101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Some fictional characters have had more impact on the world than real people. Allan Lazar, Dan Karlan, and Jeremy Salter set about ranking the “characters of myth, legends, television, and movies [who] have shaped our society, changed our behavior, and set the course of history” in their 2006 book The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived. The book contains short essays explaining how each character had an effect on the world, whether for better or worse.

  1. The Marlboro Man
  2. Big Brother
  3. King Arthur
  4. Santa Claus (St. Nick)
  5. Hamlet
  6. Dr. Frankenstein's Monster
  7. Siegfried
  8. Sherlock Holmes
  9. Romeo and Juliet
  10. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
  11. Uncle Tom
  12. Robin Hood
  13. Jim Crow
  14. Oedipus
  15. Lady Chatterly
  16. Ebenezer Scrooge
  17. Don Quixote
  18. Mickey Mouse
  19. The American Cowboy
  20. Prince Charming
  21. Smokey Bear
  22. Robinson Crusoe
  23. Apollo and Dionysus
  24. Odysseus
  25. Nora Helmer
  26. Cinderella
  27. Shylock
  28. Rosie the Riveter
  29. Midas
  30. Hester Prynne
  31. The Little Engine That Could
  32. Archie Bunker
  33. Dracula
  34. Alice in Wonderland
  35. Citizen Kane
  36. Faust
  37. Figaro
  38. Godzilla
  39. Mary Richards
  40. Don Juan
  41. Bambi
  42. William Tell
  43. Barbie
  44. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  45. Venus and Cupid
  46. Prometheus
  47. Pandora
  48. G.I. Joe
  49. Tarzan
  50. Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock
  51. James Bond
  1. Hansel and Gretel
  2. Captain Ahab
  3. Richard Blaine
  4. The Ugly Duckling
  5. Loch Ness Monster (Nessie)
  6. Atticus Finch
  7. Saint Valentine
  8. Helen of Troy
  9. Batman
  10. Uncle Sam
  11. Nancy Drew
  12. J.R. Ewing
  13. Superman
  14. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
  15. HAL 9000
  16. Kermit the Frog
  17. Sam Spade
  18. The Pied Piper
  19. Peter Pan
  20. Hiawatha
  21. Othello
  22. The Little Tramp
  23. King Kong
  24. Norman Bates
  25. Hercules (Herakles)
  26. Dick Tracy
  27. Joe Camel
  28. The Cat in the Hat
  29. Icarus
  30. Mammy
  31. Sindbad
  32. Amos 'n' Andy
  33. Buck Rogers
  34. Luke Skywalker
  35. Perry Mason
  36. Dr. Strangelove
  37. Pygmalion
  38. Madame Butterfly
  39. Hans Beckert
  40. Dorothy Gale
  41. The Wandering Jew
  42. The Great Gatsby
  43. Buck (Jack London, The Call of the Wild)
  44. Willy Loman
  45. Betty Boop
  46. Ivanhoe
  47. Elmer Gantry
  48. Lilith
  49. John Doe
  50. Paul Bunyan
Source:The foregoing is excerpted from The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived, by Allan Lazar, Dan Karlan, and Jeremy Salter. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission from HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. The authors have a site at www.101influential.com .

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