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  1. #1
    Legendary Member daBronzeBomma's Avatar
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    Default Who Is The Greatest FANTASY-FICTION Character Of All Time?

    Had a lot of fun doing The Greatest SCIENCE-FICTION Character Of All Time thread.

    Want to give a whirl for The Greatest FANTASY-FICTION Character Of All Time?

    How about this: It has to be a singular (no teams, no creature races as a whole, no duos) fantasy (needs a clearly intrinsic supernatural/magical/mystical element + no scientific aspect) fiction (has to have a clear author and starting publication date) character (no plot devices, must be a comprehensible individual). And in the interest of being non-redundant, no character who made it onto the previous Greatest Science-Fiction Character Of All Time thread (characters can only be on one or the other list, not both).

    Examples of no-nos would be: no entire Fellowship of the Ring as a single entry, no Death Eaters nor werewolves as a single entry, no Xena AND Gabrielle as a single entry, no Batman, no Superman, no Star Trek characters, no Star Wars characters, no religious/historical figures, no The Nothing from Never-Ending Story, no Storm.

    Example of allowables: swords & sandals (300, Spartacus), medieval stories (Camelot, Robin Hood), talking with animals (Watership Down, Tarzan, Lion King), specific versions of mythological characters (Marvel's Thor), comic book characters based on fantasy (Wonder Woman, Dr.Strange, Shazam/Captain Marvel, Zatanna, iZombie), or supernatural horror (Dracula, Freddie Krueger, Jason Vorhees, Pinhead, Samara).

    Remember, this should be The greatest, not Your favorite. Greatest here would include both historical scope of influence (real people and other fictional characters they've since influenced), contemporary value (how much more they would be valued over other individual fictional characters today), depth and variety of stories starring said fantasy character available, versatility of interpretation of said fantasy character, continuing success in different media, instant recognition, etc.

    I realize, much like the SF list, this fantasy list can and probably will ultimately turn into a skewed popularity contest (according to our SF list, Storm has currently received the most 1st-place votes ... and she likely wouldn't receive anywhere close to that kind of recognition on a non-CB SF site).

    And while these lists are obviously subjective, there's a rare type of character, probably the rarest kind, that should NOT be allowed. Let's call them "Franchise Killers". These are those rare characters that were so reviled by their OWN franchise's fanbase that their mere inclusion in the franchise was considered damaging to the overall brand. The only two I can think of Star Wars' Jar Jar Binks and Superman IV's Nuclear Man. I'm sure there are more, but I'm not aware of any offhand in fantasy. If you see known Franchise Killers on anyone's ballot, please call them out, because I probably won't know.

    Let's score it up like this:

    1. First Place (20 points)
    2. Second Place (10 points)
    3. Third Place (5 points)

    I'll go first and keep a running tally for as long as anyone is interested.

    1. Frodo Baggins (Middle-Earth) ... 20 points
    2. Dream of the Endless (DC comics) ... 10 points
    3. Daenerys Targaryen (A Song Of Ice And Fire) ... 5 points
    Last edited by daBronzeBomma; 09-26-2014 at 10:59 AM.

  2. #2
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    1. King Arthur
    2. Gandalf
    3. Harry Potter

    *if Arthur is too iffy because of the historical debate swap him for Merlin

  3. #3
    Were You There? Michael P's Avatar
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    1. Tyrion Lannister
    2. Samwise Gamgee
    3. Conan the Barbarian
    "It's not whether you win or lose, it's whether I win or lose." - Peter David, on life

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    All-New, All-Different Marvel Checklist

  4. #4
    Legendary Member daBronzeBomma's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lancerman View Post
    1. King Arthur
    2. Gandalf
    3. Harry Potter

    *if Arthur is too iffy because of the historical debate swap him for Merlin
    I'd say King Arthur Pendragon has become quite distinct enough from any possible real-life medieval English monarch to qualify as genuine fantasy-fiction. You're good.

  5. #5
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    1. Gollum (the archetypal recurring fantasy villain)
    2. Conan (the archetypal fantasy barbarian)
    3. Drizz't Do'Urden (the archetypal Dark Elf Hero)

  6. #6
    Genesis of A Nemesis KOSLOX's Avatar
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    King Arthur
    Dream
    Conan
    Pull List:

    Marvel Comics: Venom, X-Men, Black Panther, Captain America, Eternals, Warhammer 40000.
    DC Comics: The Last God
    Image: Decorum

  7. #7
    Fantastic Member mars's Avatar
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    King Arthur
    Gandalf
    Harry Potter

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    In the west hemisphere Hercules from the greek myth .


    In the east hemisphere Son Goku (Sun Wukong) from Journey to the West .

  9. #9
    Legendary Member daBronzeBomma's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MOOT View Post
    In the west hemisphere Hercules from the greek myth .


    In the east hemisphere Son Goku (Sun Wukong) from Journey to the West .

    You're allowed up to 3 choices.


    May as well tackle this head-on: I'm not sure if real-world mythological gods (Zeus, Odin, Hercules, Osirus) actually count as fiction.

    Mainly because while their religions were dominant in the world, they would clearly be religious figures to whom real people genuinely prayed and not clearly intended works of fiction.

    Hercules was considered the personal patron god of many Romans. Basically these guys were never created as works of fiction by a single author or set of authors. There is no clear single starting point for them. On the other hand, they were never truly biological flesh-and-blood people either, so they are not historical either. Popular real-world mythologies are essentially dead real-world religions.

    And since I don't want this to become inflammatory (i.e. the whole "God and Jesus and Mohammad and Buddha and Krishna and Moses should all count as fantasy too!" snarkers), maybe we should leave the mythological gods out of it unless you're referencing a clearly intended-as-fiction version such as Marvel's Hercules, which is not the same thing as the mythic Greco-Roman god Hercules.

    The Arthur of folklore would fall into this category, except that he was never a religious figure to begin with and there is a clear starting point for him as a separate fictional entity: "Le Morte d'Arthur" by Sir Thomas Mallory, published in 1485 C.E. So King Arthur Pendragon counts as fantasy-fiction.
    Last edited by daBronzeBomma; 09-26-2014 at 01:45 PM.

  10. #10
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    Good points.

    A third choice ? mmmh

    What about Santa Claus ? he is a modern myth, loved and cherished by everyone with millions of kids believing in him as true (if you reading this, sorry kids :/ )

  11. #11
    Fantastic Member tombo's Avatar
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    1 Conan
    2 Sparrowhawk (Earthsea)
    3 Steerpike (gormenghast)

    personal runners up, Jon Snow, Kvothe, Rincewind.

  12. #12
    Legendary Member daBronzeBomma's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MOOT View Post
    Good points.

    A third choice ? mmmh

    What about Santa Claus ? he is a modern myth, loved and cherished by everyone with millions of kids believing in him as true (if you reading this, sorry kids :/ )
    That's why I included "fiction" in the title: "Fantasy-Fiction": something recognized as not real with a clear starting point.

    The difference between myth and fiction is that fiction is created, usually by a single author at one specific time, whereas myths develop over time and then blur into religion (which I am desperately trying to avoid here: why does my god count as fiction but so-and-so's doesn't?).

    Santa Claus is directly based off of Nicholas of Myra, a Greek Christian bishop who was a real person in the Byzantine Empire. And also unlike King Arthur (from whom there is no official historical equivalent), there is no one tome where the legend of Santa Claus is codified into what could be called a fictional being.

    How about this: In general, if you cannot cite a concrete source material (book, comix, movie, tv, animation, video game, serial, or other), then it's not fiction and doesn't qualify.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by daBronzeBomma View Post
    You're allowed up to 3 choices.


    May as well tackle this head-on: I'm not sure if real-world mythological gods (Zeus, Odin, Hercules, Osirus) actually count as fiction.

    Mainly because while their religions were dominant in the world, they would clearly be religious figures to whom real people genuinely prayed and not clearly intended works of fiction.


    Hercules was considered the personal patron god of many Romans. Basically these guys were never created as works of fiction by a single author or set of authors. There is no clear single starting point for them. On the other hand, they were never truly biological flesh-and-blood people either, so they are not historical either. Popular real-world mythologies are essentially dead real-world religions.

    And since I don't want this to become inflammatory (i.e. the whole "God and Jesus and Mohammad and Buddha and Krishna and Moses should all count as fantasy too!" snarkers), maybe we should leave the mythological gods out of it unless you're referencing a clearly intended-as-fiction version such as Marvel's Hercules, which is not the same thing as the mythic Greco-Roman god Hercules.

    The Arthur of folklore would fall into this category, except that he was never a religious figure to begin with and there is a clear starting point for him as a separate fictional entity: "Le Morte d'Arthur" by Sir Thomas Mallory, published in 1485 C.E. So King Arthur Pendragon counts as fantasy-fiction.
    You are extremely right when you say that religious/mythological gods and deities or whatever such similar real-life/ancient and abstract or hypothetical/theoretical figures, beings, or entities are NOT fiction. Especially not in the same sense as Superman or Mickey Mouse or The Hulk or Popeye. Or are separate and distinct from modern or mainstream media fiction.

    Same goes for King Arthur, but he's slightly less religious (though it's said he's a Christian and the Bible is a part of the Arthurian legends).

  14. #14
    Legendary Member daBronzeBomma's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bullet Sniper View Post
    You are extremely right when you say that religious/mythological gods and deities or whatever such similar real-life/ancient and abstract or hypothetical/theoretical figures, beings, or entities are NOT fiction. Especially not in the same sense as Superman or Mickey Mouse or The Hulk or Popeye. Or are separate and distinct from modern or mainstream media fiction.
    Thanks!

    Same goes for King Arthur, but he's slightly less religious (though it's said he's a Christian and the Bible is a part of the Arthurian legends).
    Fictional characters certainly can be religious (look at Daredevil: during various runs, he was probably the most Catholic superhero out there) and the Bible figures into a LOT of fiction (Gaiman's Sandman referenced it a lot, Narnia is one big Biblical allegory, Middle-Earth's mythology is heavily based off the Bible). But the point is everyone knows there was no real King Arthur Pendragon (he's not a historical person) and even through folklore, he was never prayed to or worshipped (he's not a religious figure). And most importantly, there is a single starting point by a single author in a single published work for him as a fictional character.

    Btw, what are your Top-3 choices for The GFFCOAT?

  15. #15
    Nostalgia Fanwanker Pharozonk's Avatar
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    1. King Arthur
    2. Conan the Barbarian
    3. Harry Potter
    "In any time, there will always be a need for heroes." - the Time Trapper, Legion of Superheroes #61(1994)

    "What can I say? I guess I outgrew maturity.." - Bob Chipman

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