A little dissertation help

So I'm still working on incorporating my Princess Bride reference in the dissertation, but I need to come up with some other examples to go along with it and thought you all might be able to help.

Here's the pertinent passage from my current dissertation draft:

"Second, when viewed from the perspective of the whole of salvation history, Satan is not only deceived when he tries to claim Christ on the cross, in a certain sense Satan was deceived in leading man into sin. For it is the ultimate success of mankind that is the final indictment of Satan, and mankind’s ultimate success was only possible following mankind’s struggle with, and Christ’s conquest of, sin. In Ambrosiaster’s account of salvation history, Satan is like the villain in countless tales who wounds a young innocent and consequently motivates the youth to become the hero who will ultimately defeat him."

So obviously the Princess Bride fits, with Count Rugen being Satan and Inigo representing mankind. The problem is I'm having trouble thinking of some of the other "countless tales" that follow the same structure. Can anyone think of some other good examples? I would prefer examples from the classics or classic literature. So far the only other examples Jill and I can think of are all from movies or recent kid's books (Batman, Harry Potter, etc.). While I've enjoyed those works, I'm trying to avoid giving the impression that my cultural knowledge is limited to the last decade or so.

Any ideas?