# Most evil Bastage of all time (Game Thread)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649
**Category:** The Game Room
**Created:** [May 12, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649 "2011-05-12T13:46:28Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/1 "2011-05-12T13:46:28Z")
There was a setup thread to obtain the list below. That thread is now closed and no new nominees are allowed
> **[Most EVIL person of all time (Game nomination thread)](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=607184)**
>
> I admit a love of these games/threads. I want to keep them going. đ As was done in the Worst military leader of all time thread: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=585694&highlight=worst+military+leader (winner: Luigi...
In the first elimination round, each player has five votes to cast as he or she sees fit, but cannot cast more than two for a single nominee. The first round will run through Mon. May 16 at noon CST. No vote trading, please - vote on the merits of each nominee. You need not have participated in the setup thread to vote, nor need you vote in the first round to vote in subsequent rounds. Each elimination round will run every 3 days after May 16.
Define âevilâ as you wish. Deliberately leaving it open as part of the game.
Our list of nominees:
Adolf Hitler - Started WWII which resulted in much death and misery. Also had a thing about Jews.
Adolf Eichmann â âBanality of evilâ remains evil
Alfredo Stroessner â Paraguayan dictator, enslaved a tribe (in 1959)
Amon Goeth - Concentration camp guard featured in Schindlerâs List. Had to tone down his character in the movie
Arnaud-Amalric of Citeaux - Papal legate/inquisitor during the Albigensian crusade, egged on the massacre of Beziers.
Attila the Hun - Led rapacious, murderous hordes
Caligula â Psychotic Roman emperor
Carl Panzram - murderer and all-around brutal guy. Others have killed more, or more gruesomely, but Panzram was something elseâŠ
Cevdet Bey - Governor in Turkey of Van, carried out some massacres and attempted some more.
Charles Manson: Evil occultist led a group that killed at least eight people, maybe more. Most notorious serial killer in American history.
Delphine LaLaurie - sadistic slave-owning socialite fond of torture and mutilation
Elizabeth BĂĄthory - Vlad, not the only player in town
Empress Wu - the single cruellest ruler China ever had, no loyalty whatsoever, and coldly using everyone and everything
Erich Ludendorrf: German general who started the rumor of âStabbed in the Back,â helping prepare the way for Nazism
Francisco Solano Lopez: Almost destroyed his âbelovedâ Paraguay
François Duvalier â Haitian dictator and âvoodoo despotâ
Genghis Khan â Possibly tops in numbers killed (40 million)
Gilles de Rais - Child murdering satanist
Heinrich Himmler: Ran Hitlerâs death camps
H.H. Holmes â Sadist who built a Hotel of death traps [H. H. Holmes - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes)
Ibn Taymiyyah - intellectual founder of radical Islam.
Idi Amin - killed 100,000-500,000 countrymen in 8 years
Ilse Koch, Bitch of Buchenwald - wife of commandant at concentration camps; took money from inmates; made lampshades etc. from their tattooed skin
Irma Grese, Bitch of Belsen - Sr Supervisor at Auschwitz; tortured women prisoners with attack dogs, whippings
Isabella of Castile - helped create and oversee the Spanish Inquisition
Ivan the Terrible - had thousands tortured and killed in The Massacre of Novgorod; beat his pregnant DIL, causing a miscarriage
Jean-Bedel Bokassa â Cannibalistic African dictator
Jeffrey Dahmer: Odious, cannibalistic serial killer
John Chrysostom - influential early exponent of Christian antisemitism
Joseph McCarthy: Destroyed the careers of many by falsely accusing them of being Communists. Lied like a Persian rug.
Josef Mengele - for the win, good luck topping him
Joseph Stalin - Killed millions of his own people and terrorized the rest
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - has that rare combination of long distance mass murderer and up close and personal, hands-on slaughterer.
Kim Il Sung (1912-1994) North Korean dictator
Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria - Stalinâs butcher
Leopold the second of Belgium - cut out the heart of africa and left a 150 years of civil war and genocide
Luigi Cadorna â Worst Military Leader (dis)honoree who literally decimated his forces when they lost
Mao Zedong- capricious, heartless megalomaniac
Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794) Led Reign of Terror following French Revolution
Mehmed Talat â Initiated the Armenian genocide
Nikolai Yezhov-Soviet NKVD head
Pizarro - Inca, were mean mofos and happily killed tens of thousands
Pol Pot - killed 21% of his people
Oskar Dirlewanger, who murdered tens of thousands of civilians commanding an SS unit and horrified his fellow SS officers
Rafael Trujillo â bloody Dominican strongman and personality cult center
Rasputin: Helped bring down the Russian Empire by continually tellling a dimbulb he was the only legitimate authority in Russia;
Robert of Belleme - Anglo-Norman nobleman, notorious for his genuine enjoyment in torturing his opponents to death.
Robert Berdella-Carrot Fucker
Sargon of Akkade - The first imperial conqueror; established the state as an aggressor.
Shiro Ishii - WWII Japanese that was really into âexperimentationâ on people.
Tamerlane - Truly pointless butcher; made ruins of cities and towers of skulls
Tani Hisao - commander of the division most involved in the Rape of Nanking. If anyone could get the name of the winner of the baby bayonetting contestâŠthat would be a good one.
Tojo: Helped bring Japan into World War 2.
Torquemada â greatly expanded the Inquisition; his name became a byword for torture and fanaticism
Trofim Lysenko - Scientific crackpot used Stalin to strongarm opponents
Vasili Blokhin: Personally killed thousands for Stalin
Vlad the Impaler - Estimates are he killed 30 percent of his own people. He was a nasty.
Zhang Xianzhong-Warlord of Sichuan in the 1640s. Reduced the provinceâs population by ninety-nine percent
---
### Author:  [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/2 "2011-05-12T14:25:24Z")
So to help thinking about it, Iâm going to make some categories:
**Tyrants and Conquerors:**
Adolf Hitler - Started WWII which resulted in much death and misery. Also had a thing about Jews.
Alfredo Stroessner â Paraguayan dictator, enslaved a tribe (in 1959)
Attila the Hun - Led rapacious, murderous hordes
Caligula â Psychotic Roman emperor
Empress Wu - the single cruellest ruler China ever had, no loyalty whatsoever, and coldly using everyone and everything
Francisco Solano Lopez: Almost destroyed his âbelovedâ Paraguay
François Duvalier â Haitian dictator and âvoodoo despotâ
Genghis Khan â Possibly tops in numbers killed (40 million)
Idi Amin - killed 100,000-500,000 countrymen in 8 years
Isabella of Castile - helped create and oversee the Spanish Inquisition
Ivan the Terrible - had thousands tortured and killed in The Massacre of Novgorod; beat his pregnant DIL, causing a miscarriage
Jean-Bedel Bokassa â Cannibalistic African dictator
Joseph Stalin - Killed millions of his own people and terrorized the rest
Kim Il Sung (1912-1994) North Korean dictator
Leopold the second of Belgium - cut out the heart of africa and left a 150 years of civil war and genocide
Mao Zedong- capricious, heartless megalomaniac
Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794) Led Reign of Terror following French Revolution
Pol Pot - killed 21% of his people
Rafael Trujillo â bloody Dominican strongman and personality cult center
Sargon of Akkade - The first imperial conqueror; established the state as an aggressor.
Tamerlane - Truly pointless butcher; made ruins of cities and towers of skulls
Vlad the Impaler - Estimates are he killed 30 percent of his own people. He was a nasty.
Zhang Xianzhong-Warlord of Sichuan in the 1640s. Reduced the provinceâs population by ninety-nine percent
**War Criminals (for want of a better word):**
Pizarro - Inca, were mean mofos and happily killed tens of thousands
Oskar Dirlewanger, who murdered tens of thousands of civilians commanding an SS unit and horrified his fellow SS officers
Adolf Eichmann â âBanality of evilâ remains evil
Tani Hisao - commander of the division most involved in the Rape of Nanking. If anyone could get the name of the winner of the baby bayonetting contestâŠthat would be a good one.
Shiro Ishii - WWII Japanese that was really into âexperimentationâ on people.
Luigi Cadorna â Worst Military Leader (dis)honoree who literally decimated his forces when they lost
Mehmed Talat â Initiated the Armenian genocide
Cevdet Bey - Governor in Turkey of Van, carried out some massacres and attempted some more.
Arnaud-Amalric of Citeaux - Papal legate/inquisitor during the Albigensian crusade, egged on the massacre of Beziers.
Tojo: Helped bring Japan into World War 2.
**Other institutional villains:**
Joseph McCarthy: Destroyed the careers of many by falsely accusing them of being Communists. Lied like a Persian rug.
Torquemada â greatly expanded the Inquisition; his name became a byword for torture and fanaticism il
Vasili Blokhin: Personally killed thousands for Stalin
Nikolai Yezhov-Soviet NKVD head
Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria - Stalinâs butcher
Irma Grese, Bitch of Belsen - Sr Supervisor at Auschwitz; tortured women prisoners with attack dogs, whippings
Heinrich Himmler: Ran Hitlerâs death camps
Erich Ludendorrf: German general who started the rumor of âStabbed in the Back,â helping prepare the way for Nazism
**Serial killers and personal sadists:**
Robert Berdella-Carrot Fucker
Robert of Belleme - Anglo-Norman nobleman, notorious for his genuine enjoyment in torturing his opponents to death.
Ilse Koch, Bitch of Buchenwald - wife of commandant at concentration camps; took money from inmates; made lampshades etc. from their tattooed skin
Jeffrey Dahmer: Odious, cannibalistic serial killer
H.H. Holmes â Sadist who built a Hotel of death traps [H. H. Holmes - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes)
Gilles de Rais - Child murdering satanist
Charles Manson: Evil occultist led a group that killed at least eight people, maybe more. Most notorious serial killer in American history.
Amon Goeth - Concentration camp guard featured in Schindlerâs List. Had to tone down his character in the movie
Elizabeth BĂĄthory - Vlad, not the only player in town
Delphine LaLaurie - sadistic slave-owning socialite fond of torture and mutilation
Carl Panzram - murderer and all-around brutal guy. Others have killed more, or more gruesomely, but Panzram was something elseâŠ
**Others:**
Trofim Lysenko - Scientific crackpot used Stalin to strongarm opponents
Rasputin: Helped bring down the Russian Empire by continually tellling a dimbulb he was the only legitimate authority in Russia;
Josef Mengele - for the win, good luck topping him
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - has that rare combination of long distance mass murderer and up close and personal, hands-on slaughterer. (KSM could be in several categories above)
Ibn Taymiyyah - intellectual founder of radical Islam.
John Chrysostom - influential early exponent of Christian antisemitism
---
### Author:  [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/3 "2011-05-12T14:32:44Z")
Iâm going to start off by voting for Tailgunner Joe as least-worst; destroying careers is not as bad as actually killing people. He may well have done that if heâd had the chance, but as it stands he didnât.
Joe McCarthy - 2
Going to have to do some reading to sort out the rest.
---
### Author:  [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/4 "2011-05-12T14:34:06Z")
So, weâre voting them off Evil-Bastard-Island? We donât cast votes for the most evil, we cast votes to trim out the least evil?
---
### Author:  [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/5 "2011-05-12T14:34:55Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#):
>
> So, weâre voting them off Evil-Bastard-Island? We donât cast votes for the most evil, we cast votes to trim out the least evil?
Yep.
Hernan Cortes seems to have fallen off the list after his nomination.
---
### Author:  [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/6 "2011-05-12T14:49:57Z")
Trofim Lysenko : Being a pseudo-scientist is not going to win this game.
Charles Manson: An obvious non-contender against most of his category.
Joseph McCarthy: Lying politician, but not bloody handed enough for the win
Erich Ludendorf: The road to hell is paved with people doing what they believed in.
Rasputin: Opportunist, but wreaked havoc mostly by luck. Would have been quite happy as an average cult leader, just happened to be too close to the Czarina.
---
### Author:  [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/7 "2011-05-12T14:52:37Z")
Yeah, looking at how the list shaped up I could tell my diversity picks were probably going to go out early. Itâs an honor just to be nominated, guys.
---
### Author:  [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/8 "2011-05-12T14:55:15Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#):
>
> Yep.
>
> Hernan Cortes seems to have fallen off the list after his nomination.
Ah hellâŠmust have missed him. Consider him on the list.
---
### Author:  [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/9 "2011-05-12T14:56:25Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#):
>
> So, weâre voting them off Evil-Bastard-Island? We donât cast votes for the most evil, we cast votes to trim out the least evil?
You got it. Vote the lesser evil bastages off the island.
---
### Author:  [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/10 "2011-05-12T14:58:18Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#):
>
> Yeah, looking at how the list shaped up I could tell my diversity picks were probably going to go out early. Itâs an honor just to be nominated, guys.
I like diversity picks. Yea, they get voted off early but who cares? I donât consider this a game to âwinâ for posters đ
---
### Author:  [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/11 "2011-05-12T15:07:49Z")
Pizarro ought to be in the âTyrants & Conquerorsâ category.
Iâm going to vote off:
Pizarro
Attila the Hun
Genghis Khan
Rasputin
Nikolai Yezhov
---
### Author:  [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/12 "2011-05-12T15:38:34Z")
This list can not be complete without Dick Cheney.
---
### Author:  [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/13 "2011-05-12T17:23:51Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#):
>
> So to help thinking about it, Iâm going to make some categories
What about a category for âcreated or popularized a damaging meme or idea,â for those whose evil took root in the minds of others and reverberated after them, into which we could place at least:
John Chrysostom â Christianized anitsemitism
Sargon of Akkade â challenged later kings to build empires by conquest
Joseph McCarthy â Red Scare
Erich Ludendorff â started the rumor of âStabbed in the Back,â helping prepare the way for Nazism
Adolf Hitler â Antisemitism taken to its deranged conclusion as state policy
âŠamong others.
Now that I think about it, Iâm surprised to see so few Roman emperors on the list. Also, Iâve looked around but canât identify a specific individual to bear the brunt of blame for the initiation of the African slave trade â if any one person did get the ball rolling on that, he should _certainly_ be on this list.
---
### Author:  [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/14 "2011-05-12T17:28:34Z")
Just as an fyi to you new peepsâŠyou are allowed to weight a choice as 2 instead of 1.
---
### Author:  [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/15 "2011-05-12T17:31:48Z")
> [@Sailboat](#):
>
> What about a category for âcreated or popularized a damaging meme or idea,â for those whose evil took root in the minds of others and reverberated after them, into which we could place at least:
>
> John Chrysostom â Christianized anitsemitism
> Sargon of Akkade â challenged later kings to build empires by conquest
> Joseph McCarthy â Red Scare
> Erich Ludendorff â started the rumor of âStabbed in the Back,â helping prepare the way for Nazism
> Adolf Hitler â Antisemitism taken to its deranged conclusion as state policy
>
> âŠamong others.
>
> Now that I think about it, Iâm surprised to see so few Roman emperors on the list. Also, Iâve looked around but canât identify a specific individual to bear the brunt of blame for the initiation of the African slave trade â if any one person did get the ball rolling on that, he should _certainly_ be on this list.
I have to admit a particular hatred of Sargon of Akkade. I know, I knowâŠthe tradition would have been started by someone else instead of himâŠprobably. However, if he could have set a good tradition for the first civilzation maybe history wouldnât have been so bloody.
Not only did this bastard conquer to increase hisâŠwhateverâŠbut then threw down the gauntlent challenging future rulers to do the same.
---
### Author:  [@HookerChemical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HookerChemical)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/16 "2011-05-12T21:15:32Z")
2- McCarthy - Compared to the others on this list, Joe is a saint. Heâs a bastard, for sure, but not in the same league as serial killers and mass murderers.
1- Tojo
1- Rasputin
1- Ghengis Khan
---
### Author:  [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/17 "2011-05-13T02:17:02Z")
Glad to see my (suggested by **Elendilâs Heir** nominee CortĂ©s back on the list.
Iâll chime in on:
Joe McCarthy â 2 â easier to condemn him knowing how short-lived the Soviet bloc turned out to be
Rasputin â 2 â but will he keep staving off elimination as he did in life (or at least legend)?
Trofim Lysenko â 1 â but Iâm glad he got a mention, as anyone who doesnât know his name should read up a bit on what a disaster he was
---
### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/18 "2011-05-13T02:25:17Z")
Iâm with **Sternvogel** , with a slight variation on point spread:
**Joseph McCarthy** - 2
**Trofim Lysenko** - 2
**Rasputin** - 1
---
### Author:  [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/19 "2011-05-13T16:27:45Z")
2 for **Joseph McCarthy** - not a nice man, but cultivating fear for personal gain isnât âevilâ as Iâd define it
1 for **Genghis Khan** - ruthlessly efficient, but I actually kind of admire that. He also did some good things.
2 for **Trofim Lysenko**
---
### Author:  [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-bastage-of-all-time-game-thread/581649/20 "2011-05-14T03:13:08Z")
All five for Joe McCarthy though to add to his evilness, he helped Nazi war criminals in the Melmedy massacre get freed over some procedural crap.
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