The Making of a Folk Hero: Gary Faulkner, bin Laden Hunter

(June 15) -- Gary Faulkner's daring plan to kill Osama bin Laden has made him an overnight sensation online. Every folk hero needs a nickname, so headline writers around the world are working to craft just the right one for the California Colorado (see update below) construction worker who was arrested in Pakistan with, among other weapons, a 40-inch sword.

Faulkner went to Pakistan as a tourist and slipped away from his security guard Sunday night, according to police. Officers found him in a forest, carrying the sword, a pistol, a dagger, night-vision gear and a book of Christian teachings. Faulkner told investigators he was on a "mission to decapitate Osama bin Laden," according to Pakistan's Dawn News, which headlined its report "American on 'Hunt Osama Mission' Held."

Lots of other news outlets also went with the hunter theme.

• "U.S. Man Arrested for 'Hunting' Bin Laden" -- Wall Street Journal
• "Armed US 'Bin Laden Hunter' Is Held in Pakistan" -- BBC
• Pakistani Police Detain U.S. 'Bin Laden Hunter' -- Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Others focused not on the hunt but the objective: to kill the world's most wanted terrorist. "Gary Brooks Faulkner, Osama Bin Laden Hitman, Detained in Pakistan" was the headline for The Huffington Post's pickup of The Associated Press' story.

British tabloids -- always going for the jugular -- cut to the chase. From the Daily Mail: "'I'm here to behead Bin Laden': Pakistan police arrest U.S. builder with sword on solo mission to kill Al Qaeda leader." In its article, the Mail also described Faulkner as a "self-styled Rambo." Others used the action hero reference right up top.

• "Bin Laden Mission 'Rambo' Detained" -- The Express
• "Pakistan Detains U.S. 'Rambo' on Private Hunt for Osama" -- The Hindu

"Modern day Rambo ... whats not 2 like bout this!!!!!" Troy Brugger wrote in one of many comments praising Faulkner on the AOL News Facebook page.

"At least somebody is doing something about it!!!," exclaimed reader Maribel Vera de Cosme. Louise Tyrol added, "all it takes is one good man!"

YouTube users have taken notice, too. There's already a parody of an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie trailer titled "Gary Faulkner -- The Headhunter of Bin Laden." (Click here to watch the video.)

The Twitterverse is filled with reactions and wisecracks. Martin Wood managed to scold CNN for naming Faulkner one of today's most intriguing people -- plus work in a reference to the fantasy series about a sword-wielding Scottish immortal -- all in a single Tweet.

"Gary Faulkner as a @CNN most intriguing person? 52, carrying a sword, hunting bin Laden. Terrorism is not an episode of Highlander. #fail"

The bin Laden Hunter. Bin Laden Hitman. Bin Laden Headhunter. Rambo. The Highlander. What will Faulkner be called? How about The Bountyhunting Construction Worker? That's what a blogger on the Dutch website Loewak came up with.

With no photo of the real Faulkner available at the time, Martijn Benders posted a picture this morning of a random guy in a T-shirt and bib overalls holding an electric drill and wearing a way-too-small hardhat. (Is this the image in the Netherlands of the typical American construction worker?) It's a silly illustration of an oddball story, but Benders also made a serious point to go with it.

"A newsitem that makes us laugh, perhaps. This sort of local folklore always does well in the media," Benders blogged. "But think about it: if the same guy would have been captured in the forests outside of Washington on a hunt for George Bush, our media would have obsessed for weeks how it was possible that this 'terrorist' entered the country."

UPDATE: Faulkner's family said this afternoon he was born in California but moved to Colorado in 1968 and that he is 50, not 52, as originally reported.