History Main / LivingLegend

** The Six Heroes, at least those who are alive, are well-known historic figures that defeated the Black Beast and saved the humanity from extinction. Anyone who recognizes them as a member of the Six Heroes either shows deep respect or fear towards them.
** Jin Kisaragi is praised as the "Hero of Ikaruga War" because he the turned the civil war in Ikaruga around and ended it.

* Rob in ''Literature/AnOutcastInAnotherWorld'' starts to become one [[spoiler:after standing up to The Blight and surviving]].

* Men's singles figure skating has Creator/YuzuruHanyu. Wikipedia has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_career_achievements_by_Yuzuru_Hanyu a staggering list of his professional achievements.]] Podiums and national teams have changed since his senior debut in 2010, but Hanyu remains a constant face as of 2021, still on top of his form despite various (repeated) injuries (that have [[CareerEndingInjury ended others' careers]]) and severe asthma. His second consecutive Olympic medal (2018 Pyeongchang) was won with his ''Seimei'' routine on a reinjured ankle and painkillers. He is also a survivor of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. His aim at this time of writing is to be the first man to land the quadruple axel in competition, an UpToEleven difficult jump that might be BeyondTheImpossible.

* To the women's gymnastics fans of the world -- and its athletes -- Oksana Alexandrovna Chusovitina is this. While it is these days not unusual for an athlete to compete for around a decade, or even longer -- see Beth Tweddle, Catalina Ponor, etc. for proof -- ''nobody'' has been around as long as "Mama Chuso". Her first international elite competition was in ''1989''. She has since gone to seven (read that again: ''seven'') Olympic Games, the first in 1992, and in 2019 successfully qualified for her ''eighth''. And her performance hasn't gone downhill whatsoever[[labelnote:*]]She has fallen in the rankings somewhat simply due to the constant increase in difficulty, but she is still doing the same skills she did in the '90s, almost as well as she did them then[[/labelnote]]; she won silver on the vault at the 2011 world championships and made the Olympic vault finals in both London and Rio. At 37 and ''41''. In a sport where women's careers have roughly the lifespan of a gnat and tend to be over by the time the gymnast hits her mid-20s, she is not just extraordinary but in fact in violation of all known laws of physics. To put this in perspective, when she made her international debut, most of her current competition had not yet been ''born''.[[note]]In Rio, the rest of the gold-medal winning Team USA called their captain Aly Raisman "Grandma Aly". Aly, all of ''22'' at the time, was born two years ''after'' Chuso's Olympic debut.[[/note]] She can literally say that she's been doing this since her opponents were in diapers.

For those who remember the legend before he was and still don't see him as one, see NoHeroToHisValet. If he deliberately plays up a false reputation, he's MilesGloriosus. If someone else is doing this for him, he's the FakeUltimateHero.

** After the events of the first game, Garrus Vakarian goes to Omega and takes on the persona of Archangel. That is to say, he went to Space Gotham and became Space Franchise/{{Batman}}.

* In ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' Jack Rakan is a living legend able to destroy pocket dimensions by flexing as well as willing himself back into existence. Negi's father, Nagi "The Thousand Master" Springfield is also this by virtue of being the strongest mage around and saving the Magic World at least once.

* Pick any major leader from ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', and they'll have a lengthy list of acomplishments and victories that will bring recognition and fear wherever they go. But a standout version of this would be Commissar Sebasian Yarrick, whose a legend not only among humans as the Hero of Hades Hive[[note]]such that during the Third War of Armageddon, Space Marines that had been fighting for longer than he had been alive deferred to Yarrick[[/note]], but among the orks that he's slaughtered across his career. The Greenskins say "Old Yarrick" can kill with a glance and is so dead-'ard that not even death can touch him, and Ghazgkhull Thraka (the biggest, baddest ork in the galaxy) considers Yarrick his WorthyOpponent.

** This is discussed in ''Videogame/FalloutNewVegas'' in the Lonesome Road DLC in regards to Legate Lanius. According to Ulysses, Lanius' greatest weapon is his personal legacy as an indomitable warlord feared both by the NCR and the Legion, with Caesar going out of his way to make him more mysterious (thus justifying [[MultipleChoicePast the conflicting details of his past]]). However, this also means that Lanius is deeply afraid of defeat since a single loss will damage his reputation, meaning that by sowing doubt within his mind [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath he can be convinced to retreat]].

** Another Franchise/{{Pokemon}} example: Red certainly qualifies, as by the time of Generation II he has earned admiration throughout the land for single-handedly defeating Team Rocket and becoming the Champion of Kanto. In VideoGame/PokemonMasters, his Sync Move is literally "Living Legend Blast Burn."

* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius:''

* The rogue vampire Seth in ''Webcomic/{{Sorcery 101}}'' cultivates this kind of reputation, including stories that he EscapedFromHell and became the only known DaywalkingVampire out of personal awesomeness. [[spoiler:A lot of it is a smokescreen to throw off the many people who want him dead: he spreads rumours about himself, stole the name and reputation of a much older vampire, and owes his sun immunity to a protective amulet.]]

** ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicII'': The Exile, hero of the Mandalorian Wars.

* To the women's gymnastics fans of the world -- and its athletes -- Oksana Alexandrovna Chusovitina is this. While it is these days not unusual for an athlete to compete for around a decade, or even longer -- see Beth Tweddle, Catalina Ponor, etc. for proof -- ''nobody'' has been around as long as "Mama Chuso". Her first international elite competition was in ''1989''. She has since gone to seven (read that again: ''seven'') Olympic Games, the first in 1992, and in 2019 successfully qualified for her ''eighth''. And her performance hasn't gone downhill whatsoever[[labelnote:*]]She has fallen in the rankings somewhat simply due to the constant increase in difficulty, but she is still doing the same skills she did in the '90s, almost as well as she did them then[[/labelnote]]; she won silver on the vault at the 2011 world championships and made the Olympic vault finals in both London and Rio. At 37 and ''41''. In a sport where women's careers have roughly the lifespan of a gnat and tend to be over by the time the gymnast hits her mid-20s, she is not just extraordinary but in fact in violation of all known laws of physics. To put this in perspective, when she made her international debut, most of her current competition had not yet been ''born''.[[note]]In Rio, the rest of the gold-medal winning Team USA called their captain Aly Raisman "Grandma Aly". Aly was all of ''22.''[[/note]] She can literally say that she's been doing this since her opponents were in diapers.

* Geralt of Rivia: "Franchise/TheWitcher", created by Andrzej Sapkowski.

* [[PlayerCharacter V]] becomes one in the [[spoiler:"Path of Glory" ending]], where they're known as the person who [[spoiler:single-handedly took down the Arasaka tower and weakened the corporation holding the city by the throat.]]

* ''VideoGame/HalfLife:'' The Free Man, Gordon Freeman. Started a revolution in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' just by showing up.

* As appropriate for the setting, TabletopGame/BattleTech features numerous characters who were legends in their eras: Morgan Kell, Natasha Kerensky AKA The Black Widow, Victor Steiner-Davion, Kai Allio-Allaird, and Alexandre Kerensky were all legendary characters known for their skill (and in Natasha's case, being a sex icon) when they were alive.

* Kazuma Kiryu, [[RedBaron the Dragon of Dojima]] and lead protagonist for much of the ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' series. Anyone that doesn't know of him and crosses him [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown does so at their own peril]], and those who do know of him do their best not to, for Kiryu is a OneManArmy who has trashed multiple crime syndicates, triads, and rogue government agencies when they pissed him off. And even if he was only Chairman for fifteen minutes, he's still respected as a leder of one of the most powerful yakuza clans in Japan, even though he's not even an official member for most of the series.

* Kazuma Kiryu, [[TheRedBaron the Dragon of Dojima]] and lead protagonist for much of the ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' series. Anyone that doesn't know of him and crosses him [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown does so at their own peril]], and those who do know of him do their best not to, for Kiryu is a OneManArmy who has trashed multiple crime syndicates, triads, and rogue government agencies when they pissed him off. And even if he was only Chairman for fifteen minutes, he's still respected as a leder of one of the most powerful yakuza clans in Japan, even though he's not even an official member for most of the series.

* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms:'' Elminster, immortal Chosen of Mystra, goddess of magic. Becoming a LivingLegend is easier, of course, when you're ReallySevenHundredYearsOld

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** Jean-Luc Picard is famous across the Alpha and Beta quadrants, although his reputation has been somewhat tarnished after he resigned from Starfleet because he chose to do absolutely nothing (other than caring for his family's vineyard and writing history books) during his retirement.

* By the sequel ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'', [[WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}} Ben Tennyson]] has achieved this status amongst aliens for saving the universe multiple times. And he continues doing more as the story goes on. It reaches a point where, in ''[[Ben10UltimateAlien Ultimate Alien]]'', he actually convinces an overwhelming force of Forever Knights to stop a murdering spree by delivering to their leader a [[BadassBoast speech]] that sums it all up:

* By the sequel ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'', [[WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}} Ben Tennyson]] has achieved this status amongst aliens for saving the universe multiple times. And he continues doing more as the story goes one. It reaches a point where, in Ultimate Alien, he actually convinces outnumbering Forever Knight to stop a murdering spree by delivering to their leader a [[BadassBoast speech]] that resume it all :

* Pick any major leader from ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', and they'll have a lengthy list of acomplishments and victories that will bring recognition and fear wherever they go. But a standout version of this would be Commissar Sebasian Yarrick, whose a legend not only among humans as the Hero fo Hades Hive[[note]]such that during the Third War of Armageddon, Space Marines that had been fighting for longer than he had been alive deferred to Yarrick[[/note]], but among the orks that he's slaughtered across his career. The Greenskins say "Old Yarrick" can kill with a glance and is so dead-'ard that not even death can touch him, and Ghazgkhull Thraka (the biggest, baddest ork in the galaxy) considers Yarrick his WorthyOpponent.

* Athos from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemBlazingSword'' is specifically referred to as a Living Legend in-game, as one of the Eight Legends who fought the dragons in [[GreatOffscreenWar the Scouring]] nearly a millenia before the game starts. [[spoiler: He passes away at the end of the game, living just long enough to help the current generation save the day and give them a cryptic prophecy about [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade their future.]]]]