Scholarly literature has often characterized the popular bandit Chucho el Roto (1835?-1885) in terms of his legend as Mexico's urban Robin Hood, yet no study has attempted to discern how this legend took root and changed over time. This investigation brings together historical documents and literary texts about Chucho el Roto from the 1880s to the 1920s to analyze changing cultural percep- tions of social class tensions in Mexico. It fi nds that Chucho provided a vehicle for both lower and upper classes to critically refl ect on the morality of dominant soci- ety and to unite behind the resiliency and dignity of the oppressed working class. While the earliest literary text from 1889 criticizes Chucho for refusing to submit to dominant social norms and accept his place in the socioeconomic hierarchy, two post-1910 novels celebrate Chucho's banditry as a socialist-inspired political rebel- lion that resists assimilation into dominant political paradigms, including that of revolution.