Folk Hero

A folk hero is type of hero, real or mythological, who has become the stuff of legend through generations of retellings. The single salient characteristic which makes a character a folk hero is the imprinting of the name, personality and deeds of the character in the popular consciousness. This is evidenced by mention in folk songs, folk tales and other folklore. In modern times, folk heroes are also the subject of films, comic books and literature.

Although some folk heroes are historical public figures, they generally aren't, and even if they are they won't bear much resemblance to the real person. Because the lives of folk heroes are generally not based on historical documents, the characteristics and deeds of a folk hero are often exaggerated to mythic proportions.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. There is a strong tendency for them to be Guile Heroes.

The tradition is carried on nowadays in an "ironic" fashion in the form of the Memetic Badass - games of one-upmanship involving Chuck Norris or Bruce Campbell only really differ from embellishing the exploits of Cu Chulainn or Paul Bunyan in the fact that they're about living people, and as such are obviously fake.

See also King in the Mountain.

Historically Documented Folk Heroes

 * Abe no Seimei
 * Alexander the Great
 * Johnny Appleseed
 * Baron Münchhausen
 * Billy the Kid
 * Black Bart Roberts
 * Blackbeard
 * Bonnie and Clyde
 * Buffalo Bill
 * Captain Kidd
 * El Cid Campeador
 * Daniel Boone
 * Davy Crockett
 * Dick Turpin
 * George Washington
 * Geronimo
 * Genghis Khan
 * Gotz Von Berlichingen
 * Hattori Hanzo
 * Harriet Tubman
 * Hernán Cortés and La Malinche
 * Jánošík / Janoszik
 * Jesse James
 * Joan of Arc
 * Ned Kelly
 * Ned Ludd
 * Judas Maccabeus
 * Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary
 * Miyamoto Musashi
 * Mykola Sjuhaj / Nikola Šuhaj
 * Paul Revere
 * Pocahontas
 * The Red Baron
 * Rob Roy
 * Rózsa Sándor
 * Samson
 * Skanderbëg
 * Solomon the Wise
 * Spartacus
 * Stepan Razin
 * Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders
 * Wong Fei Hong
 * Wild Bill Hickok
 * William Wallace
 * Winston Churchill
 * Wyatt Earp
 * Yagyu Jubei

Possibly Apocryphal Folk Heroes

 * King Arthur
 * John Henry
 * Hua Mulan
 * Sarutobi Sasuke
 * Robin Hood
 * William Tell
 * Spring-Heeled Jack
 * Lalli (though more like folk anti-hero)
 * Ara the Handsome

Comic Books

 * Asterix
 * Batman
 * The Flash
 * The Phantom
 * The Shadow
 * Superman
 * Captain America (comics)
 * Tintin

Film

 * Keyser Soze

Live Action TV

 * The Hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne

Folklore

 * Paul Bunyan (if not genuine folklore)
 * Pecos Bill
 * Jiraiya and Tsunade
 * Sigurd
 * Big Joe Mufferaw
 * Joe Magarac
 * Alfred Bulltop Stormalong

Literature

 * Don Quixote
 * El-ahrairah
 * Tarzan
 * Zorro
 * Mr. Badger
 * The Man With No Name
 * Gilgamesh
 * Beowulf
 * Odysseus
 * Hong Gil Dong
 * Martin the Warrior

Web Original

 * Poharex
 * Saddy Dumpington

Western Animation

 * Optimus Prime
 * Bugs Bunny