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.
Joan of Arc depicted on horseback in an illustration from a 1505 manuscript. The martyr and saint Joan of Arc is a national hero in France
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.
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
Davy Crockett – United States, an Indian-fighter and Congressman; died as a hero fighting in the Alamo[4]
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
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
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[8]
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)[9]
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[10]
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
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
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
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.
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
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