Posted on 09/27/2013 7:19:00 PM PDT by MNDude
Recently, Time magazine had an issue titled "The One Hundred Most Influential People Who Never Lived" where they ranked the most important fictional characters of all time such as Santa Claus, Kinta Kunta, Homer Simpson, etcetera. In your opinion, who are the five most influential fictional characters of all time?
Well, Sherlock Holmes stands out. You know “of all time” presents a problem, since its hard to judge which of them might have been influential in times past. I suppose we may restrict the phrase to refer to the origin of the characters.
How about Hamlet, or Romeo and Juliet ? Gilgamesh presents an interesting case, since most people barely know about him, but does that mean he’s not influential?
That broaches the subject of legendary figures, such as Odysseus and King Arthur. Presumably real persons, but lost in their own legends. Then of course we have Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone and Wyatt Earp etc. Not lost, but certainly eclipsed by their own legends.
... and Kinta Kunta ? Sheesh.
FDR’s Uncle Stalin was certainly a fictional character!
Captain Ahab
John Galt
Don Quixote
Hamlet
Achilles
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Darth Vader
Scrooge
Scarlett O’Hara
The Grinch
Jimminy Cricket on The Mouseketeers....
“Proverbs, proberbs, they’re so true; proverbs tell you what to do. Proverbs tell you how to be better Mouseketeers.”
Most influential, or most important ?
There is a big difference.
For instance, Obama is one of the top five ‘influential’ fictional characters.
John Galt.
He taught me to spell e-n-c-y-c-lo-pedia!
Captain Jonathan S. Tuttle.
Natty Bumpo. Cap Huff. Horatio Hornblower. Steven Nason.
Influential Americans who never lived: Paul Bunyan, Huckleberry Finn, Rick ("Casablanca") Blaine, Matt Dillon, James T. Kirk
The medical staff that delivered obama in Honolulu.
Excellent list.
OK, I’ll try:
Superman, Uncle Sam, Santa Claus, Gandalf, Captain James T. Kirk
There’s a little Tuttle left in all of us...
And would this not be a tacit admission on their godless part that He DID exist?
If this was DU, nearly every reply would include Jesus as a “fictional character”, guaranteed.
His name’s TOBY!
(sorry I couldn’t help myself)
Very intriguing question! I’ll go with the Good Samaritan.
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