It’s not unusual for fans of a popular franchise to want to take their beloved characters and make them their own by crafting stories that you won’t find anywhere else. Fan fiction has become a wonderful outlet for budding writers looking to hone their craft to possibly go on to bigger and better things, as was the case with authors such as E.L. James, whose Fifty Shades of Grey series started out as Twilight fanfic. Now, a new study focusing on Archive of Our Own (AO3), a website devoted solely to fan fiction, has revealed which movie, TV, and literary characters are the most popular to write about, and the results might surprise you.

Per Collider, the study was conducted by QR Code Generator and analyzed a number of keywords to break down which characters had the most stories written about them on AO3. To no one’s surprise, Harry Potter topped the list with a massive 366,746 pieces of fiction, but second on the list was none other than Tony Stark. Portrayed in the MCU by Robert Downey Jr., his character is shipped the most with Steve Rogers, a.k.a Captain America. What does ship mean in this case? Basically, fans envision their favorite characters together in a relationship with one another, romantic or otherwise. In the case of Harry Potter, he’s shipped the most with Draco Malfoy, with a total of 298,987 pieces of fanfic written about the duo.

For Marc Porcar, the CEO of QR Code Generator, he says that the results point to the popularity certain franchises have maintained long after their ending, and says that fan fiction is a way for people to explore relationships they didn’t get to see the first go around, making it fun for them to imagine what could have been. Especially when it comes to LGBTQ+ stories, as the community has been underrepresented in mainstream franchises for decades.

“The study highlights the enduring popularity of specific franchises and characters that fans still love today. Despite the last
Harry Potter
film releasing in 2011, the series continues to captivate fans, evident in the hundreds of thousands of fanfictions online.
“Interestingly, many of these stories feature LGBTQ+ pairings, reflecting a desire among fans to explore relationships and narratives that were absent in the original works. Writing fanfiction has evolved from a niche hobby to one that can land authors writing contracts and launch careers.”

Who Else Tops the List?

While Tony Stark’s rank was certainly a surprise at number two, a couple of other MCU characters made the top 10, including Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. Sam and Dean Winchester from Supernatural also made the cut, with Dean being shipped the most with everyone’s favorite Angel of the Lord, Castiel (portrayed in the series by Misha Collins). Rounding out the list were a couple of characters from My Hero Academia, and another Harry Potter favorite, Hermione Granger. Take a look at the results below, which includes the number of fan fiction pieces, and who each character is shipped the most with.

Rank Character Stories Shipped With Shipped Stories 1 Harry Potter 366,746 Draco Malfoy 287,987 2 Tony Stark 249,154 Steve Rogers 100,806 3 Dean Winchester 242,531 Castiel 166,672 4 Steve Rogers 236,437 Bucky Barnes 129,341 5 Sam Winchester 190,396 Dean Winchester 74,879 6 Midoriya Izuku 186,995 Bakugo Katsuki 102,054 7 Bucky Barnes 182,898 Steve Rogers 129,341 8 Castiel 166,900 Dean Winchester 166,672 9 Hermione Granger 166,075 Draco Malfoy 58,896 10 Bakugo Katsuki 165,764 Midoriya Izuku 102,054

Related 5 Movies Confirmed to Be Inspired by Fan Fiction For better or for worse, fan fiction has embedded itself into the greater web that is the entertainment industry, and these movies prove it.

Legalities aside, fan fiction is clearly one of the most popular outlets for fans to share their versions of what they envision these characters to be. Granted, some are just borderline porn, but others are well-crafted, detailed tales that rely on emotion and storytelling rather than sex to touch a nerve with readers. With the number of pieces growing daily, fan fiction is here to stay, and as more characters rise in popularity, we look forward to seeing how the top 10 list changes over the coming years.