The 101 most influential people who never lived. As Pop Candy's Whitney Matheson writes, the list comes from a new book, the aptly titled The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived. (Story.) In it, "Allan Lazar, Dan Karlan and Jeremy Salter have ranked 'characters of myth, legends, television, and movies' based on how greatly they're affected society."
The top five:
The Marlboro Man
Big Brother
King Arthur
Santa Claus (St. Nick) -- although a work colleague pointed out that St. Nick was a real person
Hamlet
The Marlboro Man probably influenced me more than I'd like to admit. But I would have to say the fictional characters that would make my list include (in unranked order):
Huck Finn (on the list)
Alfred E. Neuman (not on the list)
James Bond (listed)
Gilligan (nope)
The Skipper, too (nada)
Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver (not listed) -- and, to a lesser extent, Eddie Haskell (also not listed)
The Misfit from Flannery O'Connor's short story, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" (unlisted)
Underdog (unlisted)
Mighty Mouse (unlisted)
Mickey Mouse (listed)
Brave Sir Robin (unlisted)
Mr. Salty (the Planters Peanuts guy, not listed)
Capt. James T. Kirk (listed)
Rocky and Bullwinkle (not listed)
The Brothers Karamozov (not listed)
What fictional characters make your personal list?