Just a thought experiment, but which fictional character would you guess is known by the greatest number of people alive? And what if we restrict it to characters from English literature?
From just English literature, could Sherlock Holmes and James Bond be contenders? Or if we count characters originating in comic books, maybe it’s actually Spider-Man or Superman?
From any literature across all languages, I’m at a loss. My best guess for a contender is Mulan, but I’m sure this reflects my unfortunately poor knowledge of non-English literature.
by just_writing_things
18 Comments
My gues would be either a fairy tale character like Cinderella or The Little Mermaid or someone from the bible.
I think this really depends on what’s happened with that literary character.
There’s plenty of people that wouldn’t know that James Bond is a literary figure that became a cinematic character, whereas I’d argue majority of people would know that about Sherlock Holmes or Harry Potter (which I would argue at this moment in time is probably the best known from english lit).
From any lit across all languages, probably Jesus (categorize that as fiction, non-fiction or whatever else you like).
Don Quixote? Odysseus?
I am going to bet it’s the Monkey King, Son Wukong. That character has been redone constantly and is everywhere.
If by literature we understand a written work by a known author then, yes, Sherlock Holmes may be the most internationally well-known although Romeo and Juliet would score highly on name recognition too. From non-English literature perhaps the Monkey King from ‘Journey to the West’ or Don Quixote, though probably not now so well known as he was 50 years ago.
My guess would be Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein & his monster
Harry Potter. I haven’t met a single person who doesn’t know Harry Potter
Achilles maybe or odysseus? Homers literature has been the base for so many pieces of literature
I’d guess it’s Jesus.
Sherlock Holmes. He’s the archetype for detectives
The Bible or the quran probably.
Sherlock Holmes
Surprised nobody is saying Robin Hood
Dracula?
I hate to admit it but it’s probably Harry Potter (unless we’re counting holy books, in which case it’s Jesus or Muhammad)
Obviously you’d be hard pressed to find someone in Europe or the US who hasn’t at least heard the name Harry Potter. But it’s a franchise with massive international reach outside of the west. It’s popular in China, India, South America… there’s even a theme park in the UAE. As a Brit visiting another country, it’s a pretty common experience to tell someone where you’re from and them to respond “Harry Potter!”
I think the only thing which could maybe rival Harry Potter is if we include comic books and Spider-Man, Batman, and Superman are included.
Possibly Sherlock Holmes? But I don’t know whether he’s widely known outside of the UK and US.
Guys come on
It’s Mickey Mouse
This has been asked and answered a million times
Sherlock Holmes
I say Mr Bean.