21 Fictional Characters Blamed For Real Life Crimes

8. Alex DeLarge

As is well documented, Stanley Kubrick was so appalled by the reports of crimes linked to his 1971 film A Clockwork Orange that he pulled it from distribution in the UK. An over-reaction on Kubrick's part perhaps but considering the crimes included - the murder of a homeless man and a brutal gang rape in which the perpetrators chillingly sang "Singing in the Rain" - he obviously felt the film had a powerful effect on certain susceptible individuals, and felt a responsibility to prevent further horror. Given that there has been no Droog-related crimes since the film was put back into circulation, it could be said to be a phenomenon unique to the time the film was released. That is not to say that Kubrick was right and did stem the film's influence, rather that certain cultural products may inform delusional psychotic episodes, especially when they are in the mainstream spotlight, but banning them is not the answer.

7. Hannibal Lecter

Like Dexter, Dr. Hannibal Lecter has seen several murderers acquire the the title the "real" Hannibal Lecter, which has been a designation applied to killers who pre-date Lecter as well as those who were said to be inspired by him. The influences on Thomas Harris's creation included Ed Gein and most notably Dr Salazar, an incarcerated doctor who treated Harris after he was shot during a visit to a Mexican prison in the sixties. One of the most intriguing "Lecters" to emerge since the character was created was Sture Burgwall, named the "Swedish Hannibal Lecter", who was imprisoned after confessing to murdering and eating over 20 victims. He spent 22 years in prison, until last year it emerged that there was absolutely no forensic evidence and the only basis for Burgwall's conviction was his confession. It later emerged that the "confession" had been taken when Burgwall was being treated with huge doses of benzodiazepines, and had been tortured into confessing to crimes he didn't commit.