Who is the most famous fictional character of all time?
Tough question, and I guess it depends on which genres are included in the decision-making process and whether you extend the search beyond the traditional confines of the Western world.
The author of the article, Lisa Kjellsson, offers a list of candidates, organized by century, that includes some of my candidates. She writes:
- 21st century: Harry Potter
- 20th century: James Bond
- 19th century: Sherlock Holmes (though other contenders may include Dickensian creations Oliver Twist, Scrooge, and Peter Pan)
- 18th century: Robinson Crusoe or Gulliver
- 17th century: Hamlet (not easy to pick among the Bard’s strongest characters, but the Prince of Denmark probably tops Othello and Macbeth in the celebrity stakes).
I had no idea that Sherlock Holmes was so popular, and I can’t believe that Hamlet’s popularity exceeds the notoriety of Romeo and Juliet, but I may be biased.
I’ve always thought that Hamlet was a putz.
But otherwise, the list makes sense to me. I must have been asked to read Gulliver’s Travels and Robinson Crusoe about half a dozen times each for various classes throughout my high school and college career, and James Bond and Harry Potter seem like solid choices to me.
As for me, I love Bob Kratchit from Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” though he’s not nearly as popular as anyone on the list.
But I think Snoopy deserves serious consideration for the 20th century, ahead of James Bond.
He’s been around for more than fifty years and is universally known and loved by the young and the old. He’s been published in hundreds of newspapers around the world, appears on television every holiday season, and is incapable of saying anything that might offend a reader.
Snoopy is a triumph of imagination in dog form — a beagle who long ago rejected the modest ambitions of chew toys and naps in favor of aerial combat, literary greatness, and effortless cool.
He lounges atop his doghouse like a philosopher king, sunglasses on, ears fluttering in the breeze, contemplating life’s big questions while pretending not to care about them at all.
One moment, he’s a World War I flying ace bravely battling the Red Baron over the skies of France, and the next, he’s a tortured novelist, hammering out the immortal words “It was a dark and stormy night” with the confidence of someone who has never once doubted his own genius.
Snoopy dances when music exists, struts when it doesn’t, and moves through the world with the unshakable belief that joy is both a right and a responsibility. He is loyal without being clingy, imaginative without apology, and funny without ever trying too hard — which is the highest form of funny there is.
In short, Snoopy is what happens when a dog dreams big, commits fully, and refuses to let reality interfere.
He’s not just a cartoon character. He’s a lifestyle icon, a morale booster, and living proof that if you’re going to lie on the roof, you might as well do it like a legend.
He also isn’t continually betrayed by love interests and doesn’t require special gadgets or weaponry to get the job done.
In a battle between James Bond and Snoopy, I think we all know who would win.
