Real life heroes are very inspiring. But they have a tendency to be just a little too much like the rest of us when they’re not out Hero-ing. That’s why we prefer fictional characters who do extraordinary things.

Here are some of our favorites:

Sherlock Holmes

Brilliantly flawed, Holmes is the first hero of modern fiction – and he does it all without super powers. His influence is so great that all investigators owe him a debt of thanks. He proved there is nothing more invincible than the power of the reasoning mind.

Gandalf

A true White Wizard, Gandalf does occasionally go in for the magic trick when it’s vital. But his weakness for lowly Hobbits, an obscure branch of study in his time, proves that even the lowliest among us have eternally redeeming qualities, that may just save the world. As long as it doesn’t interrupt dinner.

Sam Spade

The greatest Film Noir detective of the 20th Century, Spade knew how to play it cool, even when faced by that most insurmountable crime – a beautiful client’s play-acting love interest. Spade never lost sight of the fact that it was his partner who took the bullet. And he was the first guy to pull a bad guy’s jacket over his arms and take his guns away. Timeless toughness and classic brains over brawn.

Hannibal Lecter

Flawless taste, impeccable breeding and a ruthless knife hand make Dr. Lecter THE villainous hero of the last 20 years. He also had the good sense to let the poor but ambitious FBI agent live a little longer. The world is much more interesting with her in it, but Tick, Tock Clarice…

James Bond

What can we say? He got to play with all the cool toys, battled the big issues of his day, and scored with the most beautiful women. And all with a fabulous English accent. It wasn’t long after he made his first appearance that we all decided we liked our drinks shaken, not stirred. Starting with Juicy Juice.

Barbie

C’mon. You know you love her. She’s gorgeous, has great legs, a great rack and a wardrobe to die for. PLUS she’s always the first girl on the block to own the coolest gadgets like jet skis, 4×4s and she even owns all her own houses! Now if we could just get her to dump that pesky Ken…

Superman

Still relevant after close to 80 years of fighting evil, “Supe” is the most documented fictional character besides Sherlock Holmes himself. And why not? Wouldn’t you love to have super strength, killer abs and be able to fly… to the sun!? Too bad he can’t get that close to Lois lane without getting burned. But he does try…