Ten iconic fictional characters hated by their authors
Many authors have a love-hate relationship with the characters they create, which ironically seems to turn to hate-hate when the character in question gets more famous than the creator. Surely this is every author’s dream to have their successful character selling lots of books and making them lots of money? Au contraire, the ungrateful egoists say. In most cases, the author’s resent their characters popularity when it eclipses their own or their other, more serious work, whether that be painting or literature. Like with children, these fictional characters take on a life of their own that can’t be controlled by their creators. (Tellingly, Lewis Carroll, Hergé and Tove Jansson didn’t have any children.) And indeed, the author’s die and the characters live on forever.
(A bit like inventors regretting their inventions, mused H as I was telling her about this post: Mikhail Kalashnikov and his AK-47, Oppenheimer and Einstein with their atomic bombs, Tim Berners-Lee and the World Wide Web, Ethan Zuckerman with pop-up ads and John Sylvan with Keurig K-Cups (the single-use coffee device which wastes billions of plastic capsules every year), they all regretted their deadly/annoying creations. These inventions likewise took on a life of their own, often far removed from what the creator intended. Kalashnikov wished he’d invented a lawnmower instead!)
Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Reason? Conan Doyle disliked the attention Sherlock Holmes got at the expense of his historical novels which he felt were more important. He called his creation boring “hack work” and had Holmes killed off but had to bring him back to life due to public outcry.
Moomins (Tove Jansson)
Reason? “I draw Moomins with a feeling that is starting to resemble hatred” said Jansson, who wanted to be taken seriously as a painter.
Tintin (Hergé)
Reason? “I’ve fallen out of love with Tintin. I just can’t bear to see him”, Hergé admitted to Michael Turner (Tintin translator) in 1968. Hergé tired of his creation and also wanted to be taken seriously as an artist.
Mary Poppins (P.L. Travers)
Reason? Resented the popularity of the film.
Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)
Reason? Hated the fame that success brought.
Hercule Poirot (Agatha Christie)
Reason? Christie soon tired of the famous detective, calling him a “detestable, bombastic, tiresome, ego-centric little creep” and did in fact manage to eventually kill him off.
Winnie the Pooh (AA Milne)
Reason? Milne felt Pooh ruined his legacy and was frustrated Pooh was more famous than him. His son, Christopher Robin, felt the same. Tried to kill the character, failed.
Jaws (Peter Benchley)
Reason? Benchley disliked the negative impact sharks had on the general public due to the success of his book and Spielberg’s film.
Tarzan (Edgar Rice Burroughs)
Reason? Burroughs thought of Tarzan as bad pulp fiction to be churned out.
Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov)
Reason? Due to his frustration at the revision process, apparently Nabokov wanted to burn the manuscript of his controversial classic, though he eventually admitted it was his best novel.