This list is part of my vital people project, which breaks down the 50, 500, and 5000 most important people in three levels: Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3. Level 1.5 is an informal level of 200 Level 2 people that, although they are not quite Level 1 material, are nevertheless exceptional and incredibly influential in their field, to the point that they are set apart from the rest of their peers on the Level 2 list. I felt as though 50 to 500 was too high a jump that left a lot of room for nuance in ranking people based on importance to human history, so I created this informal level. Note that all articles listed here are Level 2 articles, unless they are bolded, in which case they belong in Level 1. There is no such thing as a "Level 1.5" article, given that the categorization is informal.

Note: Articles are listed according to the chronology of the person's birth, not alphabetically by last name, as is the case for Level 2.

Level 1.5

Level 2

Level 2.5

Level 3