# What fictional character did you aspire to be like as a child? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063 "2018-07-17T04:34:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/21 "2018-07-17T14:38:20Z")
I wanted to be Ernie, but I’m actually Bert. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/22 "2018-07-17T14:56:42Z")
I wanted to be like Sara Crewe in _A Little Princess._ She was strong, kind, generous, poised, and spoke perfect French. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/23 "2018-07-17T15:17:34Z")
As a very young child I would have gladly traded places with Mighty Mouse. Later on I thought that being Mark McCain (Son of the Rifleman) would be a pretty good life. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/24 "2018-07-17T15:21:47Z")
Captain Picard has always been a role model to me do to his stoic professionalism among other things. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/25 "2018-07-17T16:09:29Z")
Anne Shirley. I’m 50 and I still aspire to be Anne Shirley. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/26 "2018-07-17T16:15:41Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > Later on I thought that being Mark McCain (Son of the Rifleman) would be a pretty good life. Except for all the times you were being held hostage to keep your father at bay, and the deafness that would eventually develop from having said hostage takers shot at close range while standing next to you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/27 "2018-07-17T16:19:20Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Superman. Zorro. Daniel Boone. Pretty much this. Throw in the Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers, and Tarzan also. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/28 "2018-07-17T16:23:46Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Superman. > > Superman. > > Superman. Add to that, Superman. Although I did learn a fight move from watching the Lone Ranger which served me well in a couple of fights - until I came up against someone who _also_ watched the Lone Ranger when he was a kid. Sky King was also pretty cool, although it was really just the airplane. ---
**Author:** ![Goodnight-Loving](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9fc29f/32.png) [@Goodnight-Loving](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goodnight-Loving)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/29 "2018-07-17T16:38:26Z")
Huck Finn ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/30 "2018-07-17T18:08:49Z")
As a little kid, Spock As a teenager I wanted to be Chris Knight in Real Genius (Val Kilmer’s character). As a young adult, Jean Luc Picard ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/31 "2018-07-17T18:13:59Z")
Han Solo. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/32 "2018-07-17T18:16:44Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > Han Solo. I wanted to be Indiana Jones, Solo was my backup. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/33 "2018-07-17T18:28:48Z")
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonny\_Quest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonny_Quest) ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/34 "2018-07-17T19:30:22Z")
As a yoot, I as aspired to be the generic Heinlein male protagonist. I got better. ---
**Author:** ![Trafalgar\_Laura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trafalgar_laura/32/2907_2.png) [@Trafalgar\_Laura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trafalgar_Laura)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/35 "2018-07-17T20:05:03Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > Captain Picard has always been a role model to me do to his stoic professionalism among other things. Ditto. Some people complain that ST:TNG was “boardroom discussions in space” and dull compared to other ST series, but I actually admired that the characters tried to solve their problems through thinking, discussion and logic. The science was nonsense, but the fact that they were solving problems with “ST science” more often than phasers was admirable to me. Picard was often faced with hard moral choices, and stuck with his beliefs and his oaths even when it was personally uncomfortable for him. Well, other than the episodes where he didn’t. But it is a TV show. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/36 "2018-07-17T20:32:49Z")
Howard Roark. I was a very smart outcast and my grandfather was a prominent architect who lost his career when he stopped drinking. By the time I finished my high school Ayn Rand phase and entered an essay contest I was beyond over that. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/37 "2018-07-17T20:47:14Z")
I wanted to be like Menolly in _Dragonsinger_ by Anne McCaffrey, able to play basically any instrument brilliantly and to compose. Oh, and I wanted fire lizards, too. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/38 "2018-07-17T21:08:31Z")
Jim West, Jim Kirk, or Jim Rockford. I clearly had a problem with my given name. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/39 "2018-07-17T21:10:47Z")
Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone, Bret Maverick, Illya Kuryakin, James Bond. I would say they were all men of action and adventure, but Bret and Jim were kind of interested in avoiding action as best they could. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063/40 "2018-07-17T21:11:59Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Bugs Bunny, wise-cracking cool cat. > > Later on, Hawkeye Pierce, same same, add in skirt chaser. > > Needless to say, these role models didn’t really serve me well socially. Ha! I always aspired to be like The Fonz. While I was very quiet and shy in grade school I convinced myself I was just being “cool” like the Fonz. If a girl came around that you liked don’t say a word. Just be cool. Same as you it failed miserablly to help me socially. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-character-did-you-aspire-to-be-like-as-a-child/818063.md?page=3)