Like, in the “The Truth” interchangeable type press has been invented meaning we’re on the brink of Dime Novels and Pulps in Ankh Morpork.
If a writer put out a story about a gentlemen thief stealing from greedy nobles, set in Ankh Morpork, and it was popular enough to be far reaching and, because it’s set in a real place, people in the city thought it was a true story, would the Character become real?
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It depends on how you define “become real”.
Let’s say someone makes a very popular set of stories about the “Purple Pumpernickel”; a ‘dashing rogue disguised in all purple attire, who deftly slips into the abodes of rich and evil men, to seduce their women and make off with their ill-gotten goods, before distributing those goods to the poor and downtrodden’.
Now, would the actual “Purple Pumpernickel” person suddenly come to life, like the Oh God of Hangovers did? No, likely not going to happen.
However, would the concept of the “Purple Pumpernickel” become the basis of someone (non-licensed by the Thieves Guild) breaking into places to rob from them, using the trappings (or even the name) to make people think they’re a ‘Dashing Rogue’ while actually having nefarious intent, and necessitating Commander Vimes hunt them down (and for Colin and Nobby to get very confused about the different between ‘Rogue’ and ‘Rouge’, and end up using copious amounts of makeup at some point)…?
Well, more likely than not, yeah.
So, while (outside of a few specific magic-intensive scenarios, a la Hogfather), it would be more of the ‘concept’ of the fictional character, once created, filtering into the collective minds of the Discworldians, and causing them to create their own version of that character (filtered through their own neuroses and bigotries and limited understandings).
You mean like the Verruca Gnome, the Cheerful Fairy, the Oh God of Hangovers, or the Eater of Socks?
It happened, so it must be possible, but that was when there was a lot of excess belief floating around.
I suppose it would be plausible with enough magic and/or narrativium. Though given how the minor gods and anthropomorphic wossnames work, more likely it’d be some god clinging to existence seeing the free real estate and moving in.
That is sort of how gods happen on the disc.
Someone gives generic thanks for something, it can attract or create a spirit.
If the spirit can attract more worship, it becomes a god, and the gods are very much influenced by what people think they are.
Accidentally conjuring a fictional character from pure belief?
Hardly ever happens; it’d be a one-in-a-million chance.