100 Greatest Fictional Characters #1: Batman
We collected input from hundreds of visitors to the site, convention attendees, and industry professionals to compile the list of the 100 Greatest Fictional Characters of All Time. You can see the beginning of the project here, where you’ll also find an index of all the results to date.
After counting down the previous 99 characters, today we bring you the character who topped the voting list and earned the #1 spot!
1. Batman
Appears In: DC Comics
Created By: Bob Kane and Bill Finger
Influence:
It’s no huge surprise to us that the Caped Crusader is the top character on our list of the Greatest Fictional Characters of All Time, as voted by our readers. From his first appearance in Detective Comics #27 in 1939 through his current movie dynasty, cartoon series, and comic books, Batman has been an enduring hero for the ages. His origin and storylines have influenced future comic heroes toward darker tales, and his rogue’s gallery has redefined the importance of entertaining and engaging villains. Batman’s cultural impact is evident and unquestionable.
Fandom:
Batman is a superhero without superpowers. In the face of tragedy and adversity, he has trained himself to be the most brilliant and capable man he can be, and he uses gadgets and tools to appear otherworldly to his enemies. He also operates with a strict code of conduct and ethics, setting him apart from the villains he pursues. It is Batman’s reliance on his own human abilities, coupled with his unbending morality, that makes him a unique and favorite character for legions of fans.
Voter Comments:
“Batman is almost self-explanatory as a choice for number one. He is vengeance, he is the night, but he is also the very best and worst of humanity distilled. Who else is a coldblooded badass and a sensitive loner? Who else is as unforgiving and merciful? Everyday life is our Gotham, and Batman is that innate sense of justice that we all feel deep down when someone picks on the little guy.” – Perry Frost
“He’s simply the best any normal human can be.” – ADP
Previous character: #2
Thank you for following our countdown all the way from 100 to 1! On Monday we’ll look back at some of the characters who didn’t quite make the list, and we’ll also examine some rankings and selections that surprised us.
June 24th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
What a surprise. I thought God would be #1 for sure.
July 15th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
I wish Hercule Poirot made the list!
August 2nd, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Where’s Andrew Ryan???
August 3rd, 2010 at 10:22 am
IT’S THE SUPERHERO I CAN’T STAND MOST BLAAAAA
August 9th, 2010 at 11:00 pm
This list isn’t that great BUT I definately agree with the number #1 character Batman!! Hell YEAH!!! but Buffy is ranked higher than Darth Vader now that’s just wrong
September 29th, 2010 at 11:13 pm
It would have been cool if someone from Lost (Dr. Jack Shepard, John Locke, Ben Linus, even Sayid Jarrah) had cracked the list. Very cool to see Batman at the top above Superman.
October 4th, 2010 at 5:56 pm
Wow! No Lost characters at all? John Locke, Desmond Hume, and Benjamin Linus should’ve all been on this list.
October 8th, 2010 at 6:18 am
Where is santa claus?
October 18th, 2010 at 10:07 pm
john 117
missing someone?
October 18th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
how about rorshack (probably spelled that wrong) from watchmen?
October 28th, 2010 at 1:14 am
Yes Batman’s number 1 I totally agree with it.
October 30th, 2010 at 11:01 am
Batman’s number one! Yessss! And Darth Vader deserves to be on the top5. :|
November 20th, 2010 at 6:56 pm
There’s no Paul Atreides, Leto II or Duncan Idaho. So this list means nothing…
November 27th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
Superman should have been 1st place.
But screw Lost, I’m glad none of their piece of junk characters made the list.
November 29th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Batman deserves to be ontop he rocks everyone, so he deserves it
December 7th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
Why is Dumbledore not on this list?
Also, Aragorn > Frodo.
January 24th, 2011 at 7:33 pm
How bout the man with no name?? Probably the most influential western character of all time
February 7th, 2011 at 11:03 am
No Special Agent Dale Cooper? For shame!
February 8th, 2011 at 10:21 am
what about video game people?
February 9th, 2011 at 5:02 pm
I agree with the top two, but the Doctor definitely ranks higher than buffy, and I would venture to say that Buffy shouldn’t even have broken the top 5. Any of the ones on the 10-6 would be better suited then Buffy.
February 16th, 2011 at 6:21 pm
I agree. Btw, Dumbledore should be on the list somewhere. Or maybe I missed him?
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:29 pm
Buffy the vampire slayer?!?!
R u for f—n real?!?!
On top of darth vader, spiderman, wolwerine!!! Homer Simpson even!!
Who made this s— selection?!?! FIRED!!!
This is a joke!! I’m NEVER taking this website seriously
What is wrong with you people!!!
February 25th, 2011 at 7:07 am
Where the f___ is Tony Soprano?
March 12th, 2011 at 7:41 pm
So much of this I disagreed with, but putting Batman at the top? You just made up for a lot of it.
March 20th, 2011 at 1:12 am
Batman?! Seriously? How is batman greater than much much more deeper characters like Gregory House, almost any Lost character or Fox Mulder and, Dana Scully? Just to name a few?! How about Walt White?! Most of my favorite characters didnt even make the list and the ones I love were far behind.
March 22nd, 2011 at 11:17 am
The list fails without Son Goku.
March 24th, 2011 at 2:27 pm
I enjoyed reading this all but the entire top five was BS. Batman and Superman are kind of expected however boring that is, but as soon as each of the other three pages loaded and I saw who it was, an uncontrollable “WHAT?!” burst through my lips, for one reason or another. And I had no urge to read any of the descriptions of these top five characters.
March 28th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Everyone who is complaining about the “makers of this list” and the general ordering of the list is stupid. Did you not notice that it was entirely determined by VOTERS? You are all illiterate.
April 3rd, 2011 at 1:35 am
no Lost characters?
April 9th, 2011 at 1:43 am
Where’s Barbie? I thought she’s popular… LOLLLLL
April 11th, 2011 at 6:20 am
Awww I wanted it to be Harry Potter but no he was no. 8 and Hermione?!?!why #89!?!
April 11th, 2011 at 6:22 am
Why didnt Ron Weasley make it to the list and btw..the people voting for batman are mostly boys!!,!
April 22nd, 2011 at 11:34 am
Mr. Miyagi, Rocky Balboa, Doc from Back to the Future, Goku, The Terminator, Palpatine, Sonic the Hedgehog, Woody from Toy Story, Dumbledore,
April 22nd, 2011 at 1:31 pm
Lex Luthor,Forrest Gump, The Shark from Jaws, Peter Griffin, Hanibal Lector, George Bailey, Gollum,
April 27th, 2011 at 10:24 pm
Not a single X Files character. None at all. So Mulder, Scully, Skinner, the Smoking Man, etc, all happened in a pop culture vacuum? Like there wasn’t an entire Simpsons episode parodying the show?
Also, Jack Nicholson’s Joker wasn’t panned, there were Batman movies before Scowly Face Bale and Plastic Nipples Clooney were around.
April 27th, 2011 at 10:25 pm
Also needs more Wong Fei Hung.
May 5th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
Superman is the lamest character ever,he cant die….Batman however has skills,not saying he should be number 1 but hes still better than superman.
May 5th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
I think number one should have been THE DOCTOR!The longest running sci-fi show ever!!!!:P
May 13th, 2011 at 2:19 am
WHERE THE FUCK IS SMEAGLE?
May 15th, 2011 at 9:44 pm
Please explain to me how the hell Harry Potter was placed above Frodo Baggins. There is nothing to compare. Yes, Harry is an unlikely hero, but his constant complaining and stubbornness almost make me with he had died. He does not treat his friends properly, and he blows up at pretty much every character. No, Frodo may not possess Harry’s physical strength, but Frodo is clearly superior. He rarely complains, remains open-minded, does not take Sam for granted, and rarely loses his temper. Frodo is ten million times the hero Frodo will ever be.
May 15th, 2011 at 9:52 pm
Also, I do not get what people see in Holden Caulfield. So many see him as something great or symbolic of the ’50s generation. I see a pathetic, whining coward whose vocabulary is every bit as offensive as it is limited. I’m sorry, but there’s just nothing to like about him.
May 15th, 2011 at 9:54 pm
But I’m really glad Frankenstein’s monster made the list. He is one of my all-time favorites, and I’m glad that so many feel the same way.
May 23rd, 2011 at 11:08 am
WHA- THE HELL? BATMAN? NOT YODA OR VADER, PIKACHU OR ASH KETCHUM, N OT EVEN SHERLOCK HOLMES?
June 13th, 2011 at 5:20 pm
WHERE THE F— IS HANNIBAL LECTER?! He wasn’t on this list at all!!
July 2nd, 2011 at 10:35 pm
WHAT!!! Batman?!?!?!?! Tony Stark can fly circles around Bruce Wayne any day.
July 10th, 2011 at 4:10 pm
Batman is the correct answer, but Bond should have been in the top 5, and any list that doesn’t include Hannibal Lecter is questionable.
July 10th, 2011 at 7:43 pm
I seriously doubt the depth of knowledge of a lot of these characters. All bias aside, it seems like a lot of these characters got on through sheer name recognition. For example, even though I am a big Doctor Who fan, The Doctor is not worth of the number 4 slot, and it seems that Batman and Superman drew from this heavily. I’ll admit, I don’t dislike them too much, but they are not very deep characters, and are certainly not as deep as other characters that aren’t on the list, or were put slots 80-100.
July 14th, 2011 at 5:02 pm
What Batman number one as a factional character?!??!?!?!? Mario is number one,whos the rest of these stupid characters.
July 19th, 2011 at 2:23 pm
Come on peoples be serious, Batman is wayyy better than Superman, he is human, he makes being heroes more possible, he stands up for moral value, he is a character that is worthy of this post, he is a character worth seeing on this list…. ♥♥♥♥ Batman he is sick and COLWESOME
July 28th, 2011 at 5:16 pm
Where is Kelso from That 70s Show? He’s the funniest character ever
August 5th, 2011 at 9:56 am
WTF? Batman? Yea right…
August 10th, 2011 at 6:48 am
WHERE’S REGAN MACNEIL????????????
August 10th, 2011 at 6:49 am
THE TERMINATOR GOD DAMN IT, WHERE’S THE TERMINATOR?WHERE’S THE PREDATOR TOO???
September 5th, 2011 at 12:10 am
Where is the Dark Knight (Monty Python and the search for the Holy Grail) or Tom Servo (mst3k)
September 5th, 2011 at 12:12 am
excuse me.. I had many thoughts on my mind.. I meant Black Knight (monty python)
September 21st, 2011 at 9:51 pm
No Tyler Durden?
September 23rd, 2011 at 4:34 pm
Where’s Tyler Durden ?
September 25th, 2011 at 10:52 pm
superman number 1
September 26th, 2011 at 3:03 pm
Wow. There were some good picks on this list, but the top 20 or so were TERRIBLE. So many one dimensional characters. Harry Potter? What a joke. Superman? Boring. hat makes a character interesting are complexities; things like internal struggles, flaws make a charcter unforgettable. A 100 greatest fictional characters of all time list that doesn’t include Don Quixote is utter madness.
September 27th, 2011 at 4:30 am
where’s Napoleon Dynamite?!
October 2nd, 2011 at 8:42 am
A REAL list (as opposed to this phony one)would have had as top five (descending): Batman, Superman, Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood, and King Arthur.
No, I’m not English but hey, facts are facts.
October 2nd, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Biggest mistakes:
1. Buffy. Top 100 why not, but top 10, come on…
2. Rocky and the Man with No Name are missing from the ENTIRE list. Solid top 20 characters.
3. Terminator, predator and alien should all qualify to top 50 with flying colors. So should Hannibal Lecter.
4. The people commenting here about the characters of Lost, Kelso or Dr House: go ask Dirty Harry what he thinks about your opinions.
5. God should’ve been no 1, but I understand the neutrality here. Batman is top 5 (definitely the highest ranking comic hero), but not the alpha dog.
October 21st, 2011 at 7:57 am
Clearly Goku from DBZ should be number 1, he is stronger than anyone ever and according to 118 118 he would own both Superman and Chuck Norris in a fight without being SSJ
October 26th, 2011 at 3:31 am
Batman, for real??? He’s the #1 fictional character of all time?? That was utterly disappointing.
October 26th, 2011 at 3:32 am
and wait, Homer Simpson beat Frodo Baggins???? Who the **** made this list???
November 9th, 2011 at 5:10 am
Spider-Man should have been #1. He is more popular than Superman and Batman
November 11th, 2011 at 7:48 pm
Where is Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase
November 11th, 2011 at 8:29 pm
Hannah: I think you mean, “Where ARE Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase?” The answer to that, as well as to all the other “where are” questions, is that they’re not on this list because of YOU. It clearly says readers voted on this thing for a long time, so you had plenty of chances to support your peeps. Anybody bitching about hating the list because it doesn’t have their favorite character should remember YOU are the ones who let them down by not voting for them.
I remember voting on this thing like 2 years ago. You don’t see me complaining because some of my folks didn’t make the final list, because my folks DID make it, probably partly because I got off my ass and voted for them.
November 21st, 2011 at 1:24 pm
I was hoping to see Roland from the Dark Tower on this list. Oh well. Thanks for sharing.
November 21st, 2011 at 4:00 pm
Where are the ladys!? There are like 5 out of 100 disappointing!! Mostly where is super woman
November 24th, 2011 at 11:39 pm
I actually expected to see Captain Jack Sparrow on the list – was quite surprised he didn’t make it somewhere.
December 3rd, 2011 at 1:10 pm
Where in the hell is Santa Claus on this list?!?!
December 4th, 2011 at 2:34 am
Wow I thought that at least one Miyazaki character might be on here, but whatever
December 18th, 2011 at 12:43 am
I knew Batman was going to be #1, but part of me was hoping Tyler Durden would be somewhere in the top 10. Son, I am disappoint.
December 18th, 2011 at 8:20 pm
I find Batman to be a very interesting character, but I think he should be below The Joker who is an extremely complex character in that maybe he isn’t insane, maybe he is a little TOO sane and he creates his character on how he sees human nature. I think the Joker should’ve at least made #2… Now, where is Dumbledore?? Dumbledore is a brilliant character! Also, I would’ve liked to see Hannibal Lecter and Bill or Beatrix Kiddo (from Kill Bill).
December 24th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Sheldon Cooper? WHERE?
January 5th, 2012 at 9:31 pm
batman #1. spiderman #2. superman dead in a ditch
January 8th, 2012 at 1:35 am
batman is [word edited out because commenter is homophobic]! he has no awesome backstory or any superpowers! superman shouldve been #1
January 12th, 2012 at 12:04 pm
What the f**k?i agree wid batman.bt where is the greatest villian in the history of comic books,wheres joker?nd gandalf @33.wtf?nd the most shocking tng harry potter at 8.wtf?he deserves to be below severus snape.snape is the best hp character.nd wat bout legolas,sheldon cooper,dante?yea,where the f. . Ck is dante?he is the most badass character ever.
January 21st, 2012 at 9:53 pm
what about the zelda characters? link? zelda? ganon?
February 3rd, 2012 at 7:33 am
Let’s revisit the title, people. ‘Greatest fictional characters of all time’. ‘Of all time’. The results here remind me of a poll for the ‘greatest music of the millennium’ in 2000, the results of which were that all the greatest music had been composed after about 1990. See ya, Mozart! This list surprised me by remembering people like Odysseus and Mr Darcy, but friends do you *really* think people in 500 years are going to be more excited about Batman than King Arthur? BTW, Enygma, Dante wasn’t fictional, he was real and managed to write the Commedia Divina.
February 3rd, 2012 at 8:49 pm
I eagerly click the button to see #1, expecting someone who I would instantly react to with an “OF COURSE! Who doesn’t love ________”
I was WRONG!!!!!!!! I’m waiting for a correction-
“Oh, sorry, did we say Batman? We meant to say the Doctor. I guess we spelled it wrong.”
I have nothing against Batman, I’m just surprised. He’s an okay character, but not amazing. Seriously, I know no one (over the age of 10) who thinks about Batman more than once a month, so I wouldn’t consider him to be GREAT.