Game Groups > Fictional character: Hong Gildong

Hong Gildong (Hangul: 홍길동; Hanja: 洪吉童) is the hero of the novel Tale of Hong Gildong by the Korean author Heo Gyun, written in the late 16th or early 17th century. Hong Gildong is an illegitimate child rejected by his family; after his own father attempts to murder him, he leaves his home and becomes a Robin Hood-like character, a bandit who steals from the rich to give to the poor. Eventually he becomes a war minister, and later a ruler of a fictional country he liberated from demons. Hong Gildong is one of Korea's most popular heroes, and his name became a placeholder similar to the English "John Doe".