18 Fictional Characters Based on Real Figures
Writers have always drawn inspiration from the world around them, though some of the most memorable fictional characters actually have their roots in real people. From classic literature to modern blockbusters, authors and screenwriters have taken fascinating individuals from history, politics, and their own lives to create characters that feel authentic and compelling.
The line between fiction and reality often blurs more than we might expect. Here is a list of 18 fictional characters that were inspired by or directly based on real figures.
Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle based his famous detective on Dr. Joseph Bell — one of his professors at Edinburgh University. Bell had an incredible ability to deduce personal details about patients just by observing them, yet he could tell where someone lived, what they did for work, and even recent activities just from their appearance.
Doyle was so impressed by Bell’s deductive skills that he essentially transplanted them into his fictional detective, making Holmes one of literature’s most enduring characters.
Citizen Kane’s Charles Foster Kane
Orson Welles drew heavily from newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst when creating Charles Foster Kane, though the similarities went far beyond surface details. Hearst’s rise to power, his lavish lifestyle, and his controversial influence on American politics provided the perfect blueprint for Kane’s character.
The similarities were so obvious that Hearst tried to suppress the film’s release — proving just how accurately Welles had captured his essence.
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The Great Gatsby’s Jay Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald reportedly based Gatsby on several real figures, yet the most prominent inspiration was likely Max Gerlach — a mysterious neighbor Fitzgerald knew on Long Island. Gerlach was known for throwing elaborate parties and had connections to bootlegging during Prohibition.
His obsession with wealth and status mirrored Gatsby’s own desperate attempts to reinvent himself. Like Gatsby, he constantly tried to fit into high society despite his questionable background.
Hannibal Lecter
Thomas Harris created his infamous cannibal based on a real doctor he encountered while visiting a prison in Mexico — Dr. Alfredo Ballí Treviño. Treviño was serving time for murder yet still practicing medicine behind bars, which created an unsettling contradiction.
Harris was struck by the man’s intelligence, charm, and disturbing presence, qualities that would become Hannibal Lecter’s most terrifying characteristics.
Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe’s castaway was inspired by Alexander Selkirk — a Scottish sailor who spent years stranded alone on a Pacific island. Selkirk had been marooned after a dispute with his ship’s captain, though he managed to survive by hunting goats and building makeshift shelters.
When he was finally rescued, his story became famous throughout Britain, providing Defoe with the perfect foundation for his survival tale.
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Alice in Wonderland’s Alice
Lewis Carroll based his curious protagonist on Alice Liddell — the young daughter of his colleague at Oxford University. Carroll often told stories to Alice and her sisters during their outings, though Alice Liddell reportedly begged him to write down the tale that would become ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.’
The real Alice even appears in the book’s dedication — cementing her connection to the fictional character forever.
Long John Silver
Robert Louis Stevenson drew inspiration from his friend William Ernest Henley when creating the memorable pirate from ‘Treasure Island,’ though the connection wasn’t immediately obvious. Henley had lost a leg to tuberculosis and walked with a crutch — yet he was known for his boisterous personality and incredible storytelling abilities.
Stevenson took Henley’s physical characteristics and larger-than-life presence to craft one of literature’s most famous pirates.
Ebenezer Scrooge
Charles Dickens likely based his miserly character on John Elwes — an eighteenth-century British politician known for his extreme cheapness. Elwes would wear the same clothes until they literally fell apart, lived in freezing houses to save on fuel, and once ate a meal of river-caught moorhen that had been partially eaten by rats.
His penny-pinching ways provided the perfect model for Scrooge’s pre-transformation personality, though Dickens added his own theatrical flair.
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Popeye the Sailor
Cartoonist Elzie Segar based his spinach-loving sailor on Frank ‘Rocky’ Fiegel — a tough guy from Segar’s hometown of Chester, Illinois. Fiegel was known for his incredible strength and his habit of getting into fights, while his distinctive appearance included the prominent chin and pipe that became Popeye’s trademark features.
Local residents still remember stories of Fiegel’s legendary brawls — though they also recall his surprisingly gentle treatment of children.
The Little Prince’s Aviator
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry drew from his own experiences as a pilot when creating the aviator character in ‘The Little Prince’ — making this one of the most personal inspirations on the list. Saint-Exupéry had actually crashed in the Sahara Desert and experienced the hallucinations and desperation that come with extreme dehydration.
His real-life survival story provided the authentic details that make the aviator’s encounter with the Little Prince so compelling, yet so believable.
Dracula
Bram Stoker combined several historical figures to create his vampire count, but the primary inspiration was Vlad the Impaler, a fifteenth-century Romanian ruler. Vlad earned his nickname through his brutal method of executing enemies, and his reputation for cruelty spread throughout Europe like wildfire.
Stoker also drew from Elizabeth Báthory, a Hungarian countess who allegedly bathed in the blood of young women, adding another layer of historical horror to his fictional vampire.
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Captain Ahab
Herman Melville based his obsessed whale hunter on several real whaling captains, though Captain Pollard of the Essex provided key inspiration. Pollard’s ship was actually attacked and sunk by a sperm whale, an incident that Melville used as background for ‘Moby Dick.’
The real captain’s experiences with whale attacks and his determination to continue whaling despite the obvious dangers captured the obsessive nature that defines Ahab’s character.
Holly Golightly
Truman Capote drew inspiration from several socialites he knew in New York, though the primary model was likely a combination of real women from his social circle. Capote admitted that Holly represented a type of person he’d encountered regularly in Manhattan’s high society scene.
The character’s complexity came from Capote’s careful observations of how these women navigated wealth and relationships in 1940s Manhattan, while maintaining an air of mystery about their true backgrounds.
Sweeney Todd
The demon barber was based on various urban legends and possibly real criminal cases from eighteenth-century London, though no single historical figure matches Sweeney Todd exactly. The character drew from documented cases of barbers who committed crimes and the general atmosphere of danger in London’s working-class neighborhoods.
The story gained credibility from real incidents of food adulteration and mysterious disappearances that plagued the city during that era.
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Tarzan
Edgar Rice Burroughs created his jungle hero by combining stories of real feral children with contemporary accounts of exploration in Africa. Cases like Victor of Aveyron, a boy found living wild in French forests, provided the foundation for understanding how a human might survive and adapt to wilderness conditions.
Burroughs also drew extensively from travel narratives and anthropological studies to create Tarzan’s unique abilities and knowledge of the natural world.
The Wizard of Oz’s Professor Marvel
L. Frank Baum based the traveling showman who becomes the Wizard on real circus performers and medicine show operators of his era. These colorful characters traveled from town to town, entertaining crowds with elaborate shows and dubious remedies that promised to cure everything.
Baum captured their combination of genuine showmanship and harmless deception perfectly, creating a character who’s both impressive and ultimately human in his flaws.
Indiana Jones
Steven Spielberg and George Lucas drew inspiration from real archaeologists and adventurers, particularly Hiram Bingham III, who rediscovered Machu Picchu in the early 1900s. Bingham’s expeditions in South America, his academic background, and his later political career provided crucial elements of Jones’s multifaceted character.
The filmmakers also looked at other explorer-scholars who combined serious research with genuine adventure in remote locations, creating a believable blend of academic and action hero.
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Gordon Gekko
Oliver Stone based his ruthless financier from ‘Wall Street’ on several real figures from 1980s corporate culture, including corporate raiders like Carl Icahn and Ivan Boesky. Boesky’s insider trading scandals and his famous declaration that ‘greed is good’ provided direct inspiration for Gekko’s philosophy and methods.
His flamboyant lifestyle became part of the character’s appeal. Stone wanted to capture the excess and moral ambiguity that characterized Wall Street during that era of unprecedented wealth and corruption.
The Enduring Appeal of Reality in Fiction
These character inspirations reveal something fundamental about storytelling that hasn’t changed much over the centuries. Audiences connect more deeply with fictional characters when they contain traces of real human experience, whether drawn from historical figures, personal acquaintances, or contemporary events.
Writers understand intuitively that authentic details make their creations more believable and memorable, while the best fictional characters often succeed because they capture essential truths about real people, even when wrapped in fantastical circumstances.
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