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

Germanic mythology

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

See also

• Culture Hero
• List of folk heroes

References