that stands to reason, given that they’re not on TV any more. There haven’t been any new episodes of _The Muppet Show_ (or even _Muppet Babies_ or _Muppets Tonight_) in a long time, but Muppet characters like Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, etc., still appear on television…just not as often. Miss Piggy has been featured in some commercials recently, there was a (not very good) 2008 Muppet Christmas special that was broadcast again in December 2009, and I saw _The Muppets Take Manhattan_ on TV just a couple of months ago. I agree with your basic point here – young kids today are not going to be exposed to the Muppets anywhere near as often as when _The Muppet Show_ was on TV every week – but the characters do still appear in the media and on merchandise. They’re just not as popular/famous with younger kids as they used to be. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-harry-potter-is-the-most-famous-literary-character-in-the-last-50-years/537238.md?page=5)