De La Soul is famous for telling everyone that “three is the magic number,” but we think four is pretty special too. A square number that is the sum of two times two, the number four pops up frequently throughout history. In the Bible, there are the four gospels of Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) as well as the Four Horsem*n of the Apocalypse, while in Buddhism, you have the Four Noble Truths (Dukkha, Samudaya Nirodha, and Magga) and the four elements (earth, wind, fire, and water).
Then you have the four terrestrial planets in the Solar System (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars), the four season (summer, autumn, winter, and spring), the four presidents on Mount Rushmore (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt), four suits in a deck of cards, and four quarters in many sports. But when it comes to the most iconic groups of four, you will find them in the world of pop culture.
Movies, music, and TV shows feature some of the greatest foursomes of all time. Groups like The Beatles (also dubbed the Fab Four) and Led Zepplin and fictional characters like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Fantastic Four are all well-known groups of four who have made a splash. It’s not just movies and TV shows either, with many video games, comic books, and novels highlighting quartets who are loved by fans around the world.
With so many iconic groups of four in pop culture, we have rounded up the most memorable who have had a long-lasting impact and detailed their influence below.
1. The Fantastic Four
One of the most obvious groups of four, the Fantastic Four consists of Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic), Sue Storm (Invisible Woman), Johnny Storm (Human Torch), and Ben Grimm (Thing).
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, they first appeared in the Marvel comic The Fantastic Four #1 in November 1961. Since then the quartet has become one of the most famous superhero groups, having been adapted into several video games, big-budget movies, and even an animated series.
2. The Beatles
For ten years between 1960-1970, The Beatles were the biggest band in the world. Comprised of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, the Fab Four made history during their time together, releasing countless number-one singles and albums.
They released 13 albums (Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night, Beatles for Sale, Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles, Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road, and Let It Be) and sold over 300 million records worldwide. They changed the music industry forever and continue to influence hundreds of bands.
3. Sex and the City
Sex and the City became a huge hit during its six-year run on HBO. The show focuses on writer Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and her three best friends, Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte York (Kristin Davis), and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) as they navigated life in the Big Apple.
Addressing issues such as feminity, sexuality, promiscuity, and relationships, Sex and the City gave female audiences a show they could relate to. Two movies followed while a sequel series, And Just Like That…, debuted in 2022 to much fanfare.
4. Entourage
Looking back on Entourage now, it’s plain to see the show is chauvinistic and full of deeming jokes, but at the time it aired, there was nothing quite like it. Based on Mark Wahlberg’s real life, the show is about up-and-coming actor Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), his best friend and manager Eric “E” Murphy (Kevin Connolly), older half-brother Johnny “Drama” Chase (Kevin Dillion), and Salvatore “Turtle” Assante (Jerry Ferrara), one of Vinnie’s oldest friends.
The show has plenty of laughs as Vincent’s career goes through many ups and downs, with his agent Ari Gold (a never-better Jeremy Piven), acting as the group’s quasi-fifth member. It might not have aged well but the quartet of Vincent, E, Drama, and Turtle is hard to forget.
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Making their first appearance in comic form in 1984, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been a constant for almost four decades. Whether in comic book form, animated form, or live-action form, the usual backstory surrounding Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael is that they were contaminated by nuclear waste and turned into anthropomorphic turtles. Taken under the wing of anthropomorphic rat Splinter, they taught them martial arts and turn them into crime fighters with a love for pizza.
The Turtles have appeared in many different mediums over the journey, with the latest incarnation – an animated movie from Seth Rogan – set to hit cinemas sometime soon.
6. Ghostbusters
The original line-up featured in the hilarious 1984 movie Ghostbusters is a great example of an iconic quartet. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) and Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) are the faces of the paranormal team, with Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) the brains, and Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) the extra muscle.
Together they form a great team, managing to defeat the evil Gozer the Gozerian, who has been resurrected as the Stay Puff Marshmellow Man.
7. Seinfeld
Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer are four of the funniest characters from the greatest show about nothing. The brainchild of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, few shows impacted pop culture like Seinfeld.
Presenting themselves as normal 20-somethings trying to live their best lives in New York City, they are actually horrible people who never learn from their mistakes, often being the cause of their own problems. Despite this, they remain in the hearts of all TV lovers, with Seinfeld offering up some of the best comedy of the 90s.
8. Queen
Freddy Mercury might have been front and center, but Queen was nothing without the rest of the band. Formed in 1970 by vocalist Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor, and bassist John Deacon, the heavy rock band slowly evolved into a pop-rock quartet that would go on to sell around 300 million albums and become arena specialists.
Although they continue to perform with different singers since the death of Mercury in 1991, true Queen fans know that without their mercurial frontman, Queen is just not the same band.
9. The Wizard of Oz
Dorothy is trying her best to get back to Kansas and enlists the help of The Scarecrow, The Tin Man, and The Cowardly Lion. Together the foursome takes on the Wicked Witch of the West and manages to overcome their fears and return Dorothy to her own realm.
A fantastic story that has been adapted multiple times as a film, stage show, and video game, The Wizard of Oz is a great example of an iconic group of four who band together to help each other out.
10. South Park
Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman are still tormenting their family and friends in Matt Parker and Trey Stone’s long-running animated comedy South Park. Often controversial but always funny, the show has been on the air since 1997, providing a satirical look at the world through the eyes of its four main characters.
11. The Four Horsem*n
No, not the ones from the Bible but the four grapplers from the world of wrestling. During the 80s and 90s the group of Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, and brothers Arn and Ole Anderson, became the biggest faction in professional wrestling. They dominated both the NWA and WCW during their time together, winning multiple championships under the watchful eye of their manager JJ Dillon.
While they have gone through many different incarnations since debuting in 1985, with the likes of Lex Luger, Sting, Barry Windham, and Dean Malekno all becoming members, it’s the original line-up of Flair, Blanchard, and the Andersons that fans remember best.Often cited as the first heel stable, the Four Horsem*n were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012 and are seen as innovators in the world of professional wrestling.
12. American Pie
Helping rejuvenate the teen sex comedy, American Pie is one of the last great funnies of the 90s, coming out in the summer of 1999. While slightly problematic these days (some of the jokes and language wouldn’t fly today), at the time of its release American Pie was a smash hit, making $235.5 million at the box office.
Focusing on four lads trying to lose their virginity before the night of their prom ends, the movie turned many of its cast into big stars, including the likes of Seann William Scott, Tara Reid, Alyson Hannigan, Shannon Elizabeth, and Natasha Lyonne. Crude and rude, it still provides plenty of laughs.
13. The Doors
One of the seminal acts of the late 60s and early 70s, The Doors proved the keyboard could be an essential part of any band. Similar to Queen, frontmanJim Morrison was the star, but he was ably supported bykeyboardistRay Manzarek, guitaristRobby Krieger, and drummerJohn Densmore.
Together The Doors released six albums between 1967-1971 and were responsible for the hits “Light My Fire,” “Hello, I Love You,” “Touch Me,” and “Riders on the Storm.” Morrison’s unexpected death put an end to the band, but their legacy stands some 50+ years later.
14. The A-Team
“In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them….maybe you can hire The A-Team.”
That was the message that narrated the opening credits to The A-Team, a hit TV show about a group of former soldiers on the run from the authorities who used their skills to help the less fortunate. Made up of Bosco “B.A.” Baracus, H.M “Howling Mad” Murdock, Templeton “Face” Peck, and John “Hannibal” Smith, the A-Team fought crime for five seasons and became a favorite of American audiences.
15. Led Zeppelin
If The Beatles were the band of the 60s, then Led Zeppelin was the band of the 70s. Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham took classic blues and rock and roll and turned the genre on its head, crafting epic rock compositions like “Stairway To Heaven,” “Kashmir,” and “The Rain Song.”
The group released nine albums between 1969-1982 and were as famous for their on-stage performances as their off-stage antics, with Zeppelin leading the way when it came to hotel destruction and debauchery with groupies.
16. Mean Girls
Tina Fey’s Mean Girls is a fabulous 90s movie about high school cliques and bullying based on Rosalind Wiseman’s 2002 bookQueen Bees and Wannabes.
The four leads who make up the Plastics – Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, and Amanda Seyfried – all became household names thanks to this movie which is a cult classic and still much loved.
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