These folk ballads also defined a new type of protagonist, now known as the antihero—a familiar figure in film and pop culture, but also an invention of traditional singers. There are many antiheroes today, but before the rise of mass media, the most influential example in British culture was Robin Hood—who is a recurring character in the 305 canonic Child Ballads, playing a key role in 38 of them.
Without Robin Hood, there is no brooding Clint Eastwood in a spaghetti western or ironic Humphrey Bogart running a nightclub in Casablanca. Once again, a powerful cultural trope originates as a musical tradition.
https://www.honest-broker.com/p/how-musicians-invented-the-antihero