List of fictitious people

This article lists the fictitious people, i.e., nonexistent people, which, unlike fictional people, are those somebody has claimed to actually exist. Usually this is done as a practical joke or hoax, but sometimes fictitious people are 'created' as part of a fraud. Sometimes the line between the two categories is blurred, e.g., as in the case of Abdul Alhazred. A pseudonym may also be considered by some to be a "fictitious person", although this is not the correct definition.

Hoaxes

• William Ashbless, a 19th-century fictitious poet and adventurer
• Bilitis, nonexistent Ancient Greek poet. Supposed author of The Songs of Bilitis, a collection of erotic poetry "discovered" by Pierre Louÿs.
• Harry Q. Bovik, eternal Carnegie Mellon University computer science researcher
• George P. Burdell, eternal Georgia Tech student
• Eddie Burrup, fake Australian aboriginal painter
• Allegra Coleman, nonexistent supermodel
• Tom Collins, fictitious gossip and namesake of the gin-and-lemon-based cocktail.
• Helen Demidenko, nonexistent Ukrainian author, created by Australian writer Helen Darville
• Frederick R. Ewing, nonexistent author of I, Libertine
• Anthony Godby Johnson, (probably) fictitious author of Rock and a Hard Place : One Boy's Triumphant Story
• Kilroy, a nonexistent legendary World War II US Army major who inspired millions during the war and became part of American popular culture.
• Ern Malley, nonexistent Australian poet, created by Australian poets James McAuley and Harold Stewart
• Piotr Zak, nonexistent Polish composer, created for a BBC programme by Hans Keller and others
• Georg Paul Thomann, nonexistent Austrian conceptual artist, created by art group monochrom to represent Austria at the 2002 Sao Paulo Art Biennial. Georg Paul Thomann is featured in RE/Search's "Pranks 2" book.
• Aimi Eguchi, fictional Japanese idol. Member of idol group AKB48 created as a composite of the other members.

Pseudonyms

This list includes pseudonyms supplied with a biography suggesting the existence of a person distinct from the actual person with the pseudonym in question, often with the purpose of a hoax.

See also Category:Collective pseudonyms (many of them were not claimed as "real" people).

• Kozma Prutkov, nonexistent Russian writer
• Lemony Snicket, pseudonym of Daniel Handler and character in Handler's (or "Snicket's") Series of Unfortunate Events
• Gerald Wiley, pseudonym used by comedy performer and writer Ronnie Barker so that his sketches would be judged on merit.
• Roderick Jaynes, editor of all the films of Joel and Ethan Coen. Actually a pseudonym for the Coens themselves.

Arts & entertainment

• P. D. Q. Bach, a fictional composer invented by musical satirist "Professor" Peter Schickele.
• David J. Broadfoot, the Member of Parliament from Kicking Horse Pass, representing the New Apathetic Party, a character played by Canadian comedian Dave Broadfoot.
• Dame Edna Everage, a character played by Australian comedian Barry Humphries
• Borat Sagdiyev, a fictitious Kazakhstani journalist created by Sacha Baron Cohen, see also Ali G and Bruno
• Rusty Shackelford, pseudonym of Dale Gribble from the animated program King of the Hill.
• Sven - occasional stand in for Samantha, above, on BBC radio comedy I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.
• Gerald Bostock, writer of the lyrics for the Jethro Tull album Thick as a Brick.
• Ponsonby Britt executive producer of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. In the credits of George of the Jungle, a later offering from the same production company, "Britt" had been promoted to "Ponsonby Britt OBE" (recipient of the Order of the British Empire).
• Margaret B. Jones, fictitious half white, half Native American foster child and Bloods gang member in South Central Los Angeles
• Andreas Karavis, nonexistent Greek poet
• Donald Kaufman, fictional brother of Adaptation writer Charlie Kaufman, gained "writing credits" and co-won an Oscar
• Kobuk, nonexistent Inuit author and playwright (invented by the Austrian comedian Helmut Qualtinger)
• Wanda Koolmatrie, nonexistent Australian aboriginal author
• JT LeRoy, fictional American author and literary celebrity.
• David Manning, a nonexistent film critic created by Sony Corporation.
• S. Morgenstern, fictional author from the equally fictional country of Florin
• Ossian, Irish bard created by James Macpherson in the 18th century
• Alan Smithee, name used by film directors who wish to disown a project
• Nat Tate, fake 1950's American artist
• B. Traven, adventure novelist
• Mrs. Trellis of North Wales - regular correspondent to BBC radio comedy I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue
• Kilgore Trout, Fake author of "Venus on the Half-Shell". Created by Kurt Vonnegut. Book written by Philip Jose Farmer
• Hajime Yadate, credited as the creator of most of the anime works of Japanese animation studio Sunrise.
• Van den Budenmayer, nonexistent Dutch composer believed to be real by some filmgoers even after they were told the truth.
• Rolo Tomassi, a fictional character in the movie LA Confidential.
• Johan Sebastian Mastropiero, musician,composer,director...etc of the "masterpieces" performed by Les Luthiers

Academia

• Nicolas Bourbaki, a 20th century French mathematician with credited publications
• Jára da Cimrman, fictional Czech genius and polymath
• Honorable J. Fortescue, fake US physician
• Dr. Irving Joshua Matrix, numerologist, invented by Martin Gardner
• Josiah Carberry, professor of psychoceramics at Brown University

Politics

• Jakob Maria Mierscheid, a member of the German Bundestag. Despite not existing, Mierscheid has an official Parliamentary biography (complete with portrait) and has given his name to a bridge spanning the River Spree and to the Mierscheid Law, which has been used to predict voting patterns in the former West Germany.
• Andre Kasongo Ilunga, a member of the UNAFEC party and Minister of National Economy and Trade of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2007.

Covert Operations

• Major William Martin, R.M., a dead courier found floating off the coast of Spain possessing documents outlining future Allied strategy. The documents were misinformation planted by the Security Service on the body of Glyndwr Michael, an alcoholic tramp who had died after ingesting rat poison and who was dressed in the appopriate uniform.

Sports

• Masal Bugduv, nonexistent 16-year-old Moldovan football player linked with a move to numerous top clubs in Europe.
• Sidd Finch, nonexistent baseball prodigy created by George Plimpton for an April Fool's Day prank.
• Taro Tsujimoto, nonexistent Japanese hockey player selected by Buffalo Sabres general manager Punch Imlach in the 1974 NHL Draft

Religion

• Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Aftah, non-existent leader and Mahdi of the extinct Fathite/Aftahiyya/Fathiyya Shia Muslim sect.
• Udo of Aachen, fictional monk.

Unclassified

Please help in putting them into appropriate sections.

• Carl Brandon, a fictional fan of color, for whom the Carl Brandon Society was named
• Betty Crocker, fake spokesperson for The Washburn Crosby Company of Minneapolis and its successor company, General Mills
• Kodee Kennings, nonexistent 8-year-old girl whose letters were published in the Daily Egyptian, a student newspaper for Southern Illinois University Carbondale
• Claude Émile Jean-Baptiste Litre, volumetric namesake.
• Andrew MacDonald, a pseudonym for William Luther Pierce, white supremacist and author of The Turner Diaries
• Kaycee Nicole, fictional leukemia sufferer and Internet personality
• Henry Root, fictitious correspondent, and Henry Raddick (possibly the same person)
• H. Rochester Sneath, nonexistent headmaster of the nonexistent Selhurst School
• Edna Welthorpe, nonexistent morality campaigner
• Araki Yasusada, fake Hiroshima survivor and author
• Silence Dogood, a false persona used by Benjamin Franklin to get his work published.
• Jonathan S. Tuttle, a meta-anonymous person (a fictitious person in a fiction), namely a false doctor contrived by Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John McIntryre, to provide a donation to St. Teresa's Orphanage in the MASH series