History Main / HermitGuru

* Tibet in the ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' webcomic. He's replaced by [[PandaingToTheAudience a talking panda]] in the anime [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents for obvious reasons]].

* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, when he isn't opening a can on anyone who opposes him as a member of the Elite 4, Bruno trains alone up in the mountains and tries to catch strong Pokemon, such as his massive Onix.

* In ''Literature/SkinDeep'' by E. M. Crane, Honora Menapace is a modern female reimagining of the trope. She is a reclusive bohemian artist who likes to meditate, [[DoesNotLikeShoes often goes barefoot]] and shares her wisdom with the main character Andrea, helping her overcome her life troubles.

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[[caption-width-right:350:[[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld 150 years old.]] [[CordonBleughChef Thank the banana onion juice.]]]]

->''Wisdom is a lot wiser the further away it is; any old thing written down by some bald old man with lots of Xs and Zs in his name is bound, under this rule, to sound more wise than the same thing written by the man next door. This especially applies if the putative wise man lives above the snowline. No-one says "If he's so wise, why isn't he on the beach?"''

* One Creator/CharlesAddams cartoon has a line of people climbing a mountain to consult a guru who is surrounded on three sides by massive banks of 1960's-style computers.

* ''Fanfic/Plan7Of9FromOuterSpace''. [=TuMok=] of Mars relates how he consulted a 900-year old sage on Olympus Mons. After months of {{Ice Cream Koan}}s and WordSaladPhilosophy, he loses patience and bangs the sage's head against the hardest rock he can find. On recovering consciousness, the sage tells [=TuMok=] that he's discovered the wisdom he was looking for. "For it is only when you stop screwing around with this existential rubbish that you ever achieve anything."

* In the backstory of ''Literature/TheLostPrince'', Stefan Loristan once spent an entire night in conversation with a hermit on a ledge high up a mountain in India, and gained a new worldview as well as a renewed sense of hope and purpose after a particularly low point in his life's work.

* ''Literature/ToughMagic'' has Uncle Rick who lives in a mountain and away from town, all by himself; until he invites Yiltry over for the summer in order to help train him.

* The first weapon you can (and must) get in ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' is stolen from a character conveniently named Hermit Gunsmith, who lives in a room in the further end of a hidden cave. If you come back to him, he will take that weapon (if you still have it) and turn it in the best one of the game.

** This has continued in eastern Christianity. A Russian equivalent is the ''starets'', the elder who lives as a hermit and grows in wisdom and holiness, until he is sought out for his guidance (and by then, is usually willing to break his isolation).
* In the eighteenth and nineteenth century non-religious hermits were employed by the owners of stately homes in order to provide a living feature to a folly. Some "ornamental hermits" are still employed today for the purpose of novelty.

* ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'': Sahasrahla is an ancient, secluded wise who lives in the Eastern Palace rather than just near it and forks over the Pendant of Courage. In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast the game]]'', Link must defeat the Armos Knights to claim the Pendant; this is mirrored in the comic by soldier mooks crashing the temple.

* [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist L]] is a downplayed version of this in ''Manga/DeathNote'', as he has a nasty tendency of locking himself away and refusing to deal with the world in-person, at least until [[SerialKiller Light]] [[BrokenAce Yagami]] draws him out of his shell... at which point we quickly discover just [[AmbiguousDisorder how lacking he is in social aptitude]].

** [[NamesToRunAwayFrom Alfhedil Elf-Hewer]], master trainer of [[AnAxeToGrind Axe]], lives in the Falensarano Stronghold behind a trapped door.

* Played straight in ''VideoGame/ADarkRoom''.

%%* Annerose von Grunewald from ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' is a female example.

* ''Film/KillBill2'' has Pei Mei, a kung-fu master living in an ancient temple who trained the Bride. He is an evil prick who probably ended up living alone on a mountain because very few people are crazy enough to spend more time in his company than is absolutely necessary.

* OldMaster Dohko from ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' lives in a remote hermitage somewhere in China and oversees the training of the Dragon Saint. [[spoiler: When he finally comes out of retirement in the Hades arc he also restores his former young appearance.]]

* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, when he isn't opening a can on anyone who opposes him as a member of the Elite 4, Bruno trains alone up in the mountains and tries to catch strong Pokemon, such as his massive Onix.

* Baikinsennin from ''Literature/{{Anpanman}}''. He has a house high up in the mountains (complete with natural hot springs) and gives advice to Baikinman on how to defeat Anpanman (that fails thanks to Baikinman's own stupidity).
* [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist L]] is a downplayed version of this in ''Manga/DeathNote'', as he has a nasty tendency of locking himself away and refusing to deal with the world in-person, at least until [[SerialKiller Light]] [[BrokenAce Yagami]] draws him out of his shell... at which point we quickly discover just [[AmbiguousDisorder how lacking he is in social aptitude]].

* DoubleSubverted in ''ComicBook/QuantumAndWoody'' when Eric travels to Africa to learn "The Way of the Black Lion". After the desert guru sends Eric off with a mystic pendant and a quest, he loots Eric's wallet and drives off in a car ''loaded'' with pendants. Then, after Eric confronts the black lion without a fight, the guru reappears and accepts him for training.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Magala is an Amazon witch and seer who lives apart from the rest of the Amazons, but is visited by the queen and others for advice. Her isolation is used against her by Circe who decides she wants to add Magala's magical knowledge to her own and ambushes her and imprisons her mind which she is only able to do without the other Amazons' knowledge due to her isolation.

* One Creator/CharlesAddams cartoon has a line of people climbing a mountain to consult a guru who is surrounded on three sides by massive banks of 1960's-style computers.

* In one gag in the ''ComicStrip/FMinus'' comic strip, a mountaintop hermit offers the advice, "Don't major in philosophy."
* ''ComicStrip/{{Crock}}'' has a guru who lives in a cave, with only his eyes visible to the reader.
* Italian comic strip ''Nirvana'' has a big-nosed, bearded hermit as the protagonist, sitting on a tall rock and having to deal with people asking for advice, a bad poet, aliens, or boy scouts who think he's in need of assistance.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/KillBill 2'' has Pei Mei, a kung-fu master living in an ancient temple who trained the Bride. He is an evil prick who probably ended up living alone on a mountain because very few people are crazy enough to spend more time in his company than is absolutely necessary.

* Played with in ''Film/BatmanBegins''. To be trained by the League of Shadows, Bruce Wayne must pick a rare blue flower and climb to his monastery at the top of a snow-bound mountain. This is presented the same way as this trope, with Ducard presenting Ra's al Ghul as a mentor who will help Bruce seek enlightenment, even though the path he teaches is a lot more antagonistic than most gurus.
* ''Film/SimonOfTheDesert'' revolves around a weird ascetic who has spent 6 1/2 years standing on top of a ten-foot pillar in the desert, praying to God.

* Part of the backstory of the ''Literature/ModestyBlaise'' novels is that Modesty once spent studying with a wise hermit named Sivaji, who taught her to be MasterOfYourDomain.
* In ''Literature/SkinDeep'' by E. M. Crane, Honora Menapace is a modern female reimagining of the trope. She is a reclusive bohemian artist who likes to meditate, [[DoesNotLikeShoes often goes barefoot]] and shares her wisdom with the main character Andrea, helping her overcome her life troubles.
* In ''Literature/MostlyHarmless'', Douglas Adams describes a whole colony of Hermit Gurus- one of whom replies to most questions by running off a copy of her biography, advising that if you read it and do the exact opposite of her choices, you won't end up living alone in a cave, on a mountain, answering dumb questions.

* In one short fantasy story, a rich JerkAss decides he is going to be the first to climb an extremely dangerous peak in Nepal. He runs across a "wise man" in one of the villages at the base of the mountain and makes some comment about how the stupid natives admire the dirty, lazy, almost naked old man, the natives thinking the old man is wise. When [[spoiler:the JerkAss finally, after a great deal of effort, reaches the top of the mountain, he finds the Wise Man there. When the Wise Man asks how he got there, the stunned JerkAss just waves his arm, indicating the climb. The Wise Man says, "You walked??!?"]]
* In the Creator/SamuelTaylorColeridge poem ''Literature/TheRimeOfTheAncientMariner'', the eponymous Mariner visits a hermit in order to beg forgiveness for shooting the Albatross.
* In the ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' series, there is the Good Magician Humphrey, a reclusive gnome-like man who lives alone in a castle, south of the more civilized regions of Xanth. He allows anybody who makes it to his castle (and past a series of tests) the right to receive the answer to any single question, in exchange for a year of servitude (or an equivalent bargain).
* A staple character of the folklore of Asia. In one such tale, ''The Tiger's Whisker'', a young woman seeks the aid of a wise old mountain hermit after her husband has returned psychologically damaged from war. She begs him for a spell to return her husband to his old, loving self, from the cold violent man he's become. The hermit says she must bring the whisker from a living tiger as an ingredient for such a spell. The young woman spends months gaining the tiger's confidence with food and patience before snipping its whisker. When she returns to the hermit he throws the whisker in the fire and when she protests, tells her that if she can use such patience to tame a tiger, surely she can do the same for her husband?
* The eponymous prophet of ''Literature/AlsoSprachZarathustra'' by Creator/FriedrichNietzsche lives as a hermit in the mountains for ten years. The framing narrative begins when he descends to civilisation again, intent on spreading the wisdom he has acquired during his long contemplation. He is less than warmly received by the masses.

* ''Literature/ToughMagic'' has Uncle Rick who lives in a mountain and away from town, all by himself; until he invites Yiltry over for the summer in order to help train him.

* ''Series/DoctorWho''
** K'anpo Rimpoche/Cho Je from the serial "Planet of the Spiders" (also mentioned in "The Time Monster") was a hermit who the Doctor approached in his youth at what was at that point the worst day of his life. Another example is Dojjen in "Snakedance".
** Parodied in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E5FluxChapterFiveSurvivorsOfTheFlux "Survivors of the Flux"]] with the legendary Nepalese seer consulted by our heroes. He complains that they took so long to climb up to him, wants to know the latest gossip, and gets annoyed that they didn't bring something to eat or the latest Creator/ArthurConanDoyle novel. Turns out he's just trolling them--because he doesn't have the opportunity to do that much either. And then he only grants them three words of wisdom, which turn out to be "Fetch your dog." Fortunately, Yaz and Dan [[ItMakesSenseInContext actually know what that means.]]

* The Old Man on ''Series/Millennium1996'' monitors the signs of the Apocalypse from what a one-shot character calls a "Unabomber shack" in the Washington woods.

* Parodied in the ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' adventure games by Herman Toothrot.

* Does [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Jolee Bindo]] count? The old Jedi did live in the Shadowlands for at least twenty years more or less by choice. [[RetiredBadass And he isn't rusty in the slightest]].

* [[WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}} Yen Sid]] takes this role whenever he appears in the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series. In this universe, he's a RetiredBadass who lives in a MageTower on an island floating in space but offers advice to anyone who can actually find him.
* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' has Kasen Ibaraki, AKA Ibaraka-Sen, star of the official manga ''Manga/TouhouIbarakasenWildAndHornedHermit''. This caused a bit of confusion in the Western fandom because the term "''sennin''" was officially rendered into English as "hermit", but Kasen is far from isolated, usually hanging around the Hakurei Shrine and just as active as any other member of the cast. That said, she ''does'' fit the mold in most other regards, including living in a hard-to-reach mountain dojo, and she seemingly didn't get out much before she was officially introduced in ''WAHH''.
* The Guru from ''VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves'', an aboriginal guru who can possess people by jumping on their backs.
* ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' introduces one to the series in the form of Oro. He's an extremely powerful, over-140-year-old master of senjutsu (said to be the fighting style from which ninjutsu sprung from in-universe) who lives in a cave in the Amazon Rainforest with just some animals to keep him company.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'': Sahasrahla is the wise elder of Kakariko Village, who has gone into self-imposed isolation in the ruins of the Eastern Palace, and shares his knowledge with Link when needed.
* One appears in ''VideoGame/BlackAndWhite''; if the player manages to stealthily follow him to his place of meditation, he rewards them by helping [[RuleOfThree three times]] against the opposing god.

* The Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Oranguru, [[MeaningfulName as its name suggests]], is a highly intelligent simian that leads a solitary life deep within forests, where it spends its time meditating and providing aid to other Pokémon in need.
* In most ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' games, you need to find a trainer so that your characters can gain a certain skill level. These experts, masters, and grandmasters often live in quite remote locations.

* A ''U.S. Acres'' cartoon in ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' had Wade seeking one.
* The Old Man of the Mountain in ''WesternAnimation/TheTwelveTasksOfAsterix'' lives, well, on a mountain and gives a riddle to those who can reach him. The riddle is which pile of clothes was washed in Olympus, the detergent of the gods.
* The Guru Kid from ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' is a parody of one

* Zecora in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''.
* [[spoiler: Cuddlywhiskers]] becomes this in ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' after disappearing from Hollywoo life.

** Parodied in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E5FluxChapterFiveSurvivorsOfTheFlux "Survivors of the Flux"]] with the legendary Nepalese seer consulted by our heroes. He complains that they took so long to climb up to him, wants to know the latest gossip, and gets annoyed that they didn't bring something to eat or the latest Creator/ArthurConanDoyle novel. Turns out he's just trolling them--because he doesn't have the opportunity to do that much either. And then he only grants them three words of wisdom, which turn out to be "Fetch your dog." Fortunately, Yaz and Dave [[ItMakesSenseInContext actually know what that means.]]

** Parodied in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E5FluxChapterFiveSurvivorsOfTheFlux "Survivors of the Flux"]] with the legendary Nepalese seer consulted by our heroes. He complains that they took so long to climb up to him, wants to know the latest gossip, and gets annoyed that they didn't bring something to eat or the latest Creator/ConanDoyle novel. Turns out he's just trolling them--because he doesn't have the opportunity to do that much either. And then he only grants them three words of wisdom, which turn out to be "Fetch your dog." Fortunately, Yaz and Dave [[ItMakesSenseInContext actually know what that means.]]

* K'anpo Rimpoche/Cho Je from the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial "Planet of the Spiders" (also mentioned in "The Time Monster") was a hermit who the Doctor approached in his youth at what was at that point the worst day of his life. Another example is Dojjen in "Snakedance".

* The Old Man on ''Series/{{Millennium}}'' monitors the signs of the Apocalypse from what a one-shot character calls a "Unabomber shack" in the Washington woods.

Compare ReclusiveArtist and IntelligenceEqualsIsolation. Sub-trope of TheHermit. Often overlaps with BarefootSage and ToBeAMaster.

The Hermit Guru lives on a mountain, in the desert, or anyplace suitably remote. The guru is usually male, but even the wise witch who lives in a cave could qualify.

* OldMaster Dohko from ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' lives in a remote hermitage somewhere in China and oversees the training of the Dragon Saint. [[spoiler: When he finally comes out of retirement in the Hades arc he also restores his former young appearence.]]
* Muten Roshi of ''Franchise/DragonBall'' fame starts out as this. He eventually gets a turtle, then a woman with alternate identities, then finally one of his students as room mates.

* ''Manga/MakenKi'': Tesshin Kushiya was so awed by Atsuma's Blood Pointer ability that, despite defeating her her, he sealed himself away in a cave on Okino Island in order to [[ToBeAMaster study and perfect the technique]] himself. Over time, he became such a formidable combatant, that not even S-rank Maken users could best him. Yet, he still believes his "fist" is only a pale imitation of hers.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Magala is an Amazon witch and seer who lives apart from the rest of the Amazons, but is visited by the queen and others for advice. Her isolation is used against her by Circe who decides she wants to add Magala's magical knowledge to her own and ambushes her and imprisons her mind which she is only able to do without the other Amazons knowledge due to her isolation.
* ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'': Sahasrahla is an ancient, secluded wise who lives in the Eastern Palace rather than just near it, and forks over the Pendant of Courage. In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast the game]]'', Link must defeat the Armos Knights to claim the Pendant; this is mirrored in the comic by soldier mooks crashing the temple.

* ''ComicStrip/{{BC}}'' had a guru who lived on the top of a mountain, and would often provide a punchline for this three panel, gag-a-day comic.

* Italian comic strip ''Nirvana'' has a big-nosed, bearded hermit as the protagonist, sitting on a tall rock and having to deal with people asking for advice, a bad poet, aliens or boy scouts who thinks he's in need of assistance.

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has Gorakhnath, who looks vaguely like an Indian farmer in late middle age and lives at a small shrine/farm in a valley in the Himalayas. In fact, he's a tulpa (psychic EnergyBeing) rather than a human guru, and mostly just enjoys the peace and quiet. He does advise and teach - indeed, he once taught Doctor Strange (they have certain philosophical differences) - but only people who actually want to learn. Apparently, even being a cosmically enlightened millennia old being does not render one immune to the temptation to give tourists, domestic or foreign, a thick ear.
* ''Fanfic/TheLionKingAdventures'' plays this trope straight with the Hermit of Hekima, a giant golden eagle who can see into the future. He helps Simba, Nala and Haiba in Series Five.

* [[WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}} Yen Sid]] takes this role whenever he appears in the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series. In this universe, he's a RetiredBadass who lives in a MageTower on an island floating in space, but offers advice to anyone who can actually find him.

* ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' introduces one to the series in the form of Oro. He's an extremely powerful, over 140 year old master of senjutsu (said to be the fighting style from which ninjutsu sprung from in-universe) who lives in a cave in the Amazon Rainforest with just some animals to keep him company.

** Ababael Timsar-Dadisun, master trainer of Mercantile, is an Ashlander living in the Zainab Camp, and is one of the richest merchants in the game despite living in a basic yurt.

* Baikinsennin from ''Franchise/{{Anpanman}}''. He has a house high up in the mountains (complete with natural hot springs) and gives advice to Baikinman on how to defeat Anpanman (that fails thanks to Baikinman's own stupidity).

* [[spoiler: Cuddlywhiskers]] becomes this in WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman after disappearing from Hollywoo life.

Compare ReclusiveArtist. Sub-trope of TheHermit. Often overlaps with BarefootSage and ToBeAMaster.