Composite character#Use in comics

• The Wizard of Oz (1939): Glinda, Good Witch of the North is based on Glinda the Good from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and on The Good Witch of the North from the same book.
• Lawrence of Arabia (1962): Claude Rains as the diplomat Mr. Dryden. As with Omar Sharif's Sherif Ali and Anthony Quayle's Colonel Harry Brighton, Dryden was an amalgam of several historical figures, primarily Ronald Storrs, a member of the Arab Bureau but also David Hogarth, an archaeologist friend of Lawrence, Henry McMahon, the High Commissioner of Egypt who negotiated the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence (which began the Arab Revolt), and Mark Sykes, of the Sykes–Picot Agreement, which partitioned the post-war Middle East. Screenwriter Robert Bolt stated that the character was created to "represent the civilian and political wing of British interests, to balance Allenby's military objectives".{{cite web |url=http://www.telawrence.info/telawrenceinfo/legacy3/film/film3.htm |title=Lawrence of Arabia or Smith in the Desert? |access-date=8 March 2021 |archive-date=29 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929015041/http://www.telawrence.info/telawrenceinfo/legacy3/film/film3.htm |url-status=live}}
• The Great Escape (1963): The characters in this John Sturges film are based on real men, and in some cases are composites of several men. The main character, Capt. Virgil Hilts (Steve McQueen) a.k.a. the "Cooler King", was based on at least three pilots: Bill Ash, David M. Jones, and John Dortch Lewis.{{cite news|last=Kaufman|first=Michael T.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/13/world/john-d-lewis-84-pilot-in-the-great-escape.html|title=John D. Lewis, 84, Pilot in 'The Great Escape'|newspaper=The New York Times|date=13 August 1999|access-date=15 March 2015}}{{cite web|title=William Ash: The cooler king|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34058540|last=Bishop|first=Patrick|date=30 August 2015|website=BBC Online|access-date=30 August 2015}}{{cite news |first=Brendan|last=Foley|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/29/bill-ash|title=Bill Ash obituary|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|date=29 April 2014|access-date=30 August 2015}}{{cite news|author=|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10799031/William-Ash-obituary.html|title=William Ash - obituary|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London|date=30 April 2014|access-date=30 August 2015}}
• Bonnie and Clyde (1967): C.W. Moss (Michael J. Pollard) in Arthur Penn's film is a composite of two Barrow Gang members: W. D. Jones and Henry Methvin. In the film, the Moss characterization relies predominantly on the basis of Jones, a juvenile devotee adept at carjacking, whom the couple take under their wing up until the climax. Then, traits of minor but catalytic member Methvin are interwoven near the end as his father, via Moss's dad, bargains with vengeful law enforcement for his son's immunity in exchange for luring the unsuspecting Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker into the fatal, bullet-ridden ambush.{{cite magazine|title=Riding with Bonnie & Clyde|magazine=Playboy Magazine|date=November 1968|quote=That C. W. Moss in the movie was me, up to the end, when he let his old man turn in Clyde and Bonnie.. It was Henry Methvin that done that, not me I was in jail when that happened. The papers was right when they said Moss was a composite of me and Methvin.}}{{cite web|url=https://www.babyfacenelsonjournal.com/barrow8.html|title=Death Comes in the Sun: Trading one life for two; mistrust|website=BabyFace Nelson ~ Journal|access-date=September 2, 2023|quote=After months of constant tracking, Hamer was finally ready to make his move. For some time, he had been meeting with Methvin's family, which was trying to broker a deal that would not only keep Methvin out of the electric chair, but possibly even out of prison. In exchange, they would hand over Barrow and Parker.|date=July 21, 2008}}
• Spaceballs (1987): The protagonist of Mel Brooks's parody of Star Wars is Lone Starr (Bill Pullman), a mercenary who gains the powers of the Schwartz. Lone Starr combines the characters of both Luke Skywalker and Han Solo.
• Schindler's List (1993): Steven Spielberg's film contains one blended composite character. Although Ben Kingsley's character of accountant Itzhak Stern is based upon a real person and he did interact with Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), in the film Stern also absorbed aspects of a few other historical figures: Abraham Bankier, who planted the seed with Schindler to employ Jews for cheaper labor, thereby keeping them safe; and Mietek Pemper, who was at the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp and later worked for Amon Göth (Ralph Fiennes) as his personal secretary. He was instrumental in persuading Schindler to utilize Jews in assembling war materials. A possible fourth person in the mix is Marcel Goldberg, a corrupt Jewish cop who nonetheless aided Stern in the expansion of their lists, which kept thousands of Jews alive and safe. (In Steven Zaillian's screenplay, Goldberg and Pemper have minor roles played by other actors, but nevertheless are still considered to be part of this composite.){{cite web|url=https://www.ranker.com/list/composite-characters-historical-movies/melissa-sartore|title=12 Figures From Historical Movies Who Are Actually Composites Of Multiple People|website=Ranker|quote=While there was a real Stern, and he did work with Schindler, the movie character represented the collective activities of no fewer than four men.|date=September 29, 2022|access-date=September 2, 2023|last=Sartore|first=Melissa}}
• Apollo 13 (1995): The character Henry Hurt (Xander Berkeley) in director Ron Howard's docudrama is portrayed as a NASA public relations employee assigned to assuaging Marilyn Lovell (Kathleen Quinlan)—the wife of astronaut Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks)—while simultaneously tasked with answering reporters' questions. This character is a composite of the NASA protocol officer Bob McMurrey, assigned to act as a buffer between the Lovell family and the press; and several Office of Public Liaison employees, whose job was to actually work with the press.{{cite book|last1=Lovell|first1=Jim|last2=Kluger|first2=Jeffrey|author-link2=Jeffrey Kluger|title=Apollo 13|date=1994|publisher=Pocket Books|location=New York City|isbn=0671534645|pages=[https://archive.org/details/apollo1300love/page/118 118, 209–210, 387]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/apollo1300love/page/118}}
• Charlotte Gray (2001): Cate Blanchett's titled character of Charlotte Gray is based on such SOE agents as Pearl Witherington, Nancy Wake, Odette Hallowes and Violette Szabo.
• Catch Me If You Can (2002): In yet another Spielberg film, based on the true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his counterfeit escapades, the main character is pursued by FBI agent Carl Hanratty, played by Tom Hanks. However, his character is a mixture of several agents, primarily Joseph Shea, who didn't want his name used in any film adaptation—a request Abagnale and the film crew honored after he died.{{cite web|url=https://collider.com/catch-me-if-you-can-true-story-explained/|website=Collider|title=Catch Me if You Can: The "True" Story of Frank Abignale Jr. Explained|quote=Speaking of the FBI, Carl Hanratty is actually a composite of several agents who were assigned Frank's case, the main one being Joe Shea. Joe has since passed on but didn't want his name used in the movie when he was alive.|last=Pagnotti|first=Sean|access-date=September 3, 2023|date=February 28, 2023}}
• 21 (2008): Director Robert Luketic's characters were fictionalized; in some instances, with whitewashed versions of their real-life counterparts, stirring controversy. Jeff Ma, whose saga was the main focus, was accused of being a race-traitor, in allowing Jim Sturgess to be cast as his facsimile. But it's Kevin Spacey's Micky Rosa who is a composite of John Chang, Bill Kaplan, and J.P. Masser.{{cite web|url=http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/04/06/house_of_cards/|title=House of Cards|website=Boston.com|date=6 April 2008|access-date=13 October 2013}}{{subscription required}}
• Dallas Buyers Club (2013): Screenwriters Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack told the true story of Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), who contracted AIDS and smuggled unapproved drugs to help alleviate symptoms of his and fellow sufferers, such as trans woman Rayon (Jared Leto). The latter character was actually a composite derived from a plethora of interviews with anonymous real-life transgender AIDS patients. Further embellishments were made in creating Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner), who was another composite comprised from several doctors—with one, Dr. Linda Laubenstein, being the main source of inspiration, for her activism against the social stigma of the disease.{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/dallas-buyers-club-every-movie-change-true-story/#dr-eve-saks-is-a-fictional-character|website=Screen Rant|title=Dallas Buyers Club True Story: 7 Things The Movie Changed From Real-Life|quote=[Ravon] was supposed to represent the judgmental behavior and stereotypical assumptions that many trans people living with AIDS faced during that time.…\\….Saks also bears similarities with the late physician Dr. Linda Laubenstein, one of the first American doctors to spread awareness of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.|last=Thapa|first=Shaurya|date=May 14, 2023|access-date=September 3, 2023}}
• Molly's Game (2017): Michael Cera's Player X is based on celebrity gamblers who attended Bloom's games, such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, and Tobey Maguire.
• Dunkirk (2017): Kenneth Branagh's character, Commander Bolton, in Christopher Nolan's World War II epic is a composite of several real-life people, including Commander James Campbell Clouston and Captain Bill Tennant.{{cite news|last1=Alexander|first1=Bryan|title=Dunkirk: How historically accurate is Christopher Nolan's WWII battle film?|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2017/07/20/dunkirk-how-historically-accurate-christopher-nolans-wwii-film/493068001|access-date=22 January 2018|work=USA Today|date=20 July 2017|language=en}}{{cite news |url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/inspiration-for-summer-blockbuster-dunkirk-an-unsung-montreal-hero |title=Inspiration for summer blockbuster Dunkirk an unsung Montreal hero |first=René |last=Bruemmer |newspaper=Montreal Gazette |date=2 August 2017 |access-date=2 August 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://publications.mcgill.ca/reporter/2017/08/unsung-hero-of-dunkirk-evacuation-a-mcgill-student |title=Unsung hero of Dunkirk evacuation a former McGill student |date=7 August 2017 |website=McGill Reporter |publisher=McGill University |access-date=4 September 2017 |archive-date=4 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904152103/http://publications.mcgill.ca/reporter/2017/08/unsung-hero-of-dunkirk-evacuation-a-mcgill-student/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/09/21/this-war-hero-was-forgotten-in-canada-and-portrayed-as-a-brit-in-dunkirk-now-hes-finally-getting-his-due/ |title=This war hero was forgotten in Canada and portrayed as a Brit in Dunkirk. Now he's finally getting his due. |newspaper=Washington Post |date=21 September 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://slate.com/culture/2017/07/whats-fact-and-whats-fiction-in-dunkirk.html |title=What's Fact and What's Fiction in Dunkirk |last=Broich |first=John |date=20 July 2017 |website=Slate |access-date=25 March 2018 |archive-date=13 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313051604/http://amp.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/07/20/what_s_fact_and_what_s_fiction_in_dunkirk.html |url-status=dead }}
• Bombshell (2019): Margot Robbie's character Kayla Pospisil was an amalgamation, based on a number of conservative women who spoke to the filmmakers about harassment from Roger Ailes (John Lithgow). "We’re not revealing the people we talk to. We’re trying to protect them," director Jay Roach said of the project's sources.{{Cite web|last=Epstein|first=Rachel|date=2019-12-12|title=Spoiler Alert: Margot Robbie's Bombshell Character Isn't Real|url=https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/a30187373/who-is-kayla-pospisil-bombshell-movie/|access-date=2020-12-08|website=Marie Claire|language=en-US}}

• Ulana Khomyuk in Chernobyl is a composite character created to represent "the many scientists who worked fearlessly and put themselves in a lot of danger to help solve the situation."{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/film-and-tv/emily-watson-on-her-new-tv-drama-chernobyl-1-4920211|title=Emily Watson on her new TV drama, Chernobyl|website=The Scotsman|language=en|access-date=2019-06-04}}
• Game of Thrones made extensive use of composite characters due to the sheer number of characters from the source novels, A Song of Ice and Fire. Sansa Stark in the show takes on elements from her friend Jenye Poole (who briefly appears in the first season) such as being married off to Ramsay Bolton so Bolton can gain control of Winterfell. The character of Gendry is an amalgamation of Robert Baratheon’s numerous illegitimate children from the source material. He is given a storyline that’s a combination of book Gendry’s and his half-brother Edric Storm, who was sent off to protect him from being ritualistically sacrificed by his uncle Stannis Baratheon. Both the Seaworth and Tyrell families go from having multiple sons in the books (seven and three, respectively) to one who combines aspects of the others in the show. More controversially{{Cite web |last=Prokop |first=Andrew |date=2016-05-15 |title=Game of Thrones' Dorne storyline — and why people hate it — explained |url=https://www.vox.com/2016/5/15/11658264/game-of-thrones-dorne-adaptation-changes |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=Vox |language=en-US}}, Ellaria Sand became a composite of many of the Dornish women introduced in A Feast for Crows who were either entirely cut out or severely reduced in terms of importance to the story. She alone plays the roles that her four daughters, four stepdaughters, and niece Arianne Martell (heir to Dorne) do in the books.
• Colin Hanks as Barry Lapidus in The Offer was based of many executives at Gulf & Western that Ruddy dealt with during the production of The Godfather.{{Cite web |last=Parker |first=Ryan |date=2022-04-29 |title='The Offer' Star Colin Hanks Knows His Character is Easy to Loathe: "He Stands for a Lot That I Am Against" |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/the-offer-colin-hanks-knows-character-easy-to-loathe-1235137368/ |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Papadopoulos |first=Charles |date=2022-06-01 |title=The Offer: 8 Things The Show Changed About The True Story |url=https://screenrant.com/offer-godfather-true-story-changes/ |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}}
• The Tudors (2007): Henry VIII's sisters Margaret Tudor and Mary Tudor, Queen of France were amalgamated into one character named Margaret. The character of Margaret's story more closely matches Mary's life. She is a known beauty who was married off by her brother to an older King to form an alliance (in real life the King of France, in the show it's Portugal), only to be quickly widowed and marry her brother's best friend Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk behind his back. However, the creators of the show decided to call the character Margaret instead of Mary to avoid confusion with their niece Mary I of England. {{Cite news |last=Gates |first=Anita |date=2008-03-23 |title=The Royal Life (Some Facts Altered) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/arts/television/23gate.html |access-date=2024-08-04 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Margaret was played by Gabrielle Anwar.
• Once Upon a Time (2011-2018): Gabrielle Anwar portrayed Rapunzel Tremaine, also known as Victoria Belfrey, who is a composite between Rapunzel and the Wicked Stepmother from Cinderella.

• The three Herods in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles (Herod the Great (Luke 1:5), Herod Antipas (Luke 3:1; 9:7-9; 13:31-33; 23:5-12), and Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:1-23)) are three separate historical rulers, but are portrayed as a single character in Herod as a Composite Character in Luke-Acts, described "as an actualization of Satan’s desire to impede the spread of the good news though his ["Herod’s"] rejection of the gospel message and through political persecution".{{cite book |last1=Dicken |first1=Frank |title=Herod as a Composite Character in Luke-Acts |date=2014 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |location=Tübingen, Germany |isbn=978-3161532542 |page=7}}
• The Senator: My Ten Years with Ted Kennedy, a memoir by Richard E. Burke allegedly exposing various activities of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy featured several composite characters associated with Kennedy's alleged drug use and sexual dalliances; the inclusion of such became a point of criticism for the book.{{cite web |url=http://articles.philly.com/1992-09-27/news/26022267_1_kara-kennedy-allen-cocaine-massachusetts-democrat |title=Ex-aide's Book Alleges Kennedy Used Drugs The Senator Called Allegations About Orgies, Drugs And Alcohol "Bizarre And Untrue" |website=The Inquirer |date=27 September 1992 |access-date=25 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306215234/http://articles.philly.com/1992-09-27/news/26022267_1_kara-kennedy-allen-cocaine-massachusetts-democrat |archive-date=6 March 2016 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}{{cite magazine|last=Isaak |first=Sharon |url=https://ew.com/article/1992/10/30/tales-ted-kennedy/ |title=Tales of Ted Kennedy |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=30 October 1992 |access-date=25 October 2015}}
• Bring Up the Bodies (2012): In the afterwards of the book, author Hilary Mantel acknowledges that Jane Boleyn’s role as the main instigator of the downfall of her sister-in-law Anne Boleyn is a composite of the actions of several different people. In particular, Jane was given elements of a woman named Bridget Wingfield’s participation in the scandal. Wingfield was an employee of Anne’s and is believed to have been the individual who started the rumors that she was having an extramarital affair. Mantel decided to give Jane an outsized role both because Wingfield died mid-scandal and to keep the reader from having to keep yet another character straight. {{Cite book |last=Mantel |first=Hilary |title=Bring up the bodies |date=2012 |publisher=Holt |isbn=978-0-8050-9003-1 |edition=1. U.S. |series=A John Macrae book |location=New York, NY}}

• A series of 1944 The New Yorker articles by Joseph Mitchell on New York's Fulton Fish Market which were presented as journalism. Once the stories were published in 1948 as the book Old Mr. Flood Mitchell disclosed that "Mr. Flood is not one man; combined in him are aspects of several old men who work or hang out in Fulton Fish Market, or who did in the past."{{cite web|last=Shafer |first=Jack |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/press_box/2003/06/the_fabulous_fabulists.html |title=The fabulous fabulists |website=Slate|date=12 June 2003 |access-date=13 October 2013}} Mitchell assigned his composite character his own birthday and his own love for the Bible and certain authors.{{cite news|url=http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/11/nov92/mitchell.htm | date=3 November 1992 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010306202907/http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/11/nov92/mitchell.htm| first=Christopher | last= Carduff| access-date=12 May 2016 | url-status=dead | work=New Criterion|archive-date=6 March 2001 | title= Fish-eating, whiskey, death & rebirth }} In his introduction to Mr. Flood, Mitchell wrote, "I wanted these stories to be truthful rather than factual, but they are solidly based on facts."{{cite web|last=O'Rourke |first=Meghan |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2003/07/literary_license.html |title=Literary license |website=Slate |date=29 July 2003 |access-date=13 October 2013}}
• John Hersey is said to have created a composite character in a Life magazine story, as did Alastair Reid for The New Yorker.
• Vivian Gornick in 2003 said that she used composite characters in some of her articles for the Village Voice.{{cite web |url=http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=114&sid=671980 |title=Unethical writers love the power of creative non-fiction - |website=WTOP.com |date=13 January 2006 |access-date=13 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926212116/http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=114&sid=671980 |archive-date=26 September 2007 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}

• Fictional character
• Fictional location

{{Reflist}}

Category:Fictional characters by role in the narrative structure

Category:Journalism ethics

Category:Literary motifs