Folk hero

Updated on Dec 15, 2023

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A folk hero or national hero is a type of hero–real, fictional or mythological–with the sole salient characteristic being the imprinting of his or her name, personality and deeds in the popular consciousness of a people. This presence in the popular consciousness is evidenced by its historical frequency in folk songs, folk tales and other folklore; and its modern trope status in literature, art and films.

Although some folk heroes are historical public figures, many are not. The lives of folk heroes are generally fictional, their characteristics and deeds often exaggerated to mythic proportions.

The folk hero often begins life as a normal person, but is transformed into someone extraordinary by significant life events, often in response to social injustice, and sometimes in response to natural disasters.

One major category of folk hero is the defender of the common people against the oppression or corruption of the established power structure. Members of this category of folk hero often, but not necessarily, live outside the law in some way.

Historically documented folk heroes

Alexander the Great - King of the Ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedon who created one of the largest empires of the ancient world

Alfred the Great - English king of Wessex

Johnny Appleseed – United States, he introduced the apple to large parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois

Arminius – Germany, was a chieftain of the Cheruski who defeated the Roman army at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest

Dokubo-Asari - Nigeria, a political figure who currently fights against western oil companies in the Niger Delta

Stepan Bandera - Ukraine, leader of the nationalist and independence movement of Ukraine

Billy the Kid – United States, a 19th-century American frontier outlaw and gunman

Black Hawk – Midwestern United States, a Sauk Indian warrior who resisted white settlement

Bonnie and Clyde – United States, bank robbers who evaded retribution in the 1930s.

Mohamed Bouazizi - Tunisian fruit vendor who immolated himself in protest of government mistreatment and sparked a successful revolution in that country and the Arab Spring

Boudica - Great Britain, warrior queen who led an uprising against the Roman Empire in Britain

Daniel Boone – United States, an American pioneer in the late 18th and early 19th centuries

Brian Boru – Ireland, High King of Ireland who "drove the Danes out of Ireland" at the Battle of Clontarf

John Brown – United States, attempted to lead a slave revolt in the south by raiding Harper's Ferry, helped spark the American Civil War

Calamity Jane – United States, a tough Wild West woman

Kakutsa Cholokashvili – Anti-soviet guerilla fighter who led the August Uprising, national hero of Georgia.

Joseph Cinqué – West African man of the Mende tribe, leader of the Amistad slave rebellion

Gajah Mada - Indonesia, Unify the Southeast Asian archipelago of Nusantara in the 13th century for Majapahit

Gregorio Cortez – Mexican-American folk hero

Davy Crockett – United States, an Indian-fighter and Congressman; died as a hero fighting in the Alamo

Nils Dacke – Sweden, leader of a 16th-century peasant revolt

Zerai Deres – Eritrea, Eritrean-born man lionized for his act of vengeance against the Italian Fascists in Rome during an imperial celebration

John Dillinger - United States, gangster and bank robber. Robbed dozens of banks, escaped from jail multiple times.

Anton Docher - United States, Roman Catholic missionary and defender of the Native Americans in New Mexico, he fought for five years in the French colonial army

Pier Gerlofs Donia – Frisia, legendary giant warrior, freedom fighter and leader of the Arumer Zwarte Hoop

Ahmad Shah Durrani – The founder of the Afghan Durrani Empire

Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson – Sweden, rebel and temporary regent in the 15th century

Guy Fawkes – Roman Catholic restorationist from England who planned the Gunpowder Plot

Mike Fink – United States, the toughest boatman on the Mississippi River and a rival of Davy Crockett

José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia - First consul of Paraguay

Eppelein von Gailingen – Germany, robber baron

Giuseppe Garibaldi – Italy, general, he personally commanded and fought in many military campaigns that led eventually to the formation of a unified Italy.

Geronimo – United States, Apache warrior, fought United States army for years defending his people and homeland

Lazar of Serbia – Serbia, medieval Serbian ruler, who fought and perished at the Battle of Kosovo (1389).

Genghis Khan – Mongolian ruler of the Steppe during 13th century, founder of the Mongolian empire

Owain Glyndŵr - Wales, nobleman who led a rebellion against the Kingdom of England

Tomoe Gozen – Japan, female samurai warrior

Husein Gradaščević – Bosnia, called "Dragon of Bosnia", led the resistance of Bosnians and uprising for autonomy of Bosnia against the Ottoman Empire

Nathan Hale – United States, a captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War

Simo Häyhä – A legendary Finnish sharpshooter in the Winter War with 505 confirmed kills

Hekimoğlu Turkish folk hero who led a campaign against feudal lords.

Wild Bill Hickok – United States, lawman, gunfighter, gambler, scout, Civil War soldier, stage coach driver, performer, abolitionist

Piet Hein – Netherlands, captured the Spanish treasure fleet

Hone Heke – Māori chief who chopped down British flagpole three times

Joe Hill – United States, union leader and songwriter wrongfully convicted of murder in 1915

Andreas Hofer – Austrian and particularly Tirolian hero who resisted the Bavarians and Napoleon

Ishikawa Goemon – Japan, bandit hero notorious for robbing the rich and giving to the poor, though some accounts suggest he may have kept much of his ill-gotten gains. Before being boiled in oil, he saved his infant son at the cost of his own life.

Jesse James – Wild West outlaw who supposedly robbed from the rich and gave to the poor (in reality his crimes only profited himself and his gang)

Juraj Jánošík – Slovak outlaw living in the Tatra mountains, defending Carpathian peasants from the tyranny of Hungarian landlords

Casey Jones – United States, railroad engineer who remained in his locomotive and died in a collision while braking in order to save his passengers and sounding the whistle to warn the crew of the other train

Konstanty Kalinowski - Belarus, leader of Belarusian, Polish and Lithuanian national revival and the leader of the January Uprising

Kaluaiko'olau – United States - Hawaiian who evaded deportation for leprosy by hiding in the Hawaiian rain forests

Karađorđe – Serbia, leader of the Serbian Revolution.

Ustym Karmaliuk – Ukrainian counterpart of Robin Hood, who led a peasant rebellion

Ned Kelly – Australia, bushranger and leader of the Kelly Gang, most famous for crafting bullet proof armor

Theodoros Kolokotronis - Greek general during the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire

Tadeusz Kościuszko - Belarus/Poland - military leader

Martin Krpan – Slovene smuggler, strongman

Paul Kruger - South African Boer leader and President of the South African Republic (Transvaal)

Lady Xian – China, warrior, politician, queen of the Hsien

Rani Lakshmibai - Warrior Queen of Jhansi, fought and was martyred as the first revolutionary for Indian Independence

Lam Sai-wing – China, martial artist and student of Wong Fei Hung

Lampião – outlaw, leader of a Cangaço band in Northeast Brazil

Lempira - Honduras, was a leader of the revolution against the Spaniards.

Abraham Lincoln – President of the United States during the Civil War

Nana Sahib - A leader in the First War of Indian Independence until his mysterious disappearance

Francisco Solano López - President of Paraguay during the Paraguayan War

Ned Ludd – Britain, leader of the Luddites in the 1810s

Nelson Mandela - South Africa, anti-apartheid activist who became President on apartheid's end

Louis Mandrin - France, bandit of the 18th century liked by the population because he attacked the tax collectors

Prince Marko – Serbia, a medieval prince active during the fall of the Serbian Empire and Ottoman invasion, a hero in Serbian epic poetry.

Jack Mary Ann – a folk hero from the Wrexham area of north Wales whose fictionalised exploits continue to circulate in local folklore.

James Morrow Walsh - Canada, a mountie who turned Sitting Bull and his peoples from enemies into friends in 1879.

James Mckenzie – New Zealand, outlaw and inspiration to landless immigrants in early colonial New Zealand

Joan of Arc- France, A peasant girl who led the French in the Hundred Years' War after she claimed saints told her it was God's will. Burned as a heretic she became a martyr, folk hero, and eventually a saint. She is now one of the patron saints of France.

Juan Moreira - Legendary Argentine outlaw, famed as a skillful knife fighter he is considered one of the most important figures in Argentine history

Maharana Pratap – India, a 16th-century Hindu ruler and Rajput hero

Big Joe Mufferaw- Canada, a larger than life French Canadian woodsman took his life as a lumberjack in Ottawa.

Miyamoto Musashi – Japan, a skilled swordsman, soldier, philosopher and author

Miloš Obilić – Serbia, a knight who killed Ottoman Sultan Murad I at the Battle of Kosovo (1389), regarded a national hero.

Redmond O'Hanlon – Irish, rapparee of the 17th century

Pemulwuy - Australia, an Aboriginal resistance leader.

Philippe Petit – Tightrope artist who walked between the two towers of the World Trade Center

Pazhassi Raja – India, fought against British Raj in south India (Kerala) with guerrilla war tactics

Louis Riel – Canada, founder of Manitoba, led two rebellions against the Dominion of Canada

Dorus Rijkers – the Netherlands, sailor and savior of over 500 men, women and children as the captain of a rescue-boat, in the late 19th century and the early 20th century

Mir Chakar Rind - Pakistan, a 15th-century Baloch chieftain and folklore hero found in the Hani and Sheh Mureed tale

Paul Revere - an American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution whose 'Midnight Ride' warned patriot rebels of the arrival of the British military troops.

José Rizal – Philippines, a critic of the Spanish Colonizers, was gun-fired by his executioners in Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park)

Rob Roy – Scotland, outlaw whose word was his bond

Juan Santamaría – Costa Rican national hero

Robert the Bruce - Scottish king who defeated the English invaders at the Battle of Bannockburn.

Sarutobi Sasuke – Japan, incredibly acrobatic spy said to have been raised by monkeys and trained in the Ninja heartland of Iga and Koga provinces during the golden age of the Ninja.

Laura Secord – Canada, heroine of the War of 1812

Daniel Shays – An American farmer who led Shays' Rebellion in the late 18th century over debt and taxes

Sitting Bull – shaman leader of the Hunkpapa Lakota

Skanderbeg – Albanian national hero who led the resistance of Albanian people against the Ottoman Empire

Soapy Smith – Infamous 19th-century Colorado and Alaska bad man.

The Smith of Kochel – Germany, a well-known national hero, especially in Bavaria

Spartacus – Thracean gladiator led the largest slave revolt against the Roman Republic

Samuel Steele - Canada, an mountie who bring peace to Canada West, and the Yukon for laws and order. Preventing bloodshed between the First Nation peoples and the settler peoples of Canada.

Tipu Sultan – Indian, a Muslim who fought and defeated the British in the Mysore wars

Ivan Susanin – Russia, Russian peasant who saved the tsar in the early 17th century's Time of Troubles

Tamanend – United States, an Indian chief who became the source of many folk legends during the American Revolutionary War

Tecumseh – United States, Shawnee chief who formed a Native American confederacy to combat the United States

Ten Tigers of Canton – China, group of ten fighters in southern China

Yermak Timofeyevich – Russia, Russian Cossack leader who began the Russian conquest of Siberia

Joseph Trumpeldor – Israel, leader of the Jewish forces at Tel Hai

Nat Turner – America, Leader of Nat Turner's Rebellion (also known as the Southampton Insurrection), a slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia in August 1831

Dick Turpin – England, highwayman

Vercingetorix - France, chief of the Arverni tribe, who united the Gauls in a revolt against Roman forces of Julius Caesar

Viriathus – Portugal, the leader of the freedom fighters of the confederated Iberian tribes who resisted colonial Rome

William Wallace – Scotland, knight who led a rebellion against England in the early 14th century

George Washington - First President of the United States

Wong Fei Hung – China, Chinese doctor, martial artist and revolutionary

Huo Yuanjia – China, Chinese martial artist

Yue Fei – China, general in the Jin–Song wars, his role in the war was exaggerated by later folk legends

Jan Žižka – Czech knight, commander of Hussite armies in 15th century

Pedro I of Brazil - Hero of Brazilian independence and hero of the Portuguese Civil War

Kuzma Minin - Became a national hero for his role in defending the country against the Polish invasion in the early-17th century together with Dmitry Pozharsky

Dmitry Pozharsky - Became a national hero for his role in defending the country against the Polish invasion in the early-17th century together with Kuzma Minin

Hristo Botev- Bulgarian folk hero, poet, revolutionary

Possibly apocryphal folk heroes

King Arthur - Britain, Legendary British warlord.

Cúchulainn - Ireland, folk legend and the pre-eminent hero of Ulaid in the Ulster Cycle

Fionn mac Cumhaill - Ireland, warrior, leader of the Fianna. Primary figure in the Oisin cycle.

Till Eulenspiegel or Tijl Uilenspiegel - Germany and the Low Countries, trickster and jester

Fong Sai-Yuk - China, martial arts folk hero

Grettir the Strong - Icelandic outlaw

Hercules - Greece, strongman and demigod.

Homer - Credited author of The Iliad and The Odyssey.

Hung Hei-Gun - China, martial arts folk hero

Nai Khanom Tom - Thailand, master of Muay Thai

Miloš Obilić, Serbian knight, assassin of Ottoman sultan Murad I

John Henry - United States, mighty steel-driving African-American

Robin Hood - England, outlaw usually associated with the motto "Steal from the rich, give to the poor"

Rummu Jüri - Estonia, outlaw who stole from the rich to give to the poor

Siegfried - Germany, the legendary dragon-slaying hero in Nibelungenlied

Twm Siôn Cati - Wales, robber and trickster nicknamed the Welsh Wizard

Hua Mulan - China, heroine who disguised herself as a man in order to join an army

William Tell - Switzerland, hunter began the rebellion against the Austrians

Folk heroes known to be fictional

Beowulf - Scandinavia, legendary Geatish hero later turned king

Pecos Bill - United States, giant cowboy who "tamed the Wild West"

Paul Bunyan - United States, giant lumberjack of the North Woods

Febold Feboldson - United States, farmer who could fight a drought

Martín Fierro - Argentina, hero of the eponymous poem by Jose Hernandez

Koba - Georgia, folk hero whose legend bears a resemblance to Robin Hood

Joe Magarac - United States, steelworker made of steel

Juan Bobo - Puerto Rico, trickster folk hero

Alfred Bulltop Stormalong - United States, immense sailor whose ship was so big it scraped the moon

Chen Zhen - China, martial artist who fought against Japanese aggression in pre-World War II China

Momotarō - Japan, legendary figure from the Edo period who defeated a band of ogres

Väinämöinen - Described as an old and wise man with potent magical powers.

Real people with fictionalised lives

El Santo - Real life Mexican wrestler, with heavy fictionalised adventures in movies and comic books

Works cited

Seal, Graham. Encyclopedia of Folk Heroes. ABC-CLIO, 2001.

References

Folk hero Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA