Fictional vs. fictitious
The adjective fictitious began as a variant of fictional, but the words have differentiated over time. Although both can be used to mean imaginary or fabricated, fictional is often used to describe imaginative works of art and things relating to them. A science-fiction novel, for instance, is fictional, as are its characters and story. Fictitious usually means, more generally, imaginary or fabricated, without necessarily referring to fictional works of art. For example, a nonexistent illness one invents to get out of work is fictitious.
Fictional vs. fictitious
The adjective fictitious began as a variant of fictional, but the words have differentiated over time. Although both can be used to mean imaginary or fabricated, fictional is often used to describe imaginative works of art and things relating to them. A science-fiction novel, for instance, is fictional, as are its characters and story. Fictitious usually means, more generally, imaginary or fabricated, without necessarily referring to fictional works of art. For example, a nonexistent illness one invents to get out of work is fictitious.
0. Person
1. Female
2. "Dead"
3. "Born" earlier than 1980
4. Fictitious
5. Neither first appeared in, nor first became popularly known in, a movie or TV show
6. Creator of the fictitious person is known
7. Created after 1880
8. Neither first appeared in, nor first became popularly known in, a novel or short story
9. Best known by a first and last name
10. Neither first appeared in, nor first became popularly known in, a comic book, comic strip, advertising, magazine, or newspaper (and did not first appear in any other print media)
11. Neither first appeared in, nor first became popularly known in, a poem, song, radio program, or children's book
11.5. First became popularly known in some form of print media other than a novel, short story, comic book, comic strip, advertising, magazine, or newspaper
12. Claimed to have been based on a specific real life person
13. Average American today has no mental picture whatsoever of this person if given the name
14. Target audience for fictitious person either nobody, one specific adult, or adults generally, depending
15. Average American today would have no idea who this person is if given her first and last name without further prompting (this would not be the case when this person first became popularly known)
16. Both the creator and the popularizer of this fictitious person were American, and, by all accounts per Wikipedia, this fictitious person was by far most popularly known in America
17. This fictitious character is the only thing for which both the person who created it and the person who popularized it are known, and in fact neither the creator nor the popularizer have their own Wikipedia pages
18. Not considered folklore