History Main / LivingLegend

* "[[Film/IronMan I am Iron Man.]]"

* V, from ''VForVendetta'', deliberately invokes this in order to bring down the Norsefire government.

* The ''PrinceOfPersia'' toils in obscurity [[hottip:**:Well, as much obscurity as any prince can achieve.]] during "Sands of Time" and "Warrior Within", but he returns to his home and becomes beloved by the people as a liberating hero in "The Two Thrones".

* By the end of ''ArmyOfDarkness'', Ash (housewares) has achieved legendary status, so he claims, among the people of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercia Mercia.]] They wanted to make him king. In his own way, he is king.

** Captain "Dreadnought" Foster is ultra-famous and lots of people aboard the "Indy" admire him immensely, young Horatio included. Pellew is reluctant to join in heaping praise on him and doesn't like Horatio's boundless glorification of him. Hornblower's admiration for Foster is dashed when Foster insists on taking meat from a supply ship under Hornblower's command, which is still under quarantine for plague, and Foster becomes a BrokenPedestal for him.

* ''{{Firefly}}:'' Jaaayne, the man they call Jaaayne.

Some people become famous. They're well known, even if not very much is known about them. The LivingLegend is FamedInStory.

Some famous people are famous for specific things. Some are infamous. Regardless, they actually did, can do, or were present at specific events. The LivingLegend is famous because of where he's been, who he's been, who he's been with, and/or what he can do.

The LivingLegend is respected for these things. Wherever he goes, people recognize him and buy him drinks. They ask him if he really did all those things. They want to know what it was like being where he was. They ask him to demonstrate his prowess.

This is a person whose reputation makes him larger than life even in his own time. The LivingLegend can run the gamut from hero to villain, truth to lie, professional to amateur. The point isn't whether his reputation is deserved, but that he has it.

If the LivingLegend doesn't deserve his reputation, he's NoHeroToHisValet. If he deliberately plays up his false reputation, he's MilesGloriosus. If someone else is doing this for him, he's the FakeUltimateHero.

Sometimes the LivingLegend's reputation is non-specific and he's ShroudedInMyth. Sometimes it's very specific and everyone calls him [[NeverLiveItDown "The Butcher of X"]].

When he shows up to ruin a protagonist's day, TheAce will often be hailed as a LivingLegend by his legion of squeeing fans.

* In ''VideoGame/Pokemon/Black2AndWhite2'', Sabrina (the former Saffron City Gym Leader from the original game) has started an acting career and has become quite a celebrity in Unova because of it. A lot of people at [=PokeStar=] Studios admire her, and a guy at the PWT calls her "Queen Sabrina".

* In ''Pokemon/Black2AndWhite2'', Sabrina (the former Saffron City Gym Leader from the original game) has started an acting career and has become quite a celebrity in Unova because of it. A lot of people at [=PokeStar=] Studios admire her, and a guy at the PWT calls her "Queen Sabrina".

* In ''Pokemon/BlackTwoAndWhiteTwo'', Sabrina (the former Saffron City Gym Leader from the original game) has started an acting career and has become quite a celebrity in Unova because of it. A lot of people at PokeStar Studios admire her, and a guy at the PWT calls her "Queen Sabrina".

* ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'': Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox is quite well known. Not necessarily for good things. He ''is'' [[TakeThat a politician]], after all.

* This happens quite often in ''Naruto''. For example, Konoha had the Sannin, the Yellow Flash, the White Fang, the First Hokage, etc. They were definitely living legends when they were in their prime. Naruto himself counts as this as well, at this point in the manga.

* By the end of their respective games, the Warden in ''DragonAge: Origins'' and the Champion in ''DragonAgeII'' are internationally famous, in a quasi-medieval society that can't use magic for fast communications. That's impressive just for its difficulty.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX:'' Yuna starts out known as the daughter of the last summoner to defeat Sin. She's famous as the one to permanently defeat it [[FinalFantasyX2 after that]].

* By the sequel Ben10AlienForce, [[{{Ben10}} 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 :

** Also in the Metal Gear Series, there is "The Boss" the Legendary Soldier that definitely won World War 2, "Big Boss" the Legendary Mercenary who ended up establishing the general political atmosphere of the Cold War Era, and Solid Snake's own title was the "Legendary Hero" for defeating countless rogue terrorist cells among others.

* In AvatarTheLastAirbender, Avatar Aang became a living legend after single-handedly defeating the Fire Nation.

* ''{{Watchmen}}'' deconstructs this and explores both the positive and negative effects of Living Legends, particularly the dehumanizing and demoralizing presence of Doctor Manhattan.

* While many try to exemplify this trope, SalvadorDali is one of the few artists to use it. [[DeadArtistsAreBetter Many artists become popular only after their death]], but Dali lived to see his work appreciated extensively and even a museum erected in his honour. Even outside of the art world, he was a well-known personality and socialite in his time, sure to be recognized wherever he went (although his iconic appearance probably helped with that).

* ''{{Diablo}}'': The hero of the first game was only really known in the one very small town. Of the second, much more widely known and thus deserving of the title Living Legend.

* Most Living Legends are people who have risen to a celebrity status that is so enormous that it literally become LargerThanLife. They are either living legends because of one or more hugely famous deeds or events that have given them their iconic/heroic/infamous/cult/mystique status or due to their longevity where they have never ever been out of publicity or praise during their lives. FrankSinatra, TheBeatles, ElvisPresley, BruceLee, MichaelJackson are examples of people who were already living legends during their lifetime. Examples of actual living legends at this time of writing are MuhammadAli, Pele, DiegoMaradona, EddyMerckx, NelsonMandela, MickJagger and BobDylan.

* CaptainAmerica / Steve Rogers was already well-known in in the 1940s. But after being presumed dead and frozen for seventy years, he awakens in the 21st century as a living legend, literally.