Heroes and Champions Coloring Pages
Heroes and champions stand at the center of myth and legend. They are the ones who face impossible challenges, journey to unknown lands, and battle monsters that embody chaos itself. Sometimes they’re born with divine strength, sometimes they rise from humble beginnings, but they always reflect the values, hopes, and courage of the people who tell their stories.
Across cultures, heroes may wield swords, clever words, or even trickery, but all of them step into danger so others might live in safety or learn important truths. From sunlit battlefields to shadowy underworlds, their quests blaze with action, sacrifice, and triumph.
Jump to: Greek | Roman | Celtic and British | Norse and Germanic | Mesopotamian | Polynesian | Chinese
Greek Heroes
Herakles (Hercules)
Herakles, whom the Romans called Hercules, was the strongest of all mortals, the son of Zeus and a woman named Alcmene. His life was full of trials known as the Twelve Labors, which were impossible tasks that meant fighting monsters and capturing wild beasts.
Greek hero Herakles coloring pages
Perseus
Perseus, the son of Zeus and a princess named Danae, was sent on an impossible quest to bring back the head of Medusa. He had a few magical helpers, including a shield polished like a mirror, because the one thing he could never do was look the Gorgon in the eye. He beat her anyway, and the way he pulled it off is the clever part of the story.
Greek hero Perseus coloring pages
Theseus
Theseus, the great hero of Athens, is best known for going into the twisting Labyrinth on the island of Crete to face the Minotaur, a monster that was half man and half bull. The tricky part was finding his way back out again, and the answer turned out to be a single thread from a helper named Ariadne.
Greek hero Theseus coloring pages
Odysseus
Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, was the hero who won with his brain instead of his muscles. His idea of the Trojan Horse ended the war at Troy, but then it took him ten years to get home, and the trip was full of storms and monsters. He even visited the land of the dead. Through all of it there was one thing that kept him going, and it wasn't treasure or glory.
Greek hero Odysseus coloring pages
Roman Heroes
Romulus and Remus
Twin baby boys named Romulus and Remus were set floating down a river in a basket, and the stories say their father was Mars, the god of war. A she-wolf found them on the bank and decided they weren't dinner, and a woodpecker brought food, so the boys grew up in her cave with strong opinions about everything. Romulus was the serious planner and Remus was the cheeky one, and they both thought they should be the boss, which turned into a real problem when it was time to build a city.
Romulus and Remus coloring pages
Hercules
The Romans took Hercules' story from the Greek hero Herakles, but Hercules became far more popular in Rome than the Greeks ever made him, with his own altars and festivals. Soldiers and merchants both prayed to him, and even an Emperor was a big fan.
Celtic and British Heroes
Cú Chulainn
Cú Chulainn was called the Hound of Ulster, and he defended his homeland so fiercely that something strange happened to him whenever a battle got serious. His body twisted and changed in what the Irish called his ríastrad, or battle frenzy, until he became a storm of destruction, and his friends were probably very glad he was on their side. There's a reason his story is remembered as both thrilling and sad.
King Arthur
King Arthur stood for justice and unity. He gathered his knights at the Round Table and carried the sword Excalibur, and his world was full of wonders, from wizards guiding fate to a lady who rose out of a lake with gifts. But his story is a bittersweet one, and there's a reason he's called the once and future king.
Norse and Germanic Heroes
Thor
Thor was the Norse god of thunder, and he was also one of the greatest champions in the old sagas. With his mighty hammer Mjölnir he protected gods and humans from giants and serpents that would have torn the world apart. He was earthy and straightforward, not lofty, and people admired his strength and loyalty more than any cleverness.
Siegfried / Sigurd
Siegfried, who's called Sigurd in the Norse stories, was a fearless dragon-slayer. He killed the dragon Fafnir and ended up with a huge pile of treasure and the odd ability to understand what birds were saying. Treasure in these old stories rarely comes free, though, and this hoard brought trouble of its own.
Beowulf
Beowulf was a warrior who spent his life protecting kingdoms and great halls from monsters nobody else dared to face. His most famous victory came when he beat the monstrous Grendel with his bare hands, which you'd think would be the end of the trouble. But Grendel had a mother, and she was out for revenge, and finding her meant diving into a lake.
Mesopotamian Heroes
Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, was part god and part human, and he was fearless enough to face monsters and even the gods themselves. He took on the fearsome Humbaba in the Cedar Forest and then the Bull of Heaven, but the story that mattered most to him wasn't a fight at all. It was about his friend Enkidu, and about a restless heart that wanted to find out whether a king could live forever.
Polynesian Heroes
Maui
Maui was a daring demigod with a magical fishhook that could lift whole islands up out of the sea. He used it to catch enormous fish and, in one famous story, to snare the sun and slow its path across the sky. He could also shape-shift into animals, and he loved outsmarting the gods, so it's no surprise that he was the one who went after fire for humans, though the way he pulled that off is a story with a few clever twists.
Chinese Heroes
Sun Wukong
The Monkey King, Sun Wukong, was a hero and a troublemaker at the same time. He had a magical staff and could ride the clouds, and he had endless tricks for the demons and gods who got in his way. He even picked a fight with fate itself, which is a bold move for a monkey.