11 Fictional Characters That Caused Real-World Harm
![11 Fictional Characters That Caused Real-World Harm](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/4/3/899943_320x180.jpg)
Fictional works allow us to explore all kinds of worlds from the safety of our couches. We’re really hoping the words “fictional” and “safety” stuck out in that sentence, because in some unsettling cases, crossing the line between reality and fiction led to horrific consequences.
We've all heard about the dark side of fandoms. The personal security industry is booming because of it. Those obsessed superfans latched on to a celebrity and felt like they just needed to be a part of their lives. A superfan latching onto a fictional character is an obsession like no other. We’d like to hope they’ve chosen a heroic character and are now out there helping the cause, but for whatever reason, these people were captivated by the bad guys.
Even if the fictional story is particularly gruesome, the creator isn’t some dastardly villain hoping their fans will take their work and run with it. So everybody calm down and just keep chompin’ chips on the couch! Don’t be like these 11 do-badders who were inspired by fictional characters to cause real-world harm.
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Dexter was the protagonist… Not the “good guy.”
![GRACKED MARK TWITCHELL THOUGHT НЕ WAS THE REAL-LIFE DEXTER. ON 3 4 - adidas Audio In 2008, the Canadian filmmaker lured Johnny Altinger to his garage and murdered him after being inspired by Dexter Morgan. Не set the scene with plastic sheeting, a table, and different kinds of weapons, then meticulously dismembered his victim.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/9/5/899495.jpg)
“Slender Man made me do it.”
![GRACKED TWO GIRLS TRIED TO MURDER THEIR FRIEND TO APPEASE SLENDER MAN. In 2014, 12 year old Payton Leutner was stabbed 19 times by 6th graders Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier. They told police that Slender Man told them to kill someone to be worthy of living alongside him, and if they failed, he'd kill their families.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/9/4/899494.jpg)
A legendary figure inspired the murder of a legendary figure.
![GRACKED HOLDEN CAULFIELD INSPIRED MARK DAVID CHAPMAN TO KILL JOHN LENNON. Chapman claimed that he believed the Catcher in the Rye character would have killed John Lennon because he was a phony. Не cited the novel as his motive, and before his sentencing, he read a passage from the novel in the courtroom.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/9/2/899492.jpg)
Yeah, in your dreams, Daniel.
![GRACKED DANIEL GONZALEZ: THE FREDDY KRUEGER KILLER. In 2004, the British man went on a random killing spree in London and Sussex, using various sized knives like Krueger wore on his hands. Gonzalez killed 4 people and injured 2 others in a series of random attacks.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/8/9/899489.jpg)
He came, he saw, he got 30 plus years behind bars.
![GRACKED MATTHEW TINLING PLAYED JIGSAW FROM SAW. In 2013, he was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for the torture and murder of Richard Hamilton. Не stabbed Hamilton 17 times, and tried to sever his spinal cord like a scene from Saw VI.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/9/0/899490.jpg)
Police brutality on a whole new level.
![GRACKED NATHANIEL WHITE: THE ROBOCOP KILLER. ] The serial killer told the police. I seen him cut somebody's throat, then take the knife and slit down the chest to the stomach and left the body in a certain position. With the first person I killed I did exactly what I saw in the movie.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/9/1/899491.jpg)
Chucky inspired an unspeakable act.
![GRACKED CHUCKY INSPIRED TWO 10-YEAR-OLD BOYS TO MURDER A TODDLER. In 1993, Jon Venables & Robert Thompson attempted to recreate a scene from Child's Play 3 when they lured 2-year-old James Bulger from his mother and murdered him in Bootle, England.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/8/8/899488.jpg)
This Ghostface Killah had no affiliation with the Wu-Tang Clan.
![GRACKED SCREAM INSPIRED A REAL-LIFE MURDER. In 2001, 24-year-old Thierry Jaradin from Belgium stabbed 15-year-old Alisson Cambier 30 times while wearing a Ghostface costume. Не confessed that he was inspired by the film, and was sentenced to life in prison.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/8/6/899486.jpg)
A somehow even more tragic version of Romeo & Juliet.
![GRACKED JEREMY ALLEN STEINKE AND JASMINE RICHARDSON WERE NATURAL BORN KILLERS. They murdered Jasmine's parents because they wouldn't let the couple see each other (and for good reason, since he was 23 and she was 12). His friends reported that Steinke spoke about going all Natural Born Killers on her family.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/9/3/899493.jpg)
This must’ve hurt Keanu Reeves deeply.
![GRACKED JOSHUA COOKE THOUGHT НЕ LIVED IN THE MATRIX. In 2003, the 19-year-old murdered his adoptive parents with a shotgun while dressed like Neo. His defense involved psychologist testimony that Cooke truly believed he lived in a virtual reality.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/8/7/899487.jpg)
“Are you talking to me through the movie screen?”
![GRACKED TAXI DRIVER-OBSESSED JOHN HINCKLEY JR. ATTEMPTED TO ASSASSINATE RONALD REAGAN. DOIN An unhealthy obsession with Martin Scorsese's flick Taxi Driver caused him to stalk Jodie Foster, and shoot Reagan - who took a bullet to the lung, but fully recovered. Press secretary James Brady was permanently disabled in the shooting.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/8/5/899485.jpg)