Did a fictional character from a show/movie influence your life?

Jim Carreys character in Yes Man, made me take a solid look st my life. I eventually quit my shitty call center job and moved to Japan for a few years before going back to school to become a teacher.

Hanako Ikezawa from Katawa Shoujo, funny enough. Act 1 came out in the middle of a high school summer break and I got curious about why people were so into a dating sim from 4chan, so I tried it and immediately got swept up in Hanako's route. Seeing a shy character who ultimately just wants to find a comfortable environment to socialize made me reflect on my own shyness; it wasn't because I didn't want to be social, and I realized how heavily introverted I was. That occasionally lead to getting racked with social anxiety as a result of getting exhausted. After confronting all of that, I pretty dramatically came out of my social shell. Some of the people in certain clubs were wondering what happened. (I'm not sure if saying you played a dating sim is any more socially acceptable in high school now, but uh, I did not let that on.)

Iron Man was one of the variables to influence me in acquiring a masters in mechanical engineering. I didn't build a suit of armor, but I have an interesting job nevertheless.

There's not a singular soldier character, but the likes of Steve Rogers, Cpl. Alan Troy, Easy Company and Kaladin Stormblessed have instilled in me a sense of duty towards my life and towards the very few people I hold dear to my heart. I dress in military esque clothing. I walk like a soldier, straight backed. I meet the eyes of people instead of looking down. I can be brave for myself as no one else did for the entirety of my life. I share PTSD with them so acting like them makes me feel accepted and safe. I watch war films because I feel at home and considering I grew up in a post war torn country (Croatia) it makes sense that I'd be influenced by all these soldier characters.

Certainly! But likely not longterm and not that much from a movie or show.

When I played Final Fantasy X back in the day, I was Tidus (main protagonist) for a month. I mean I spent so much time with the game and got so much into it (the story and the characters were top notch, best game I have played) that I really felt like him and I would bet I acted "not normal" for people around me at the time.

I also feel I'm influenced by some characters from some books. I don't have examples from the top of my head (as I don't read that much), but I know I take some of the character out of the book and keep it as a part of myself - most times it would be either their principles or their behaviour (how they present themselves). In the last few months I have read a few Bond books and James Bond certainly has some characteristics you can "adopt" for real life.

When I think about it I may be influenced a bit by a kids show Pat a Mat where two clumsy dudes (muppets) work out janky solutions to everyday, sometimes even non-existent, problems while often creating new problem along the way. I adopted the "don't be afraid to try it" part of them - it may be janky but if it does the job right, it's not bad. I seldom end up like them, in most cases my solutions work. I watched the show when I was a kid (30 years ago) and I can still watch it today.

From the movie... Well, I always liked paladins in games - the true heroes, essentially Jedi in steel armor with actual sword. Painting this I come to LotR: Return of the King to the scene when Aragorn at the gates to Mordor looks at his allies and says "For Frodo" - this is the moment when I say to myself this is what I want to be perceived by others in real life. Not as a leader or saviour, but as someone who does the right thing when need comes. You could probably find more such characters (ie. said Jedi in Star Wars) that project this kind of aura.

So for me there probably isn't a character that affects me that much on their own. But I take little snippets from many characters and put them together and this bag of snippets definitely influences my life. Not that much in my career choices or other such stuff, more likely in the sense of how I act and how I'm perceived by others. If I may, I would say that all those snippets made me on a D&D alignment chart a character that seeks to be lawful good but actually sits somewhere on the edge between neutral and chaotic good.

I often come back to a quote from Angel (the Buffy spin-off) when I am feeling hopeless.

"Well, I guess I kinda worked it out. If there's no great glorious end to all this, if nothing we do matters... , then all that matters is what we do. 'Cause that's all there is. What we do. Now. Today"

Really helps with the stings of nihilism when some insane stuff happens in my life, or the news.

Here's a light one: I got hamsters because of The Powerpuff Girls. Their kindergarten class had a pet hamster, and I commented to my parents how sad it was they were fictional. They then informed me they were real, and soon I got the first of eight hamsters.

Easily Richard Rahl from the Sword of Truth series, most notably the 6th book (Faith of the Fallen).

Look, I was 14 years old when I read those books. I realized muuuch later how much hate it had gotten, the underground influence of its message and all that. I'm very much a leftist/socialist, but there's something about the way Richard carries himself and never gives up that literally stuck to me my whole life.There are chapters that I still think about decades later.

I cannot deny that I pretty much based my ideal person on him: respectful, thoughtful, resourceful, hard-working, brave and human. The way he becomes rich in the 6th book is just awesome, yet he still takes the time to help those in need and to force himself to understand the other person's perspective.

I was fascinated with this guy for a long time. Today, I realize someone like him is just an ideal, a model, no one is as perfect as that man was, but merely thriving to reach that is a good thing and it really has helped me be who I am today.

Such a great conversation starter. I bet most people would have great answers to this.

Mac from Always Sunny inspired me to get in shape.

I'm not sure if this counts as influencing me, but there was an ensemble cast of characters from sagas I read growing up (The Belgariad and The Mallorean by David and Leah Eddings) that basically became rubber ducks for most of my teens and twenties. I had a shallow fantasy involving me appearing in their world and teaching them about modern technology. Whenever I learned new things (in school, life), I'd imagine entire lectures where I'm teaching things to these characters. It's funny in hindsight, but in doing this I was effectively solidifying and reviewing the material.

I considered posting a similar thread a few days ago, although for different reasons, so I guess I'll answer here.

You know, not really... not in any sort of memorable, life-changing way. There are quotes that I've really liked, or scenes that stuck with me, or movies I thought about long afterward, etc., but I can't think of a character per se that's influenced/changed me, as opposed to the show itself. For example, I watched
Wandering Son years ago, and that humanized the struggle of growing up trans to me in a MAJOR way. But I didn't ever connect with any of the characters. I guess if you consider me trying to think about characters I don't relate to from different perspectives as influence, maybe that qualifies, but I try to separate messages from messengers, so I don't think of it as the character impacting me unless I'm trying to be more like them on the whole.

I'm more about stories than specific characters. Like, if you were to ask me "What's the most significant Discworld character?" it would be hard to pick just one. Stories did influence me in all kinds of ways, usually positive, by providing fresh perspectives that expanded my worldview and helped me break out of the various prejudices imprinted upon me by the context in which I was raised.

That said, have I been gay for a bunch of anime characters? Absolutely ;)

I've found that I'm almost always influenced by characters in whatever book I'm reading at the time. I spend so much time with them I find myself feeling the urge to talk like them or solve problems the way they do. Some of these effects are persistent and cumulative, while others fade quickly.

The one that led to the biggest changes for me, though, was the title character of Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. I read this story when it was newly released a couple years ago, a kind of inverted Princess Bride story where a girl goes on a great adventure to rescue the noble boy she'd fallen for. Near the climax of the story Tress discovers that her refusal to ask for help, out of politeness and consideration for others, is actually denying them the opportunity to do good for others (in this case, her). It's a kind of denial of others' agency to do it all oneself.

I've had trouble asking for help my whole life, and tended not to trust others to help me in any case. I've written entire group projects solo to avoid a) asking fellow students to do their jobs and b) getting a lower grade. I took on so many responsibilities at work and in my close community because I couldn't ask anyone for a break. I always felt like the world would end if I abdicated my roles for a day. I knew I was doing too much, and I took it as a point of pride that I wasn't inconveniencing others by asking for help.

But the way that Tress learned to characterize not asking for help as a disservice to her friends really changed me. I realized what I was doing wasn't just unhealthy for me (a thing I would tolerate), but was hurting others and denying opportunities to me and to them. I've been on a journey ever since that has led to me deconstructing my faith, changing careers and going to therapy. I still fight the same urges to go it alone, but I'm trying now. In a big way, because of a silly book about magic and pirates.

Watership Down influenced me. Specifically I related to Fiver who went from being a bullied outcast to being key to the success of the group.

But the entire book was great. I recommend it.