In most of the tales that use this figure, the false hero is the final obstacle to the hero's happiness. These include The Goose Girl where a serving maid takes the princess's place, and makes her a goose girl, The White and the Black Bride where the stepmother pushes the bride into the river and puts her own daughter in her place, and The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward, where the steward robs the young lord of Lorn and passes himself off as him, with the true lord serving a shepherd. In some tales, the false hero appears early, and constitutes the main obstacle to the hero. Vladimir Propp identified it as one of the seven roles he found in an analysis of Russian folktales, but the figure is widely found in many nations' tales.

Cinderella is tested to distinguish her from her stepsisters, the false heroes The false hero is usually punished, and the true hero put in his place. By testing, it is revealed that the claims are false, and the hero's true. The false hero presents some claim to the position. The character appears near the end of a story in order to claim to be the hero or heroine and is usually of the same sex as the hero or heroine.

The false hero is a stock character in fairy tales, and sometimes also in ballads.

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