Fictional Characters from Traditional Tales

This list is comprised of characters from folklore, fairy tales and nursery rhymes. This list emphasizes oral tradition, as opposed to famous characters from books. There is potential overlap with the various lists of mythological characters, since the difference between folklore and mythology is somewhat subtle. In general, folklore takes place on a smaller scale than the grand stories of mythology.
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NameTraditionOther Names
John HenryAfrican-American
Paul BunyanAmerican
King ArthurBritish
GuinevereBritish
MerlinBritish
Zwarte PietDutch
BeowulfEnglish
Jack FrostEnglish
GoldilocksEnglish
Robin HoodEnglish
Little Jack HornerEnglish
JackEnglish
JackEnglish
JillEnglish
Little JohnEnglish
Maid MarianEnglish
Peter PiperEnglish
PuckEnglish(Goodfellow)
Will ScarletEnglish
Jack SpratEnglish
CinderellaEuropean
Santa ClausEuropean
Frère JacquesFrench
RolandFrench
Till EulenspiegelGerman
FaustGerman
GretelGerman
HanselGerman
RapunzelGerman
AladdinMiddle Eastern
Ali BabaMiddle Eastern
ScheherazadeMiddle Eastern
SinbadMiddle Eastern
Pan TwardowskiPolish
Don JuanSpanish