The respondents were tasked with matching video game characters and famous figures from history with correct portraits on Pollfish, a market research platform. The data from the GetCenturyLink survey results come from 1,800 Americans aged 16 to 24-years-old. After Rosa Parks, the percentage recognition dropped off, with Churchill ranked at the bottom of the top five known icons. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)Īmong the remaining cultural figures, Winston Churchill was the least-recognized among Gen Z, with only 48 percent of respondents able to identify him. A photograph of Rosa Parks circa the 1950’s and a paper written by Parks about segregation are some of the items in the Rosa Parks archive, seen during a media preview at the Library of Congress, Madison Building, in Washington, Thursday, Jan. Still, Rosa Parks was only recognized by 72 percent of survey respondents, meaning Gen Z recognized her 13 percent less than Pikachu. Of the real-life historical and cultural icons chosen for the survey, Rosa Parks was the most well-known, followed by Bill Gates, Dua Lipa, William Shakespeare and Winston Churchill.

The survey ranked the top 5 fictional characters as follows: Character Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Luigi (Mario’s brother) and Kirby all got recognition by at least 80 percent of those surveyed.Īll five characters featured are stars of their franchises, and members of the brackets for Nintendo’s series-spanning fighting game series, Super Smash Bros. The percentage of how much of Gen Z could identify characters was almost 30 percent higher than how many could identify public figures.įor videogame characters, Pikachu was the most recognized fantasy feature, with 85 percent of respondents recognizing the popular critter. Filmmakers behind ‘Hocus Pocus’ had very different actors in mind for the lead roles

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