Skateboarding's presence in the psyche of popular culture is at arguably an all-time high. As skating's influence on fashion, style, television and other forms of digestible media continues to spike, the sport's polarising relationship with the outside world has become ever more apparent. 

Like it or not, though, skateboarding is a pop culture mainstay. And while our trends are continually borrowed by posers from the outside, plenty of us owe popular culture for introducing us to the wonders of skateboarding in the first place – it's a ferocious cycle of life. In this article, we're looking at the most influential skateboarders who never actually lived – characters from different media forms which have left their mark on our beloved sport in some significant way. 

This is by no means a definitive list, but everyone on here holds a heavy influence on skateboarding past and present. As always, it's our own light-hearted take and opinion – this isn't a Time Magazine article – but we know you'll take a slice of nostalgia from the list at the very least. Let's jump in. 
 

Bart Simpson

After 28 years and over 600 episodes, it's fair to say that The Simpsons' favourite skateboarding hoodlum has had a fair influence on the popularity and perspective of the sport. Bart's first appearance on a skateboard came in the opening sequence of the very first episode back in 1989, and he's gone on to feature on four wheels in every single opening sequence in the history of the show – spanning from the Bones Brigade era all the way through to the current period of corporate brands and energy drink sponsors. 

The fact that Bart was named among Time's 100 Most Important People of the Century outlines the impact he's had on generations of youngsters. Bart's carefree, bad-to-the-bone attitude helped shape the image of the modern skater kid, for better or worse, and continued to promote the sport during it's most unpopular periods. Did Matt Groening and friends actually know anything about skateboarding? Probably not, but the influence of Bart in introducing the skateboard to literally millions of people all over the world can't be understated. 
 

Officer Dick

If you grew up in the late 90s and early 2000s, then you'll probably be familiar with Officer Dick – the satirical representation of a freeloading, fun-hating police officer who appeared as an unlockable character in all 4 of the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games. While he was a favourite among many who played the series, Officer Dick's personal influence on skateboarding probably wasn't particularly strong – but he perfectly represents everything that made the video game series so overwhelmingly influential. 

As the first playable character who wasn't based on an actual pro skater, Officer Dick was a bridge between the virtual world and reality, and helped to boost the appeal of the THPS series among fans of video games rather than just fans of skateboarding. As a result, the games were the perfect gateway to actually getting involved in the sport, and the amount of skaters who first became interested through these video games is incalculably massive. 

Marty McFly

While skateboarding has appeared in countless films over the years, there's a select few which have influenced the sport in almost unimaginable ways. Marty McFly's skateboarding getaway scene from the original Back to the Future film, released in 1985, is considered one of the most memorable scenes in modern film history – skate related or otherwise. The images of Marty quickly scrapping together a DIY skateboard and fleeing through the streets of 1955 brought the sport to an entirely new mainstream audience, and the largely uncool sport was suddenly pretty damn popular. 

While rumours abound that Rodney Mullen was Michael J. Fox's stunt double for the skate scenes, that isn't true – it was actually a guy named Charlie Croughwell. Regardless, skateboarding was widely considered surfing's uncool sidekick back in the mid-1980s, and the sport was still trying to carve its own identity through a smorgasbord of fads and trends. Its positive representation in one of the biggest film franchises of the decade helped to change those views, and helped spawn the sport's spike in popularity during the early 1990s and beyond. 
 

The Rocket Power Kids

A children's TV show focused on skateboarding, which aired during Nickelodeon's early 2000s prime, and was made by the creators of Rugrats? You bet these cartoon kids had an influence on skateboarders all over the world. Rocket Power might have been unbelievably cheesy 



Jeff Spicoli

Flameboy etc

Donatello / TMNT