A folk hero is a person, who may or may not have existed, and is famous and well liked by people, or people of a certain country. Usually it is someone who helped the common people or fought against the authorities, such as a bad king. People tells stories about folk heroes, most of their stories have been passed down orally, and changed to fit the situations. They usually have a special skill or trait of some sort (Paul Bunyan is very tall).
Some famous folk heroes are:
- Robin Hood (England), who stole from the rich and gave it to the poor people
- William Tell (Switzerland), who killed a tyrant (a lord terrorizing the people)
- Carmine Crocco (Italy), controversial figure of the Italian unification but considered by many a folk hero
- Johnny Appleseed
- George Washington, First President of the United States
- Natty Bumppo
- Paul Bunyan
- Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, First President of Turkey
- Gandhi
- Nelson Mandela, First President of South Africa and anti-apartheid activist
- Simón Bolívar
- John Henry
- Pecos Bill
- Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States during the American Civil War
- Davy Crockett, famous American folk hero who died at the Battle of the Alamo.
- Jim Bowie, famous for his Bowie knife, died at the Battle of the Alamo.
- Paul Revere
- Qutb Shah, supposed Arab-Afghan who conquered large parts of Northern India and sired many tribes.
- Dulla Bhatti who was a popular resistance hero against the Mughal Empire.
- Rai Ahmad Khan Kharal who was a Punjabi freedom-fighter in 1857.