Hanuman is my favorite figure from the Ramayana. He's very devoted and courageous, not to mention intelligent. And what a personality!

When Hanuman was a child, he mistook the setting sun for a fruit, and as he jumped higher and higher in pursuit of it, he practically learned to fly (there's perseverence for you!).

In the Ramayana, Hanuman serves Rama with all his heart; he joins him in battle against the rakshasa king Ravana, who kidnaps Rama's wife, Sita. As the other warriors build a bridge of stones all the way to Lanka, Hanuman leaps over there to give Sita word. Ravana's people capture him and set his tail on fire, but he simply leaps all over the city, leaving it in flames (except the garden, where Sita lives) and cooling off his tail in the ocean.

When Rama's brother, Lakshmana, is wounded in battle, Hanuman is sent to a mountain to bring the herb that will cure him. Since Hanuman doesn't know which herb, he brings back the entire mountain, as shown in this picture.

And at the end of Rama's exile in the forest, Hanuman flies to the city of Ayodhya to give word of his return.

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