List of historical people portrayed as villains

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This is a list of historical people who have been portrayed as villains in works of fiction.

Many writers of fiction have looked to history to furnish characters and story lines. Some historical figures were bandits or murderers. When these criminals appear in fiction, few quarrel with their villainhood.

On the other hand, some figures may be cast as a villain by virtue of reputations as tyrants, dictators, or because as leaders they pursued policies now considered misguided. Here, one writer's villain may well be another person's hero. In some cases, the reputation given a historical figure by a widely circulated fictional treatment may come to overshadow that figure's historical reputation.

It may be possible for an actual historical figure to become so shrouded in legend that some uncertainty may be generated concerning the actual events of their life. Finally, a historical figure of some notoriety may be used as a namesake or an anagram of a wholly fictional character, just to signify that this character is a villain.

Contents

1 Criminals
2 Military leaders
3 Monarchs
4 Politicians
5 Religious figures
6 Scientists
7 Traitors
8 Other Villains
9 See also

Criminals

Gilles de Rais (1404 - 1440), alleged historical basis for the Bluebeard fairy tale.
Captain William Kidd (1645 - 1701), appears in Captain Kidd
Blackbeard (1680 - 1718), appears in Blackbeards Ghost
Black Bart (1682 - 1722), It is likely that the character Dread Pirate Roberts from the novel and movie The Princess Bride was based in part on Bartholomew Roberts
Dick Turpin (1705 - 1739), appears in Dick Turpin played by Richard O'Sullivan, and portrayed by Tom Mix in a 1926 silent film.
John Wilkes Booth (1838 - 1865), appears in Assassins
Jesse James (1847 - 1882), appears in Jesse James and other films and The Simpsons.
Billy the Kid (c. 1860 - 1881), many appearances, including Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and The Outlaw.
Lizzie Borden (1860 - 1927), appears in The Legend of Lizzie Borden and The Simpsons.
Jack the Ripper (active in 1888 or 1887 - 1891, depending on canon of victims); many fictional appearances, including From Hell.
Dalton Gang (active 1890 - 1892), villains in Lucky Luke comics.
Al Capone (1899 - 1947), appeared in The Untouchables and in the film Al Capone
Giuseppe Zangara (1900 - 1933), appears in Assassins
John Dillinger (1903 - 1934), appears in several biographical films.
Leopold and Loeb (1904 - 1971 and 1905 - 1936 respectively). In 1956, Meyer Levin revisited the Leopold and Loeb case in his novel Compulsion, a fictionalized version of the actual events in which the names of the pair were changed to "Steiner and Strauss." Three years later, the novel was made into a film (also called Compulsion, directed by Richard Fleischer), in which the leads were played by Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman. The character based on Darrow was played by Orson Welles, whose speech at the film's end adopting Darrow's closing arguments was one of the longest monologues in film history. The crime was also inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock's film Rope (1948), and Tom Kalin's more openly gay-themed Swoon (1992) as well as Barbet Schroeder's Murder by Numbers (2002).
Ed Gein (1906 - 1984), Leatherface, Norman Bates, Buffalo Bill and Francis Dolarhyde are part based on serial killer Ed Gein.
John List (1925 - ), appears in
Charles Manson (1934 - ), appears in Charles Manson Superstar , Sweet Savior and Helter Skelter, and partially inspired the character of Z-Man Barzell in Beyond The Valley of the Dolls.
Henry Lee Lucas (1936 - 2001), appears in
Anthony Spilotro (1938 - 1986), appeared in Casino
Lee Harvey Oswald (1939 - 1963), appeared in JFK
Fred West (1941 - 1995), appears in Happy Like Murderers by Gordon Burn
Harold Shipman (1946 - 2004), appears in Shipman
Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (a.k.a. Carlos the Jackal) (1949) - Appeared in the Jason Bourne series of novels by Robert Ludlum.
Ronald DeFeo, Jr (1951 - ), appears in The Amityville Horror
John Ausonius (1953 - ), appeared in Lasermannen - en historia om Sverige by Gellert Tamas
Aileen Wuornos (1956 - 2002), appeared in Monster
Brynn Hartman (1958 - 1998), playing a waitress in the North
Mehmet Ali Ağca (1958 - ), appears in Red Rabbit
Jeff Weise (1988 - 2005), appeared in South Park

Military leaders

Gaius Julius Caesar (102 BC - 44 BC), villain in Asterix comics.
Dong Zhuo (139? - 192), appears in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Cao Cao (155 - 220), appears in Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Attila the Hun (c. 406 - 453), appears as Atli in the Volsunga Saga.
Genghis Khan (1162 - 1227), appears in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Tamerlane (1336 - 1405), appears in Tamburlaine the Great, Parts I and II by Christopher Marlowe
Hernán Cortés (1485 - 1547), appears in The Road to El Dorado
Oda Nobunaga (1534 - 1582), appears in Onimusha
Banastre Tarleton (1754-1833), appears in The Patriot (2000 film) under the name William Tavington
Robert E. Lee (1807 - 1870), appears in Family Guy
Reginald Dyer (1864 - 1927), appears in Gandhi
General Esteban Huertas (1876 - 1943), villain in The Sharpie of the Culebra Cult, a Scrooge McDuck comic from Keno Don Rosa.
Hideki Tojo (1884 - 1948), appears in Tojo's war
Karl Dönitz (1891 - 1980), named in Call of Duty
Heinrich Himmler (1900 - 1945), appears in Monty Python's Flying Circus (as "Mr. Bimmler") and Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Reinhard Heydrich (1904 - 1942), appears in Conspiracy
Adolf Eichmann (1906 - 1962), appears in and God afton herr Wallenberg
Ilse Koch (1906 - 1967), appears in and sequels.
Fritz Witt (1908 - 1944), appears in Waffen SS commanders vol. 2 by Mark C Yerger and named in
Trinh Minh The (1922 - 1955), appears in Graham Greene's novel The Quiet American.

Monarchs

Ramses II (1314 BC - 1224 BC), appears in The Prince of Egypt
Antiochus IV Epiphanes (c. 215 - 163 BC), appears in the Books of the Maccabees and many fictionalized treatments
Empress Dowager Lü of the Han Dynasty of China (regent 195 - 180 BC)
Caligula (12 - 41), appears in Caligula and I, Claudius
Nero (37 - 68), appears in The Monk's Tale from The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer, many more
Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus (161 - 192), appears in Gladiator and The Fall of the Roman Empire
Dong Zhuo, (? – 192), appears in ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms historical novel
Henry the Fowler (876 - 936), appears in the game Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Macbeth of Scotland (c. 1005 - 1057), villain in Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Guy de Lusignan (1150 - 1194), appears in the 2005 movie Kingdom of Heaven.
John of England (1166/1167 - 1216), villain in several stories about Robin Hood (for example Ivanhoe)
Kublai Khan (1215 - 1294), villain in Time Squad; see also What Would Brian Boitano Do?
Edward I of England (1239 - 1307), appears in Braveheart
Edward III of England (1312 - 1377), appears in Cassell's History of England (1902)
Vlad III Dracula (1431 - 1476), first depicted as villain in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula and again in many other works
Richard III of England (1452 - 1485), villain in Shakespeare's plays and other Tudor propaganda
Christian II of Denmark (1481 - 1559), appears in Kristian Tyrann : personlighet, själsliv och livsdrama by Paul J. Reiter
Ivan IV of Russia (1530 - 1584), appears in Laughter! by Peter Barnes and Time Squad
Erzsébet Báthory (1560 - 1614), appears in Daughters of Darkness and The Blood Countess
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821), many appearances, see Napoleon in popular culture
Wilhelm II of Germany (1859 - 1941), appears in The Arms of Krupp by William Manchester and several silent films and The Simpsons
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (1869 - 1947), appears in Italy and Its Monarchy
Emperor Hirohito (1901 - 1989) appears in South Park

Politicians

Draco the law-giver (Archon of Athens in 621 BC), appears in
Pontius Pilate, 1st century AD, appears in Monty Python's Life of Brian
John Ratcliffe (died 1609), ship's captain and early leader of the Jamestown colony, appears in Disney's Pocahontas
Judge George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys (1648 - 1689), appears in Lorna Doone
Maximilien Robespierre (1758 - 1794), appears in many films, series and documentaries about the French Revolution
Andrew Jackson (1767 - 1845), appears in The Buccaneer
John C. Calhoun (1782 – 1850), unknown to appear in any films, but has had many places named after him.
Boss Tweed (1823 - 1878), appears in the film Gangs of New York
William Jennings Bryan (1860 - 1925), appears under the name Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit the Wind
Joseph Stalin (1878 - 1953), appears in Stalin and The Girl In The Kremlin
Benito Mussolini (1883 - 1945), appears in The Great Dictator
Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945), many fictional appearances. Notable examples are The Great Dictator, Monty Python's Flying Circus (as "Mr. Hilter") and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Dr. Ante Pavelić (1889 - 1959), appears in Kaputt by Curzio Malaparte
Tomás Garrido Canabal (1891 - 1943), appears in Graham Greene's novel The Power and the Glory
Francisco Franco (1892 - 1975), appears in Hitler Stopped by Franco
Alfred Rosenberg (1893 - 1946), appears in
Joachim von Ribbentrop (1893 - 1946), appears in Monty Python's Flying Circus (as "Ron Vibbentrop")
Nikita Khrushchev (1894 - 1971), the leader of Brutopia in several Donald Duck stories is a caricature of Khrushchev
Subhash Chandra Bose (1897 - 1945), appears in
Martin Bormann (1900 - 1945), appears in The Bunker and Beyond The Valley of The Dolls
François "Papa Doc" Duvalier (1907 - 1971), appears in Graham Greene's novel The Comedians
Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908 - 1973), in MacBird
Richard Nixon (1913 - 1994), appears in The Assassination of Richard Nixon, Futurama and The Simpsons
Augusto Pinochet (1915 - ), Missing, film based on the life of U.S. journalist Charles Horman, who disappeared in the aftermath of the Pinochet coup.
Idi Amin (1928 - 2003), appears in The Last King of Scotland and Amin.
Joseph-Désiré Mobutu Sese Seko (1930 - 1997), appears in In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz
Saddam Hussein (1937 - ), appears in South Park, cohabiting with the Devil
Slobodan Milošević (1941 - 2006), appears in Family Guy and The Simpsons
Kim Jong-Il (1942 - ), appears in
Muammar al-Qaddafi (1942 - ), appears in Family Guy
Sheriff of Nottingham appears in the Robin Hood mythology
Boris Yeltsin (1931 - ), appears in Family Guy

Religious figures

Tomás de Torquemada (1420 - 1498), namesake of a villain in the Nemesis the Warlock series
Pope Alexander VI (1431 - 1503), appears in The Family by Mario Puzo, amongst other appearances in literature and film.
Girolamo Savonarola (1452 - 1498), appears in The Birth of Venus (Dunant) by Sarah Dunant
Pope Leo X (1475 - 1521), appears in the movie Luther.
Cardinal Richelieu (1585 - 1642), appears in The Three Musketeers
Matthew Hopkins (witchhunter active 1644 - 1647); appears in The Conqueror Worm
Brigham Young (1801 - 1877), the second prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is presented in a villainous context in the first Sherlock Holmes adventure, A Study in Scarlet.
Grigori Rasputin (1869 - 1916), appears in Anastasia, Hellboy, and several films.
Pope Pius XII (1876 - 1958), appears in The Deputy by Rolf Hochhuth

Scientists

Dr. Josef Mengele (1911 - 1979), appearing in The Boys from Brazil and inspiring the character of Dr. Christian Szell (a villainous Nazi dentist) in Marathon Man

Traitors

Marcus Junius Brutus Caepio (85-42 BC), appearing in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and Asterix comics.
Judas Iscariot (died c. 29 - 33), the Bible and other religious texts; fictionalized in Jesus Christ Superstar and The Divine Comedy, many more
Benedict Arnold (1741 - 1801), appears in The American Revolution from 1994

Other Villains

Andy Warhol (1928 – 1987), appears in movies, series and cartoons ^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}
Raynald of Chatillon (1125 - 1187), appears in Kingdom of Heaven
Johann Tetzel (1465 - 1519), appears in Luther
Mata Hari (1876 - 1917), appears in Mata Hari
Max Baer (1909 - 1959), appears in Cinderella Man
William S. Burroughs (1914-1996), the inspiration for the villain in Colin Wilson's book, The Mind Parasites.
Christopher Skase (1948 - 2001), the movie Let's Get Skase
Osama bin Laden (1957 - ), appears in , South Park, Family Guy, etc.
Hanadi Jaradat (1975 - 2003), A photo of Jaradat was the central element in the artwork Snow White and The Madness of Truth