Dolls usually intended as toys for children, usually girls, but are sometimes intended as keepsakes or collectibles for older children and adults. Dolls are also used for decoration, or have some cultural significance, possibly for use in some ceremony or ritual, or as a physical representaion of a deity.

Dolls are distinguished from action figures, which are generally of plastic or semi metallic construction and poseable to some extent, and exist largely for the purpose of marketing the television shows or films which feature the characters they are often modeled after. Modern action figures, such as Action Man, are often marketed towards boys, and dolls towards girls.