Who is the most famous fictional character, from books, in the world?

Contributor: mmike mmike
Who do you think is the most famous character in world? Mainly from literature.

Avoid naming anyone based on religion or holidays.

I don't think Mickey Mouse or Homer Simpson count. They're just cartoon characters.
Answers (public voting - your screen name will appear in the results):
Moby Dick
SaMiKaY
1  (2%)
Jane Eyre
Elizabeth Bennet
Lola Park
1  (2%)
Robin Hood
Stagger13 , BobbiJay
2  (5%)
D'artagnan
Peter Pan
voenne
1  (2%)
Sherlock Holmes
FemmeFlo , PeaceToTheMiddleEast , eeep , GONE! , KyotoAngel , slynch , mpfm , Chilipepper , wetone123 , wdanas , OroNomi , ellejay , Jon S , unfulfilled , darthkitt3n , Breas , Beck , Kitka , EnChAnTiNg , Dnice , Ryuson , hyacinthgirl , geliebt
23  (52%)
Superman
deltalima , Moein , Silverdrop , Rarity , MeliPixie
5  (11%)
Hamlet
aliceinthehole
1  (2%)
James Bond
CoffeeCup
1  (2%)
Gandalf
Ansley
1  (2%)
Don Quixote
Ghost
1  (2%)
The Cat in the Hat
OTHER
Dreaus , karay123 , SomewhatSomewhere , Errant Venture , woodsdragon , ~LaUr3n~ , dv8
7  (16%)
Total votes: 44
Poll is closed
01/23/2012
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Contributor: Clandestine Clandestine
Out of those, it is most likely Sherlock or Superman. I would rather it be Elizabeth or Jane though.
01/23/2012
Contributor: deltalima deltalima
Quote:
Originally posted by mmike
Who do you think is the most famous character in world? Mainly from literature.

Avoid naming anyone based on religion or holidays.

I don't think Mickey Mouse or Homer Simpson count. They're just cartoon characters.
I would agree that Superman is the most famous.
01/23/2012
Contributor: FemmeFlo FemmeFlo
I think Sherlock has come into vogue lately. He's very popular at the moment in movies and TV shows.
01/23/2012
Contributor: Ansley Ansley
Wow, that was a difficult choice. But I had to go with Gandalf. If we were talking contemporary literature, it would hands down be Bella Swan or one of other characters in Twilight, very much to my dismay.
01/23/2012
Contributor: eeep eeep
Sherlock Holmes for sure. Though I think Mr.Darcy is more well known than Elizabeth Bennet (I love both though).
01/24/2012
Contributor: Ghost Ghost
Don Quixote has vocabulary words named after him...
01/24/2012
Contributor: GONE! GONE!
It seems like everyone's heard of Sherlock. Especially now.
01/24/2012
Contributor: KyotoAngel KyotoAngel
Damn Sherlock Holmes...Gandalf should be the most famous!
x'D
With the Sherlock Holmes movies being pretty recent he's probably more well known than most of those other characters.
01/24/2012
Contributor: Chilipepper Chilipepper
Sherlock's been part of popular culture continuously (in one form or another) for well over a century. He was published in the pulp magazines of the Victorian era and was therefor available to the masses. There have been more movies, television series, and novels devoted to this character than any other on the list (possibly including Superman) and his popularity is not limited to any strict genre like a couple of others listed.

(Incidentally, I could argue for King Arthur to be put on the list, too.)
01/24/2012
Contributor: Moein Moein
I think the historical fictional character will be the most famous, because many generations heared about and the story spread wide more the recent one. I also may add others like: Sinbad
01/24/2012
Contributor: BobbiJay BobbiJay
Quote:
Originally posted by Ansley
Wow, that was a difficult choice. But I had to go with Gandalf. If we were talking contemporary literature, it would hands down be Bella Swan or one of other characters in Twilight, very much to my dismay.
Twilight
01/24/2012
Contributor: mmike mmike
Quote:
Originally posted by Ansley
Wow, that was a difficult choice. But I had to go with Gandalf. If we were talking contemporary literature, it would hands down be Bella Swan or one of other characters in Twilight, very much to my dismay.
For some reason I completely forgot about the Twilight and Harry Potter series.
01/24/2012
Contributor: Ansley Ansley
Quote:
Originally posted by BobbiJay
Twilight
Can't stand those books or the movies and and and I'll shut up now.
01/24/2012
Contributor: Ansley Ansley
Quote:
Originally posted by mmike
For some reason I completely forgot about the Twilight and Harry Potter series.
Heh, consider it a blessing.
01/24/2012
Contributor: Dreaus Dreaus
not in your list. But if i would have to take a guess id say... (cringes to say this outloud) Harry Potter
01/24/2012
Contributor: wdanas wdanas
People will recognize some of the other names, certainly, but there's likely to be an instant recognition for Sherlock Holmes for a lot of individuals. Even so, I'd expect Peter Pan and Don Quixote to have more votes than they do. Interesting!
01/24/2012
Contributor: karay123 karay123
Cat in the Hat counts but Mickey Mouse doesn't??!
01/24/2012
Contributor: mmike mmike
Quote:
Originally posted by karay123
Cat in the Hat counts but Mickey Mouse doesn't??!
Yea.

Mickey Mouse debuted in an animation, while Cat in the Hat was introduced in a book.
01/24/2012
Contributor: voenne voenne
I say Peter Pan, because I figure even kids in these days know who he is. That or Superman for the same reason.
01/24/2012
Contributor: unfulfilled unfulfilled
Sherlock holmes has my vote but peter pan and superman also make good choices.
01/24/2012
Contributor: SomewhatSomewhere SomewhatSomewhere
...Um, Harry Potter. I think more children know that than The Cat in the Hat. Yep.
01/24/2012
Contributor: Lola Park Lola Park
Quote:
Originally posted by mmike
Who do you think is the most famous character in world? Mainly from literature.

Avoid naming anyone based on religion or holidays.

I don't think Mickey Mouse or Homer Simpson count. They're just cartoon characters.
Elizabeth Bennet for me...most people know exactly who I am talking about when I mention her. And yeah I'm biased because she's my personal favorite lol
01/25/2012
Contributor: Errant Venture Errant Venture
I'd say Harry Potter, too.
01/25/2012
Contributor: Kitka Kitka
Sherlock Holmes
01/25/2012
Contributor: woodsdragon woodsdragon
Since religion is out I would have to say harry potter or the guy from those terrible vampire movies.
01/27/2012
Contributor: hyacinthgirl hyacinthgirl
I would have to go with Sherlock Holmes, since most of the rest of these choices are not as widespread in the non-English world. There are chapters of the Baker Street Irregulars in India, Japan, Russia, Africa... he's a standard textbook example in most basic detective coursework the world over, and is popular enough to have movies made about him in other countries.
01/27/2012
Contributor: geliebt geliebt
I think Sherlock Holmes is pretty far up there... but it's definitely hard to say!
01/28/2012