The most developed fictional character ever

[Nepenthes]

I dunno about you guys, but when I think about how Batman stories have been produced every month, in multiple titles, for 60 odd years...it makes me wonder what other fictional characters have had this quantity of input and development from so many people over time. In comics maybe Batman and Superman are the only two equals here (I'm rough guessing here). Other comic characters are older but have not been so extensively and continuously written and grown.

Outside of comics, there are characters from ancient myths and pantheons (Greek and Roman, Chinese, Anglosaxon), heroes from stories (Ulysses, Romeo + Juliet, James Bond) or modern religious figures like Jesus. I'm wondering what fictional character, in all of human history, has the largest volume of story around it? Not analysis, opinions or reflections but the literature that actually contains firsthand the stories that are the character. Do you get what I mean?

I'm guessing it's Batman and Superman in comics but I don't know how to begin counting all the issues that have been produced and I'm not sure I want to. Outside of comics as well, which fictional character do you think it might be? It's a pretty major thing being the 'most developed' individual ever dreamt into being. I'm thinking maybe it's Satan but some would argue he's not fictional and is too open to interpretation to be defined as 'a character'.

 

[Fledermaus]

Satan has had a lot of stories written about him. Sherlock Holmes. Maybe Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys.

 

[CConn]

The Star Wars universe is pretty fleshed out as well. I mean, besides 6 movies, you have about a hundred novels, and a few hundred comics to boot.

 

[SuperFerret]

The Star Wars universe is pretty fleshed out as well. I mean, besides 6 movies, you have about a hundred novels, and a few hundred comics to boot.

But the contradictions there are numerous, especially where the prequels are involved.

 

[CConn]

But the contradictions there are numerous, especially where the prequels are involved.

What do you mean by contradictions?

This thread is how many pure stories are written about a character, and while Star Wars' continuity certainly has it's fair share of contradictions, it's certainly no worse than Superman's or Batman's.

 

[Tojo]

The Star Wars universe is pretty fleshed out as well. I mean, besides 6 movies, you have about a hundred novels, and a few hundred comics to boot.

Star Wars isn't a character though.

Batman has 6 films, a T.V series, 2 animated series, thousands of comic books, and a handful of novels. He has been severely analysed in many books aswell. I cannot think of a single fictional character who has had as much work or thought put into them by so many different people.

Satan has been given countless interpretations and is obviously present in all religious books and also myths and folk stories, fables and tons of films, novels, philosophy, T.V, comic books and the list goes on and on. So therefore it's hard to gauge. He also appears under different guises and interpretations. But it depends if you see Satan as a fictional character or not. And you could argue that he is. So in that case it is obviously Satan, but if you are talking about a clear-cut, definitive character then i would find it hard to think of any above Batman.

 

[CConn]

Star Wars isn't a character though.

No, but a very good percentage of those books and comics feature the same core group of characters. Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, you name it, they've all been featured in a very large amount of stories.

I'm not saying they're the most developed characters ever, but they're certainly up there.

Also, in regards to the rest of your post, are we talking about the most developed character or the most featured character. While Batman has had TV shows and comics and whatnot, not all of them have developed the character as a whole. I mean, the Adam West series isn't considered continuity or cannon and it really doesn't have any bearing in properly characterizing the current Batman.

It may seem like a trivial point, but when you start to talk about a character like Superman - who - while he's had TONS of interpretations, keeps getting his history rebooted, and, thusly, doesn't really have that much development - it starts to mean something.

 

[dr.strange]

i was gonna put j.christ,but i decided to go with dracula.

 

[TheOriginalman]

i was gonna put j.christ,but i decided to go with dracula.

Jesus wasn't fictional, but I'm not going to go there.

 

[not_a_victim]

Jesus wasn't fictional, but I'm not going to go there.

Too late, you done went there.
Do you realize that before the 2nd century, A.D., there were only six (6) lines of text in all the world that mentioned Jesus? And NONE written during his supposed lifetime. Two of those lines were in works that referenced EACH OTHER? Bringing the total to 4 lines? ANd why is it we have no artistic renderings of Jesus made in his lifetime, when we have so many renderings of other historical figures (even those who lived much earlier) made in their lifetimes?
The answer is simple, Jesus Christ never lived.
Believe me, I used to have faith, then I started to read other books than the bible, and I realized it was an insult to my intelligence to continue to believe.

 

[Nepenthes]

well they're not going to believe it because YOU said so. and faith has nothing to do with intelligence.

btw I do not beleive the biblical Jesus son-of-God existed. Maybe there WAS some carpenter guy who was also a really great dude and who protested and got killed for it...but then you're stretching if you can claim proof of his existence. So depending on your pov the title CAN definitely go to Jesus, but it's damn stupid to argue about it here. suggesting alternatives or runners-up is the best we can really do



Star Wars is interesting, but right it's not one character. Even if certain characters have appeared in many stories they certainly have not had the same history or treatment that Bats/Supes have received.

Cconns point on Supermans reboots has confused me so I'm not going to comment now. I'm not sure if it should count becase really all characters are constantly changing at some pace or another, and usually the core stay the same.

 

[batmaluco]

Only that Santa it is not a really well developed character (but is one of the most featured), and it's not fictional.

 

[Buttman]

I'd certainly say Batman is the most developed character in DC, at least. While Superman has been around longer (only slightly though) he's always kept pretty much the same characterisation. He's always been the "Boyscout." The one out for peace and justice and all that, he's always had the hots for Lois, he's always been at tails end with Luthor. Whereas Batman has gone through so many changes (maybe the stories aren't kept cannon, but I'm sure the thoughts/emotions/changes are kept) that he's been practically everything you can find in a comic-book, at some time or another. He's been explored so much compaired to every other comic-book character. Plus he's what, the second oldest comic book character of all time?