Well then, it’s settled. There is simply no rebutting that
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.
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.
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.
And somebody who was already an adult when the first book came out, now feels really old.
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.
Frodo is not the most popular character from lord of the rings, Gandalf is.
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).
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.
Its depressing how many times Darth Vader has been mentioned in a thread about literary characters.
Give me a break.
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 of a bunch of thriller novels? What?”
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.
Pippi Longstocking?
Do the Sesame Street characters count? Elmo, Bert& Ernie, Big Bird, Cookcie Monster? Kermit and miss Piggy?
Stephen Kings Carrie?
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.
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.
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).
*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.
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.