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Encyclopedia > Cartoon character

A fictional character is any person who appears in a work of fiction. More accurately, a fictional character is the person or conscious entity we imagine to exist within the world of such a work. In addition to people, characters can be aliens, animals, gods or, occasionally, inanimate objects. Characters are almost always at the center of fictional texts, especially novels and plays. It is, in fact, hard to imagine a novel or play without characters, though such texts have been attempted (James Joyce's Finnegans Wake is one of the most famous examples). In poetry, there is almost always some sort of person present, but often only in the form of a narrator or an imagined listener. In colloquial English, person is often synonymous with human. ... The Three Graces, here in a painting by Sandro Botticelli, were the goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility in Greek mythology. ... James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (February 2, 1882 – January 13, 1941) was an expatriate Irish writer and poet, and is widely considered one of the most significant writers of the 20th century. ... Finnegans Wake is the last novel written by James Joyce. ... The Narrator is the entity within a story that tells the story to the reader. ...


In various forms of theatre, performance arts and cinema (except for animation and CGI movies), fictional characters are performed by actors, dancers and singers. In animations and puppetry, they are voiced by voice actors, though there have been several examples, particularly, in machinima, where characters are voiced by computer generated voices. Theatre is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle — indeed any one or more elements of the other performing arts. ... Animation is the technique in which each frame of a film or movie is produced individually, whether generated as a computer graphic, or by photographing a drawn image, or by repeatedly making small changes to a model unit (see claymation and stop motion), and then photographing the result with a... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... A voice actor (or voice artist) is a person who provides voices for animation (including animated feature films, television series, animated shorts), radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides. ... Machinima (a portmanteau word for machine cinema and/or machine animation) is both a collection of associated production techniques and a film genre (film created by such production techniques). ... Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. ...

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Names of characters

The names of fictional characters are often quite important. The conventions of naming have changed over time. In many Restoration comedies, for example, characters are given emblematic names that sound nothing like real life names: "Sir Fidget", "Mr. Pinchwife" and "Mrs. Squeamish" are some typical examples (all from The Country Wife by William Wycherley). The English Restoration or simply Restoration was an episode in the history of Great Britain beginning in 1660 when the monarchy was restored under King Charles II after the English Civil War. ... William Wycherley (c. ...


Some 18th and 19th century texts, on the other hand, represent characters' names by the use of a single letter and a long dash (this convention is also used for other proper nouns, such as place names). This has the effect of suggesting that the author had a real person in mind but omitted the full name for propriety's sake. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo uses this technique. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Les Misérables is an 1862 novel by the famous French novelist Victor Hugo, set in the Parisian underworld. ... Victor Hugo Victor Hugo (February 26, 1802 – May 22, 1885) was a French author, the most important of the Romantic authors in the French language. ...


One reason for this dash is that, in Britain and in other countries with a feudal heritage, the names of counties and places might be the names of the feudal lords over those places. One cannot arbitrarily give someone the name "Earl of Manchester" because someone may either have or be elevated to such a title, so it may be grounds for a lawsuit. Hence fictitious names are based on disparaged historical characters, or tend to be re-used. For example, "Lady de Winter" is a character in Dumas père's Three Musketeers, and the family name was used in Du Maurier's Rebecca. (The same holds true for the names of houses: in the latter book, "Windermere" is named after a lake, not a feudal holding). Feudalism comes from the Late Latin word feudum, itself borrowed from a Germanic root *fehu, a commonly used term in the Middle Ages which means fief, or land held under certain obligations by feodati. ... A title is a prefix or suffix added to a persons name to signify either veneration, an official position or a professional or academic qualification. ...


The 19th century movements of sentimentalism, realism and naturalism all encouraged readers to imagine characters as real people by giving them realistic names, names that were often the titles of books, such as Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre or Charles Dickens' David Copperfield. These conventions were followed by the majority of subsequent literature, including most contemporary literature. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sentimentalism, sometimes known as sensibility (or the cult of sensibility), was a fashion in both poetry and fiction beginning in the eighteenth century. ... Realism is commonly defined as a concern for fact or reality and rejection of the impractical and visionary. ... Naturalism is an outgrowth of realism, a prominent literary movement in late 19th century France and elsewhere. ... Charlotte Brontë - idealized portrait, 1873 (based on a drawing by George Richmond, 1850) Charlotte Brontë (April 21, 1816 – March 31, 1855) was an English novelist. ... Charles Dickens used his rich imagination, sense of humour and detailed memories, particularly of his childhood, to enliven his fiction. ...


However, there are few characters with names that are completely arbitrary. At the very least, names tend to indicate nationality and status. Often, the literal meaning or origin of a name is of some symbolic importance.


Some ways of reading characters

Readers vary enormously in how they understand fictional characters. The most extreme ways of reading fictional characters would be to think of them exactly as real people or to think of them as purely artistic creations that have everything to do with craft and nothing to do with real life. Most styles of reading fall somewhere in between.


Here are some typical ways of reading fictional characters in literary criticism:


Character as patient: psychoanalytic readings

Psychoanalytic criticism usually treats characters as real people possessing complex psyches. Psychoanalytic critics approach literary characters as an analyst would treat a patient, searching their dreams, past, and behavior for explanations of their fictional situations. Psychoanalytic literary criticism is literary criticism which, in method, concept, theory or form, is influenced by the tradition of psychoanalysis begun by Sigmund Freud. ...


Alternatively, some psychoanalytic critics read characters as mirrors for the audience's psychological fears and desires. Rather than representing realistic psyches then, fictional characters offer us a way to act out psychological dramas of our own in symbolic and often hyperbolic form. The classic example of this would be Freud's reading of Oedipus (and Hamlet, for that matter) as emblematizing every child's fantasy of murdering his father to possess his mother. A hyperbole, largely synonymous with exaggeration and overstatement, is a figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated or extravagant. ... Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856 - September 23, 1939) was an Austrian psychiatrist and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology, a movement that popularized the theory that unconscious motives control much behavior. ... Å’dipus and the Sphinx, from an 1879 illustration from Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church Oedipus or Å’dipus, less commonly Oidipous, was the mythical king of Thebes, son of Laius and Jocasta, who, unknowingly, killed his father and married his mother. ... The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare and one of his most well-known and oft-quoted plays. ...


This form of reading persists today in much Film criticism. The feminist critic Laura Mulvey is considered a pioneer in the field. Her groundbreaking 1975 article, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema"[1], analyzed the role of the male viewer of conventional narrative cinema as fetishist, using psychoanalysis "as a political weapon, demonstrating the way the unconscious of patriarchal society has structured film form." Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films. ... Laura Mulvey (born August 15, 1941) is a British feminist film theorist. ... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ...


Character as symbol

In some readings, certain characters are understood to represent a given quality or abstraction. Rather than simply being people, these characters stand for something larger. Many characters in Western Literature have been read as Christ Symbols, for example. Other characters have been read as symbolizing capitalist greed (as in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby), the futility of fulfilling the American Dream (as in One of the Guys by Robert Clark Young), democratic ideals (Luke Skywalker), or quixotic romanticism (Don Quixote). F.Scott Fitzgerald, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1937 Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an Irish-American Jazz Age novelist and short story writer. ... The cover of the Scribner Paperback Fiction Edition, 1995. ... One of the Guys is an earnestly satirical and picaresque novel by Robert Clark Young, published in 1999, concerning the fantastical adventures of a man posing as a chaplain on a U.S. Navy ship which goes berserk and terrorizes a number of ports in the Far East before the... Robert Clark Young (born 1960) is an American author of novels, essays, and short stories. ... Luke Skywalker (born 19 BBY) is a fictional character of the Star Wars universe, a Jedi Knight, who plays a major role in the series of films. ... Statues of Don Quixote (left) and Sancho Panza (right) Don Quixote de la Mancha (IPA: ) is a novel by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. ...


Character as representative

Another way of reading characters symbolically is to understand each character as a representative of a certain group of people. For example, Bigger Thomas of Native Son by Richard Wright is often seen as representative of young black men in the 1930s, doomed to a life of poverty and exploitation. Dagny Taggart and other characters from Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand are seen as representative of American's hard-nosed, hard-working class. Native Son (ISBN 0060809779) is a novel published in 1940 and written by Richard Wright. ... Richard Wright, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1939 Richard Nathaniel Wright (September 4, 1908 - November 28, 1960) was an African-American author of novels and short stories. ... Atlas Shrugged cover Atlas Shrugged is a novel by Ayn Rand, first published in 1957 in the USA. There are currently plans to make a movie version. ... Ayn Rand (February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982; first name pronounced (IPA) (rhymes with mine)), born Alissa Alice Zinovievna Rosenbaum, was a popular and controversial American philosopher and novelist, best known for her philosophy of Objectivism and her novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. ...


Many practitioners of cultural criticism and feminist criticism focus their analysis of characters on cultural stereotypes. In particular, they consider the ways in which authors rely on and/or work against stereotypes when they create their characters. Such critics, for example, would read Native Son in relation to racist stereotypes of African American men as sexually violent (especially against white women). In reading Bigger Thomas' character, one could ask in what ways Richard Wright relied on these stereotypes to create a violent African-American male character and in what ways he fought against it by making that character the protagonist of the novel rather than an anonymous villain. A cultural critic is a critic of a given culture, usually as a whole and typically on a radical basis. ... In modern usage, a stereotype is a simplified mental picture of an individual or group of people who share a certain characteristic (or stereotypical) qualities. ... An African-American drinks out of a water cooler designated for use by colored patrons in 1939 at a streetcar terminal in Oklahoma City. ... African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or black Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan and West Africa. ... The protagonist is the central figure of a story, and is often referred to as a storys main character. ... A stereotypical villain. ...


Often, readings that focus on stereotypes demand that we focus our attention on seemingly unimportant characters, such as the ubiquitous sambo characters in early cinema. Minor characters, or stock characters, are often the focus of this kind of analysis since they tend to rely more heavily on stereotypes than more central characters. Sambo may have one of the following meanings. ... A stock character is a fictional character that relies heavily on cultural types or stereotypes for its personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. ...


Characters as historical or biographical references

Sometimes characters obviously represent important historical figures. For example, Nazi-hunter Yakov Liebermann in The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin is often compared to reallife Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal, and corrupted populist politician Willie Stark from All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren is often compared to Louisiana governor Huey P. Long. The Boys from Brazil (1976) is a fiction thriller novel by Ira Levin. ... Ira Levin (born August 27, 1929 in New York) is an author of fiction thriller novels and is also a playwright and songwriter. ... Simon Wiesenthal Simon Wiesenthal (born December 31, 1908 in Buczacz, Austria-Hungary, in an area which is now part of Ukraine) is a retired Austrian Nazi hunter. ... All the Kings Men is a novel by Robert Penn Warren, published in 1946 and made into a film in 1949 and again in 2005. ... Robert Penn Warren (April 24, 1905 - September 15, 1989) was an American poet and writer. ... State nickname: Pelican State Other U.S. States Capital Baton Rouge Largest city New Orleans Governor Kathleen Blanco Official languages None; English and French de facto Area 134,382 km² (31st)  - Land 112,927 km²  - Water 21,455 km² (16%) Population (2000)  - Population 4,468,976 (22nd)  - Density 39. ... Huey Pierce Long (August 30, 1893–September 10, 1935), known as The Kingfish, was an American politician; he was governor of Louisiana (1928–1932), Senator (1932–1935) and a presidential hopeful before his assassination. ...


Other times, authors base characters on people from their own personal lives. Glenarvon by Lady Caroline Lamb chronicles her love affair with Lord Byron, who is thinly disguised as the title character. Nicole, a destructive, mentally ill woman in Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is often seen as a fictionalized version of Fitzgerald's wife Zelda. Lady Caroline Lamb (1785-1828) was an English aristocrat, the only daughter of the Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough and Henrietta Ponsonby, the Countess. ... Lord Byron, English poet Lord Byron (1803), as painted by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, (January 22, 1788 – April 19, 1824) was the most widely read English language poet of his day. ... Tender is the Night book cover Tender is the Night is a 1934 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. ... F.Scott Fitzgerald, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1937 Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an Irish-American Jazz Age novelist and short story writer. ...


Perhaps because so many people enjoy imagining characters as real people, many critics devote their time to seeking out real people on whom literary figures were likely based. Frequently authors base stories on themselves or their loved ones.


Character as words

Some language- or text-oriented critics emphasize that characters are nothing more than certain conventional uses of words on a page: names or even just pronouns repeated throughout a text. They refer to characters as functions of the text. Some critics go so far as to suggest that even authors do not exist outside the texts that construct them.


Round characters vs. flat characters

Some critics distinguish between "round characters" and "flat characters" or types. The former are made up of many personality traits and tend to be complex and both more life-like and believable, while the latter consist of only a few personality traits and tend to be simple and less believable. The protagonist (main character, sometimes known as the "hero" or the "heroine") of a novel is certain to be a round character; a minor, supporting character in the same novel may be a flat character. Scarlett O'Hara, of "Gone With the Wind", is a good example of a round character, whereas her servant Prissy exemplifies the flat character. Likewise, many antagonists (characters in conflict with protagonists, sometimes known as "villains") are round characters. An example of an antagonist who is a round character is Rhett Butler. Type has historically had the following uses: In biology, a type is the specimen or specimens upon which an original species description is based. ... Gone With the Wind was an instant success. ...


A number of stereotypical or "stock" characters have developed throughout the history of drama. Some of these characters include the country bumpkin, the con artist, and the city slicker. Often, these characters are the basis of "flat characters", though elements of stock characters can also be present in round characters as well. A stock character is a fictional character that relies heavily on cultural types or stereotypes for its personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. ...


Unusual uses

Post-modern fiction frequently incorporates real characters into fictional and even realistic surroundings. In film, the appearance of a real person as himself inside of a fictional story is a type of cameo. For instance, Woody Allen's Annie Hall has Allen's character call in Marshall McLuhan to resolve a disagreement. Since its first use in 1851, a cameo role or cameo appearance has been a brief appearance in a play (or later, a movie) that stands out against the general context for its éclat or dramatic punch. ... Woody Allen (born December 1, 1935), is an American short story writer, screenwriter, and film director whose large body of important work and cerebral style have made him one of the most widely respected and prolific filmmakers in the modern era. ... Annie Hall is a 1977 film directed by Woody Allen from a script by Allen and Marshall Brickman. ... Herbert Marshall McLuhan (July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980) was a Canadian educator, philosopher, scholar, academic, professor of English literature, communications theorist, one of the founders of the study of media ecology and an honorary guru today among technophiles. ...


In some experimental fiction, the author acts as a character within his own text. One of the earliest examples of this is Niebla ("Fog") by Miguel de Unamuno (1907), in which the main character visits Unamuno in his office to discuss his fate in the novel. Paul Auster also employs this device in his novel City of Glass (1985), which opens with the main character getting a phone call for Paul Auster. At first the main character explains that the caller has reached a wrong number, but eventually he decides to pretend to be Auster and see where it leads him. In Immortality by Milan Kundera, the author references himself in a storyline seemingly separate from that of his fictional characters, but at the end of the novel, Kundera meets his own characters. Niebla is a novel writen by Miguel de Unamuno Categories: Substubs ... Miguel de Unamuno Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (September 29, 1864 – December 31, 1936) was a Spanish writer and philosopher. ... Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947) is an American author. ... Milan Kundera is a Franco-Czech writer, born April 1, 1929 in Brno, Czechoslovakia. ...


With the rise of the star system in Hollywood, many famous actors are so familiar that it can be hard to limit our reading of their character to a single film. In some sense, Bruce Lee is always Bruce Lee, Woody Allen is always Woody Allen, and Harrison Ford is always Harrison Ford; all often portray characters that are very alike, so audiences fuse the star persona with the characters they tend to play. The film Being John Malkovich explores the strange situation of characters in film. Martial arts actor Bruce Lee. ... Woody Allen (born December 1, 1935), is an American short story writer, screenwriter, and film director whose large body of important work and cerebral style have made him one of the most widely respected and prolific filmmakers in the modern era. ... Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942,) is an American actor who, between 1977 and 1983, appeared in what were then four of the top ten highest-grossing movies ever. ... Being John Malkovich is a 1999 film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. ...


Some fiction and drama make constant reference to a character who is never seen. This often becomes a sort of joke with the audience. This device is the centrepoint of one of the most unusual and original plays of the 20th century, Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, in which Godot of the title never arrives. Television shows and stage plays sometimes include continuing characters who are never seen or heard by the audience, but only described by other characters. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (April 13, 1906 – December 22, 1989) was an Irish playwright, novelist and poet. ... Vladimir and Estragon consider their carrot Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, written in the late 1940s and first published in 1952. ...


Famous fictional characters

Some fictional characters are so famous that they are often mentioned outside the context of the fictional work they come from. These characters include:

For other uses, see Achilles (disambiguation). ... Greek mythology comprises the collected legends of Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. ... Sir Galahad, a hero of Arthurian legend In many myths and folk tales, a hero is a man or woman (the latter often called a heroine), traditionally the protagonist of a story, legend or saga, who commonly possesses abilities or character far greater than that of a typical person, which... John Tenniels illustration for A Mad Tea-Party, 1865 Alices Adventures in Wonderland is a work of childrens literature by the British mathematician and author Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonydddddddddddddddm Lewis Carroll. ... Photograph of Lewis Carroll taken by himself, with assistance Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (January 27, 1832 – January 14, 1898), better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll, was a British author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer. ... Naïve is Industrial rock group KMFDMs fifth album, released in 1990. ... Big Brother as portrayed in the BBCs 1954 production of Nineteen Eighty-Four. ... Nineteen Eighty-Four (often 1984) is a darkly satirical political novel written by George Orwell. ... George Orwell George Orwell was the pen name of British author Eric Arthur Blair (June 25, 1903 – January 21, 1950). ... Archie Bunker was a fictional character in the classic and top-rated 1970s American television sitcom All in the Family. ... All in the Family is a popular and acclaimed American situation comedy that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971 until April 8, 1979, when the final original episode aired. ... A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from his own. ... Brother Jonathan was a fictional character created to personify the entire United States, in the early days of the countrys existence. ... The tallest (38 ft (11. ... World War 1 recruiting poster John Bull is a literary and cartoon character created to personify Britain by Dr. John Arbuthnot in 1712 and popularized first by British print makers and then overseas by illustrators such as American cartoonist Thomas Nast. ... Bugs Bunny on a United States stamp Bugs Bunny is a fictional street-smart gray rabbit appearing in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, and is one of the most recognizable characters, real or imaginary, in the world. ... Genera Pentalagus Bunolagus Nesolagus Romerolagus Brachylagus Sylvilagus Oryctolagus Poelagus The bane of Australian farmers - the wild rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae, found in many parts of the world. ... Charles Charlie Brown is the principal character in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. ... This article is about the comic strip, the sequential art form as published in newspapers and on the Internet. ... Peanuts book cover Peanuts was a syndicated comic strip written and drawn by American cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. ... Moby-Dick book cover Moby-Dick - the official title of the first edition - is a novel by Herman Melville. ... Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, essayist, and poet. ... Moby-Dick book cover Moby-Dick – the hyphen in the title is present in the original edition – is a novel by Herman Melville. ... Captain James T. Kirk James Tiberius Kirk, a fictional character in the Star Trek television series, was the captain of the starship Enterprise (NCC-1701 and NCC-1701-A). ... The starship Enterprise (NX-01). ... The Enterprise boldly going where no man had gone before. ... Dilbert is a popular American comic strip. ... Software engineering (SE) is the profession concerned with specifying, designing, developing and maintaining software applications by applying technologies and practices from computer science, project management, and other fields. ... Statues of Don Quixote (left) and Sancho Panza (right) Don Quixote de la Mancha (IPA: ) is a novel by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. ... Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (September 29, 1547 - April 23, 1616), was a Spanish author, best known for his novel Don Quixote de la Mancha. ... The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll1and Mr. ... Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis (Balfour) Stevenson (November 13, 1850 – December 3, 1894), was a novelist, poet, and travel writer. ... Bela Lugosi as Dracula United States stamp Dracula is a fictional character, arguably the most famous vampire in fiction. ... Merging and redirecting History of vampire lore into this article may be desirable. ... Abraham Bram Stoker (November 8, 1847–April 20, 1912) was an Anglo-Irish writer, best remembered as the author of the influential horror novel Dracula. ... E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 science fiction film that tells the story of a young boy, Elliott, who befriends an alien being stranded on Earth and trying to find his way home. ... Aliens are foreigners to their surroundings. ... The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare and one of his most well-known and oft-quoted plays. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Hercules and Cacus, by Baccio Bandinelli, 1525 - 1534. ... Greek mythology comprises the collected legends of Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. ... Paul and Babe in Bemidji, Minnesota Paul Bunyan is a mythical lumberjack in tall tales. ... Hermione Jane Granger (born September 19, 1979)1 2 is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series. ... Cover of the original novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. ... Holden Caulfield is the fictional teenaged protagonist in J.D. Salingers novel The Catcher in the Rye, first published in 1951. ... The Catcher in the Rye book cover The Catcher in the Rye is a novel by J. D. Salinger. ... Jerome David Salinger (born January 1, 1919) is an American author best known for The Catcher in the Rye, a classic coming-of-age story that has enjoyed enduring popularity since its publication in 1951. ... Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) is one of the main characters in the animated television series The Simpsons. ... The Simpsons is the longest-running animated television series in American television history, with 16 seasons and 356 episodes since its debut on December 17, 1989 on FOX, and is a spin-off of The Tracey Ullman Show. ... Huckleberry Finn is the protagonist of Mark Twains famous book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. ... Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was a famous and popular American humorist, writer and lecturer. ... Virtue (Greek αρετη; Latin virtus) is the habitual, well-established, readiness or diposition of mans powers directing them to some goodness of act. ... Jára da Cimrman is a popular Czech fictional character created by a group of humorists in Prague Jiri Sebanek and Zdenek Sverak. ... James Bond, also known as 007 (pronounced double-oh seven), is a fictional British spy introduced by writer Ian Fleming in 1953. ... King Arthur is an important figure in the mythology of Great Britain, where he appears as the ideal of kingship in both war and peace. ... King Lear and the Fool in the Storm by William Dyce (1806-1864) King Lear is generally regarded as one of William Shakespeares greatest tragedies. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Cordelia can refer to several things: Queen Cordelia was a legendary queen of the Britons. ... Lolita is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first published in 1955. ... Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (Russian: Владимир Владимирович Набоков; pronounced: vlah-DEE-meer nah-BAWK-awf) (April 10 O.S. [April 22/23 N.S.], 1899 - July 2, 1977) was a Russian-American author. ... Scene from Macbeth, depicting the witches conjuring of an apparition in Act IV, Scene I Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, based loosely on the historical King Macbeth of Scotland. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Lady Macbeth by George Cattermole Lady Macbeth is a character in Shakespeares play Macbeth. ... Miss Piggy being moved on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Miss Piggy is a Muppet character primarily played by Frank Oz. ... John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together The Muppets are a group of puppets and costume characters created by Jim Henson and the company he created. ... Narcissism is the pattern of traits and behaviors which involve infatuation and obsession with ones self to the exclusion of others and the egotistic and ruthless pursuit of ones gratification, dominance and ambition. ... Virtue (Greek αρετη; Latin virtus) is the habitual, well-established, readiness or diposition of mans powers directing them to some goodness of act. ... Kermit and Grover make regular appearances on Sesame Street along with many other Muppets. ... Mrs. ... The Graduate is a novel by Charles Webb, made into a 1967 film of the same name directed by Mike Nichols from a screenplay by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry. ... Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol (Russian: Никола́й Васи́льевич Го́голь) (March 31, 1809 - March 4, 1852) was a Ukrainian-born Russian writer. ... Dead Souls is a novel by the Russian author Nikolai Gogol. ... Odysseus Laërtiadês (Greek: , son of Laertes), or simply Odysseus (meaning man of wrath according to Homer) or more likely (from Greek οδηγός: odigos) a guide; the one showing the way. ... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... The Odyssey (ΟΔΥΣΣΕΙΑ) is the second of the two great Greek epic poems ascribed to Homer, the first of which is the Iliad. ... Ophelia means several things: Ophelia is a fictional character in William Shakespeares play Hamlet. ... The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare and one of his most well-known and oft-quoted plays. ... Penelope represented as a statue in the Vatican, Rome Penelope (Pênelopeia) is a character of the Odyssey, one of the two great epic poems (the other being the Iliad; both are attributed to Homer) of ancient Greek literature. ... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... The Odyssey (ΟΔΥΣΣΕΙΑ) is the second of the two great Greek epic poems ascribed to Homer, the first of which is the Iliad. ... Odysseus Laërtiadês (Greek: , son of Laertes), or simply Odysseus (meaning man of wrath according to Homer) or more likely (from Greek οδηγός: odigos) a guide; the one showing the way. ... Prince Charming meets Cinderella in a 1912 book of fairy tales. ... A fairy tale is a story, either told to children or as if told to children, concerning the adventures of mythical characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, and others. ... Sleeping Beauty (La Belle aux bois dormant) is a fairy tale classic, the first in the set published in 1697 by Charles Perrault, Contes de ma Mère lOye (Mother Goose Tales). Elements of the story are contained in Giambattista Basiles Pentamerone (published 1634), in the tale Sun, Moon... Charles Perrault, 1665 Charles Perrault (January 12, 1628–May 16, 1703) was a French author. ... Robin Hood is the archetypal English folk hero, an outlaw who, in modern versions of the legend, stole from the rich to give to the poor (some would say from the tax collector to refund the taxpayer). ... Heart of Gold is a fictional spaceship in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. ... Romeo and Juliet is a famous play by William Shakespeare concerning the fate of two young star-crossed lovers. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Ebenezer Scrooge is the main character in Charles Dickens story A Christmas Carol. ... Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (February 7, 1812 – June 9, 1870), pen-name “Boz”, was an English novelist of the Victorian era. ... Ebenezer Scrooge encounters Ignorance and Want in A Christmas Carol A Christmas Carol is a short story written by Charles Dickens. ... Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasievich Bulgakov (or Bulhakov, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков; May 15 (May 3 Old Style), 1891–March 10, 1940) was a Soviet novelist and playwright of the first half of the 20th century. ... Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th century, created by British author and physician Arthur Conan Doyle. ... In Greek mythology, the Sirens or Seirenes (Greek Σειρῆνας) were sea nymphs who lived on an island called Sirenum scopuli which was surrounded by cliffs and rocks. ... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... The Odyssey (ΟΔΥΣΣΕΙΑ) is the second of the two great Greek epic poems ascribed to Homer, the first of which is the Iliad. ... Mata Hari, exotic dancer and convicted spy, made her name synonymous with femme fatale during WWI. — Mae West A femme fatale is a stock character, a villainous woman who uses the malign power of sexuality in order to ensnare the hapless hero. ... Mr. ... The Enterprise boldly going where no man had gone before. ... Vulcans are a humanoid species in the fictional Star Trek universe who reside on the planet Vulcan and are noted for their attempt to live by reason and logic. ... James Tiberius Kirk, a fictional character in the Star Trek television series, was the captain of the Starship Enterprise (NCC-1701 and NCC-1701-A). ... Superman, nicknamed The Man of Steel, is a fictional character and superhero who first appeared in Action Comics #1 in 1938 and eventually became one of the most popular and well-known comic book icons of all time. ... Archetype is defined as the first original model of which all other similar persons, objects, or concepts are merely derivative, copied, patterned, or emulated. ... A superhero is a fictional character who is noted for feats of courage and nobility and who usually has a colorful name and costume and abilities beyond those of normal human beings. ... The Grapes of Wrath book cover The Grapes of Wrath is a work of fiction published by John Steinbeck in 1939, in which descriptive, narrative, and philosophical passages succeed one another. ... John Ernst Steinbeck (February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was one of the most famous American novelists of the 20th century. ... The Great Depression was a global economic slump that began in 1929 and bottomed in 1933. ... Uncle Tom is a pejorative term for a black person who is obsequiously servile to white authority; eager to win the approval of white people; or, who rubber stamps white supremacist notions about the inherent superority of whites and its corollary, the inherent inferiority of blacks. ... Harriet Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an abolitionist, and writer of more than 10 books, the most famous being Uncle Toms Cabin which describes life in slavery, and which was first published in serial form from 1851 to 1852 in an abolitionist organ, the National... Simon Legree menaces Uncle Tom Uncle Toms Cabin is a novel by American novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe which treats slavery as a central theme. ... African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or black Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan and West Africa. ... Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote The Road Runner cartoons are a series of Looney Tunes cartoons created by Chuck Jones for Warner Brothers. ... A cartoon is any of several forms of art, with varied meanings that evolved from one to another. ... A roadrunner is: in zoology, A roadrunner is one of two species of bird in the genus Geococcyx of the cuckoo family Cuculidae, order Cuculiformes, native to North and Central America. ... The Jedi Master known as Yoda (896 BBY–4 ABY), voiced by Frank Oz, is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. ... For the missile defense program, see Strategic Defense Initiative. ... Luke Skywalker (born 19 BBY) is a fictional character of the Star Wars universe, a Jedi Knight, who plays a major role in the series of films. ... The Jedi are a fictional monastic peacekeeping organization from the Star Wars saga. ... In Greek mythology, Mentor (sometimes Mentes) was the son of Alcumus and, in his old age, a friend of Odysseus. ...

Lists of fictional characters

General

This is a list of notable mascots and characters created specifically for advertising purposes, listed alphabetically by the product they represent. ... This is a list of aliens that have appeared in various works of fiction featuring aliens. ... This is a list of cartoon, comic or animated characters who appear together as a pair or are pitched against each other. ... This is a list of characters from animated cartoons, comic books and comic strips that are named after real people. ... This is a list of fictional characters with one eye. ... Clergy and other religious figures have generally represented a popular outlet for pop culture, although this has tapered in recent years. ... The following is a list of fictional mad scientists in cultural sources (literature, movies, comics, etc. ... This is a list of famous pairs in mythology. ... A list of real-life characters, characters who are played before a live audience (as opposed to only on television or in a movie), and may have held acting jobs of their own. ... This is a chronological list of robots and androids in literature, television, and cinema. ... Greek mythological characters (Most of the gods and goddesses had Roman equivalents. ... In contrast to the archetypical mad scientist, there are a lesser number of heroic scientists and engineers depicted in western culture who go above and beyond the regular demands of their professions to use their skills and knowledge for the betterment of others, often at great personal risk. ... Television shows and stage plays sometimes include continuing characters who are never seen or heard by the audience, but only described by other characters. ... A video game mascot is usually a specific video game character that is a trademark of a video game company brand. ... A list of fictional characters who are witches. ... The is a list of fictional television sitcom characters. ...

Stock characters

A stock character is a fictional character that relies heavily on cultural types or stereotypes for its personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. ... A poster for The Perils of Pauline (1914). ... Mata Hari, exotic dancer and convicted spy, made her name synonymous with femme fatale during WWI. — Mae West A femme fatale is a stock character, a villainous woman who uses the malign power of sexuality in order to ensnare the hapless hero. ... Butch and femme are terms often used in the lesbian and gay subcultures to describe a persons approximate adherence of traditional masculine and feminine gender roles respectively, within a same-sex relationship, or to describe an individual generally. ... Sir Galahad, a hero of Arthurian legend In many myths and folk tales, a hero is a man or woman (the latter often called a heroine), traditionally the protagonist of a story, legend or saga, who commonly possesses abilities or character far greater than that of a typical person, which... They LAUGHED at my theories at the institute! Fools! Ill destroy them all! -- Caucasian, male, aging, crooked teeth, messy hair, lab coat, spectacles/goggles, dramatic posing — One popular stereotype of mad scientist. ... A stereotypical villain. ...

Fictional animals

This is a list of fictional apes (Bonobos, Chimpanzees, Gorillas, Orangutans, and Gibbons & Siamangs) and other non-human higher primates. ... The following is a list of fictional monkeys. ... Winnie the Pooh Teddy Bear Bears are very common fictionalized and personified animals, and can be found in almost every single kind of fiction. ... Birds in Legends, Mythology, and Religion Ba in Egyptian mythology Bagucks in Chippewa mythology Bar Juchne in Talmud Camulatz in Maya mythology Chamrosh in Persian mythology The Cu Bird (el Pájaro Cu) in Mexican folklore Noahs Dove in Christian religion Feng-huang (Chinese Phoenix) in Chinese mythology Firebird in... Cats and other felines have often been used as characters in literature and in other forms of media. ... Literature Film Aladar and most other characters in Dinosaur Godzilla Animation, cartoon and puppetry Barney, Baby Bop, and B.J. in Barney & Friends Denver Dino in The Flintstones Gertie the Dinosaur by Winsor McCay Grumpy and many others from Land of the Lost Bob, Dawn, and Rex in Dilbert The... This is a list of fictional dogs from literature, movies etc. ... For a list of people with the dragon zodiac sign, see Dragon (zodiac), for the south east Asian lizard, see Komodo Dragon. ... Fictional elephants Babar Berilia, Tubal, Great TPhon, and Jerakeen, the four elephants who stand on the back of Great ATuin the star turtle, carrying Terry Pratchetts Discworld. ... Horses in Mythology Arion, an immortal, extremely swift horse Arvak and Alsvid pulled Sols chariot Baku, horse-bodied dream-eaters Centaur, part human, part horse Dyaus Pita, the Sky Father, who appears as a horse Embarr was Niamhs horse Gandharva, male nature spirits, usually part horse Hengroen, King... Mice Algernon in Flowers for Algernon Anatole Angelina Ballerina Basil in the Basil of Baker Street novels and the movie The Great Mouse Detective Benjy mouse and Frankie mouse in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, two members of the species which has ordered the Magratheans to construct planet Earth Bernard... Pigs in Literature Babe in The Sheep-pig by Dick King-Smith (filmed as Babe) The Dickery, dickery, dare pig who flew up in the air in the nursery rhyme The Empress of Blandings, created by P. G. Wodehouse The fat pig, the buying of which was the reason for... Peter Rabbit & wife, Benjamin and Flopsy Bunny and the little Flopsy Bunnies, from the Beatrix Potter stories This is a list of fictional rabbits. ... This list contains fictional animals of species that do not have a separate list among the lists of fictional animals. ...

Lists of fictional characters in specific works or series

The X-Men is a team of comic book mutant superheroes, as published by Marvel Comics. ... Digimon have seven levels of power and biological advancement. ... This is a complete list of all 391 Pokémon that are officially known to exist in the franchise – 393 if one includes Missingno. ... This is a list of characters from the fictional Dune universe, created originally by Frank Herbert with his Dune novels. ... Spoiler warning: The pages linked below discuss events which occur in The Sandman, and give away plot points that could spoil your enjoyment of the series if you have not yet read it. ... Characters in Ayn Rands novel, Atlas Shrugged. ... This is a list of characters owned or published primarily by DC Comics. ... This is a list of characters in the works of Charles Dickens. ... This list does not count characters in Pixar or other computer-animated films, but includes those from the comics, animated films, and animated series. ... A list of species, races, peoples, nations and factions of J. R. R. Tolkiens Middle-earth legendarium. ... A list of characters from J. R. R. Tolkiens Middle-earth legendarium. ... Dust jacket of the 1968 UK edition The Lord of the Rings is an epic fantasy story by J. R. R. Tolkien, a sequel to his earlier work, The Hobbit. ... Major characters Tommy Vercetti Sonny Ferreli Ken Rosenberg Lance Vance Avery Carrington Kent Paul Colonel Juan Garcia Cortez Ricardo Diaz Steve Scott Mitch Baker Phil Cassidy Minor characters Auntie Poulet Umberto Robina Jez Torrent Candy Suxxx Pastor Richards BJ Smith Claud Maginot Jeremy Robard Mister Magic DJ Toni Mercedes Cortez... This is a list of characters from the MTV animated series, Beavis and Butt-head. ... This is a list of significant characters from the television programs Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. ... This is a list of characters from the Mortal Kombat video game series and the games in which they appear. ... Archie Andrews Betty Cooper Cheryl Blossom Chuck Clayton Jughead Jones Hiram Lodge Veronica Lodge Reggie Mantle Moose Mason Nancy Mr. ... This is a list of characters in the fantasy novels by C. S. Lewis collectively known as The Chronicles of Narnia. ... These are characters from the animated TV series Family Guy. ... These are characters from the animated TV series The Simpsons. ... Although The Simpsons is itself a fictional show of fictional characters, there are also several characters within the shows universe who are fictional to the Simpsons characters themselves (see show-within-a-show). ... Many The Simpsons episodes feature celebrity guests contributing their voices to the show, whether as themselves or as fictional characters. ... This article contains a list of recurring characters from The Simpsons with descriptions. ... This is a list of one-time characters from The Simpsons. ... The following is a partial listing of fictional characters from the HBO series, The Sopranos: Tony Soprano, played by James Gandolfini Carmela Soprano, played by Edie Falco Meadow Soprano, played by Jamie-Lynn DiScala Anthony Soprano, Jr. ... This is a list of characters from The Legend of Zelda video game series. ... Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines Dick Dastardly Muttley Yankee Doodle Pigeon The Flintstones Fred Flintstone Wilma Slaghoople Flintstone Pebbles Flintstone Barney Rubble Betty McBrickner Rubble Bamm Bamm Rubble George Nate Slate Dino The Great Gazoo The Herculoids Zandor Tara Dorno Zok Igoo Tundro Gloop and Gleep The Hillbilly... This is a list of major characters appearing in the Marvel Universe, which encompasses most fictional characters created for and owned by Marvel Comics. ... This is a list of Nintendo characters: Ashlee Ayra Baby Luigi Baby Mario Birdo Bob-omb Boo Bubbles Buzz Buzz Captain Falcon Chain Chomp Cheep-Cheep Crazy Hand Dedede Diddy Kong Dixie Kong Donkey Kong Donkey Kong, Jr. ... This article is about main characters. ... This is a list of characters for the Mega Man X series. ... This is a list of characters for the Mega Man Zero series. ... This computer/video game related article needs cleanup. ... The characters listed pertain to both MegaMan Battle Network/Rockman EXE and the anime and manga MegaMan NT Warrior. ... This is a list of characters and notable fictional species from the Metroid video game franchise. ... The main story revolves around a series of tournaments held by the Mishima Zaibatsu, a Japanese conglomerate run by Heihachi Mishima. ... NOTE: This is a list of characters from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic-strips written and drawn by the Belgian writer-artist; Hergé Abu-Bin-Dun Abdullah Colonel Achmed General Alcazar Peggy Alcazar Alfred Alembick Hector Alembick Allan Amhed Andy Alonzo Alvarez Anseering Avakuki Ayesha Ba Baoro... For basic series information see Carmen Sandiego. ... This page is part of the Harry Potter in translation series. ... Students Gryffindors Same year as Harry Harry Potter Hermione Granger Ron Weasley Neville Longbottom Lavender Brown Seamus Finnigan Parvati Patil Dean Thomas Older Gryffindors