Comments on: Top Ten Most Adapted Characters

By: denebthall

denebthall — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 02:45:59 +0000

Well, he IS, really – the Jekyll/Hyde character is more a reflection on the duality of man’s nature than an outright villain; at worst, Mr. Hyde is a particularly brutal and creepy thug, whereas Dracula is almost always played for arch-villainy. As for Franky, I would attribute that to his status as a monster who’s not TOO monstrous, if you know what I mean. He can can be either the bad guy or the good guy, and of all the iconic screen monsters, he’s by far the most sympathetic – you can put him in more family-oriented stuff without ticking off the parents, while still preserving the ‘oooh – spooky!’ aspect.

By: Drew

Drew — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 02:22:23 +0000

I’m also surprised about Dracula; I could have sworn I’d read that he’s by far the most adapted literary villain of all time, just as Holmes is the most adapted literary character, period. Of course Frankenstein’s monster will always be popular, but I can’t believe that he’s made more appearances in all forms of media than Dracula. And Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde? Really?

Not disputing Deneb’s findings, it just really surprises me.

By: denebthall

denebthall — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 13:41:36 +0000

Nah, Lupin the 3rd in general I count as a single adaptation, since it’s an ongoing franchise that really doesn’t have much to do with his grandpappy except the backstory. If I DID count the individual movies, etc., he’d probably be a bit higher on the list.
And yeah, I don’t differentiate – I count ‘em all. Good, bad, he’s still the guy in the cape.

By: Sitting Duck

Sitting Duck — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 13:30:40 +0000

Presumably all of those Lupin III TV specials help get him that #10 spot.

And I suspect Dracula’s ranking would have gone down a couple of notches if you didn’t include the ones where he’s the misunderstood good guy. In particular, I’m thinking of The Dracula Tapes, which arguably made him into even more of a whiny puke than Louis de Pointe du Lac.

By: denebthall

denebthall — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 02:03:19 +0000

…”ONE or two”; good grief.

By: denebthall

denebthall — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 02:02:47 +0000

Alas, the Pimpernel has so far received a mere 17 adaptations (give or take on or two borderline cases), and Mr. Gray ranks an only slightly more impressive 37. Neither is enough to make it on here. Hard luck, chaps; better luck next time.

By: denebthall

denebthall — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 22:41:09 +0000

Regretfully, fairy tale characters fall under my ‘no folklore’ guidelines at the beginning there – and even if they didn’t, it’s Beauty AND the Beast, and duos don’t really qualify either. (OK, there’s Jekyll and Hyde, but come on, that doesn’t count.) I bet there’d be a zillion of ‘em, though.

By: denebthall

denebthall — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 22:37:56 +0000

Thanks! Glad you liked it.
One of the great parts of being a writer on the ‘Net is that you can fill in the gaps when you see ‘em, ya know? I mean, I can’t possibly be the first person to do a search for this particular Top Ten. I CAN’T be – I’ll bet you that right now, the same thought is filtering through the heads of at least a dozen obsessive nerds like myself. Before, they’d be doomed to frustration, because what they were looking for wouldn’t be there. Now it’ll only be partial frustration when they see who I left out. It’s a good feeling.
The Scarlet Pimpernel and Dorian Gray, eh? OK, I’ll look those two up.

By: Eunice

Eunice — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 22:01:24 +0000

oh or Beauty and the Beast?

By: Eunice

Eunice — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:54:26 +0000

I am impressed by this article, it sounds (and I can I can tell) there was a lot of work and thought that went into it. A golf clap for you, Deneb.

I’m not too surprised by Sherlock Holmes, but that gap is pretty wow. I thought Dracula would be higher. I wonder what the count would be on say the Scarlet Pimpernel or Dorian Gray.

Poor Eric, “He had a heart that could have held the entire empire of the world; and, in the end, he had to content himself with a cellar.”