Characters

Can You Guess the Fictional Character By Their Yearbook Quote?

By Ginni Chen / April 12, 2016 at 2:30 pm

It’s that time of year, when bright-eyed seniors on the verge of leaving the academic coop put together their yearbook pages. Between the “thank you’s” and the “I love you’s” and the “OMG ROTFL’s,” every cap-and-gown-clad student feels compelled to pass on some words of wisdom that sum up their life view. Some quotes are inspiring, some are less so, but everyone strives for words that give readers a sense of who they truly are.
As the class of 2016 ponders what quotes they’ll leave as their legacy, we thought it would be fun to imagine what fictional characters would’ve said on their yearbook pages. Test your book cred by guessing which fictional character belongs to each of these perfect yearbook quotes.
1. This fantastically clever character’s yearbook page says this to his loving friends and family: “I understand what you’re saying, and your comments are valuable, but I’m gonna ignore your advice.”
2. This character would get a kick out of quoting his girlfriend on his yearbook page, leaving underclassmen the following words of wisdom (attributed to her, of course): “It’s leviOsa, not levioSA!”
3. This character is unpersuaded by peer pressure to change even when deemed a “nerd,” and would say: “Nothing else has any efficacy, I might as well be myself.”
4. This character would come back from the strangest senior trip involving the most bizarre encounters, and would sum it up rather philosophically: “It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”
5. This commitment-phobic party girl would have bounced out of school the day after graduation for the Big City, leaving behind this quote: “I don’t want to own anything until I know I’ve found the place where me and things belong together.”
6. This character would start to unravel toward the end of school and nobody would seem to notice. He’d leave behind this cryptic yearbook quote: “I have to return some videotapes.”
7. This manifesto-writing, riot-inducing, hot-dog loving character would toss one last insult at his classmates in his yearbook quote: “I mingle with my peers or no one, and since I have no peers, I mingle with no one.”
8. This mischievous character soars above the rest of the class and seeks adventure wherever he goes. Before he takes off, he’d say to his schoolmates, “To live would be an awfully big adventure.”
9. This character is a little less hopeful about the future than his peers. He’s little sad for the past, a little bit in love, and a little worried about what’s ahead. His parting words would be “Develop a sense of nostalgia for something, or you’ll never figure out what’s important.”
10. This character is the rich eccentric kid in class, but truly means well and has a heart of gold. Before leaving on a strange philanthropic adventure, this character’s yearbook quote would say, “Many, many good things have I bought! Many, many bad things have I fought!”
11. This mistake-prone yet lovable character would graduate from school at the top of the class, and would share the following optimistic outlook: “Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”
12. This character would ask classmates to think of the world and their responsibility to future generations. This character would want a yearbook quote that inspires awareness and change, something like: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
13. This character isn’t a big fan of school, but isn’t happy about graduating either, because it means entering the grownup world. Their yearbook quote would speak the truth about getting older, “Grown-ups never have any fun. All they have is a lot of dull work and stupid clothes and corns and nincom tax.”
Answers:

  1. Mr. Fox, from Fantastic Mr. Fox, by Roald Dahl
  2. Ron Weasley, from The Harry Potter Series, by J.K. Rowling
  3. Oscar De Leon, from The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz
  4. Alice from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
  5. Holly Golightly, from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, by Truman Capote
  6. Patrick Bateman, from American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis
  7. Ignatius Reilly, from A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole
  8. Peter Pan, from Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
  9. Lenny Abramov, from Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
  10. Eliot Rosewater, from God Bless You Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut
  11. Anne Shirley, from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
  12. The Once-ler, from The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
  13. Pippi Longstocking, from Pippi in the South Seas, by Astrid Lindgren

How many did you get right?