Top-earning fictional characters

By Vanessa Gisquet and Lacey Rose

updated 4:33 p.m. ET Oct. 20, 2004

NEW YORK - The characters on this list may be make-believe, but the dollar signs are real. According to our calculations, the top-ten fictional characters grossed more than $25 billion in 2003.

Media giants like Disney and Viacom took home most of that revenue, but videogame makers, publishing companies, and toymakers such as Mattel and Hasbro cashed in, too.

Pure toys, like Hello Kitty, who would have ranked third on our list with earnings of $4 billion last year, were excluded from our list. That's because in order to qualify for our list, a property must have made their debut in a narrative story, be it a cartoon, a book or even a videogame. They must also be "fictional" — not based on a real person. Click here for complete methodology.

Some notable characters didn't quite make the list, including The Simpsons and the Power Rangers. Without a box office hit to boost their earnings, a few of the characters that made the cut in 2002, like the “Star Wars” gang and Sully from “Monsters, Inc.,” fell off this time around.

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