History Main / ShroudedInMyth

* [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos The Slender Man]]. All that's known, in-universe, is that he's some sort of EldritchAbomination who hunts people that try to learn more about him. In a more meta sense, any author or creator who attempts to characterize Slendy or give him a backstory is going to be shot down, as the community has decided that [[NothingIsScarier he's much scarier when we know nothing about him]].
* [[TheFettered Taylor]]. [[KidsAreCruel Poor]], [[DarkIsNotEvil po]][[CreepyGood or]] [[SociallyAwkwardHero Taylor]]. ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' is built on this trope, and its protagonist gets it literally from the first night she dons a costume. Admittedly [[TheInfiltration she brings some of her wildly inaccurate reputation on herself]] [[spoiler:and [[BecomingTheMask eventually]] starts [[VillainWithGoodPublicity do]][[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans ing]] [[NotEvilJustMisunderstood it]] on purpose to inflate her credibility.]] Her recklessly heroic nature doesn't help either.
** After the story ends, Taylor becomes even more this trope- as one does when [[spoiler:they singlehandedly avert the apocalypse and gain the effective power of a god]]. It's implied that people now call her Khepri, after the Egyptian god.
** The Sleeper is a supervillain spoken of in the same breath as city-destroying, mass-murdering HeroKiller {{Kaiju}}. Up to and including the final chapter we never learn his real name or what his power does. What we do know is that he somehow subsumed an entire (admittedly diminished) world and that even against the final villain, with the GodzillaThreshold left far behind and all previously unthinkable manners of EnemyMine put into play, he's still considered more trouble than is worth bringing him into the fight.

* Myth/KingArthur. Most people who've researched it agree that there is a kernel of truth about a real person in there somewhere, but no one knows exactly what it is after more than 1400 years (the first written accounts of Arthur date to about AD 600) of adding onto the legend.

* In ''Fanfic/AeonNatumEngel'' this is a reason behind the biggest bad moment in the Operation [[strike:It got worse]] CATO: The whole reason behind the invasion of Iceland was to capture Moloch, the dormant Herald. The intelligence presumed that it will only be slightly larger than the {EVA}s, but when it finally surfaced, it was at least as big as the city.

** When she is introduced (via AnachronicOrder) in ''Taltos'', Vlad talks about how Sethra Lavode has gained a reputation as almost a fairy tale villain, known as an evil vampire enchantress who likes to [[BalefulPolymorph change into animals]] heroes that challenge her. All of which is true; she's also been Warlord of the Empire more times than anyone can keep track of, [[spoiler:is older than civilization, and has turned down an offer to become a god]]. If anything, the myths undersell her. She turns out to be surprisingly nice given this.

* ''Webcomic/MushroomGo'' has an interesting example in [[http://www.mushroomgo.thecomicseries.com/comics/59 Mario]]. Yes, ''that'' [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]. On one hand, everything about him is described as legends and myth, as people are too afraid in most circumstances to even get close to "Red Hat." Nobody is sure just ''what'' his limits are. However, as anyone who has played an appreciable amount of ''Super Mario Bros.'' games can confirm, what's described is NotHyperbole - it's an accurate description of what Mario can do in-game as early as ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3''.

* This is a major theme of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', with basically all of the main characters known only through wild mixtures of exaggeration and utter fabrication. The protagonist gets a taste of this after her first involvement in a publicly visible event (partly on purpose, partly due to others taking advantage of her,) which results in [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070226 all sorts of ludicrous rumors circulating]].
** Problem is, those rumors ''werent'' that ludicrous. Agatha DID project a hundred-meters-tall version of herself over the town whose voice DID mess with the enemies, she DID bring down allies 'from heaven' (they decended from a blimp) who DID look like the heterodynes thanks to a hallucinogenic gas. The only inconsistency seems to be the wings. Nonetheless, they exaggerated tone that the soldier was relaying the story (and the words he used) made the story, while technically accurate, seem utterly unbelievable.
** A more straightforward example is the rumors once they reach [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070228 Mechanicsburg]] and the Storyteller relaying to the Baron about [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110504 what people are saying about him]].

* In the AlternateUniverse of ''Manga/{{Ooku}}'', a {{Gendercide}} plague killed off 3/4 of Japan's male population early in the Tokugawa period. By the time of the 8th shogun, Yoshimune, 50/50 gender ratios are out of living memory and the time since they existed has expanded in the retelling from "four generations" to "a couple hundred years" to "in the Heian Era" to "in the time of the gods".

* A similar event happens in ''Comicbook/{{Aquaman}}'', where several kids tell their version of who and what Aquaman is. According to one kid's poorly drawn comic, he's a NinetiesAntiHero with a long beard and a hook for a hand. Another claims he lives a normal life only underwater, even having his own aquadog, and is also a superhero. Another says Aquaman is a giant made completely of water. Again, the funny thing here is that they're all technically correct; Those have all been different versions of the character in continuity before.

** [[Franchise/MassEffect Commander Shepard]] enjoys this reputation in Fanfic/ShepardsRR. After all, he did unite a galaxy of bickering aliens, end a cycle of galactic annihilation that had continued for billions of years, and blew up a sun or two. [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic The Equestrians]] are naturally curious to learn why all Shepard's companions speak almost reverently about him, and once they have access to his biography, they [[TheDreaded realize just who]] [[RememberWhenYouBlewUpASun they're dealing with]].

* ''Series/TopGear'' has their "tame racing driver", The Stig. Some say that he sleeps in a barrel of nitrous oxide... and that he has an irrational fear of staples. All we know is, [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname he's called the Stig]].

* In ''Franchise/FireEmblem'': ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe Blazing Sword]]'' (the first one released in the USA), Karel's final conversation with Dart reveals that the former is said to have killed people by the thousands all at once, laughing as he collects all their swords afterwards. True, Karel is a BloodKnight who's killed a LOT of ridiculously strong people, but he admits that those rumors are too much even for him.

* In ''[[Webcomic/CrystalSun Crystal Sun]]'' one of the protagonists, Balior, is known through rumor and a mangled prophecy as a harbinger of destruction, and is attacked on sight based off this.

* [[TheFettered Taylor]]. [[KidsAreCruel Poor]], [[DarkIsNotEvil po]][[CreepyGood or]] [[SociallyAwkwardHero Taylor]]. Literature/{{Worm}} is built on this trope, and its protagonist gets it literally from the first night she dons a costume. Admittedly [[TheInfiltration she brings some of her wildly inaccurate reputation on herself]] [[spoiler:and [[BecomingTheMask eventually]] starts [[VillainWithGoodPublicity do]][[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans ing]] [[NotEvilJustMisunderstood it]] on purpose to inflate her credibility.]] Her recklessly heroic nature doesn't help either.

* Dalton has a reputation along these lines in ''Film/RoadHouse''. Except that the more ridiculous and out there stories are actually ''true''. Like the time he ripped a man's throat out with his bare hands.

* The theme for Dos Equis beer's "Advertising/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) "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) "[[UpToEleven in Russian.]]"

-->-- '''Series/{{Farscape}}''', "[[Recap/FarscapeS03E02SunsAndLovers Suns And Lovers]]"

* The North Vietnamese fighter ace known as "Colonel Tombs" became a man of legend for his victories during the Vietnam War. The mysterious person rose to prominence when US Navy pilots made numerous encounters with a unique [=MiG=]-17 bearing multiple red victory stars piloted by a skilled pilot. Throughout the war, Tombs allegedly downed 13 American aircraft during the Vietnam War before he was supposedly killed on May 10, 1972. To this day, the Vietnamese government has never disclosed Tomb's identity or if he even existed.

** The reputation of [=ImpSec=] has travelled all the way to Jackson's Whole where Great Houses make up bogey stories about it. (In fairness, sometimes what actually happened was even more extreme. House Ryoval was taken down by a single ImpSec agent? Well, no, actually it was taken down by the Impsec agent's brother, who was being held hostage as bait to draw the ImpSec agent to him, got fed up with waiting for ImpSec to rescue him and rescued himself by kicking Baron Ryoval to death with his bare feet (since he was chained up and naked at the time, not to mention being physically and psychologically battered by days of torture), made a tidy profit out of the adventure, and invested his newfound wealth into rescuing a group of enslaved doctors and funding medical research to make the exploitation of clones (one of Jackson's Whole's major industries) obsolete.

** The reputation of [=ImpSec=] has travelled all the way to Jackson's Whole where Great Houses make up bogey stories about it.

* Jude Hays' conflicting death stories on ''Series/{{Life}}''. [[spoiler:He didn't]].

* The North Vietnamese fighter ace known as "Colonel Tombs" became a man of legend for his victories during the Vietnam War. The mysterious person rose to prominence when US Navy pilots made numerous encounters with a unique MiG-17 bearing multiple red victory stars piloted by a skilled pilot. Throughout the war, Tombs allegedly downed 13 American aircraft during the Vietnam War before he was supposedly killed on May 10, 1972. To this day, the Vietnamese government has never disclosed Tomb's identity or if he even existed.

* [[KarmicThief Omar Little's]] larger-than-life exploits on ''Series/TheWire'' are exaggerated by everyone on the street, and even criminal kingpins treat him and the stories about him with a sort of fearful awe. After [[spoiler:Omar dies in the final season]] a ''huge'' GossipEvolution effect kicks in, turning [[spoiler:Omar being shot in the back by a 12 year old psychopath while buying some cigarettes]] into [[spoiler:an epic LastStand where Omar fought to the last bullet against a whole crew of gangsters with [=AKs=]]]. When one character who knows the truth tries to correct the GossipEvolution, everyone refuses to believe him. One of the last scenes of the show has two random drug dealers continuing to retell the stories to each other, with the tales continuing to get even ''bigger''.

* [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Jim Darkmagic]] (of the New Hampshire Darkmagics), who is supposedly eight-feet tall with flaming hair and a muscular physique.

*** The [[SuperSoldier Space Marines]] are seen as legends by most of the Imperium's citizens. Seeing that the legends are true generally means something bad is going down.

* The Comte de Saint-Germain and, to a lesser extent, any Godwalker in ''TabletopGame/UnknownArmies''.
* The nature of the [[BigBad Sea Hags]] in ''TabletopGame/FiftyFathoms''. A problem for any party who wants to save the world.

* The lunatic behind [[TabletopGames/HoylesRulesOfDragonPoker Hoyle's Rules of Dragon Poker]] created a fictional myth surrounding the games invention, all the while explaining why it was complete nonsense. Until he revealed it was all true.

* In ''Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG'', Silencia Venomosa's infamous reputation combined with her mysterious nature tended to make her seem less human and more of a living myth, akin to Keyser Soze. There's even a [[TheGhost Keyser Soze]] in the ''Dino Attack RPG'' universe, and there is some [[WildMassGuessing speculation]] that this universe's Soze is actually Silencia Venomosa.

* Master Chief, the main protagonist of ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'', is regarded by the highly religious aliens of the Covenant as a literal demon.
** In fact, the [[SuperSoldier Spartans]] have always been feared by the Covenant as demons, because what else besides a supernatural evil could possibly stand up to the might of the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuys Sangheili]]? ''Literature/HaloGlasslands'' reveals that some of the more superstitious Sangheili even believe that they were actually dead humans brought back to life. The Sangheili focus-character dismisses this until he actually met (read: was beaten to a pulp by) one.

* SteveJackson of Creator/SteveJacksonGames is an intensely private person, considering he put his name (and an all-seeing pyramid) on the building. Even his exact age is shrouded in myth.

* This would be pretty much the entire point of ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor''.
* The wildly conflicting rumors about Vash from ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' become an issue in the very first episode. Even at the end of the series, the fact that a [[ObfuscatingStupidity dorky]], ActualPacifist is the world's most notorious outlaw is still stunning everyone who learns the truth. He finds it useful on occasion to play into the stories surrounding him [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfO7N_IORSo&feature=youtu.be&t=1 seen here.]] Many of the rumors about Vash in the first episode could just as easily describe the 12-foot tall criminal Descartes.
** This culminates in a showdown between Descartes, the bounty hunter Loose Ruth, and (sort of) Vash, with Ruth and Descartes believing each other to be the real deal pretty much solely because they both wear red and have blond hair.
** Later, the conflicting rumors allow a nameless crook to impersonate Vash convincingly because he wears sunglasses and has spiky hair.
** The really scary thing about Vash is that none of the rumors come close to what he's actually capable of.

** One of the rumours happened to be true purely by chance; it described her as a whimsical child, a brat who loves horrible pranks.
* ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'':
** Throughout the series, Jin is dogged by stories of the "Thousand-Man Killer", a title Jin acquired by defeating the previous holder [[spoiler:his master, Mariya Enshirou]]. The rumors were started by the other members of his dojo [[spoiler:who don't know that Jin killed Mariya in self-defense]] and have grown out of all proportion with reality...although Jin's still good enough to defeat almost everyone who tries to challenge him based on that outsize reputation.
** In one episode, a couple of bystanders are rapping about the doings of the ghost of Yoshitsune (a legendary 12th century samurai general around whom similar legends grew in real life), and how he supposedly haunts a nearby mountain. As it turns out in the episode, [[spoiler:it was all a combination of rumors about LastOfHisKind[=/=]TheDrifter Okuru and Jin, the latter of which were deliberately spread by his former schoolmate Yukimaru]].
* ''Anime/{{K}}'' has the Silver King, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Adolf K. Weismann]]. To normal people, he might be an ordinary eccentric billionaire... or a cult leader... or an ''actual god''. Those involved with the Kings and Clans know that he is the First King, and that he is immortal, but not much else, since he's [[AllPowerfulBystander lived in a blimp for 70 years]] without much (if any) contact with anyone. It turns out [[spoiler: he's a sweet guy with not much of a sense of grandeur about himself at all, though he will use his immense power to help others when it comes down it it.]] The OneLetterTitle also might refer to his [[MysteriousMiddleInitial initial]].
* [[TheChick Lucy]] from ''Manga/FairyTail'' is often given credit for things that the rest of the team has done, and it spreads fast so she barely gets the chance to correct those myths. On the flip side, most of the fights she has won are known to only a select few.

* Lina Inverse of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' has an impressive - and mostly negative - reputation, as demonstrated very nicely in the first episode of ''Slayers Revolution''.
** And an OVA features a spell Shrouded in Myth that can summon a meteor. And then promptly demonstrates why the spell is only a legend. [[spoiler:Aiming from space is hard enough that the spell is inaccurate to the point of uselessness.]])
* Kitano Seiichirou in ''Manga/AngelDensetsu''. To hear the legends, he's a ruthless delinquent maniac and a strung-out heroin addict who ''will'' kill you if you cross him and is unbeatable in combat. The truth, however, is that he's an endlessly caring and compassionate boy with the heart of an angel; it's his [[FaceOfAThug unsettling appearance]], along with a long series of misunderstandings, that caused the rumors to spread about him.
* Books on Ancient Belka in ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' speak of the Dark King Ixpellia, a barbaric, war-mongering, tyrant king that delights in death and destruction as he leads his [[NightOfTheLivingMooks undead army]] to conquer any land within his sights. When Subaru eventually tracks ''her'' down in ''[[AllThereInTheManual StrikerS Sound Stage X]]'', she finds... a weary MysteriousWaif who's really sick of all the fighting she had to do during the Ancient Belkan Wars and thus finds her necromantic ability to create single-minded, battle-lust filled {{Super Soldier}}s from corpses [[BlessedWithSuck to be really sucky]].
* Train Heartnet from ''Manga/BlackCat'' has a rather legendary status of having been the strongest member of [[NebulousEvilOrganization Chronos]] and being an extremely competent and strong [[BountyHunter sweeper]]. Criminals were shown cowering in fear and immediately surrendering to an impostor when said impostor showed them his fake ''[[TattooedCrook XIII]]'' tattoo and claimed he was the Black Cat.
* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': DuringTheWar to unite Japan under the Emperor, a certain extremely proficient assassin named Hitokiri Battousai fought for the Emperor's side, and developed a fearsome reputation. His identity was kept secret, so it's easy for hoodlums to claim his identity in the post-war Meiji Period. Nobody ever suspects the mild-mannered, pint-sized eccentric TechnicalPacifist with a blunt sword...Unusual in the sense that Kenshin is [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower actually as good as the rumours say]].
* Kenichi of ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple''. Thanks to [[{{Jerkass}} Nijima]], most of his school believes him to be a badass of epic proportions, pulling ridiculous stunts like knocking out a bear. While he's a very good fighter, he's a ''lot'' more of a wimp personality wise.
* Seiji from ''Manga/MidoriDays'' thanks to his friend who constantly spreads rumors.
* Papillon from ''Manga/BusoRenkin'' becomes an urban legend.
* Legendary dog Plue, from ''Manga/RaveMaster'' is a huge mystery to most of the world. They've come to assume he's some great beast hybrid of a unicorn and wolf, much to the horror of the cast.

* Keima from ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'' ''is'' a weird guy deserving of the title [[{{otaku}} ota]]{{megane}}, but his reputation, while partially true, is a little off.
* Guts' existence is completely obscure in ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'', especially when he takes up his Black Swordsman persona after the Eclipse. Before the Eclipse, it was well known that there was a mighty man among the [[FamedInStory Band of the Hawk]] who slayed 100 soldiers by himself, thus earning the title "[[EarnYourTitle the Hundred Man Slayer.]]" His actual name was more well known then, but after the demise of the first band, he became nothing more than myth, but his legendary feats continued to disperse and became so overblown that now a lot of people believe that he killed a whooping ''1000 soldiers'' by himself.
** This leads to a pretty hilarious moment when his companions start talking about the original Band of the Hawk. Isidro mentions that the Hawks' raid leader was an amazing warrior and he wonders what happened to him. Guts' VisibleSilence is priceless.
* The First Hokage Hashirama in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' is known in legend as the God of Shinobi and a badass of epic proportions. [[spoiler:When he is revived via Edo Tensei with his personality intact in chapter 619]], he's... a dorky ButtMonkey not unlike Naruto.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': There is Quincy folklore centring around a prophecy regarding a Sealed King. The prophecy states that the Sealed King will regain his heart after 900 years, his reason after 90 years and his power after 9 years. [[spoiler: Six years before the story begins is when he regains his reason, resulting in the {{Plot Triggering Death}}s of Ichigo and Uryuu's [[TheLostLenore mothers]]. Nine years after their deaths, the storyline's final arc kicks off with the [[TheEmperor Sealed King's]] power being restored, along with the revelation of a hidden stanza to the prophecy: 9 days after he regains his power, he reclaims the world. It turns out a lot of the story ties into this prophecy, even Aizen's actions.]]
* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan,'' rumor said that the Colossal Titan was so large that it had actually stepped over the fifty-meter wall of Shinganshina to get into the city. Eren, one of the few survivors of that attack, tells his fellow cadets that it was actually around sixty meters (still huge even by Titan standards) and managed to break in the door.
* ''Anime/CasshanRobotHunter'': The Black King doesn't even believe that Casshan exists until the end of the first episode, and most of the other characters think of him as a legend until his BigDamnHeroes moment.
* ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'' has the enigmatic Blast, the highest ranked hero in the Hero Association. He never shows up for meetings, has only appeared once in a flashback in the webcomic, [[spoiler:but he surprisingly encounters Saitama and Flashy Flash in a personal mission during the raid of the Monster Association in the manga]]; and [[spoiler:aside from being in a hunt for mysterious black cubes related to God -and meeting Tatsumaki as a kid while securing one of said cubes-, putting the head of the Ninja village in a coma, and being part of a group of heroes from another dimension]], next to nothing about him has been divulged to the reader as of yet. The [[AllThereInTheManual One Punch Man Encyclopedia]] has Fubuki speculating about what Blast's powers could be, which just comes off as [[SuperpowerLottery as a wild hodgepodge of random abilities]], and concluding that he could probably take on every other S-Class hero singlehandedly.

--> Daemon: "You're right, the stories aren't true." ''(Shifter behind him has his arm snap in multiple places)'' "I don't need to look to break bones." ''(proceeds to defeat entire army without moving)''

-->'''Maechen:''' They say that High Summoner Yuna was accompanied by a guardian from, of all places, Zanarkand!

-->'''Future guide''': This is [[RiddleForTheAges for the ages]]. Like [[StockUnsolvedMysteries Stonehenge]], this site will forever be a mystery. Who was Bart? And [[LostCommonKnowledge how did he manage to write his name in solid cement?]]
-->'''Future tourist''': He must've been smarter than his sister Lisa, about whom we know nothing.