History NoCelebritiesWereHarmed / Literature

* The main character of the short story [[http://sfreader.com/contest-2008-1.asp "On a Clear Day You Can See All the Way to Conspiracy"]] by Desmond Warzel is a thinly-veiled version of UsefulNotes/{{Cleveland}} radio personality Mike Trivisonno, as acknowledged in the author's commentary following the story.

* ''Literature/HowToSurviveAZombieApocalypse'' has Justin Bieber burning zombies in the background while the main caracter fights one herself. He's constantly referenced throughout the series, as well as other celebrities.

** Brutha, the protagonist of ''Literature/SmallGods'', is a young novice of a religion that bears [[CrystalDragonJesus a certain resemblance]] to Medieval Catholicism at its most zealous. Stoutly-built and seemingly naive and simple-minded, Brutha is dismissed by his fellows as a "[[DumbMuscle big dumb ox]]," but he finds himself an inadvertent crusader for reform. He's basically the Disc's version of ''the'' Dumb Ox, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas Saint Thomas Aquinas]].

* Creator/IrvinWelsh's ''Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance'' features Freddy Royle, a beloved television personality whose charity fundraising is a front for his necrophilia. He was based on Creator/JimmySavile and Welsh was aware of the rumours about him that were confirmed after his death.

* The singing duo Priscilla and the Major in Faye Kellerman's "Burnt House" are clearly based on the "[[Music/Captain and Tennille."

* In ''Literature/DearMrHenshaw'', Angela Badger's books sound ''very'' similar to [[Creator/JudyBlume Judy Blume's]]. (Probably) not coincidentally, Blume is a longtime fan of Creator/BeverlyCleary's and was inspired by her to become a children's author.
* In ''The Lovesong of Johnny Valentine'' by Teddy Wayne, Johnny is a stand-in for Music/JustinBieber.

* ''Literature/TheDestroyer'': Roxanne Roug-Elephante is Roseanne Barr.
* Lois Cook in ''Literature/TheFountainhead'' is an unflattering caricature of Gertrude Stein.
** And Henry Cameron, the caustic Modernist architect with a HairTriggerTemper who becomes the hero's mentor, is a (relatively positive) take on Frank Lloyd Wright.
** Speaking of Ayn Rand's works, ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'' has Ma Chalmers for Eleanor Roosevelt, Head Of State Thompson for Harry Truman, and Dr. Stadler for Dr. Robert Oppenheimer. (And those are only the ones Rand herself pointed out....)
** Rand's posthumously published novel and play ''Ideal'' have a scene featuring a modern-minded, ultra-theatrical evangelist named Essie Twomey, obviously modeled on Aimee Semple [=McPherson=].
* Filipino author F. Sionil José likes to do these in his novels:
** In ''Literature/MyBrotherMyExecutioner'', the oligarchic CorruptCorporateExecutive Eduardo Dantes, who owns a newspaper, a bank, an electric company, a shipping line and other diverse interests, is a clear send-up of Eugenio López Sr, the RealLife oligarch whose family controlled (and still controls) a similarly diversified business empire (and who, like Dantes, hailed from the Visayas, in the central Philippines).
** In ''Literature/ThePretenders'', Senator Reyes, with all his posturing about nationalism during the Third Republic, is likely based on the nationalist politician Claro M. Recto, and the American carpetbagger Alfred Dangmount is likely an {{Expy}} of a real-life businessman named Harry Stonehill, who was implicated in several high-profile corruption scandals involving the Macapagal administration and other key political figures in the early 1960s.
* Creator/CharlesBukowski's ''Hollywood'' is full of these, ranging from the relatively subtle and well-disguised (Dennis Hopper becomes Mack Austin, Creator/DavidLynch is Manz Loeb, Creator/MickeyRourke gets rebranded as Jack Blesdoe) to the ludicrously blunt (Jack Kerouac as Mack Derouac anyone? Welsh, Vegas-based singer Tab Jones, perhaps? No? Perhaps you'd prefer Francis Ford Lopolla?).

* ''Step on a Crack'' includes analogues of at least Oprah Winfrey (who exists in the book) and Music/BritneySpears - the latter turns up to a funeral in a mini-skirt and in an attempt to distract a hostage-taker offers him sex, leading to the comment:
-->"Wow, you're even dirtier than your videos!"
* Creator/KimNewman's Literature/DiogenesClub series:
** "You Don't Have To Be Mad..." features a BedlamHouse where inmates are taught to focus their insanity in specific ways, the BigBad believing that madness will be a way of life in TheEighties, and his patients will be the leaders. In the asylum they're known by nicknames based on their real names and their particular insanities, including the sociopathic Mrs. Empty (M.T. - UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher); the egomaniac Rumour (Ru-Mur - UsefulNotes/RupertMurdoch) and the quiet killer Peace (P.S. - Peter Sutcliffe).
** "Literature/TheSerialMurders" parodies the concept with thinly disguised versions of celebrities appearing in a [[SoapWithinAShow soap opera]] that is actually a [[VoodooDoll voodoo ritual]]. When the soap kills the characters, the celebrities ''are'' harmed.
** More significantly, many of Newman's works, such as ''Literature/TheQuorum'', feature Derek Leech, a monstrous hybrid of Richard Branson and Rupert Murdoch who is also literally TheAntichrist. Branson and Murdoch are the main inspirations, but other British entrepreneurs are visible in specific biographical details; for instance, the novella "Literature/ColdSnap" includes an aside about Leech having once cameoed on ''Series/{{Batman|1966}}'' in a fictionalized version of Cyril Lord's real-life cameo.
* The main character of the short story [[http://sfreader.com/contest-2008-1.asp "On a Clear Day You Can See All the Way to Conspiracy"]] by Desmond Warzel is a thinly-veiled version of UsefulNotes/{{Cleveland}} radio personality Mike Trivisonno, as acknowledged in the author's commentary following the story.
* The German cover of ''Literature/{{Phenomena}}'' [[http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/3423625074/ book 7]] has the heroes [[BrotherSisterTeam Alk and Ilke]] look a lot like Creator/KristenStewart and Creator/RobertPattinson for whatever reason. Made worse with all the ActorShipping that was going on at the time as it would suggest {{twincest}}.
* ''Literature/PrimaryColors'' is a RomanAClef about the presidential campaign of governor Bill Clinton, with all of the major characters being stand-ins for their real-life counterparts.
* There is a scene in ''Literature/{{Swordspoint}}'' where Richard and Alec attend a very Shakespearean play. Richard, taking over Alec's customary role as DeadpanSnarker, provides a running commentary regarding a parrot and how long it actually takes someone who has been stabbed to die.
* Stephen Hunter's novel ''I, Sniper'' features a Joanne Flanders and Tom Constable, aka Jane Fonda and Ted Turner. In earlier books, there are references to a [[ColdSniper Carl Hithcock]], based off legendary USMC sniper Carlos Hathcock.
* ''The Man in the Ceiling'' by Jules Feiffer has Uncle Lester, writer of "floperoo" musicals that invariably fail, who seems based on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Lester Edwin Lester]], the impresario whose productions for the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera were synonymous with "floperetta."
* ''Literature/LettersBackToAncientChina'' has one poet whom the narrator calls "[[http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigi_Sommer Si-gi who only writes during summer]]". Also a minister who's only mentioned as "[[TakeThat demonic southern barbarian]]".
* Victorian novelists with Oxford connections were fascinated by the unhappy relationship between Mark Pattison, the Rector of Lincoln College, and his [[MayDecemberRomance much younger wife]], Emilia Francis Strong. Characters based on Pattison crop up in bestsellers like Rhoda Broughton's ''Belinda'', Mrs. Humphry Ward's ''Robert Elsmere,'' and (probably) George Eliot's ''Literature/{{Middlemarch}}.''

* ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}'' 'The Reaction' had a thinly veiled version of Jonathan Taylor Thomas named Jeremy Jason [=McCole=]. Joe Bob Fenestre in 'The Warning' could be a lesser extent of this with Bill Gates. Creator/KAApplegate usually simply used whatever real things she was referencing, even having a cameo by Arnold Schwarzenegger in one book, but these two were the exceptions.
** They also meet a world leader at the summit in ''The David trilogy'' who is almost certainly Boris Yeltsin.
* The Creator/CarlHiaasen novel ''Basket Case'' is all about the suspicious death of [[Music/KurtCobain a punk-inspired, revolutionary musician]] and the rise of [[Music/CourtneyLove his angry, sexpot wannabe musician girlfriend]].
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** ''Literature/SonicTheHedgehogInRobotniksLaboratory'' has mentions of [[Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger Schwartzneggbot]] and [[Creator/RobertDeNiro Robot Di Nero]]. There is also a mole (which are known for being almost blind) called [[Music/StevieWonder Stevie; who is a singer]].
** The sequel ''Literature/SonicTheHedgehogInCastleRobotnik'' has assistant director [[Creator/StevenSpielberg Spielbot]] and the author apparently had it in for poor Arnie as he's depicted as Thug; an extremely dumb BarbarianHero who speaks in monotone and the only line he can remember is from a previous movie [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay 'Hasta la vista']].
* After the sex abuse allegations about Jimmy Savile were widely aired, Val [=McDermid=] admitted the truth of fan suspicions that Jacko Vance, the serial-murdering celebrity in her Tony Hill thrillers (adapted for TV as ''Series/WireInTheBlood'') had been based on Savile. She had interviewed him while working as a journalist and he had not made a good impression.
* The ''Literature/RainbowMagic'' series has quite a few of these.
** In the "Pop Star" Fairies, there are fairies named Adele (Music/{{Adele}}), Jessie (Music/JessieJ), Miley (Music/MileyCyrus), and Vanessa, Frankie, Rochelle, and Una. They are all from The Saturdays (Vanessa White, Frankie Sandford, Rochelle Wiseman, Una Healy.)
** In Brooke the Photographer Fairy's book, there is a dress designer called Ella [=McCauley=], a reference to Stella [=McCartney=].
** The Music Fairies series has "Heddie [[Music/VanHalen van Whalen]]."
* Ellen Abbott in ''Literature/GoneGirl'' is a fictional stand-in for Nancy Grace.
* From ''Literature/BlackTideRising'':
** In ''To Sail a Darkling Sea'', at one point the team salvages a luxurious yacht belonging to "Mike Mickerberg", the CEO of [[Website/{{Facebook}} "Spacebook"]], recognizes the owner among the zombies, and promptly serves him with a 12 gauge shotgun round.
** Later in the third book, an entire chapter is devoted to an island resort where several celebrities are encountered, such as "Jerome Arthurson" of the BBC hit show [[Series/TopGear Top Speed]], and "Brandon Jeeter", who is described as a "[[Music/JustinBieber vocalist and every teen girl's heartthrob]]". Some of the celebrities that turn in that chapter are "Snoopi", [[Series/JerseyShore who is mentioned several times as being a reality show starlet from New Jersey]] and "Rebekah Villon", the female lead of the teen phenomenon ''[[Literature/{{Twilight}} Midnight]]''.
** ''Strands of Sorrow'' brings us the Vice President of the US, who's clearly the universe's equivalent of UsefulNotes/SarahPalin, albeit transplanted from Alaska to Texas.
* Supposedly, the titular author in ''Literature/VernonDowns'' is based on Creator/BretEastonEllis.
* In ''Literature/VenusPrime 5'', Sir Richard Mays was meant to be a caricature of naturalist Sir David Attenborough, while Luke Lim was based on writer Creator/FrankChin.
* The protagonist of ''Fright Knight'' in the ''Literature/GhostsOfFearStreet'' series mentions his favorite wrestler, "Hulk Hooligan".

* In ''Literature/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'', Gordon Way and [=WayForward=] Technologies are thinly-disguised spoofs of Creator/SirCliveSinclair and Sinclair Research respectively.
* Pär Lagerkvist's ''Literature/TheDwarf'' features Master Bernardo, a thinly disguised Leonardo da Vinci. He paints, he dissects cadavers, he designs war machines. He even apparently creates the ''Mona Lisa'' (basing it on Princess Teodora) and ''The Last Supper'' during his stay with the Prince.
* Ben Elton's novel ''Chart Throb'' features Prince Charles as a major character but he is never named, just called "The Prince of Wales", "The Prince", "Wales", "Sir", and humourously, by himself, "Muggins" and "Buggerlugs". Camilla also appears, referred to solely as "His Wife".
** Similarly, Prince Harry appears (by name) in John Birmingham's ''Axis of Time'' cycle. His character is from TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture and has become a badass military officer - Harry himself (who is pursuing a military career in RealLife) would probably approve of the portrayal.
* In Gail Carson Levine's ''Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep'', while the story is clearly based on Sleeping Beauty, the eponymous princess seems to be in many ways, a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of, of all people ''Creator/{{Aristotle}}''.
* ''Literature/{{Seveneves}}'' has Doob Harris for Neil [=DeGrasse Tyson=], Sean Probst for Elon Musk, and Camila for Malala Yousafzai.
* Shortly after withdrawing his two contributions to ''The Last Literature/DangerousVisions'', Russell Bates claimed to be writing "The Lurker in the House at the Center of Infinity", a story about a vampiric sf writer named Elias Halloran, who feeds on the creativity of other authors by tricking them into submitting stories to an sf anthology that will never be published. His announcement included the SuspiciouslySpecificDenial that "Unscramble 'Elias Halloran' and you cannot make [[Creator/HarlanEllison anyone else]]'s known and existing name from it."
* Curt [=MacCrae=] from ''Literature/FatKidRulesTheWorld'' is a reference to Kurt Cobain from Music/{{Nirvana}}. WordOfGod is that some of the inspiration for Curt was Kurt Cobain. Curt is a young punk rocker and is a local celebrity for his skills.
* Creator/AnthonyTrollope's ''Literature/{{Palliser}}'' novels include characters modeled on several famous politicians of the period, including UsefulNotes/BenjaminDisraeli and UsefulNotes/WilliamGladstone.
* Karamzinov in ''Literature/{{Demons}}'' by Creator/FyodorDostoevsky is widely seen as a caricature on fellow writer, Ivan Turgenev.
* ''Literature/TheSympathizer'' has a chapter re the main character meets a film director known only as "The Auteur" who is a very thinly veiled version of Creator/FrancisFordCoppola working on an unnamed project that is suspiciously like ''Film/ApocalypseNow''.
* ''Literature/{{Emberverse}}'' features a red-haired musician who plays the guitar, fiddle, and bodhran. Her name is "Juniper Mackenzie". She uses songs lifted from her inspiration Music/AlexanderJamesAdams (then known as "Heather Alexander").

** In ''Literature/ClearAndPresentDanger'', Ernesto Escobedo serves as the in-universe version of Pablo Escobar - an extremely powerful Colombian drug lord who's the leader, or at least first-among-equals, of the Medellin Cartel (in addition to having a very similar last name).

* ''Literature/TheCitizenSeries'' does this with Allen Allenson, who is based on UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington and acts out his role in the UsefulNotes/FrenchAndIndianWar and UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution. Which includes the fact that [[GeneralFailure Washington didn't actually win very many major battles]] but excelled at motivating his men and keeping his army intact.
* Presidential candidates Skip and Harry in ''Literature/TheCandidatesBasedOnATrueCountry'' bear a strong [[StrawCharacter albeit unflattering]] resemblance to UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush and UsefulNotes/AlGore, respectively.
* Creator/JaneAusten was not a fan of the Prince Regent (the future George IV) and had several characters who sent him up. There was the portly, rich, and brainless Mr. Rushworth from ''Literature/MansfieldPark'', the haughty and heartily disliked Mrs. Elton in ''Literature/{{Emma}}'', and the egotistical and irritating Robert Ferrars in ''Literature/SenseAndSensibility''. A key feature of these characters is their obsession with pointless and expensive renovation and construction projects, a habit of Prinny's that routinely inconvenienced the general public. Hilariously, George was a ''huge'' fan of her work, apparently oblivious to his own pastiches, and gave her "permission" (i.e., a command) to dedicate her next book to him. Knowing this, it's impossible to read the lines as anything but incredibly sarcastic.
--> ''"To His Royal Highness, The Prince Regent, This Work Is, By His Royal Highness's Permission, Most Respectfully Dedicated, by His Royal Highness's Dutiful and Obedient Humble Servant, The Author"''
* In Creator/RobertMcCloskey's ''Literature/CenterburgTales'' Mr. Gabby and his partner Max announce that they're on their way to Hollywood to get "Buster Buyseps" (the in-universe Buster Crabbe) to endorse a new waterproof cereal called Vimmy-Swimmys.
* In Creator/RobertHarris's 2016 novel ''Literature/{{Conclave}}'', the election of a new Catholic Pope which forms the bedrock of the plot is triggered by the death of a Pontiff who was famous for his humility, lived in the Casa Santa Marthae rather than the Apostolic Palace, took public transport around Rome, and saw himself as "an old sinner, no better than you". This Pope was apparently from the liberal wing of the Catholic Church, made enemies of the conservatives with his views on religious tolerance and communion for the divorced, and was beloved by billions both inside and outside of the Church for his progressiveness and humanity. But according to Harris, this was a "fictional pope" and not Francis. Sure ...

* Creator/IsaacAsimov
** "Literature/KidStuff": Jan Prentiss sends in stories to editor Horace W. Browne instead of Creator/HoraceGold (the editor who published this story).
** "Literature/TheMartianWay": John Hilder, and his anti-Waster campaign, is a mockery of UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy and his RedScare campaign. Hilder calls for an embargo on trade with {{UsefulNotes/Mars}}, as a strategy to start forcing the [[ColonizedSolarSystem colonies of the inner solar system]] to shut down.
* ''In the Presence of Mine Enemies'' by Creator/HarryTurtledove:
** Kurt Haldweim served as the third Führer of the Greater German Reich from 1985 until his death in 2010. He is based on Kurt Waldheim, the Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 and President of Austria from 1986 to 1992. As a Wehrmacht officer during World War II, Waldheim is alleged to have committed war crimes in Thessaloniki. In the novel, it is mentioned that Haldweim served in Thessaloniki during the war. A further parallel is that both Waldheim and the fictional Haldweim were born in Austria in December 1918.
** Charlie Lynton is the leader of the British Union of Fascists and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 2010. He is named after [[UsefulNotes/TonyBlair Anthony Charles Lynton Blair]], the British Prime Minister at the time that the novel was written. Like Blair, Lynton was born in Edinburgh but appears much more English than Scottish.
* ''Literature/Area51'': Leif Jorgenson is an obvious stand-in for Thor Heyerdahl. Both advocate the same diffusionist views on culture, and Heyerdahl's famous "Kon-Tiki" expedition is mentioned as done by him.
* The second installment of Creator/IsabelAllende's ''Literature/MemoriesOfTheEagleAndTheJaguar'' features a villain, the Collector, whose character description makes him basically UsefulNotes/SteveJobs, with some elements of Bill Gates thrown in for good measure.
* ''Literature/Olivia1949'': Julie is based on the 19th century teacher, Marie Souvestre. Cara is based on Souvestre's partner, Caroline Dussaut.
* In Edwin Black's ''format C:'', the vilain of the piece, Ben Hinnom and his software company Windgazer (about to release multi-tasking OS ''Windgazer 99.9''), is almost certainly meant to represent Bill Gates and Microsoft Windows.

* ''Literature/TheCatWhoSeries'': An in-universe sort of variant. Qwill is frequently mentioned by other characters as bearing a strong resemblance to Creator/MarkTwain.

* ''Literature/LivInTheFuture'': The 80's pop song that wakes Liv up in the beginning is by Rick Ghastly, an obvious spoof of [[Music/RickAstley Rick Astley]].

* The protagonist of ''Fright Knight'' in the ''Ghosts of Literature/FearStreet'' series mentions his favorite wrestler, "Hulk Hooligan".

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', the Thieves' Guild School teaches Breaking and Decorating as a form of demanding money with menaces. (Pay up, or we'll ''redecorate your house''). The crime involved, which the Guild can facilitate as a special surprise to a person to whom you wish to show the appropriate degree of thoughtful esteem, involves breaking into their house while they are away and then redecorating it in a truly tasteless and appalling style using cheap and nasty materials. The principal tutor is a foppish dandy called Mr '''[[http://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/Lawrence_%22Leeky%22_Llwyddianus-Bonheddwr Lawrence "Leeky" Llwyddianus-Bonheddwr]]'''. He is often assisted by women "with too many teeth and strident voices". This is all suspiciously reminiscent of Creator/{{BBC}} makeover TV show ''Series/ChangingRooms''. Which was presented by a foppish dandy designer called Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen and a Scottish woman with prominent teeth called Carol Smillie.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/KidStuff": Jan Prentiss sends in stories to editor Horace W. Browne instead of Creator/HoraceGold (the editor who published this story).

* ''Literature/SonicTheHedgehogInRobotniksLaboratory'' has mentions of [[Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger Schwartzneggbot]] and [[Creator/RobertDeNiro Robot Di Nero]]. There is also a mole (which are known for being almost blind) called [[Music/StevieWonder Stevie; who is a singer]].

* The second installment of Creator/IsabelAllende's ''Literature/MemoriesOfTheEagleAndTheJaguar'' features a BiggerBad, the Collector, whose character description makes him basically UsefulNotes/SteveJobs, with some elements of Bill Gates thrown in for good measure.

* Creator/JaneAusten was not a fan of the Prince Regent (the future George IV) and had several characters who sent him up. There was the portly, rich, and brainless Mr. Rushworth from ''Literature/MansfieldPark'', the haughty and heartily disliked Mrs. Elton in ''Literature/{{Emma}}'', and the egotistical and irritating Robert Ferrars in ''Literature/SenseAndSensibility''. A key feature of these characters is their obsession with pointless and expensive renovation and construction projects, a habit of Prinny's that routinely inconvenienced the general public.