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)
Ainu mythology
Ae-oyna-kamuy
Australian Aboriginal mythology
Bunjil
I'wai
Wurrunna
Abrahamic Mythology (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) Abraham Adam Moses Noah David Elijah The Prodigal Son Jesus Muhammad
Armenian mythology
Anahit
Aramazd
Hayk
Vahagn
Ashanti mythology
Anansi
Tano (Ta Kora) Owuo
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 (, Huī) and Yimou (, 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
Diomedes
Eleusis
Eunostus
Ganymede
Hektor
Heracles
Icarus
Iolaus
Jason
Lycaon (king of Arcadia) Meleager Odysseus (Ulysses) Orpheus Palamedes Pandion Perseus Phoroneus Prometheus Theseus Triptolemos Zeus
Hungarian mythology
Álmos
Hunor and Magor
Inca mythology
Manco Cápac
Viracocha
Indian canon
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