This is a list of folk heroes, a type of hero – real, fictional or mythological – with their name, personality and deeds embedded in the popular consciousness of a people, mentioned frequently in folk songs, folk tales and other folklore; and with modern trope status in literature, art and films.
Scipio Africanus – Italy, Roman general and later consul who is often regarded as one of the greatest military commanders and strategists of all time.[1]
Guan Yu (Yunchang) – China, military general during the late Eastern Han dynasty. One of East Asia's most popular paradigms of loyalty and righteousness.
Hannibal – Tunisia, Spain and Lebanon, was a Carthaginiangeneral and statesman who is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history.[8]
Hildegard von Bingen – Germany, Saint Hildegard, Christian mystic, founder of scientific nature history.
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.
Liu Bowen – China, key advisor to the Hongwu Emperor of Ming dynasty, also well known for his prophecies and has been described as the "Divine Chinese Nostradamus".
Roger I of Sicily – Italy, he was a norman nobleman and founder of the County of Sicily. In the Sicilian folklore he is considered the liberator of the island.
Sejong the Great – Korean king, personally responsible for creation of the Hangul alphabet and many scientific, humanitarian and literary advances.
Sheikh Bedreddin – Ottoman Empire, theologian and revolutionary.
William Wallace – Scotland, knight who led a rebellion against England in the early 14th century.
Wen Tianxiang – Chinese Duke of Xinguo, refuse to yield to the Mongol invaders despite being captured and tortured, enable him to become a symbol of patriotism and righteousness.
Lady Xian – China, warrior, politician, queen of the Hsien.
Xuanzang – China, prominent Buddhist monk in early Tang dynasty who traveled to India in the seventh century.
Yue Fei – China, famous Song dynasty general, best known for leading Southern Song forces against Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty in the 12th century.[20]: 686
Zhang Xun – China, general of Tang Dynasty who is best known for defending Yongqiu and Suiyang during the An Shi Rebellion.
Jan Žižka – Czech knight, commander of Hussite armies in the 15th century.
Daniel Boone – United States, an American pioneer in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Yuan Chonghuan – China, Ming general best known for defending Liaoning from Jurchen invaders during the Later Jin invasion of the Ming and defeated Nurhaci.
Guy Fawkes – England, Roman Catholic restorationist from England who planned the Gunpowder Plot.
Wojciech Bartosz Głowacki – Poland, he became a Polish national hero during the battle of Racławice on 4 April 1794, when he captured a Russian cannon by putting out the fuse with his hat.
Ishikawa Goemon – Japan, bandit hero famous 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.
Nathan Hale – United States, a captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
Piet Hein – Netherlands, captured the Spanish treasure fleet.
Juraj Jánošík – Slovak outlaw living in the Tatra mountains, defending Carpathian peasants from the tyranny of Hungarian landlords.
Lapulapu – Philippines, best known for the Battle of Mactan that happened at dawn on 27 April 1521, where he and his soldiers defeated Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette – United States, was a French aristocrat and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War, commanding American troops in several battles, including the Siege of Yorktown.
Miyamoto Musashi – Japan, a skilled swordsman, soldier, philosopher and author.
Naresuan – Thailand, one of the most revered monarchs as he is known for his campaigns to free Ayutthaya from the vassalage of the Taungoo Empire.
Paul Revere – American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution whose 'Midnight Ride' warned patriot rebels of the arrival of the British military troops.
Betsy Ross – United States, popularly credited with making one of the first American flags.
Rob Roy – Scotland, outlaw whose word was his bond.
Taksin – Thailand, king of the Thonburi Kingdom, liberation of Siam from Burmese occupation after the Second Fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, and the subsequent unification of Siam.
George Washington – United States, American surveyor, British colonial army officer, commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, first serving U.S. president.
Bhumibol Adulyadej – Thailand, ninth monarch of Chakri dynasty, involved in many social and economic development projects, and highly revered by the people in Thailand.
Johnny Appleseed (Johnathan Chapman) – United States, introduced the apple to large parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
Neil Armstrong – United States, naval aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, and NASA astronaut, who became the first person to set foot on the Moon.
Asari-Dokubo – Nigeria, a political figure who currently fights against western oil companies in the Niger Delta.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk – Turkey, he was a revolutionary statesman, successful General and beloved figure who is revered in Turkey.
Stepan Bandera – Ukraine, leader of the nationalist and independence movement of Ukraine.
Hristo Botev – Bulgarian folk hero, poet, revolutionary.
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.
Chulalongkorn – Thailand, fifth monarch under the House of Chakri, all his reforms were dedicated to ensuring Siam's survival in the face of Western colonialism.
Hendrik Geeraert – Belgium, skipper and World War I resistance fighter known for opening the Ganzepoot after the Battle of the Yser, flooding the polders and halting the German advance.
Geronimo – United States, Apache military leader and medicine man, fought the United States army during the late 19th century, defending his homeland and people.
Simo Häyhä – Finland, a legendary 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.
Hōne Heke – Māori chief who chopped down British flagpole three times.
Joe Hill – United States, union leader and songwriter wrongfully convicted of murder in 1915.[30]
Andreas Hofer – Austrian and particularly Tirolian hero who resisted the Bavarians and Napoleon.
Doc Holliday – United States, dentist, gambler, and gunfighter in the American West of the late 1800s.
Huo Yuanjia – China, famous Chinese martial artist who defeated foreign fighters at highly publicised matches and established the first civil martial arts association in China.
Ip Man – China, he was the first man teaching martial artist liberally; his most famous student was Bruce Lee.
Jesse James – United States, Wild West outlaw who supposedly robbed from the rich and gave to the poor (in reality his crimes only profited himself and his gang).[31]
Calamity Jane – United States, a frontierswoman, sharpshooter, and storyteller in the American West of the late 19th century.
Casey Jones – United States, railroad engineer who remained in his locomotive and died in a collision while braking to save his passengers and sounding the whistle to warn the crew of the other train.[34]
Ustym Karmaliuk – Ukrainian counterpart of Robin Hood, who led a peasant rebellion.
Ned Kelly – Australia, bushranger and leader of the Kelly Gang who fought against a corrupt government system; most famous for crafting bullet-proof armor.
Giuseppe Musolino – Italian brigand who escaped prison and committed a string of murders while on the run from 1899–1901 against those who testified against him at his first trial; became a hero in Calabria and is the subject of numerous songs and movies.
Ibrahim Nasir - the Maldives, he was prime minister and later president of the Maldives, led the Maldives to independence from the British, officially abolished the monarchy and dogmatic laws, founded the local tourism industry and rapidly developed and modernized the country.
Sundance Kid – United States, outlaw and train robber.
Martin Luther King Jr. – United States, African American activist and leader of the Civil Rights Movement, who promoted nonviolent resistance in an effort to end policies of racial segregation.
Theodoros Kolokotronis – Greek general during the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire.
Pedro I of Brazil – hero of Brazilian independence and hero of the Portuguese Civil War.
Pemulwuy – Australia, an Aboriginal resistance leader.
Philippe Petit – France, tightrope artist who walked between the two towers of the World Trade Center.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – Bangladesh, led Bengali nation's decade long struggle for independence against then autocratic rule of Pakistan, finally resulting in the Bangladesh Liberation War and the independence of Bangladesh.
Pazhassi Raja – India, fought against British Raj in south India (Kerala) with guerrilla war tactics.
Bass Reeves – United States, the first black deputy U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi River. He worked mostly in Arkansas and the Oklahoma Territory. During his long career, he was credited with arresting more than 3,000 felons. He shot and killed 14 outlaws in self-defense.
Manuel Rodríguez – Chile, lawyer and people's hero, who fought the Spanish with often nothing more than crafty disguises.
Louis Riel – Canada, founder of Manitoba, led two rebellions against the Dominion of Canada.
Dorus Rijkers – 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.
José Rizal – Philippines, a critic of the Spanish colonizers, was executed at Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park).
Samuel Steele – Canada, a Mountie who brought peace to the Canadian West and law and order to Yukon, preventing bloodshed between the First Nation peoples and the settler peoples of Canada.
Ludvík Svoboda – Czechoslovakia, general and politician who fought in both World Wars.[38][39]
Tamanend – United States, a Native American 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 expansion of white settlers into Native American lands.
Ten Tigers of Canton – China, group of ten prominent fighters in Southern China.
Koba – Georgia, folk hero whose legend bears a resemblance to Robin Hood.
Joe Magarac – United States, steelworker made of steel.
Kintarō – Japan, legendary figure often depicted as a very young boy with superhuman strength.
Momotarō – Japan, legendary figure from the Edo period who defeated a band of ogres with the help of three animal companions (dog, monkey and pheasant).
Baron Münchausen – Germany, "Baron of lies", rode cannonball and went to the moon.
^Nojonen, Matti (2009). Jymäyttämisen taito. Strategiaoppeja muinaisesta Kiinasta [The Art of Deception. Strategy lessons from Ancient China. Helsinki, Finland: Gaudeamus. ISBN978-952-495-089-3.
^Stephen Feinstein; (2009) Marco Polo: Amazing Adventures in China (Great Explorers of the World) p. 23–24; Enslow Pub Inc, ISBN1-59845-103-0
^John H. Stubbs, Robert G. Thomson; Architectural Conservation in Asia: National Experiences and Practice p. 30; Routledge, ISBN1-138-92610-8
^Tao, Jing-Shen (2009). "The Move to the South and the Reign of Kao-tsung". In Paul Jakov Smith; Denis C. Twitchett (eds.). The Cambridge History of China: Volume 5, The Sung dynasty and Its Precursors, 907–1279. Cambridge University Press. pp. 644–709. ISBN978-0-521-81248-1.
^Brooks, Constant (1991). Antonio Panizzi: Scholar and Patriot. "Chapter VIII. Panizzi and Garibaldi. The Kingdom of Italy". Manchester University Press. p. 133.
^Bouchard, Norma (2005). Risorgimento in Modern Italian Culture: Revisiting the Nineteenth-Century Past in History, Narrative, and Cinema. Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. p. 76. ISBN9780838640548.
