Peter Pan is the main character and protagonist of JM Barrie's fantasy story also by that name. As Peter Pan was an enchanted boy who never had to grow up, the name has also become an expression to mean a young man unwilling to mature and take on adult responsibilities. (For instance, 'the Peter Pan syndrome.')

An interesting side note is that from the very start, all the royalties from the book have been put into a fund for a charity hospital for children. You can visit the hospital's site at the reference below.

If you would like to see a film based on the life of Barrie, you may enjoy "Finding Neverland," starring Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet and Dustin Hoffman.

Who is Peter Pan? Does he exist in real life?

Peter Pan is a character in a play and novel written by J. M. Barrie. The first appearance of Peter Pan was in a novel called The Little White Bird, published in 1902. In 1904 Peter Pan was brought to life on stage in the play Peter Pan or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. Later, in 1911, Barrie turned the play into a novel titled Peter and Wendy.

Peter Pan is a kind of magical boy. He ran away from home on the day of his birth and went to live with the fairies because he overheard his parents planning out his whole life for him. The fairies taught him to fly. He lives in Neverland, a magical land, where his friends are the Lost Boys, boys who fell out of their carriages when they were infants and have no mothers or fathers now. Peter Pan meets Wendy because he lurks outside her nursery window so he can hear her telling stories to her brothers. He offers to teach Wendy and her brothers to fly; he does so, and they all journey to Neverland where they have a series of adventures. Eventually Wendy wants to return home, and she does, with the Lost Boys, who are adopted by Wendy's parents. Peter, however, still does not want to grow up. He comes back to see Wendy and take her to Neverland for a visit once per year, but he himself remains the boy who wouldn't grow up.