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.
No Sonic the Hedgehog, Ninja Turtles, Dexter, Mortal Kombat… or Goku??… but you put random as anime characters and really BUFFY? As one of the top characters. GTFO dude… this whole thing is garbage.
a lot of the list was good
but in the end it didn’t do it for me
I didn’t see…
-Dr. Hannibal Lecter
-Captain Jack Sparrow
-Edward Scissorhands
-Hamlet
-Macbeth
The fact that anime characters managed to make the list, whilst the above did not, makes me weep for humanity
hamlet was there
The joker is such an influential villain, he is partly responsible for the real-life 2012 Aurora shooting AND for killing heath ledger. And you placed him 29 spots below batman…
This list is bull
Why not Zoidberg?
I’m sorry, but Batman? Really? I really do not understand how he could have made first place. I was all excited about finding out #1, and I was totally disappointed.
@lost here: well i would have been disappointed if he wasn’t.. so well somebody’s gotta get disappointed and its you this time, maybe i’ll be disappointed in some other list somewhere else that’s the way of things
Characters I’m most disappointed did not make the list:
Achilles, Goku, Tyler Durden, Hannibal Lector, Travis Bickle, Alex Delarge, Michael Corleone, Tetsuo Shima, Spider Jerusalem, Tank Girl, The Tick, Walter White (Although, to be fair, Breaking Bad hadn’t been on the air for long when this list was published, even though I would have included him based on the first season alone), Lisbeth Salander (again, published long before the American movie version, though she existed in print and Swedish cinema). Man With No Name also would have been cool. Comics are well represented, but this list favors DC and I’m a Marvel guy. To me, DC characters stick to archtypes while Marvel tends to develop and evolve their characters with more care.
WHERE IS DUMBLEDORE!!!!!! THIS LIST WILL LOSE ITS CREDIBILITY WITHOUT DUMBLEDORE!!!!!
J.R. Ewing?
this list was an epic fail :(
Where’s my [Insert favorite character that probably only appeared in one medium and has in no way placed himself/herself in the hearts of the public for over tons of years]? Why can’t this list acknowledge my choices, and mind alone? Why? Oh why?!
Get a grip, seriously. The list was fairly put together by tons of voters. Your favorite is not on the list? Well too bad. It doesn’t mean your character isn’t great in any way, it simply means that the voters of this simply had a different opinion than you. It doesn’t diminish your character given that there is tons of other lists like this one around the net I’d say.
@Christopher: bravo.. are you a bravosi??
what about, you know, good books? i hear the great gatsby is decent…
This list can’t possibly be credible without a single Charles Dickens character.
In hindsight I’m surprised that George Bailey and Jean Valjean did not make this list, as I personally rank them #2 and #1, respectively. The importance of the latter is hard to understate, and as I try to look at art from an objective point of view (which is very difficult, I know) I think that characters like these (and others like Atticus Finch and Clark Kent) who represent the ideals that we share as a society have to be continually acknowledged to remind us of what we believe in. Otherwise we forget.
Interesting list, of course, and I always value these so that they bring characters to my attention when I look at the pantheon of famous fictional characters out there, although I will certainly not take this too seriously. With the exception of the Big Three superhoeroes and Lois Lane, I don’t much see the need for most of them to be on this list, and I’m also have flat disagreements of the placement of such characters as Buffy and Batman, the latter especially from an ideological perspective, where I certainly don’t see him as a model for perfection so much as an interesting figure through which mental health can be examined.
” T H E B A T M A N “
Buffy higher than the Doctor I don’t think so. She wasn’t even the best character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
where is goku?
Captain jack sparrow and Glados need to be on here.
Gohan should have been on the list! Maybe Megaman or Zero but not buffy!
No commander Shepard or master chief? And what about Kenny from South Park and Piggy from Lord of the Flies. I’m honestly disappointed with this list. And Holden Caufield? Really! He was a horrible character who couldn’t stop whining and was just plain annoying.
Sorry, but the greatest fictional character is, by far, Jesus, the guy from Nazareth. Or God Almighty, but fans used to say that it’s just the same guy.
By the way, wait ten years, and everybody will forget about Buffy — Buffy who? — or Harry Potter — sorry kid. Sherlock Holmes, on the other hand, will be still quite high, just like Hamlet or a lot of non English speaking characters. 100 greatest fictional characters for a bunch of young American adults in the beginning of this century who thinks they can learn to have a funny accent by watching Doctor Who or a Japanese girlfriend by eating chips while watching Anime on TV.
Worst list ever.