Erica Kane is a fictional character from the American ABC Daytime soap opera All My Children. The character was portrayed by actress Susan Lucci from her debut on January 16, 1970, until the last broadcast television episode on September 23, 2011. Lucci was expected to guest star on Prospect Park's continuation of All My Children in 2013, but the appearance never came to fruition due to the show's second cancellation.

Erica is considered to be the most popular character in American soap opera history. TV Guide calls her "unequivocally the most famous soap opera character in the history of daytime TV," and included her in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time.

Agnes Nixon created Erica Kane in the 1960s as part of the story bible for All My Children, a light-hearted soap opera focusing on social issues and young love. Nixon unsuccessfully attempted to sell the series to NBC, then to CBS, and once again to NBC through Procter & Gamble. With Procter & Gamble unable to make room for the new series in its line up, she put All My Children on hold. Nixon became head writer of Another World where she used the model of the Erica character to create a brand new character: Rachel Davis. Nixon said Rachel was Erica's "precursor to the public." She detailed Rachel's goals as less "stratospheric" in nature since her primary motivation involved marrying Dr. Russ Mathews or a man with money while Erica wanted love, independence, and fame. "What Erica and Rachel have in common is they thought if they could get their dream, they'd be satisfied," Nixon said. "But that dream has been elusive."

After the success of One Life to Live, a series Nixon created in 1968, ABC asked her to create another soap opera for them. She used the story bible for All My Children to create the new program. The Erica character officially debuted in 1970 once All My Children made it onto the air.

At the time, soap operas featured mostly older casts. To add a contemporary feel to the show, Nixon focused on younger characters, while also mixing in older ones so as not to lose traditional viewers. The youths on All My Children were Tara Martin (Karen Lynn Gorney), Phillip Brent (Richard Hatch), Chuck Tyler (Jack Stauffer), and Erica Kane (Susan Lucci). For those parts, the show wanted to cast unknown actors.

In 1969, Susan Lucci responded to a casting call for All My Children. She initially auditioned for the role of Tara Martin. The "character that we were all interested in was not Erica, but Tara," said Doris Quinlan, the show's former executive producer. "She was the sweet young ingenue — the one with all the problems that everyone was supposed to care about... I certainly couldn't cast [Lucci] as a young, innocent, sweet little Irish girl. That's not what comes out. She's much more sophisticated – at least she gives that appearance. She was perfect to play Erica." After a meeting with a casting director, they promised to call her back in six months. One of hundreds of people they called back in, Lucci progressed on from each reading of the part until she received the role. "I saw the audition tapes, and she just stood out," said Agnes Nixon. "There was never a question, ever."

Before being cast as Erica Kane, Lucci did not have much success in her acting career. A casting director discouraged her from pursuing roles on television because her hair, skin, and eyes were too dark. Though Lucci's olive complexion held her back from other acting opportunities, it worked in her favor while up for the role of Erica. "Agnes Nixon, the show's creator, really wanted somebody dark to play this part. She has always been ahead of her time," Lucci said. Lucci debuted in episode 10 of the series. In portraying Erica, the actress drew on the "self-centered" and "haughty" traits she recognized in herself while in college. Lucci said, "I love playing her. I enjoyed playing her when she was a 15-year-old high school girl, the naughty girl in town, and I enjoy playing her now, when she's still the naughty girl, but she's broadened her area of operation to include the entire world."

Over the years, Erica developed into different character archetypes. Soap operas once featured only one-dimensional characters who were either good or bad. By the 1970s, characters were written with more depth, fitting into archetypes consisting of the young-and-vulnerable romantic heroine, the old-fashioned villain, the rival, the suffering antagonist, Mr. Right, the former playboy, the meddlesome and villainous mother/grandmother, the benevolent mother/grandmother, and the career woman. Erica was established as the rival to Tara Martin's young-and-vulnerable romantic heroine. As the rival, Erica was written as money and status-conscious as well as sexually aggressive. Erica was generally positioned as the antagonist keeping true love pairings, such as Tara and Phillip Brent, apart.