Author
Howard Gensler is a veteran journalist who’s worked at the Philadelphia Daily News, TV Guide and the Philadelphia Inquirer and is a founding editor of bettorsinsider.com.
Most Well-Known Fictional Characters from Ohio in 2022
At BetOhio.com, we wanted to take a hyper-localized approach to see what fictional characters from the state were mostly widely discussed the past year – ultimately concluding they would be the most well-known fictional characters.
As you can imagine, it's a true hodgepodge of cartoon characters, Marvel heroes, sitcom regulars ... and even a notorious serial killer?
We typically stick to covering current and new Ohio sportsbooks here, but stay close for fun research items like this as well.
Most Well-Known Fictional Characters from Ohio in 2022
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Scooby-Doo Leads the Pack
Coming in at No. 1 is Scooby-Doo, the big dog who solves crimes with his hippie friends, the Scooby Gang. They all hail from the fictional Ohio town of Coolsville. (Imagine a world where good ole Scooby would have been the betting favorite for this piece across Ohio sports betting apps).
At No. 2 is “Nightmare on Elm Street’s” Freddy Krueger, the notorious “Springwood Slasher” in the fictional town of Springwood, Ohio. Freddy would torture children in the boiler room while he worked at the Springwood Power Plant, and after his death would "visit" Springwood residents in their nightmares.
Bruce Banner, at No. 3, is better known as Marvel’s Incredible Hulk. Banner, a scientist who became the Hulk when he was pelted with Gamma rays, was born in Dayton, Ohio. Over the years he’s been portrayed by Bill Bixby on TV and Eric Bana and Mark Ruffalo in the movies.
Cleveland author Dav Pilkey chose Miami County’s Piqua as the setting for his popular “Captain Underpants” series of children’s books because the real Piqua hosted the Great Outdoor Underwear Festival. Let's just say Pilkey’s Piqua takes some liberties with the real place.
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Tad Mosby, And A Familiar Face From 'The Office'
“How I Met Your Mother’s” Tad Mosby, portrayed by Josh Radnor, hails from Shaker Heights and attended Shaker Heights High School. Show co-creator Carter Bays is also from Shaker Heights, while Radnor grew up in Columbus.
Angela Martin Schrute, senior accountant at Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton location on “The Office,” has a rich backstory and grew up in Dayton with her sister Rachael. Angela was played by Angela Kinsey, a native of Louisiana.
April Kepner was a trauma surgeon played by Sarah Drew on “Grey’s Anatomy.” She grew up in Columbus, but her parents have a farm in Moline, Ohio.
Rachel Berry, played by Lea Michele, remains the most talked about character from “Glee,” but she and all her classmates were Ohioans. “Glee” was set at William McKinley High in Lima.
If this survey were taken 35 years ago, there’s no question the No. 1 spot would have been held by Alex P. Keaton, the breakout role for Michael J. Fox on the popular sitcom “Family Ties.” The Keatons lived in suburban Columbus.
No. 10, Scrappy-Doo, is the nasty nephew of Scooby-Doo. Scrappy is also in Coolsville.
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Methodology
BetOhio.com utilized AhRefs.com Keywords Explorer & Google Trends to look at the most searched fictional characters from Ohio over the past 12 months. Once finding the statistics, we determined the Top 10 most well-known fictional characters from Ohio.
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