15 Famous Characters With Unexpected Origins

Admittedly, “potato chip monster” doesn’t quite have the same ring.
15 Famous Characters With Unexpected Origins

Why is it that so many of our favorite characters, heroes and villains have totally unexpected origins? It's a mystery we can't explain, but we're glad for it. Would life really be as interesting if Abe Lincoln didn't start out as a country bumpkin living in a one a room cabin? Or if Ukrainian President Zelensky didn't get his start as a comic actor?

The thing is, this trend extends to fiction as well. We wanted to explore some famous characters will totally unexpected origins. What we found surprised even us.

For example, did you know the entire gang in Scooby Doo was lifted more or less whole cloth from a live action teen drama called The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis? The only thing missing was a talking stoner dog.

And apparently, Cookie Monster’s story begins with … potato chips. 

Want to learn more? Scroll down and check out the full details of that and others:

 

Scooby-Doo

The Scooby Gang was based on the characters in a 1960s TV show. It was called The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, and it was a teen sitcom that the creators of Scooby-Doo basically just lifted the main characters from. CRACKED.COM

Source: Snopes

Jack Kirby came up with The Hulk after seeing a woman lift a car. Her baby got caught underneath it, and in her desperation, Kirby says she lifted the rear of the car to save her baby. He realized that we can all do something like that in desperation or

Source: TCJ

Aubrey Plaza

They created April Ludgate after a casting director met Aubrey Plaza. The director called Parks & Rec writer Michael Schur and told him I just met the weirdest girl I've ever met in my life. You have to meet her and put her on your show. So Schur met with

Source: AVClub

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