# Which character has had the larger cultural impact, Rocky or Rambo? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [May 19, 2026, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209 "2026-05-19T15:38:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/1 "2026-05-19T15:38:24Z")
Define cultural impact however you please. To me, it’s Rambo even though Rocky had more movies. I think that describing someone as a Rambo would be immediately understood while calling them a Rocky wouldn’t. Part of this is obviously due to the rarity of the name Rambo compared to Rocky. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/2 "2026-05-19T15:40:47Z")
I’d say that Rambo (esp. the later gung-ho films) defined an archetype in a way that Rocky didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/3 "2026-05-19T15:41:31Z")
Rocky was a better character, but Rambo had more impact yes. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/4 "2026-05-19T15:41:38Z")
Rambo didn’t have a theme song. Rambo doesn’t rock arenas. There’s no competing with the theme from Rocky. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/5 "2026-05-19T15:41:44Z")
Rocky, I think. The noble, working class underdog who overcomes adversity. People still run up the Rocky steps every day in Philly. They still play Rocky music at sporting events. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/6 "2026-05-19T15:48:17Z")
Sylvester Stallone is a one man cultural icon in and of himself. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/7 "2026-05-19T15:49:17Z")
Rocky, because of his friend the cartoon moose Bullwinkle. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/8 "2026-05-19T15:49:51Z")
And he has his on ice cream flavor. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/9 "2026-05-19T15:50:26Z")
On a road, no less! ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/10 "2026-05-19T16:00:40Z")
Rambo has my vote. I think the plots were more varied and, as one poster mentioned, the Rambo description has had a far greater effect. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/11 "2026-05-19T16:08:21Z")
But would most people _today_ know what the term “Rambo” means? I’m not sure. I didn’t even know that the character had been revived in the past decade. Though the point about having _ever_ been a named archetype is compelling, it also feels completely stuck in the Eighties for me. TLDR: I’m torn. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/12 "2026-05-19T16:09:15Z")
Rambo never had his own Broadway musical. > **[Rocky the Musical](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_the_Musical)** > > Rocky the Musical (originally Rocky: Das Musical) is a 2012 musical with music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and a book by Thomas Meehan and Sylvester Stallone, based on the 1976 film of the same name written by Stallone. The show held its world premiere in Hamburg in 2012 and opened on Broadway in 2014 at the Winter Garden Theatre. > The musical is based on the 1976 film Rocky, with a screenplay by Sylvester Stallone. The film itself was made on a budget of $1,075,000, shot in 28 d... (from the creators of _Seussical_, no less!) ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/13 "2026-05-19T16:18:03Z")
IMO, they have about the same cultural impact. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/14 "2026-05-19T16:26:48Z")
There’s a Rocky statue at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, atop the ‘Rocky’ steps. Statues of fictional characters aren’t all _that_ uncommon, but there’s no Rambo statue, AFAIK. Rocky for the win. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/15 "2026-05-19T16:56:48Z")
[Rambo](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/rambo) had enough impact to become a word in the dictionary. Beats some statue. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/16 "2026-05-19T16:56:49Z")
I can think of 1 Alien named after “Rocky” but 0 named after Rambo. Also 1 extra solar planet named Adrien. Rocky for the interstellar win! ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/17 "2026-05-19T17:13:43Z")
In the mid-90’s, I spent about seven weeks traveling around Indonesia. At the time, I was in pretty good shape. Because of the intense equatorial heat, I was almost always in shorts and a tank top, and almost always wearing a bandana, folded up into the form of a sweatband, around my (fore)head. Everywhere my traveling companion and I went – and I mean _everywhere –_ the little kids would all shout “RAMBO!!!” at me. Not one time did anybody refer to me as Rocky. Would this have been different if I were – instead of the bandana – rocking boxing gloves? Maybe. Whomst can say. QED ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/18 "2026-05-19T17:16:05Z")
Definitely Rambo. The word became literally synonymous with an action hero in the 80s. I have never seen the movie but the name and likeness are instantly recognisable to me. You literally just need to wrap a school tie round your head and you are “pretending to be Rambo”. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/19 "2026-05-19T17:23:44Z")
How about, who would win in a fight? Unfair question, really. It’s like asking “who would win in a fight- a lion or a shark?” Depends on whether the fight took place on land or in water. In the card of Rocky v. Rambo: - Pro boxing bout, playing by Marquess of Queensberry Rules? My money’s on Rocky. - MMA-style cage match? Probably Rambo. - Two go into the woods, only one comes out? Definitely Rambo. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209/20 "2026-05-19T17:27:37Z")
Tough call, and I don’t think I’m going to pick. I will say, though, that most of the cultural impact of Rambo doesn’t seem to resemble the original character of John Rambo. Clumsily summed up, Rambo just wants to make things right. In modern American culture, however, Rambo is a tough guy who indiscriminately lays waste to everything and everybody. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-character-has-had-the-larger-cultural-impact-rocky-or-rambo/1030209.md?page=2)