Dictators!

[Donkey]

So this is a game that my friend and I invented basically by accident on a long-ish car ride when we were bored.

The idea is to create a list of nasty dictators/rulers/leaders throughout history.

For instance... I say Hitler.

Then the next person says Mussolini, etc.

Gentleman/woman's honour not to use the super super uber tres obvious ones unless you are in an absolute bind (and I just used two in the example, so muaha). The only rule is that they have to have to be either chronically bad (like a petty dictator) or have committed some atrocious act against humanity that you feel qualifies them. If you pick someone that people might argue about, you might want to back it up somehow. E.g. if I say FDR then I might want to say (Japanese Internment Camps). Also, no limit on how far back into the nether regions of recorded or presumed history you want to go...

Also, might be fun if we linked to their wiki page in case somebody wants to learn more about one they haven't heard a lot about.

I'll start things off with Charles Taylor.

[Michael]

Cool game Donkey!

I offer Maximilien Robespierre

Not officially a dictator, but a defacto dictator and certainly a bloody one!

[Donkey]

I'm really tired so we'll just go with Pol Pot for now.

[Michael]

Today's entry is Tamerlane aka Timur.

The Wiki entry is remarkably sedate given Tamerlane's infamous passion for slaughter.

[SMadsen]

Oh dear, where to start? So many popes.

[Michael]

Originally Posted by SMadsen

Oh dear, where to start? So many popes.

Not many Popes qualify for the title of "dictator" do you think?

Dictator implies absolute civic-political authority. Now "petty-tyrant" might be a title that a lot of Popes qualify for...

[Donkey]

Originally Posted by Michael

Not many Popes qualify for the title of "dictator" do you think?

Dictator implies absolute civic-political authority. Now "petty-tyrant" might be a title that a lot of Popes qualify for...

I would think a few popes held pretty hefty civic authority... *shrug* Plus I think we needn't necessarily take a strict definition of "dictator" either.

Today's dictatorial contribution is Anastasio Somoza.

[bug]

Elizabeth Bathory
Not a dictator, but horrible (and kind of awesome) enough to deserve mention

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countes...h_B%C3%A1thory

[SMadsen]

Originally Posted by Michael

Not many Popes qualify for the title of "dictator" do you think?

Dictator implies absolute civic-political authority. Now "petty-tyrant" might be a title that a lot of Popes qualify for...

The papal position is dictatorial by definition.

That it in sane times doesn't hold political powers is another story

[Michael]

Originally Posted by bug

Elizabeth Bathory
Not a dictator, but horrible (and kind of awesome) enough to deserve mention

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countes...h_B%C3%A1thory

Very interesting! I knew of that family, but not this particular (& gruesome) lady!

Nice to know that our list of psycho serial killers is not entirely without some of the fairer sex...

Originally Posted by SMadsen

The papal position is dictatorial by definition.

Yes, and so is the position of a general (by definition).

I should think that raping, pillaging, murdering, torturing (and lots of it) ought to be the key requirement for inclusion in this thread. Banning condoms, hypocrisy on homosexuality and threatening excommunication alone just doesn't cut it.