Random Famous People Who Never Actually Existed (12 items)

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  (#7) Mulan

  • Once Upon a Time, Mulan, Reflections on Ice: Michelle Kwan Skates to the Music of Disney's 'Mulan', Mulan II, The World of Mulan, Mulan, Disney Princess

  Mulan, or Hua Mulan as she’s known in China and outside of Disney movies, is a Chinese warrior princess who disguised herself as a man to fight in combat. Or is she? 

  Mulan's story, which comes from an ancient 300-word poem Ballad of Mulan that was later expanded into a book during the Ming Dynasty, tells of female warrior who disguises herself as a man, serves 12 years in the military and returns home a decorated soldier. 

  Unfortunately, there has been little to no evidence found of a Hua Mulan existing during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period. She's treated more as a legend than a historical person. In fact, Exemplary Women — a compilation of biographies of women during the Northern Wei dynasty — doesn't even mention her name.
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  (#2) Robin Hood

  • When Things Were Rotten, Robin Hood, The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, Robin Hood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Blackadder: Back & Forth, Keloglan vs. the Black Prince, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Rabbit Hood, Cinema Paradiso, Robin and Marian, Robin Hood, Time Bandits, Beyond Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Robin Hood, The Arrows of Robin Hood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Men of Sherwood Forest, Superfantozzi, Man-Eaters of India, Twang!!, The Merrie Men of Sherwood Forest, Der Templer und die Jüdin, Robin Hood, Ivanhoe

  The centuries-old tale of a caped figure hero with his bow and arrow valiantly stealing from the rich to give to the poor sounds too good to be true because it is actually.

  Robin (or Robert) Hood (aka Hod or Hude) was a nickname given to petty criminals from at least the middle of the 13th century. It's no coincidence that the name "Robin" sounds a bit like "robber." The Sherwood Forest folk hero began appearing in 14th- and 15th-century ballads and books which told of his exploits against the sheriff of Nottinghamshire. 

  So while there were men like Robin Hood, it's doubtful that he actually existed. 
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  (#1) Betty Crocker

  You know Betty for her delicious cake mixes and pie crusts that allow every novice home baker to replicate her recipes, but alas, she never set foot in a real kitchen. 

  In 1921, a promotional contest for Gold Medal flour received thousands of responses and a seemingly endless stream of questions about baking. The name Betty Crocker was created to personalize responses to consumer inquiries. 

  Why that name? According to the company:

  The surname Crocker was chosen to honor a popular, recently retired director of the company, William G. Crocker, whose family name had long been associated with milling. Betty was chosen simply as a friendly sounding name. 

  To create a realistic signature, Gold Medal asked female employees to submit a mock signature for their made-up baker. The winning version is still used today.

  Betty's fame grew into a line of baking products, a radio baking show, regional cooking schools and a collection of recipe books.
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  (#8) John Barron

  John Barron was Donald Trump’s official spokesman most notably in the 1980's, and he was also quoted in multiple print stories about the Trump family over the years. The only problem is that it was actually Trump himself, disguised as John Barron.

  This was revealed when Trump had to appear in court, and, under oath, admitted that he had been his own official spokesman for years and no one noticed
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  (#3) William Tell

  • William Tell: The Legend, Guillaume Tell, Guillaume Tell

  According to legend, Swiss folk hero William Tell famously shot an arrow off his son's head. The event allegedly happened in 1307 A.D. when a representative of the Duke of Austria ordered Tell and his son to remove their hats and Tell refused. The official ordered Tell to shoot an apple off of his son's head at 120 paces.

  After Tell did so, the official asked why Tell held a second arrow, to which Tell responded, "If the first arrow had killed my son, I would have shot the second at you and I would not have missed."

  Tell was ordered to be imprisoned in the dungeon but famously escaped by leaping out of the boat. Tell promptly led a revolt which overthrew the Austrians and helped establish Switzerland.

  Only, scholars now believe Tell was a fabrication. There is no evidence for Tell as a historical individual, let alone for the apple-shot story, according to historians since the second half of the 19th century.

  That hasn't stopped Switzerland from using an image of Tell's crossbow as an official seal of all Swiss-made exports.
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  (#4) Spinal Tap

  As much as we wish they were, Spın̈al Tap was not, in fact, a real band. At least not in the traditional sense, but rather a parody heavy metal rock band. The group and mockumentary, created by songwriter/performer Loudon Wainwright III and writer/director Rob Reiner, did such a great job at imitating rock bands in the late ’70s that fans were disappointed to find out that they didn't really exist, despite a disclaimer at the end of film that states the band is fictional and adds, "There's no Easter Bunny either!"

  In 2010, Reiner told Newsweek:

  When Spinal Tap initially came out, everybody thought it was a real band. Everyone said, ‘Why would you make a movie about a band that no one has heard of?’ The reason it did go over everybody’s head was it was very close to the bone.

  Spinal Tap did release an album and play a few concerts so maybe they are a real band.

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