Kullervo (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈkulːerʋo]) is an ill-fated character in the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic compiled by Elias Lönnrot.
Growing up in the aftermath of the massacre of his entire tribe, he comes to realise that the same people who had brought him up, the tribe of Untamo, were also the ones who had slain his family. As a child, he is sold into slavery and mocked and tormented further. When he finally runs away from his masters, he discovers surviving members of his family, only to lose them again. He seduces a girl who turns out to be his own sister, having thought his sister dead. When she finds out it was her own brother who seduced her, she commits suicide. Kullervo becomes mad with rage, returns to Untamo and his tribe, destroys them using his magical powers, and commits suicide.
At the end of the poem the old sage Väinämöinen warns all parents against treating their children too harshly.