History Main / ShroudedInMyth

* Hickey, a PsychoForHire gunman and TheDragon for the Irish Mob in ''Last Man Standing'', has this sort of reputation, and seems to hint in one scene that he encourages it.

* [[TheWonderfulWizardOfOz The Wizard of Oz]].
* In a tragic subversion, Elphaba of ''{{Wicked}}'' is branded the Wicked Witch of the West, when every single one of her "wicked" deeds was done in an attempt to do ''good.'' "NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished" indeed.

* In PoulAnderson's ''Virgin Planet'', [[LadyLand a planet of women]], isolated by accident, has legends of these marvelous beings, men. A real, flesh-and-blood man appears, and they conclude he's not marvelous enough and must be an alien. Their [[NoHeroToHisValet realizations of their own unreasonableness]] take most of the novel.

-->--Description of the Spy, ''TeamFortress2''

* There are many different versions of the story of Keyser Soze in ''TheUsualSuspects''. ''Many'', and not without reason; It's a mystery exactly who, if any, of the characters is or is connected to him until the very end, after all. Unlike most characters on here, Soze lives up to the myths.

** The Space Marine Primarchs and the Immortal God-Emperor of Mankind receive this so much that most of the information about them is from stories, generally about how super duper awesome they were, told millenia after they were still active. Due to the [[UnreliableNarrator general]] [[ContinuitySnarl nature]] of ''40K'' continuity, it's [[{{Understatement}} somehwat difficult]] to determine what is true.
* The Compte of Saint Germain and, to a lesser extent, any Godwalker in ''UnknownArmies''.

* When the Basterds are first introduced, we first see AdolfHitler and his subordinates talking about how the [[RedBaron Bear Jew]] is a {{Golem}}. Hitler is clearly very, very nervous and upset. This is ''Hitler'' we're talking about here.

* The theme for Dos Equis beer's "TheMostInterestingManInTheWorld" ads; unlike the Stigs' myths, these are accompanied with (unrelated) film footage: (TMIMITW leads a group of people in evening dress with burning torches into a cave) [[strike:[[TopGear some say]]]] "He once had an awkward moment, just to see what it felt like." (looking at a map filled with "been there" pins) "He can speak [[EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench French]]..." (a giant owl flies in and lands on his arm) "[[BeyondTheImpossible in Russian.]]"

-->'''Captain Jack Sparrow:''' No survivors. [[UndeadNarrator Then where do the stories come from]] [[FridgeLogic I wonder?]]

* Catalina from MyNameIsEarl had quit stripping because she got a guy so excited that he died. Turned out he was a rich guy who was cruel to his workers so they see Catalina as their savior.

* The true identity of ''Greyshirt'' is a mystery, but to the underworld of Indigo City, he might as well be the Boogeyman. His reputation for being impossible to kill (eyewitness reports of surviving multiple gunshots, knife wounds, shrapnel explosions...) led superstitious crooks to worry that he was a ghost come to bring them to justice from beyond the grave. This is supported by the widely held belief that Greyshirt is the long-thought deceased Franklin Lafayette. The wide variety of physical aptitudes he holds, from tremendous brawling ability to dancing that draws comparison to Gene Kelly, and the fact that many experts come to different conclusions when analyzing his romantic history, only heighten his mystique.

**** Strictly, it was Carrot who arrested the dragon and Vimes didn't actually kill a werewolf with his bare hands, but the rest is all true.

** Dresden's most awesome moment by far was, basically, fighting fire with nuclear weapons: when faced with necromancers running around with zombies, he [[spoiler: made a zombie ''tyrannosaur'']] to get past them. Other highlights include killing a faerie queen in physical combat, killing a vampire with dozens of minions in her home by empowering the ghosts of her victims, and, more than once, dealing with ancient supernatural threats at least partially by bringing in mercenaries with guns. It doesn't take much exaggeration to make those sound impressive. And at the enf og ''Changes'', he [[spoiler: kills the Red Court.]] Yes, ''[[spoiler: all of them.]]'' Including [[spoiler: stabbing the Red King, a PhysicalGod, in the eyes and breaking his arm with ''his bare hands.'']]

* In the [[WarGod Bahzell]] series quite a few mentions are made of the fall of an ancient civilization called Kontovar, and how Wencit of Rum was the last white mage who helped people survive. Then they meet him, and he proves that yes, being an ancient wyldmage does make him a badass.

* Arthur from the ''KeysToTheKingdom'' books is an asthmatic 12-year old. By the third book, someone has taken to writing fictionalised versions of his already fairly impressive accomplishments that portray him as seven-foot tall, and looking something akin to a Greek God. Needless to say, people tend to be somewhat disappointed on meeting him in person.

* SandyMitchell's CiaphasCain of the ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' universe is made of this trope. Despite his cowardly, self-serving tendencies, and [[ThinkNothingOfIt his valiant attempts to quell them]], he is regarded as a [[IncorruptiblePurePureness sterling]] [[TheHero hero]] with [[ThinkNothingOfIt touching modesty]]. One religious sect has even proclaimed him to be ''a physical manifestation of the God-Emperor's Divine Will''.

** Dresden's most awesome moment by far was, basically, fighting fire with nuclear weapons: when faced with necromancers running around with zombies, he [[spoiler: made a zombie ''tyrannosaur'']] to get past them. Other highlights include killing a faerie queen in physical combat, killing a vampire with dozens of minions in her home by empowering the ghosts of her victims, and, more than once, dealing with ancient supernatural threats at least partially by bringing in mercenaries with guns. It doesn't take much exaggeration to make those sound impressive.

''*cough* *cough* I can't see a thing in all this myth!''
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** King Arthur isn't an English hero anyway. He's a ''British'' hero. There's no doubt that he's not English (he fought ''against'' the invading Anglo-Saxons), but the issue here probably comes from the fact that many people outside of [[strike:Europe ]]the British Isles don't understand the distiction between "English" and "British". The only known landmark which is generally linked to Arthur himself is in Cornwall (Tintagel), which is now part of England, but is originally descended from the same Celtic roots as Wales is.

** King Arthur isn't an English hero anyway. He's a ''British'' hero. There's no doubt that he's not English (he fought ''against'' the invading Anglo-Saxons), but the issue here probably comes from the fact that many people outside of [strike:Europe ]the British Isles don't understand the distiction between "English" and "British". The only known landmark which is generally linked to Arthur himself is in Cornwall (Tintagel), which is now part of England, but is originally descended from the same Celtic roots as Wales is.

** King Arthur isn't an English hero anyway. He's a ''British'' hero. There's no doubt that he's not English (he fought ''against'' the invading Anglo-Saxons), but the issue here probably comes from the fact that many people outside of Europe don't understand the distiction between "English" and "British". The only known landmark which is generally linked to Arthur himself is in Cornwall (Tintagel), which is now part of England, but is originally descended from the same Celtic roots as Wales is.

* It is shown in ''StarTrekFirstContact'' that people idolized Zephram Cochrane, the inventor of the warp drive as some sort of idealistic man who dreamed of bringing the world into the paradise it would become, but the characters discover that the real Cochrane is an alcoholic, and the only reason he invented the warp drive was to make a ton of cash. Although it is implied that he eventually became somewhat like the legend after being the one who made [[TitleDrop First Contact]] with the Vulcans because of his invention. Since this depiction of Cochrane completely contradicts his appearance in the original ''StarTrek'' (and WordOfGod says that one of the producers did this on purpose as his way of mocking original Trek), many ''StarTrek'' fans consider ''StarTrekFirstContact'' to be DorkAge rather than canonical.