History vs. History
I for one get a major kick out of creating and reading lists. Greatest bands of all-time, greatest athletes, awesomest people evah, biggest a-holes of all-time. Anything with the words "all-time" immediately has my undivided attention. The fun and intrigue is never ending. My brother and I would love to create a fighting video game in the style of street fighter compiled with the most badass dudes in history. Each of the characters would have a special move or two that plays to the strength of that historical character. For instance, Theodore Roosevelt would have strong health and, of course, would carry a big stick, or call upon the Rough Riders to win the day. Now to create a game like this, one has to compile the list. These have to be historical characters, so Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer from Predator won't be present but Arnold as himself is more than welcome. We toyed with the idea of combining certain characters, such as Hannibal–Scipio Africanus or Patton–Rommel, but I think that's unfair. Basically I think the best way to sum up this list is "Who do you want to be in a foxhole with?"
3. Alexander the Great
9. Scipio Africanus12. Attila the Hun
Here is the list Davey and I have come up with so far (in order of badassness):
1. Gaius Julius Caesar
2. Genghis Khan3. Alexander the Great
4. Napoleon Bonaparte
5. Hannibal Barca
6. Winston Churchill
7. Frederick the Great
8. Theodore Roosevelt9. Scipio Africanus
10. Saladin
11. Leonidas13. Cyrus the Great
14. Nebuchadnezzar
15. El Cid16. Moses
17. Charlemagne18. King David
19. Charles Martel "the Hammer"
20. George Patton
21. Sgt. Yakov Pavlov "Pavlov's House"
25. Edward I of England
21. Sgt. Yakov Pavlov "Pavlov's House"
22. Flavius Belisarius
23. William of Normandy
24. Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 Crew25. Edward I of England
26. Lt. Audie Murphy
27. Sparticus
28. Pyrrhus of Epirus
29. Sgt. Alvin York
30. Ramesses II
31. Henry V of England32. Sun Tzu
37. Arnold Schwarzenegger33. Erwin Rommel
34. Frederick Barbarossa
35. Cnut the Great36. Charles Lindbergh
38. Cardinal Richelieu
39. Miyamoto Musashi
40. Sir Francis Drake
41. Lord Horatio Nelson
42. Richard I of England
43. Wyatt Erp
44. Manfred von Richthofen "Red Baron"
45. Chuck Yeager
46. Al Capone
45. Chuck Yeager
46. Al Capone
47. Alfred the Great
48. Ferdinand Magellan
49. Henry VIII
50. Georgy Zhukov
input would be appreciated
This site has a nice list of real and fictional bassasses: http://www.badassoftheweek.com/list.html
ReplyDeleteI do think Nikola Tesla and Baldwin IV belong on your list.
Gebhard Blucher didn't break the top 50? It's awesome that you prefer to be in a foxhole with Cardinal Richelieu than Miyamoto Musashi.
ReplyDeleteCortez is missing. He was a jerk, but still pretty tough. I was also going to argue that Nelson be moved up the list. Sure he was missing an arm, but jeeze, he's Nelson!! The more I think about it, though, he may be in the right spot...maybe a little higher, but it's a tough call at to who deserves to be higher, Drake or Nelson. Maybe they could arm-wrestle for it...oh, wait...
ReplyDeleteOn further reflection I think limiting the list to the foxhole idea is a little misleading. I think the foxhole is part of it, but also achievement, leadership, and tenacity, which I think explains Caesar as number 1.
ReplyDeleteCortez is a good addition I think to this list. Richelieu over Musashi does seem a little inconsistent.
How do you not have Adolf Hitler on this list? If nothing other than a early round boss donned in Nazi garb so we can all enjoy the beatdown, he must be present.
ReplyDeleteAlso, George Washington with his special move, the valley forge scourge.
Here's some others: Oliver Cromwell, Leonardo da Vinci, Lenin, Marx.
For the ladies: Joan of Arc. Queen Elizabeth.
If Arnold is in Stallone needs some recognition too.
And how about the three stooges. How many people you know you can take being poked in the eyes and smacked in the face at the same time by two people!