September 14, 1914, marked the birth of Clayton Moore — The Lone Ranger. His real name was Jack — not short for anything; just Jack Moore. He started using the stage name Clayton around 1940 when he was working as a stuntman and extra in movies as well as doing modeling work.
Moore enlisted in the Army Air Force in World War II, and was assigned to the Motion Picture Unit making training films. By 1949, Moore was back in Hollywood and played Zorro in the film Ghost of Zorro. The Zorro character was a vigilante in the old west who defended downtrodden people and victims of bad guys. His signature accoutrements included a black outfit with a cape, a hat, a mask, and a trusty steed. Zorro began in a 1919 book by Johnston McCulley, who was so pleased with the success of the character that he kept writing Zorro stories for the next 40 years. His debut novel, The Curse of Capistrano, sold 50 million copies.
The Lone Ranger was a also vigilante in the old west who defended downtrodden people and victims of bad guys. His signature accoutrements also included a costume, a hat, a mask, and a trusty steed. It’s not clear exactly where the character originated, but the first anyone heard of him was on a radio show in the 1930s. In 1938 Republic Pictures made a serial about the Lone Ranger, and in 1949 the ABC television network aired the first TV western, The Lone Ranger. It starred Clayton Moore, who was so pleased with the success of the character that he kept making promotional and guest appearances as the Lone Ranger for the next 40 years.
There’s a famous Lone Ranger story you may have already heard: Moore was making a promotional appearance, in costume, in 1972 and afterward his limo didn’t show up. So one of the other actors at the event — Jay Thomas — offered him a ride, along with Mike Martin, also an actor. Moore, still in costume, sat in back. They got into a minor accident and Thomas and Martin got out to argue with the other driver. It was 1972, remember, and the actors had long hair and mod outfits, and the other driver laughed at them, saying nobody would believe “two hippies”. Moore then got out of the back seat — still wearing the full Lone Ranger costume — and said, in character, “But they’ll believe me, citizen.”
The Lone Ranger accounts for an astonishing number of hours of entertainment programming — in addition to the TV series, which ran for eight years (221 episodes), there were two movie serials in 1938 and 39, five full-length movies (the most recent one from 2013), and two animated TV series. Zorro is even bigger; 11 full length films in the US, six in Mexico, 25 in Europe, two in Turkey and one in India. Add to that the US TV series: four live-action and five animated.
So it seems like if you want to build a successful media franchise, you need one or more characters who are vigilantes defending downtrodden people and victims of bad guys, and who have signature accoutrements including costumes, masks, and maybe a special mode of transportation. They should probably have a unique means of fighting, too — Zorro is an expert swordsman, and the Lone Ranger is a sharpshooter with a pair of customized revolvers. You’ll probably want an elaborate and relatively improbable back-story explaining the whole scenario, including the need for the costume and mask, but you probably don’t need to go as far as pointing out that it might have been easier to just attend the police academy. You will, though, need to give your character some cash. Zorro is the secret identity of a rich landowner (Don Diego). The Lone Ranger owns a silver mine (which is, by the way, why his horse is named Silver).
Besides Zorro and The Lone Ranger, I don’t know what other versions of the same character you might be able to find. Don’t think about it too hard; it’ll drive you batty.
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