Paul is a Folk character built as an impression of Paul the Apostle, the first-century Christian missionary born Saul of Tarsus around 5 AD in what is now south central Turkey. He was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin and a Roman citizen by birth, educated in Jerusalem under the Pharisee teacher Rabban Gamaliel, and he worked as a tentmaker and traveling preacher.

He is best known for his turn on the road to Damascus, where he was blinded, then restored by Ananias, baptized, and took the name Paul.