List of culture heroes

A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group (cultural, ethnic, religious, etc.) who changes the world through invention or discovery. A typical culture hero might be credited as the discoverer of fire, or agriculture, songs, tradition, law or religion, and is usually the most important legendary figure of a people, sometimes as the founder of its ruling dynasty.

Abenaki mythology

 * Bedig-wajo (southern)
 * Glooscap
 * Ktaden (western)

Abrahamic Mythology (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)

 * Abraham
 * Adam
 * Moses
 * Noah
 * David
 * Elijah
 * The Prodigal Son
 * John the Baptist
 * Jesus
 * Muhammad

Ainu mythology

 * Ae-oyna-kamuy

Albanian mythology

 * Drangue

Armenian mythology

 * Anahit
 * Aramazd
 * Hayk
 * Vahagn

Ashanti mythology

 * Anansi
 * Tano (Ta Kora)
 * Owuo

Australian Aboriginal mythology

 * Bunjil
 * I'wai
 * Wurrunna

Aztec mythology

 * Ce Acatl Topiltzin
 * Quetzalcoatl

Banks Islands mythology

 * Qat

Buddhist mythology

 * Avalokiteśvara/Guanyin
 * Bodhisattvas
 * Bramha/Sahampati
 * Buddha
 * Kṣitigarbha
 * Maitreya
 * Mañjuśrī
 * Śakra

Caroline Islands mythology

 * Isokelekel

Celtic mythology (Irish, Welsh, Scottish)

 * King Arthur (Also English/British)
 * Bendigeidfran (Welsh)
 * Cúchulainn (Irish)
 * Diarmuid Ua Duibhne (Irish)
 * Fionn mac Cumhail (Finn McCool) (Irish)
 * Gwydion (Welsh)
 * Lugh (Irish) or Lleu Llaw Gyffes (Welsh)
 * Oisín (Irish)
 * Pryderi (Welsh)
 * Pwyll (Welsh)

Chinese mythology

 * Fuxi & Nüwa (first people)
 * Suiren (fire)
 * Shennong (agriculture, tea, & medicine)
 * Shujun (animal husbandry)
 * Zhuanxu (sacrifice)
 * Chiyou (metal weaponry & Chinese wrestling)
 * Ling Lun & Kui (music)
 * Yellow Emperor (elegant clothing, zithers, mathematics, astronomy & time-keeping, chariots, kung fu, Chinese culture generally)
 * Leizu (silk)
 * Cangjie (writing)
 * Ning Feng (pottery)
 * Hui (揮, Huī) and Yimou (夷牟, Yímóu, archery)
 * Yao & Shun (ideal rulership)
 * Yu the Great (flood control)
 * Duke of Zhou, Confucius, & Mencius (classic texts)
 * Zhang Sanfeng (Tai Chi)

Egyptian mythology

 * Anubis
 * Bast
 * Bes
 * Horus
 * Isis
 * Menes
 * Osiris
 * Ptah-hotep
 * Ra
 * Set
 * Thoth

English mythology

 * King Arthur (Also Celtic)
 * Beowulf
 * Hengist and Horsa
 * Lud son of Heli (Also Celtic)
 * Robin Hood
 * Sceafa

Etruscan mythology

 * Tarchon
 * Tyrrhenus

Finnish mythology

 * Ilmarinen
 * Lemminkäinen
 * Väinämöinen

Greek mythology

 * Abderus
 * Achilles
 * Aeneas
 * Ajax the Great
 * Ajax the Lesser
 * Amphitryon
 * Antilochus
 * Bellerophon
 * Cadmus
 * Castor and Pollux
 * Cecrops
 * Chrysippus
 * Daedalus
 * Dido
 * Diomedes
 * Eleusis
 * Eunostus
 * Ganymede
 * Hektor
 * Heracles
 * Icarus
 * Iolaus
 * Jason
 * Lycaon (king of Arcadia)
 * Meleager
 * Odysseus (Ulysses)
 * Orpheus
 * Palamedes
 * Pandion
 * Parthenope
 * Perseus
 * Phoroneus
 * Prometheus
 * Theseus
 * Triptolemos
 * Zeus

Hungarian mythology

 * Álmos
 * Hunor and Magor

Inca mythology

 * Manco Cápac
 * Viracocha

Indian Mythology

 * Arjuna
 * Ashoka
 * Barbarika
 * Bharata
 * Bharat
 * Bhima
 * Bhishma
 * Draupadi
 * Ganesha
 * Guru Nanak
 * Hanuman
 * Harishchandra
 * Karna
 * Krishna
 * Mahavira
 * Manu
 * Mamuni Mayan
 * Meghnad
 * Nakul
 * Parashurama
 * Rama
 * Rishabha
 * Sahadeva
 * King Shivi
 * Sita
 * Vikramaditya
 * Yudhishthira

Ho-Chunk mythology

 * Red Horn

Inuit mythology

 * Apanuugak
 * Kiviuq

Japanese mythology

 * Amaterasu
 * Ame-no-tajikarao
 * Fujiwara no Hidesato
 * Izanagi
 * Izanami
 * Emperor Jimmu
 * Empress Jingū
 * Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto
 * Kintarō
 * Kotoshironushi
 * Minamoto no Yorimitsu
 * Minamoto no Yoshimitsu
 * Minamoto no Yoshitsune
 * Minamoto no Yoshiie
 * Miyamoto Musashi
 * Momotarō
 * Nomi no Sukune
 * Emperor Ōjin (Hachiman)
 * Ōkuninushi
 * Ōmononushi
 * Ono no Komachi
 * Sakanoue no Tamuramaro
 * Susanoo
 * Taira no Sadamori
 * Takemikazuchi
 * Takeminakata
 * Takenouchi no Sukune
 * Takezaki Suenaga
 * Takeda Shingen
 * Tsukuyomi
 * Ukanomitama (Inari Ōkami)
 * Urabe no Suetake
 * Urashima Tarō (Urashima-no-ko)
 * Usui Sadamitsu
 * Watanabe no Tsuna
 * Watatsumi
 * Yamato Takeru

Lakota mythology

 * Iktomi

Maya mythology

 * Gukumatz
 * Kukulkan
 * Maya Hero Twins
 * Maya maize god

Mesopotamian mythology

 * Enkidu
 * Gilgamesh
 * Ziusudra

Muisca mythology

 * Bochica

Navajo mythology

 * Changing Woman
 * The Diyin Dine
 * Nayenezgani

Norse mythology

 * Arngrim
 * Bödvar Bjarki
 * Egil
 * Helgi
 * Hothbrodd
 * Loki
 * Odin
 * Ragnar Lodbrok
 * Sigurd Fafnersbane
 * Starkad
 * Svipdagr
 * Thor
 * Vili and Vé

Ohlone mythology

 * Kaknu

Ojibwe mythology

 * Nanabozho

Persian mythology

 * Arash
 * Babak Khorramdin
 * Esfandiyār
 * Fereydun
 * Garshasp
 * Giv
 * Kaveh the Blacksmith
 * Rostam
 * Sām
 * Siyâvash
 * Sohrab
 * Zoroaster

Polynesian mythology

 * Atonga
 * Māui
 * Tangaroa

Roman mythology

 * Aeneas
 * Dido
 * Egeria
 * Caeculus
 * Cloelia
 * Evander of Pallene
 * Founding of Rome
 * Gaius Mucius Scaevola
 * Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus
 * Hercules
 * Horatii and Curiatii
 * Horatius Cocles
 * Janus
 * Lucius Junius Brutus
 * Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
 * Lucretia
 * Manius Curius Dentatus
 * Marcus Curtius
 * Marcus Manlius Capitolinus
 * Numa Pompilius
 * Publius Decius Mus
 * Romulus and Remus
 * Romulus/Quirinus
 * Servius Tullius
 * Silvius
 * Sibylline Books
 * Tarpeia
 * The Rape of the Sabine Women
 * Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus
 * Verginia

Serbian mythology

 * Saint Sava
 * Thracian horseman
 * Svevlad

Slavic mythology

 * Alyosha Popovich
 * Dažbog
 * Dobrynya Nikitich
 * Ilya Muromets
 * Ivan Tsarevich
 * Juraj Jánošík
 * Krakus
 * Mikula Selyaninovich
 * Misizla
 * Nikita
 * Vasily Buslayev
 * Volga Svyatoslavich

Solomon Islands mythology

 * To-Kabinana

Talamancan mythology

 * Sibú

Tibetan mythology

 * Gesar

Ugarit mythology

 * Danel

Ute mythology

 * Cin-an-ev

Vietnamese mythology

 * Âu Cơ
 * Chử Đồng Tử
 * Kinh Dương Vương
 * Lạc Long Quân
 * Thánh Gióng
 * Sơn Tinh

Weenhayek mythology

 * Ahutsetajwaj
 * Tapiatsa

Zuni mythology

 * Ahayuta
 * Awonawilona