It’s December, so many lists and awards are coming out to celebrate the best of the best in entertainment for 2014. TIME just released their list of the top 15 most influential fictional characters of this year and some of them may surprise you. Although they give the reason behind each pick, we thought we would give you how we were influenced because they aren’t always the same.
15. Hello Kitty
How she influenced others: The cartoon character went viral for being outted as not a cat, but human girl who lives in London with her family. Wuhhhhh?
How she influenced us: We still buy Hello Kitty everything!
14. Tracy McConnell on How I Met Your Mother
How she influenced others: Fans went crazy for finally finding out who this mysterious character is. There were headlines everywhere covering the last season and a lot of discussion about the ending.
How she influenced us: WARNING, SPOILER! She proved to us just how messed up TV can be because this whole time we watch to find this big love story and it ends with her just being a vessel for Ted (Josh Radnor) to have his kids (because we all know Robin (Cobie Smuders) wouldn’t do that). Then she conveniently dies so Robin, who is now the aunt of their kids, can step back in his love life. Gross!
13. Amy Dune from Gone Girl
How she influenced others: This complicated character made waves by creating a discussion about dark, female characters.
How she influenced us: We didn’t read the book, so our minds EXPLODED leaving the theater.
12. Mr. Poo
How he influenced others: Public deification is a big problem in India so Mr. Poo was created to nip that problem in the bud. Thanks to him, one million people pledged to find a toilet to poo.
How he influenced us: THIS IS US NEVER HEARING ABOUT THIS BEFORE!
11. Rust Cohle from True Detective
How he influenced others: After the detective mentioned the book, The King in Yellow, people began buying it like crazy on Amazon.
How he influenced us: We’re guilty, we got the book, and it was the first time in a long time that we’ve read.
10. Female Thor
How she influenced others: When Marvel released the news that Thor was being relaunched as a woman it made huge rounds on the internet and started many discussions about women in the comic book world.
How she influenced us: We couldn’t wait. We already needed to cosplay as her!
9. Annalise from How To Get Away With Murder
How she influenced others: A New York Times TV critic deduced Shonda Rhimes’ new character as an “angry black woman.” Shonda Rhimes responded to the disgusting accusation.
How she influenced us: She had us glued to the television every week trying to dissect her great big plan.
8. Hatsune Miku, a computer-generated Japanese singer
How she influenced others: The computer sensation made it to America thanks to performing at Madison Square Garden on Lady Gaga’s tour and then performing on The Late Show With David Letterman.
How she influenced us: We broke our necks so hard looking at Hatsune perform for the first time. What is HAPPENING?!
7. Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games franchise.
How she influenced others: She isn’t just hot girl kicking butt to some people. In Thailand and Hong Kong this fictional character actually inspired pro-democracy protestors to stand up for their own rights in their countries. Very awesome!
How she influenced us: So wait…Katniss doesn’t fight in Mockingjay? And is a politician now?
6. Maura Pfefferman from Transparent
How she influenced others: Maura has made headlines for being the first transgender character lead to a TV show.
How she influenced us: We cheered because we love seeing progress in entertainment!
5. King Joffrey from Game of Thrones
How he influenced others: TIME gives credit to this character as the reason the hit show has made it to 18.4 million viewers each week. We buy it.
How he influenced us: When Joffrey finally gets what coming to him, we couldn’t help but dance.
4. Stephen Colbert from The Colbert Report
How he influenced others: The satire host stepped on a few toes making a joke about the Washington Redskins leading to a lot of backlash on Twitter. He also made the huge announcement that he’s leaving his show to take over The Late Show.
How he influenced us: Our eyes might have fogged up at the thought of losing Colbert Report.
3. Star-Lord from Guardians of The Galaxy
How he influenced others: Not only was the movie a big hit, but so was the soundtrack, which made it to the top of Billboard 200.
How he influenced us: We admittedly became hipsters and had to get the soundtrack on tape.
2. Kim Kardashian from Kim Kardashian Hollywood
How she influenced others: The reality star made over $200 million off of her mobile game. So basically everyone has been downloading and most likely spending real money to buy things in the game.
How she influenced us: We might have caved in and downloaded it out of curiosity. We hate ourselves for it.
1. Elsa from Frozen
How she influenced others: Frozen has been everywhere since it released and Elsa’s hit “Let It Go” rightfully earned an Oscar. The fictional character was so good, that it was immediately on Once Upon A Time, which bumped up their ratings.
How she influenced us: We have a new favorite karaoke jam!
How did these 15 characters influence you this year? Tell us your answers by tweeting the Twitter handles below!
