The son of Zebedee and brother of Andrew. Originally called Simon, he was renamed by Jesus as Peter (Greek) or Cephas (Aramaic). He was one of the twelve apostles, and along with James and John, one of the inner three. Soon after the ascension of Jesus, Peter rose to leadership in the church, but that leadership eventually transitioned to James, the brother of Jesus as Peter took on more of itinerant role.
There are two epistles in the New Testament attributed to Peter and tradition says that the Gospel of Mark was based on Peter’s preaching. There are later works, such as the Gospel of Peter, that are attributed to him, although the scholarly consensus is that there is no connection.
Some Mythicists see Peter, along with all of the Twelve, as purely mythical. This is problematic as Paul describes his interactions with a real Peter/Cephas in his epistles.