Throughout popular culture, authors and other producers have chosen to satirize or else refer to real people through their fictional characters. Sometimes, this happens decades or even centuries after the one being referred to has already passed away. In other cases, it is a contemporary commentary or criticism of a still-living person, which some take in stride and others do not.
There are a number of things to keep in mind when reading the following table of character equivalency:
There are a number of things to keep in mind when reading the following table of character equivalency:
- an asterisk (*) indicates a character replacement who does not actually change who that person was in actual history; the name of the fictional replacement given here is meant to indicate either an alias or an alternate identity of the real person
- a circumflex (^) will be used to indicate a "conditional replacement," a fictional character who replaces a real person only in select parallel dimensions or split timelines
- the use of "etc." in the Source Material column indicates that only the fictional replacement's first original (or main) source material is listed because the character has been adapted numerous times with varying and often contradictory characteristics and personality traits (for example, Count Dracula, as one of the most famous public domain characters of all time, has been adapted to fiction innumerable times with almost no consistency between different portrayals and with the original version by Bram Stoker)
- a fictional replacement whose name is enclosed in quotation marks (" ") indicates that the name given is an alias used by the fictional character
Historical Figure
Elpis
Imhotep Aristodemus of Sparta Alexander the Great Coel Hen Ambrosius Aurelianus Xuanzang Offa of Mercia Charlemagne Hārūn ar-Rašīd Macbeth MacFindlay Malcolm III of Scotland Donald III of Scotland Ibn Jubayr Bahā' ad-Dīn ibn Shaddād Dante Alighieri Geoffrey Chaucer Richard Whittington John Fastolf Johann Georg Faust Isabella d'Este Pierre Gringoire Paracelsus Lamoral, Count of Egmond Akechi Mitsuhide Margaretha von Waldeck Oda Nobunaga Hosokawa Fujitaka Toyotomi Hideyoshi Petrus Gonsalvus Perotto Kōzuki Sasuke Tokugawa Ieyasu Miguel de Cervantes João Rodrigues Elizabeth Báthory Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn Mitsunari Hosokawa Gracia Hosokawa Tadaoki William Adams/Miura Anjin Yodo-dono Tokugawa Hidetada Alexander Leslie Miyamoto Musashi Takeda Nobuyoshi Toyotomi Hideyori Major Heyking Henry Every Eugene of Savoy Alexander Selkirk Caroline of Ansbach Maria Kristina Kiellström Banastre Tarleton Jemmy Wood Horatio Nelson William Wickham Howqua William Jardine Jacob Grimm Wilhelm Grimm Francis Crozier James Matheson Andrew Gemmels Victor Hugo Harriet Low Juana Maria Mikhail Lermontov Samuel J. Tilden Henri Nestlé Mary Rogers Serizawa Kamo Nakahama/John Manjirō Saigō Takamori Joaquin Murrieta Kida Takayoshi Kondō Isami Kawakami Gensai William Keswick Ito Kashitaro Hijitaka Toshizō Matsudaira Katamori Thomas Black Glover Tokugawa Yoshinobu Okada Izō Takasugi Shinsaku Sōzō Sagara Edward S. Godfrey |
Time Span
not applicable
27th century BC died 479 BC 356-323 BC c. 350-420 5th century? c. 602-664 died 796 742-814 763-809 1005-1057₂ c. 1031-1093 <1040-1099 1145-1217 1145-1234 c.1265-1321 c. 1343-1400 1380-1459 1405-1440 c. 1466-80-1541 1474-1539 1475?-1538 1493-1541 1522-1568 1528-1582 1533-1554₄ 1534-1582 1534-1598 1536-1610 1547-1618 15th century 15th century 1543-1616 1547-1616 1558-1634 1560-1614 1560-1623 1561-1600 1563-1600 1563-1646 1564-1620 1569-1615 1579-1632 1582-1661 c. 1584-1645 1583-1603 1593-1614 c. 17th century 1659-c. 1696₅ 1663-1736 1676-1721 1683-1737 1744-1798 1754-1833 1756-1838 1758-1805 1761-1840 1769-1843 1784-1843 1786-1843 1786-1859 1796->1848 1796-1878 18th century 1802-1885 1809-1877 19th century 1814-1841 1814-1886 1814-1890 c. 1820-1841 1826-1863₆ 1827-1898 1828-1877 1839-1853 1833-1877 1834-1868 1834-1872 1834-1912 1835-1867 1835-1912 1836-1893 1836-1913 1837-1913 1838-1865 1839-1867 1839-1868 1839-1899 |
Fictional Replacement
Madoka Kaname*
Imhotep Dilios Iskander, King of Conquerors* Old King Cole* Merlin₁ Xuanzang Otto Gaiseric^ Hārūn ar-Rašīd Macbeth Malcolm Donalbain Jubair al Hakim₃ Majd Addin₃ Dante Alighieri Dante^ Geoffrey Chaucer Dick Whittington John Falstaff Faust Bianca Gonzaga Pierre Gringoire Von Hohenheim^ "Florian" Akechi Jinsai Snow White Goroda Toda Hiromatsu Nakamura "The Beast" Paolo Sarutobi Sasuke Yoshinaga Toranaga Ruy Pérez de Viedma Martin Alvito Elizabeth Bartley Vinck Ishido Toda Mariko Toda Buntaro John Blackthorne Ochiba Sudara “The Crooked Man” Miyamoto Usagi^ Naga Yaemon Hassling-Ketling Benjamin Avery Gol D. Roger^ “Flynn Rider” Robinson Crusoe "The Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe" Ulla Winblad William Tavington Ebenezer Scrooge Horatio Hornblower Percy Blakeney Jin-Qua Dirk Struan Jacob Grimm Wilhelm Grimm Pestilence Robb Struan Edie Ochiltree Marius Pontmercy Shevaun Tillman Karana Grigoriy Aleksandrovich Pechorin Quentin Trembly Willy Wonka Marie Rogêt Shishio Makoto Misamoto Moritsugu Katsumoto Diego de la Vega Kotaro Katsura Isao Kondō Kenshin Himura₇ Malcolm Struan Kamataro Ito Tōshirō Hijitaka “Aoshi Shinomori” Katakuriko Matsudaira Jamie McFay Toranaga Yoshi Nizo Okada Shinsuke Takasugi Sōzō Sagara Cornelius Slate₈ |
Source Material
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
The Mummy 300 Fate/stay night Old King Cole Arthurian legend, etc. Journey to the West Matter of France Berserk One Thousand and One Nights Macbeth Gargoyles Macbeth Macbeth Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed The Divine Comedy Fullmetal Alchemist The Canterbury Tales A Knight's Tale Dick Whittington and His Cat Henry IV The Merry Wives of Windsor German folklore The Borgias The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Fullmetal Alchemist Snow White The Asian Saga Snow White The Asian Saga The Asian Saga The Asian Saga Beauty and the Beast The Borgias Japanese oral tradition The Asian Saga Don Quixote The Asian Saga Castlevania The Asian Saga The Asian Saga The Asian Saga The Asian Saga The Asian Saga The Asian Saga The Asian Saga English nursery rhyme Usagi Yojimbo The Asian Saga The Asian Saga Seinkiewicz' Trilogy The Pyrates One Piece Tangled Robinson Crusoe English nursery rhyme Fredman's Epistles The Patriot A Christmas Carol Horatio Hornblower series The Scarlet Pimpernel The Asian Saga The Asian Saga The Brothers Grimm, etc. The Brothers Grimm, etc. Marvel Comics The Asian Saga The Antiquary Les Misérables The Asian Saga Island of the Blue Dolphins A Hero of Our Time Gravity Falls Charlie and the Chocolate Factory A Hero of Our Time Rurouni Kenshin The Asian Saga The Last Samurai Zorro stories Gin Tama Gin Tama Rurouni Kenshin The Asian Saga Gin Tama Gin Tama Rurouni Kenshin Gin Tama The Asian Saga The Asian Saga Gin Tama Gin Tama Rurouni Kenshin BioShock |
Notes:
- ₁: as Merlin travels backwards through time instead of forwards, {The Once and Future King} his date of death is actually Aurelianus' date of birth; however, Merlin's date of birth is not Aurelianus' date of death, but at some point further in the future to account for Merlin's knowledge of events in the distant future, depending on the chronologically latest appearance of Merlin in fiction
- ₂: Macbeth actually became immortal and faked his death, {Gargoyles} meaning that the date of death given here is merely when his death is recorded by history
- ₃: both Jubair and Majd Addin were actually killed by Altaïr ibn La'Ahad in 1191, but records of their deaths were forged by their Templar allies, {Assassin's Creed} meaning that their real dates of death aren't known to most
- ₄: Snow White actually lives longer than the woman she replaces due to being revived from her purported poisoning death by magic
- ₅: it is unclear exactly what happened to Avery
- ₆: Shishio actually lives longer than the man he replaces; he was believed to be dead but turned out to have survived the attempt on his life and his actual date of death is in the late 1870s
- ₇: Kenshin actually lives longer than the man he replaces
- ₈: Slate lives until 1912 in certain split timelines due to Columbian medical advances