They say that art mimics life, and why shouldn’t it? Let’s face it; more often than not, life tends to be a lot stranger than fiction. As a result, some of the most famous (or infamous) characters from movies, books, TV, and even cartoons have their roots in the history of real people.

It’s no great surprise that creators draw their inspiration from people who once lived and breathed. It makes the story or movie that much more interesting. When faced with a fictional character inspired by a real human being, there’s no telling ourselves that this could never really happen…it already has!

From voodoo priestesses and serial killer clowns to Disney princesses and comic book superheroes, it seems that just about every type of character has a muse among the living! Here are 25+ fictional characters and their real-life counterparts. We’ll let you decided if fiction beats fact.

1. Hannibal Lecter/Dr. Alfredo Ballí Treviño

zSorry to make you cringe in terror but yep; Hannibal Lecter was actually based on a real person! Thomas Harris penned the novels that would become the basis for the powerhouse films and in his book was one infamous Dr. Salazar. Salazar was a pseudonym for a surgeon, Dr. Alfredo Ballí Treviño, that Harris met who was awaiting his death sentence in Monterrey, Mexico after being imprisoned for the gruesome murder of his lover Jesus Castillo Rangel.

Harris thought he was speaking with the prison doctor who treated Dykes Askew Simmons, who was also on death row for murdering three people. Simmons was the person Harris had come to interview for his book and only happened to interview Treviño because he treated Simmons gunshot wound from when he tried to escape. The interview between Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter in the movie is eerily based on the one Harris held with Treviño in the prison, as is Hannibal’s entire character.

2. Ursula The Sea Witch/Divine The Drag Queen

That’s right, you’re attracted to Ursula’s character for a reason! Unquestionably one of the most popular, vivacious, and bodacious Disney villains in the long line of feature-film cartoons, the infamous Ursula was created that way by design.

Based on the actor and world-famous drag queen star, Divine, the sea witch character was originally adapted from Hans Christian Andersen’s book The Little Mermaid. However, in the book, the sea witch is not the antagonist Ursula portrays in the movie and, in order to develop her loveably villainous character for Disney fans, drew on the inspiringly flamboyant and cocky nature of Harris Glenn Milstead’s alter ego, Divine.

3. Iron Man/Howard Hughes

While many people might not have known that their favorite cocky comic-book superhero was based the enigmatic Howard Hughes, the revelation shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. All of Tony Stark’s annoyingly endearing characteristics; inventing and engineering potentially devastating tech, his cruelly seductive womanizing habits, and his boatloads of billions, all of these traits have their roots in the real history of Howard Hughes.

While speaking on his chosen muse for the fleshing out of Stark’s character, Stan Lee said Hughes was a perfect choice:

“Howard Hughes was one of the most colorful men of our time. He was an inventor, an adventurer, a multi-billionaire, a ladies’ man and finally a nutcase. Without being crazy, he [Iron Man] was Howard Hughes.”

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4. Jabba The Hutt/Sydney Greenstreet

Sometimes a movie villain is so hateable that they inspire the creation of even more infamous villains. That is exactly the case with Jabba The Hutt from Star Wars.

In case you don’t know, Sydney Greenstreet was a well-known superstar movie villain in his time (over 60 years ago), who received most of his notoriety from the classic blockbusters Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. In both films, Greenstreet played a Fez-wearing seedy underground criminal wanted for all sorts of crimes, including slavery. In the Maltese Falcon, he was also known as Mr. Gutman which was later shortened to the “Fat Man”. Knowing that, was there ever really any doubt where Jabba The Hutt has his roots?

5. Eric Cartman/Matt Karpman

It’s every mother’s worst nightmare come true; Eric Cartman is based on a real kid. Specifically, on Matt Karpman, who has been friends with Trey Parker and Matt Stone (creators of South Park) since they were kids.

Unfortunately for Karpman, his character evolved out of being the fat, disagreeable kid that annoyed everyone, but at least he’s everyone’s favorite character now!

6. Norman Bates from Psycho/Ed Gein

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film adaptation of Psycho, inspired by a novel of the same name authored by Robert Bloch the year before, is one of the most iconic horror movies to come out of the 20th century. Everyone knows what a terrifying psychopath Norman Bates was, but what people aren’t as familiar with is the fact that terrorizing psychopath was based on a real person.

Edward Theodore Gein was a murderer and body snatcher in Plainfield Wisconsin during the ’50s. He would tan the skins of women he dug up as well as the two he butchered and would stitch parts of them together in an effort to create a “woman suit” so that he could become his dead mother when he missed her. When the police searched his residence, they found everything from lampshades and chair coverings to bowls and tools made from the remains of the dead bodies.

7. Alice in Wonderland/Alice Liddell

Believe it or not, Alice was a real person, too! Okay, so maybe all of her insane “adventures” didn’t really take place (at least not in this dimension), but the character of Alice was based on the very real little girl from the early 1860s, Alice Liddell. The classic tale of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was penned by mathematician and famous children’s author Lewis Carroll (a.k.a Charles Dodgson).

Carroll was tasked with entertaining a close friend’s three children on a short boat ride to a riverbank for tea. Not one to shy away from little kids, he told them a fantastical tale full of all sorts of creatures and mishaps. The children fell in love, particularly 10-year-old Alice. She asked him to write the story down for her and when he did it became the rough drafted manuscript for the iconic story we all know and love today!

8. Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver)/Arthur Bremer

Taxi Driver is an iconic American film first released in 1976. The movie stars Robert De Niro as the disturbed character Travis Bickle who trades in his day job to pursue his obsession with becoming an assassin.

Tragically, this character isn’t one of sheer imagination. Rather, the would-be political assassin, Arthur Bremer, who Bickle’s character is based on, was convicted of attempted murder after shooting Democratic presidential candidate George Wallace in 1972, leaving him paralyzed and injuring three others. This was just a practice round; he really wanted to kill Nixon. After his diary was released it inspired Bickle’s character in the movie, which in turn inspired John Hinckley Jr. to shoot President Ronald Reagan in an attempted assassination in 1981.

9. Popeye the Sailor/Frank “Rocky” Fiegel

Few people realize that Popeye the Sailorman got his start as a cartoon comic strip called Thimble Theater. Authored by Elzie Crisler Segar in 1929, the loud, obnoxious sailor with superhuman strength quickly became one of America’s favorite cartoon characters.

As it turns out, the real Popeye was just as lovable! Frank Fiegal, known as “Rocky” was a local in Chester, Illinois where Segar was from. He was also a massive-armed pip-smoker who was considered a local legend for his display of unbelievable strength when he got into fights, of which there were many. We don’t know if he really relied on spinach to do it, though.

10. Ariel from The Little Mermaid/Alyssa Milano

One of America’s most favorite Disney Princesses, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, is one sea-dwelling character who has her roots based in a real, land-dwelling actress. The bubbly, vivacious, adventuring mermaid is actually based on the American actress Alyssa Milano.

In an interview with The Wendy Williams Show, the then 40-year-old confessed to knowing that she was Ariel’s human counterpart, though she didn’t know it until after the movie was being made. She said that they told her after asking her to host The Making of The Little Mermaid that the drawings and likeness of Ariel and her personality were based on pictures of Alyssa as a child. We’re jealous.

11. Professor Snape from Harry Potter/John Nettleship

Every kid has a teacher that they just loathe. More often than not, it’s a science teacher. If the Harry Potter franchise sends one message, it should be to always be careful about who you pick on. Otherwise, you can end up as the basis for one of the most-hated movie characters of all time.

That is what happened to John Nettleship, a former chemistry teacher of J.K. Rowling’s who was always picking on the brightest of his students. With that memory in mind, Rowling penned out Snape’s character with relative ease.

12. Delphine LaLaurie from American Horror Story/Madame LaLaurie

The whole world knows that when it comes to an actress playing a female psychopath, Kathy Bates reigns as queen. Not only did she make us cringe in Misery but she also had us wincing as Delphine LaLaurie in the 3rd season of FX’s hit show, American Horror Story.

Knowing the creators of the show like to keep it extra creepy, they based this character off of the real Madame Delphine Lalaurie of New Orleans’ high society in the early 1800s. True to character, Madame Delphine was known for the diabolical torture and murder of her slaves.

13. Butters from South Park/Eric Stough

Just as Eric Cartman is based on someone that creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone know personally, so are many of the other characters. One of them is Butters! Another South Park favorite, Butters is based on the show’s producer Eric Stough.

What’s even funnier is that Butters is Stough’s real nickname, given to him by Stone who endlessly teased Stough for his sensitivity. Constantly worried over backlash from the show’s intended “targets”, Stone took to calling Stough his little buddy, which later evolved into Butters and formed the foundation for his openly thoughtful and loving character on the show.

14. Frank from Catch Me If You Can/Frank Abagnale Jr.

It’s hard to believe that a person can defraud hundreds of people throughout their life and fool the FBI as they impersonate countless people of authority while on the run as a fugitive. That’s what makes the movie Catch Me If You Can such a mind-bending thriller, but did you know that all of that actually happened?

Frank Abagnale was a real-life conman extraordinaire, and he got away with fooling the FBI so much that they finally figured “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em”, and in 1974 they offered him a job in aiding them to solve other fraud cases. He accepted and both parties have been better off ever since.

15. Shrek/Maurice Tillet

Everyone has a soft spot for the big, green Ogre known as Shreck. People would probably be pretty shocked to find out that even this crazy character was inspired by the life of a real person.

Maurice Tillet was a French wrestler with a normal physique until he turned 20. He was then diagnosed with acromegaly, an overproduction of growth hormones from a benign tumor pushing against the pituitary gland. Before being diagnosed with the disfiguring condition, his wrestling name was “The French Angel” which he got for his angelic-like facial features.

16. Piper Chapman from Orange Is The New Black/Piper Kerman

Okay, so everyone knows all about the Netflix power comedy-drama Orange Is The New Black. Did you know, though, that it’s based on someone’s life? Piper Chapman’s character is a direct representation of Piper Kerman, a former inmate and author of Orange Is The New Black: My Year In A Women’s Prison.

Piper was sentenced to 15 months in a correctional facility after pleading guilty to laundering money for a Nigerian kingpin and drug trafficking. She released the book detailing what life is like for women behind bars in 2010 and Netflix picked it up as a show having no idea how fast it would explode and rocket to the top as a number one show.

17. Nacho Libre/Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez

Nacho Libre might seem like your typical silly and borderline insane Jack Black type of movie, but this is one of those times where life was way crazier than fiction. Jack Black’s character in the movie was actually based on a real person named Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez.

Sergio was a Mexican priest who opened an orphanage for his community’s children in need. Desperate for income to support them, he decided to become the masked luchador (wrestler) known only as Frey Tormenta. He never revealed his identity as a priest until retiring from the fighting ring.

18. Aladdin/Tom Cruise

There’s a reason that Disney’s Aladdin was the first to make people realize they can crush on a cartoon character. He was specifically created to be the personification of one of America’s most-loved actors; Tom Cruise. Now that we know the man behind the inspiration, we can totally see it.

19. Twisty from American Horror Story/John Wayne Gacy

American Horror Story sure knows how to seek out some of history’s creepiest, murderous, psychopathic terrors and bring them to the forefront of the screen. That mission was over-accomplished in their evil clown character, Twisty.

Twisty’s devilish nature felt vaguely familiar for a reason; it was based on an infamous serial killer. John Wayne Gacy serves as the character foundation for Twisty the clown, as he was convicted of 33 brutal murders of little boys and young men after raping and torturing them.

20. Moe Szyslak from The Simpsons/Louis “Red” Deutsch

One of The Simpsons most lovable characters, Moe, is as plagued by prank callers in real life as he is in the cartoon. Louis Deutsch was a former heavyweight boxer, known as “Red” both in the ring and as owner and proprietor of Tube bar located in New Jersey in the 1970s.

During that time he received a great deal of prank phone calls where he was duped into calling out names like “Al Coholic” or “Mike Hunt”. On the occasions where he realized he was being pranked, Red was known to holler obscenities into the phone coupled with threats and sexual references to their mothers. The calls were recorded by the pranksters John Elmo and Jim Davidson and were later passed around through various sports leagues until it finally came into the hands of the public. Then, Moe Szyslack was born.

21. Lakeview Terrace Cop/Officer Irsie Henry

If you think having a cop as your neighbor will make you feel safe, you won’t after this reveal. It turns out that Samuel L. Jackson’s cop character in the thriller Lakeview Terrace is based on a real cop and a real story.

Officer Irsie Henry was brought up on charges for not only harassing but legitimately terrorizing his new neighbors when he realized they were an interracial couple. It’s safe to say that he’s not an officer of the law any longer.

22. Indiana Jones/Hiram Bingham III

If you’ve always thought that fantastical exploration adventures only exist in fiction, think again. Indiana Jones is, by far, one of the most highly acclaimed action/adventure movies of all time. Surprisingly, though, the character was formed based on the adventures of one Hiram Bingham III. A man of many traits, he was a scholar, politician, and an explorer. While he wasn’t exactly an expert archaeologist, this adventurer is responsible for the 1908 re-discovery of the ancient Incan citadel known today as Macchu Pichu.

23. Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld/Kenny Kramer

America’s favorite cooky New Yorker character in Seinfeld, Cosmo Kramer, is a real person and he is just as hilarious in real life. It turns out that the comedic nutcase character was born out of show creator Larry David’s encounters with an ex-neighbor across the hall from him; Kenny Kramer.

Kenny Kramer is a comedian in his own right, and he often guides people on “Kenny Kramer Tours” where, for just under $40, you can take a walk with him through his daily life.

24. Miss Piggy/Peggy Lee

Everyone watched The Muppets growing up and whether you loved her or hated her, you certainly knew who Miss Piggy was. A loud, independent female pig with an insatiable need for attention, she is quite an unforgettable character. Did you know, though, that Miss Piggy actually used to be called Miss Piggy Lee?

Bonnie Erickson designed and named Miss Piggy and she said that she based the loveable pig puppet on Peggy Lee, a popular singer and actress known for her independent streak. In order to avoid offending their character muse, they left out the “Lee” part of Miss Piggy’s name when The Muppet Show began to take off.

25. Freddy Krueger/Fred Krueger and unidentified homeless man

If there is one thing that a bully should know, it’s that the kids they pick on will grow up and move on to do other things in life, and some of those things just might affect you. One of the horror genre’s most notable monsters, Freddy Krueger with his decaying, disfigured face, came into existence out of Wes Craven’s memories of a neighborhood bully that would try to terrorize him named Fred Krueger.

It was this coupled with the eerie memory of an unknown homeless man with a disfigured face staring up at him through his window from the street below that caused him to create the Elm Street monster. After the man stared for an incredibly long time, Craven saw him enter the front of the apartment building and heard him approaching their residence. When he sent his older brother out with a baseball bat to confront the man, however, there was no one there.

26. Marie Laveau in American Horror Story/The real Marie Laveau

Yet another fantastic find from American Horror Story, Marie Laveau was brought back to life in the anthology’s third season titled Coven. Marie Laveau’s character was that of a voodoo priestess who wanted to exact revenge from Delphine LaLaurie after her lover died at LaLaurie’s evil and murderous hands.

As fate would have it, these two women were both real people in history in the early 1800s, and only lived two blocks from each other in New Orleans’ French Quarter. While the two were undoubtedly close in proximity and it is likely that their paths crossed at some point, there is no evidence indicating this was the case, as is depicted in AHS.

27. Edna Mode from The Incredibles/Edith Head

The saucy, sassy costume designer from Pixar’s The Incredibles, Edna Mode is merely a reflection of the infamously confident Hollywood fashion designer Edith Head. Known as having a strong hatred of the word and concept of “modesty”, Head was an outspoken and forthcoming fashion designer who wasn’t afraid to tell it how it is!

28. Lucy in 50 First Dates/Michelle Philpots

You know the scene in 50 First Dates where Lucy wakes up to Henry for the first time and totally freaks out because she doesn’t remember who he is? Yeah, try doing that on a daily basis.

Lucy’s character is based on the life of Michelle Philpots who really was in an accident and suffered from a brain injury that resets her memories to 1994 each and every day. And yes, she is married and has to look at their wedding album and read post-it notes she’s left herself every morning before taking on her day. And you thought your life was stressful!

29. Dude in The Big Lebowski/Jeff Dowd

Big Lebowski fans will be thrilled to know that the dude really does abide! The laid back White Russian-loving bachelor’s character is, in fact, based on a real dude named Jeff Dowd.

The Cohen brothers came across Dowd and found him to be so interesting that they made him the protagonist of one of their most iconic movies. Dowd says that people do actually call him “The Dude”, a nickname his friends came up with in childhood as a play on his similar sounding last name.

30. Pocahontas/Matoaka

The famous Disney Indian Princess Pocahontas was based on a real person, but the story in the movie was largely made up. Pocahontas’ real name was Matoaka and she was the daughter of a Powhatan chief. She did allegedly stop her father from executing John Smith, but it is unclear why or how, exactly.

She was later taken hostage by the colonizers in Virginia in hopes they could ransom her back to her tribe in trade for some of the colonizers who were taken as slaves. Ultimately, though, she was shipped off to England after marrying John Rolfe (not Smith) to show people that they needn’t fear the savages in America for, as they could see from Pocahontas, they could be “tamed.”

These are just a few of some of the most famous fictional characters who were actually based on real people. With so many interesting stories floating around in history, it’s no wonder that people inspire both the best and worst characters in all sorts of fiction.

So, how many characters were on the list that you didn’t already know about? Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

H/T: 22Words