I always find it interesting when fictional characters are based on real life people.
The trilogy I’m working on now is set in the same world as my Keeper Chronicles and will tell the story of the first queen.
I’m basing her on the life of Empress Theodora from Constantinople.
She was the wife of Emperor Justinian and, by all accounts, an intelligent, funny, powerful woman that helped run the Byzantine Empire. Writings about her are wrought with scandal and intrigue, and I’m really excited to incorporated parts of her history into the life of my main character.
Did you know an interesting number of fictional characters are based on real people?
For instance, Sherlock Holmes was based on a surgeon Sir Arthur Conan Doyle knew in real life.
“Conan Doyle based the character on a Scottish surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh named Joseph Bell. As a young man Doyle clerked for Bell, and the two maintained a correspondence throughout the remainder of Bell’s life. Holmes’s ability to draw conclusions from the observation of what most would consider to be minutiae, if they were noticed at all, was one practiced and often demonstrated by Bell.” – historycollection.co
And Professor Snape was too.
“J.K. Rowling based everyone’s favorite Slytherin on one of her former teachers, John Nettleship, who was surprised to learn of his role in the literary juggernaut. Nettleship, who passed away in 2011, was quoted as saying he was “horrified” when he heard what he’d inspired, saying, “I knew I was a strict teacher, but I didn’t think I was that bad.” He admitted he was “a short-tempered chemistry teacher with long hair…[and a] gloomy, malodorous laboratory,” and thus could see the connection. Considering Snape is arguably one of the most complex and interesting characters of all time, it’s not a bad legacy.” – barnesandnoble.com
Do you know of any other fictional characters that were based on real people?
