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People - Real or Fictional?

Can you guess whether these people really existed, or were invented as a work of fiction?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: February 8, 2021
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First submittedFebruary 8, 2021
Times taken46,402
Average score80.0%
Rating4.42
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1. Forrest Gump
Real
Fictional
2. Hamlet, prince of Denmark
Real
Fictional
3. Vlad the Impaler
Real
Fictional
4. Long John Silver
Real
Fictional
The fictional pirate is from the book "Treasure Island"
5. Johnny Appleseed
Real
Fictional
His real name was John Chapman, and he lived from 1774–1845
6. Spartacus
Real
Fictional
Spartacus was a gladiator who led a slave revolt against Ancient Rome
7. Zorro
Real
Fictional
Zorro was created by the author Johnston McCulley in 1919
8. Amazonian headhunters who killed people and shrank their heads
Real
Fictional
9. Lawrence of Arabia
Real
Fictional
T. E. Lawrence lived from 1888–1935
10. Rasputin
Real
Fictional
Grigori Rasputin was a mystic who befriend the Tsarina of Russia and was assassinated in 1916
11. Richard the Lionheart
Real
Fictional
12. Sherlock Holmes
Real
Fictional
13. Cleopatra
Real
Fictional
14. Atticus Finch
Real
Fictional
Atticus Finch is a character from "To Kill a Mockingbird"
15. Tarzan
Real
Fictional
+7
Level 84
Feb 9, 2021
Rasputin, the original John McClane.
+23
Level 71
Feb 10, 2021
Ra-Ra-Rasputin, lover of the Russian Queen/

There was a cat that really was gone/

Ra-Ra-Rasputin, Russia's greatest love machine/

It was a shame how he carried on

+6
Level 69
Feb 9, 2021
Cool quiz!! I missed Hamlet because I know that Shakespeare often delves into history. But in this case... no. Hamlet as it transpires was based on an old Scandanavian legend... oh well. "Insobriety, thy name is Vodka!".
+4
Level 78
Feb 10, 2021
Here's my similar series from September 2020....

Click Here

+5
Level 65
Feb 10, 2021
Johnny Appleseed is a real person?!

I would have sword up and down he was an American legend, like Paul Bunyan

+9
Level 92
Feb 11, 2021
I've had better luck swinging my sword side to side, but to each his own, I guess. :)
+1
Level 60
Apr 2, 2021
His name wasn't really Johnny Appleseed but he was a real person.
+15
Level 72
Feb 14, 2021
Who the hell is Johnny Appleseed? I’ve never heard of him before in my life. He was the only one I got wrong too, pure 50:50 guess.
+2
Level 78
Feb 14, 2021
Yeah, he is just a no one to me.
+4
Level 79
Apr 2, 2021
'John Chapman (September 26, 1774 – March 18, 1845), better known as Johnny Appleseed, was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, as well as the northern counties of present-day West Virginia.'
+1
Level 42
Apr 2, 2021
Yep the were made to make cider not to be eaten
+1
Level 66
Feb 17, 2023
The fact that his score is so close to 50% says a lot!
+1
Level 76
Feb 17, 2023
Yeah, I imagine he's not very well-known outside of the US, and I'm not even sure how much his story is told to kids here anymore.
+4
Level 66
Feb 17, 2023
Jetpunk often gets accused of being too US-centric, which I personally think is mostly unfair, but this, I would say, is an actual piece of trivia that would be considered very obscure outside of the US. But maybe it's also just a gap in this German's general knowledge.
+2
Level 77
Feb 17, 2023
I know Johnny Appleseed and I'm in Canada. I think I've seen the odd reference to it in American television like the Simpsons.
+12
Level 82
Apr 2, 2021
The process for shrinking heads is pretty fascinating. One of those many things humans do that leaves you wondering "who was the first person to try this and why?"
+19
Level 83
Feb 19, 2022
presumably someone who was running out of room to store normal sized heads
+2
Level 57
Apr 2, 2021
Hamlet, prince of Denmark is very likely a real person.
+3
Level 83
Feb 19, 2022
Where are you getting that from? I can't find anything suggesting he was anything more than a mythological character
+3
Level 83
Apr 2, 2021
In the explanation for Rasputin it should say "befriended"
+4
Level 47
Apr 7, 2021
Hamlet is based on a medieval Danish prince named Amleth, and it's not known whether he existed in reality or only as a legend.
+1
Level 38
Apr 9, 2021
befriended....
+1
Level 57
Nov 2, 2021
Nice quiz, just one correction: Tarzan is real
+5
Level 76
May 6, 2022
Another correction: he is not.
+4
Level 78
Feb 17, 2023
Tarzan is fictional. You're probably thinking of George of the Jungle, who existed.
+1
Level 67
Feb 17, 2023
Just missed Johnny Appleseed
+1
Level 67
Feb 17, 2023
Actually now that I think of it I do remember reading about Johnny Appleseed in like 2nd or 3rd grade but I think some of the stories about him were exaggerated or considered legends even though he was real
+2
Level 70
Feb 17, 2023
I thought Hamlet was likely based on a real person as others have pointed out as well
+1
Level 73
Feb 17, 2023
Small typo in the answers displayed after the quiz is done:

"Grigori Rasputin was a mystic who befriend the Tsarina..."

Should read, "befriended"

Ty!

+1
Level 60
Feb 17, 2023
Fun fact: the character Zorro was inspired by a vigilante serial killer, Joaquin Murrieta, who lived in California during the mid-1800s.
+1
Level 76
Mar 22, 2023
Serial killer? Right. Keeping that xenophobia alive almost 2 centuries later, I see.
+1
Level 59
Feb 19, 2023
What how how i what i how I what!?!?!

I got 100 first try

I guessed on 3

How is this possible

+1
Level 44
Jul 21, 2023
Lol! Less than 9 percent of people got 100%? That is Sad.