Franchises or films where a character has become more iconic than the movie itself

[El Rooto]

I don't know a lot of people who have seen Child's Play. I do, however, know a lot of people familiar with Chucky.

Same with RoboCop.

Oh, and Dirty Harry.

Are there any films you guys can think of like that?

[girlychaos]

The Gill Man? I just watched Creature from the Black Lagoon and I think the character is more iconic than the movies cause I had seen it before I saw the movie.

I could be wrong though.

[CosmoBubba]

One immediately comes to mind for me: Jason Voorhees. I know plenty of non-horror fans who were referring to the Friday The 13th franchise as "the Jason movies" even before New Line started using his names as the titles.

[El Rooto]

The Gill Man? I just watched Creature from the Black Lagoon and I think the character is more iconic than the movies cause I had seen it before I saw the movie.

I could be wrong though.

I think you're right. A lot of the Universal monsters have been more popular than what spawned them.

[Deathscythe]

One immediately comes to mind for me: Jason Voorhees. I know plenty of non-horror fans who were referring to the Friday The 13th franchise as "the Jason movies" even before New Line started using his names as the titles.

That was also the first thing that came to mind and I also expected it to be in the first post with this being a Friday the 13th forum.

Anyway, I guess I'll go with Tony Montana.

[TalbotLives]

In my experience, more people have seen T2 than The Terminator, and have no interest in seeing the original, and that makes me sad :cry:

[Deathscythe]

In my experience, more people have seen T2 than The Terminator, and have no interest in seeing the original, and that makes me sad :cry:

Yeah thats a shame, not many people even talk about T1 at all.

[ChoKo]

Frankenstein
Dracula
Rocky (Rock I, II, III, IV, V, and Rocky Balboa)
Rambo (First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part 2, Rambo III, and Rambo)
The Man with No Name (A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly)

[Scarecrow]

Well, yeah, pretty much any horror movie icon. Even though Leatherface and Jason have also cross-pollinated in mainstream views to the hockey mask/chainsaw image. Pinhead comes the worst off, in a sense, as he was never the focus of the early films and the attempt to brand him as an icon led to less satisfying movies.


- Scarecrow

[sCabbOy]

You are right, pretty much all horror movies get it- Pinhead not Hellraiser, Leatherface not TCM, Jason not F13th, Chucky not CHild's Play and so on. The same goes for Rocky, Rambo, Terminator, and movies like that.

[hack slash]

Jack Burton:D

[On a Pale Horse]

Definitely Rambo. They actually changed the name of the franchise because the character was far more recognizable than the movie.