50 WORST People Who Ever Lived

Ted Bundy

Charming, educated, and outwardly normal, Ted Bundy didn’t fit the stereotypical mold of a monster. His affable exterior was the perfect camouflage. Active in the 1970s, Bundy lured young women by pretending to need help, then abducted and murdered them. He eventually confessed to 30 killings across multiple states, though investigators believe the true number may be higher. His crimes shocked the public not just for their brutality, but also for Bundy’s cold calculation. He would go on to escape custody twice before being recaptured and tried. Even then, his trial was a circus: Bundy represented himself, and the media couldn’t get enough. He was found guilty and eventually executed in 1989. Bundy will be remembered as one of the most infamous criminals in American history.

Ahuitzotl

Power in the Aztec Empire often came at a brutal cost. Emperor Ahuitzotl ruled from 1486 to 1502 and oversaw one of its most aggressive periods of expansion. His campaigns brought in a steady flow of captives, many of whom were used in large-scale human sacrifices tied to Aztec religious beliefs. These rituals were meant to sustain the gods - especially the sun god Huitzilopochtli - whose strength was believed to keep the world in motion. Victims were typically laid on stone altars atop pyramids, where priests tore out their hearts. At the dedication of the Great Temple in Tenochtitlan, thousands of captives were reportedly sacrificed over several days. Ahuitzotl expanded the empire, but through practices that made terror a weapon.

Francisco Macías Nguema

If the decolonization of Africa taught us anything, it’s that independence doesn’t necessarily bring freedom to the people. Francisco Macías Nguema became the first president of Equatorial Guinea in 1968. It didn’t take long for him to convert the young nation into his personal dictatorship. He consolidated power, outlawed opposition, and ruled with an iron fist. Nguema’s regime targeted perceived enemies, including intellectuals, officials, and entire ethnic groups. Mass executions and widespread repression soon followed. But here’s the thing about enemies lists: crackdowns aren’t usually the path to economic success. Equatorial Guinea collapsed as professionals fled or were killed. Estimates suggest a significant portion of the population either died or went into exile during Nguema’s rule, which ended with his overthrow in 1979.

Ilse Koch

Some people are so cruel that they become one of many faces for systemic atrocities. Ilse Koch—the “Witch of Buchenwald”—earned that moniker inside one of the Third Reich’s most notorious concentration camps. As the commandant’s wife, she had considerable freedom and influence. Survivors testified that she rode through the camp, ordered punishments, and had prisoners whipped on a whim. She was also accused of selecting inmates with distinctive tattoos, allegedly to have their skin preserved. Those claims were widely reported after the war, though not all were proven in court. What is firmly documented is her participation in a system built on terror, humiliation, and violence. Convicted by a West German court, she died in prison in 1967.

Augusto Pinochet

Democracy is a much more fragile thing than most people realize. All it takes is one person with the will to take and hold onto power by any means necessary. Augusto Pinochet started that journey with a 1973 military coup, overthrowing Chile’s elected government. His brutal regime lasted until 1990. Pinochet targeted political opponents with imprisonment, torture, and forced disappearances. Thousands of innocent Chileans were killed or “disappeared” and tens of thousands more detained. At the same time, Pinochet reshaped Chile’s economy with sweeping reforms that remain controversial to this day. He eventually stepped down in 1990 but retained influence for years. Arrested in London in 1998 on human rights charges, he avoided trial and died in 2006. He was never fully held accountable.

Hideki Tojo

War crimes don't just happen out of the blue. History tells us that they stem from the culture and choices made at the upper echelons of leadership. Hideki Tojo was one of the key architects of Imperial Japan’s wartime expansion. As prime minister during much of World War II, he helped lead a campaign that stretched across Asia and the Pacific. On his watch, Japanese forces carried out brutal occupations. After the war, the world was horrified by the tales of massacres, forced labor, and widespread atrocities against civilians and POWs. Tojo also suppressed dissent at home while pursuing total war abroad. After Japan’s defeat, he was arrested, tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, and executed in 1948 for war crimes.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Extremist movements don’t just appear fully formed overnight. They’re built, organized, and sold to the public. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was a key figure who turned ISIS into one of the most feared terrorist groups in the world. Declaring himself “caliph” in 2014, he led a campaign of violence across Iraq and Syria. Their mass executions, ethnic cleansing, and the enslavement of minorities—especially Yazidi females —made global headlines. ISIS also mastered online propaganda, using social media to recruit followers. Young men and some women were lured with promises of power, belonging, and a distorted, hyper-violent ideology. Under al-Baghdadi, the group controlled large territories before being pushed back by international forces. He died during a U.S. military operation in 2019.

Yang Xinhai

Some killers operate in the shadows for years, committing anonymous crimes before law enforcement can connect the dots. Yang Xinhai was one of China’s most prolific serial killers, carrying out a series of brutal attacks between 2000 and 2003. He targeted rural households far from prying eyes. Yang would break in at night and murder entire families, often with simple weapons like hammers and axes. He later confessed to killing 67 people across multiple provinces, with many victims chosen at random. The sheer scale and violence of his crimes shocked the nation. Arrested in 2003, he was quickly tried, convicted, and executed within a year, but his crimes were not soon forgotten.

Abubakar Shekau

“Visionary” is a term we usually reserve for brilliant inventors or leaders. But visions are in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes the vision itself is the nightmare. Abubakar Shekau turned Boko Haram into one of the most brutal insurgencies in the world. Taking control in 2009, he escalated the group’s violence across Nigeria and neighboring countries. Under his leadership, Boko Haram carried out mass killings, bombings, and the abduction of civilians. Their infamous kidnapping of schoolgirls in Chibok drew the eyes of the world. Shekau’s tactics were marked by extreme brutality, even by terrorist standards. His rule fractured the organization, leading to internal splits and rival factions. After years of conflict, Shekau died in 2021 during clashes with a rival extremist group.

Mengistu Haile Mariam

Revolutions promise change. Sometimes they deliver terror instead. Mengistu Haile Mariam rose to power in Ethiopia during the 1970s and quickly turned the revolution into a bloodbath. As leader of the Derg, he launched the “Red Terror,” a purge targeting political opponents, students, and civilians. Thousands were executed, often publicly, as a warning to others. His regime also oversaw disastrous economic policies and forced resettlements that contributed to famine and mass suffering. Mengistu ruled for over a decade before being overthrown in 1991. Convicted of genocide in absentia years later, he is mostly forgotten by the West and relegated to history. He should, however, remain a symbol of how revolutionary movements can spiral into repression and violence.

Jeffrey Epstein

Wealth and access can hide a lot, but criminals can get sloppy—and sometimes they get caught. Jeffrey Epstein built a worldwide network of influence that spanned business, politics, and celebrity circles alike. That network facilitated and concealed a vast, long-running system of abuse. Epstein recruited and paid underage victims, then trafficked and sexually exploited them, using money and connections to avoid serious consequences for years. A controversial 2008 plea deal allowed him to serve minimal jail time despite extensive allegations. When federal charges resurfaced in 2019, the case reignited global attention on his crimes and the people around him. Epstein died in custody before trial, leaving many questions unresolved and a legacy defined by exploitation and systemic failure.

Slobodan Milosevic

Nationalism can be a powerful force, and a dangerous weapon of mass violence in the wrong hands. Slobodan Milošević rose to power in the late 1980s and became the central figure in the conflicts that tore apart Yugoslavia. As president of Serbia and later the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, he promoted Serbian nationalism. He backed forces behind bloody wars in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo. He was the not-so-invisible hand behind widespread ethnic cleansing, mass killings, and atrocities against civilians. Milošević was indicted for war crimes by an international tribunal, becoming the first sitting head of state to face such charges. Arrested in 2001, he was transferred to The Hague, where he died in 2006 before a verdict could be reached.

Luis Garavito

Some crimes are so massive in scope, they’re hard to wrap your mind around. Luis Garavito, known as “La Bestia,” is considered one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history. Operating in Colombia during the 1990s, he targeted underage males, often luring them with offers of money or work before abducting, assaulting, and killing them. Garavito eventually confessed to over a hundred murders, with investigators linking him to dozens more. The scale and savagery of his crimes shocked a country thought numbed to violence thanks to drug cartels. Arrested in 1999, he was convicted and sentenced to more than 1,800 years in prison, though Colombia’s legal system capped his maximum sentence to 40 years. He died in custody in 2023.

Peter Scully

Some crimes are so extreme they nearly defy belief. Peter Scully was one such criminal. Operating largely on the dark web, the Australian ran an international network based in the Philippines. He dedicated years of his life to the exploitation of underage individuals. Working with local accomplices, he coerced and abused victims, recorded the abuse, and sold the footage around the world. Authorities said some of the material ranked among the most disturbing they had ever seen. The case exposed how encrypted platforms and global demand can enable such crimes to spread far beyond where they occur. Scully was arrested in 2015 after a multinational investigation and later convicted in Philippine courts. He received multiple life sentences and will likely die in prison.

Gary Ridgway

There is a common trait among successful serial killers: they are social chameleons who evade capture by blending into the background. Gary Ridgway - the “Green River Killer” - terrorized the Seattle area for years; before he was caught, he appeared to be an average Joe. Beginning in the 1980s, he targeted vulnerable women, many of them sex workers and runaways. After killing them, he disposed of their bodies along remote roads and wooded areas. Arrested in 2001, Ridgway later confessed to 49 murders, though he claimed many more. A plea deal spared him the death penalty in exchange for revealing victims’ locations. He is serving multiple life sentences, going down in history as one of the most prolific serial killers in American history.

Charles Manson

Not all killers pull the trigger themselves. Charles Manson built a following and then used other people like pawns. In the late 1960s, he led the “Manson Family,” a cult that carried out a series of brutal murders at his direction. They made international headlines with the killing of actress Sharon Tate, but had already been active for some time by that point. Manson preached a warped ideology he called “Helter Skelter,” predicting a race war he believed the killings would help ignite. Though he did not personally commit the murders, he orchestrated them and maintained control over his followers. Arrested in 1969 and convicted in 1971, Manson spent the rest of his life in prison, dying in 2017.

Reinhard Heydrich

It should come as no surprise that there are so many Nazis on this list, but not all had an active hand in barbarism. The “banality of evil” meant much of it was carried out through sterile bureaucracies and paperwork. Reinhard Heydrich was one of the chief architects of the Holocaust and a central figure in the Nazi security apparatus. As head of the Reich Security Main Office, he oversaw the Gestapo and coordinated efforts to identify, deport, and exterminate millions. He also chaired the 1942 Wannsee Conference, where plans for the “Final Solution” were formalized. Known for his ruthlessness, Heydrich enforced Nazi rule with brutal efficiency, especially in occupied territories like Czechoslovakia. His bloody career was cut short in 1942 after he was assassinated by resistance fighters.

Pedro Lopez

Of all the serial killers you've likely heard of, few were as allegedly prolific as one you probably have not. Pedro López, often called the “Monster of the Andes,” terrorized parts of South America in the 1970s. He targeted underage females across Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador, luring them away before assaulting and killing them. López eventually confessed to a staggering number of murders—over 300—though authorities were only able to verify a fraction of those claims. His case shocked millions, exposing just how vulnerable underage individuals in large swaths of the region were. Arrested in 1980, he was convicted in Ecuador and later released in 1998 after serving time under the country’s sentencing limits. Nobody truly knows the ultimate fate of the Monster of the Andes.

Robert Mugabe

In the long history of revolutions, we see a disturbing pattern repeated again and again. Liberators often either die as heroes or live long enough to become the villain. Robert Mugabe was a revolutionary who helped end white minority rule in Zimbabwe. His decades in power tainted that legacy. As president, Mugabe was known to rule through repression and violence. His Gukurahundi campaign saw security forces targeting civilians in Matabeleland, reportedly killing thousands. Political opponents were said to be routinely harassed, detained, or attacked. During elections, violence and intimidation became regular tools of control. Economic collapse would later define his rule internationally, but for many Zimbabweans his name will forever be synonymous with state-sanctioned violence. Mugabe remained in power until 2017, when he was forced to resign. He died in 2019.

Joseph Goebbels

Modern propaganda wasn’t invented by one man, exactly, but one man helped perfect it. Joseph Goebbels wrote the playbook for manipulating entire populations. He used repetition, emotional appeals, and outright lies to reshape reality for an entire nation. As Minister of Propaganda, he controlled media across Nazi Germany. His campaigns dehumanized Jews and other groups, laying the ideological foundation for the Holocaust. Through mass media and rallies, Goebbels spread hatred with chilling effectiveness. He also played a role in escalating events like Kristallnacht, amplifying violence through coordinated messaging. Fiercely loyal to Hitler, Goebbels remained in Berlin until the end of the war. In 1945, as Nazi Germany collapsed, he and his wife killed their six children before taking their own lives.

Nero

His reputation in modern times speaks for itself. There are several conflicting sources on Nero’s reign in Ancient Rome, but many are negative, and it's clear to see why. He was a compulsive leader who raised taxes and destroyed the value of Roman currency just to build a palace. He also used violence to gain more power, reportedly forcing his supposed rivals to end their own lives and even planning the deaths of multiple family members. Nero’s cruelty expanded beyond his inner circle with his constant persecution of Christians, torturing and killing so many that it was believed he was the Antichrist. While not many official writings have survived the era, those that have make it clear just how awful he was.

Kim Il Sung

It takes a cruel person to take the trust of a struggling nation and use it to subjugate. When Kim Il Sung was installed as the Premier of North Korea following World War II, people looked to him for positive change after Japan’s prior rule. His way of doing this was by filling his cabinet with soldiers and invading the newly created South Korea. The subsequent war led to millions dying across both sides and yet he still declared himself the winner. His rule only got worse from there. He became a dictator, who punished civilians for writing on his photos and imprisoned dissidents in labor camps. It was a dark start to the country; and unfortunately, his successors continued that legacy.

John Wayne Gacy

He seemed like an average man, but beneath the surface lurked a monster. John Wayne Gacy was no stranger to the law. Hed been arrested several times for sexual assault, but dropped charges and sealed criminal records helped him maintain his reputation. Throughout the 1970s, he presented himself as an innocent man who entertained at children's parties and participated in politics. At the same time, he was assaulting his employees and much worse. He tortured and killed dozens of young men and stored their remains beneath his home until his arrest in 1978. Even after being tried and sentenced to death, he showed no remorse, cementing his legacy as one of the worst serial killers in US history.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini

He became everything he claimed to hate. The Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had been exiled from Iran in 1964 for opposing one revolution, but his support for another helped him become more powerful than he could have anticipated. He returned in 1979, and from there enacted his regime. He made several promises ranging from personal freedoms to affordable housing, all of which fell apart. Under his rule, citizens from the United States were taken as hostages; a supposedly blasphemous author had a death warrant placed on him; and citizens rights were rolled back. His megalomania worsened, until he had a goal of converting the entire world to his beliefs. Decades later, his influence is still strong in politics, to the detriment of countless civilians.

Shir Ishii

One may not be able to name all of the perpetrators of atrocities during the Second World War. For the Empire of Japan, one terrible name stands out. Shir Ishii used his previous experience as a scientist to man Unit 731. There, prisoners were forced to undergo cruel experiments, from being infected with various diseases, to being used to test weaponry and the effects of frostbite. Ishiis depraved plans didnt end there. He concocted a plan to spread a plague across the United States via fleas, which fell through after the war ended. To add insult to injury, he was given immunity in exchange for information, allowing him to simply go back to a normal life and ignore the suffering he'd caused.

Albert Fish

He goes by many names, all of which point to his disgustingly violent actions. Albert Fish received national attention in 1934 when he was arrested following his kidnapping, killing, and cannibalizing of Grace Budd. He detailed his gory crimes in a letter to her mother, writing out every step he’d taken in ending her life and then eating her remains. That wasn’t the only macabre note he wrote. In another piece of correspondence with his lawyer, he graphically described how he’d committed a similar yet even more intense act against Billy Gaffney. What stuck out was his apparent glee in carrying out his crimes, as he showed absolutely no remorse up until his execution in 1936.

Heinrich Himmler

He may not have had full power, but he was still pulling the strings behind the scenes. Along with other trusted confidants, Heinrich Himmler helped plan and orchestrate several aspects of the Holocaust. He created and helped run several concentration camps, all designed to be as tortuous as possible. He even devised different murder methods, including the usage of Zyklon-B in gas chambers. In private, he helped convince Hitler to instate a violent police force so that their plans couldnt be impeded. Himmler’s cruelty knew no bounds, with his main desire being to rid Germany of those he believed to be beneath him. When he was finally caught, he took his own life before he could be punished.

Benito Mussolini

He may not be as extensively discussed as his counterparts, but that doesnt make his regime any less awful. Benito Mussolini used his position as the Italian Prime Minister to help dispense a fascist ideology across the globe before the start of World War II. He had insane desires of reclaiming Africa and beginning a new Roman Empire, leading to Libyan civilians being the victims of a mass-slaughter campaign and Ethiopians being subjected to a violent invasion. In his own home country, Mussolini had created a police state that kept citizens from speaking out against him. He ruled with an iron fist until his removal in 1943. He was publicly executed two years later, and his body was desecrated by his former subjects.

Jeffrey Dahmer

There have been several truly awful serial killers throughout American history; and somehow he manages to embody each of their traits. For over a decade, Jeffrey Dahmer terrorized the Midwest. He would find potential victims and take them home, before revealing his true intentions. He would then drug and assault them, before violently murdering and dismembering them. As horrific as that sounds on its own, it didn't end there. He would dismember some victims and keep the body parts, take photos of their corpses to keep as mementos, and sometimes even eat the remains. After brutally slaying 17 people, he was finally caught in 1991 and given 16 life sentences, only to be murdered himself in prison.

Josef Mengele

Several people participated in Hitler’s genocidal desires, but Josef Mengele was one of the most involved. He was originally a researcher and anthropologist, but he pivoted to a much darker role following the Chancellor's rise to power. He was primarily stationed at Auschwitz, where he chose which prisoners would be sent to their deaths. He also treated several inmates like his own personal lab rats, using them to conduct twisted experiments of his own. After the war ended, Mengele managed to flee to Argentina, where he escaped the punishment met by his cohort. He continued to evade capture for decades, until his death in 1979 prevented him from facing any legal consequences.

Jim Jones

Building a following with fake miracles, Jim Jones founded his own church, the People’s Temple, in Indianapolis in 1954. His religion fused Christianity and socialism. In the 1970s however, investigations began to expose abuses within the church, and the methods behind his fake miracles. Deciding to leave the US, Jones founded a secluded commune named Jonestown in Guyana, South America. When Democratic Congressman Leo Ryan visited the compound to investigate in November 1978, he was assassinated, along with defectors and journalists. The panicked Jones ordered his followers to take their own lives. Under armed guard, 918 people were killed, mostly from poison. Jones also died, but from a gunshot that may have been self-inflicted.

Amelia Dyer

Back in Victorian England, women could adopt babies for money in a practice known as baby farming. Amelia Dyer volunteered her services and charged up to £80 per baby. But Dyer did not care for those she adopted. Rather, she killed them. This wasn’t really questioned at the time, as mortality rates were very high in children. Dyer was allowed to continue the practice for 30 years, claiming hundreds of victims. She was eventually caught after a body was found floating in the Thames, and she was hanged on June 10, 1896.

Delphine LaLaurie

A prominent socialite from New Orleans, Delphine LaLaurie owned a mansion on the city’s Royal Street. While she presented a kind face in public, rumors circulated about her cruel treatment of slaves. According to funeral registers, a dozen slaves died at her residence between 1830 and 34. She chased one young girl off the roof with a whip. On April 10, 1834, a 70 year old cook who had been chained to the stove deliberately lit a fire. This led to the discovery of seven horrifically abused slaves chained up in the attic. An outraged mob attacked the residence, but LaLaurie fled to France, escaping justice.

Osama bin Laden

Born into a wealthy family in Saudi Arabia, Osama bin Laden fought against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, before founding the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda in 1988. In the mid 1990s he declared war on the United States for the country’s military actions and continued presence in the Middle East, as well as its support for Israel. In the following years, bin Laden and his organization became responsible for thousands of deaths. This included hotel and embassy bombings, and of course the September 11 attacks. The latter claimed the lives of 2,977 innocent people and injured a further 25,000. Bin Laden became the target of a manhunt and was killed by US forces on May 2, 2011.

Elizabeth Bathory

A Hungarian countess, Báthory is an alleged serial killer who was said to have tortured and killed hundreds of women with her servants. As rumors circulated, the monarch representative was ordered to investigate. The investigation supposedly proved that Báthory was responsible for hundreds of murders - perhaps as high as 650. As a result, Báthory became known as The Blood Countess. Her punishment? House arrest inside her castle. It’s there that she died in 1614. However, the case against Báthory is disputable. Some modern scholars argue that Báthory was the target of political machinations and that she was innocent of the horrible crimes so often attributed to her.

Ivan the Terrible

Renowned for his temper and paranoia, Russian ruler Ivan IV Vasilyevich inspired incredible fear. As a teenager, he liked abusing animals, throwing cats and dogs from the Kremlin ramparts. He served as the first Tsar of Russia, reigning from 1533 to 1584. He established a personal guard, the oprichniki, who helped him terrorize and oppress his subjects through torture and execution. After defections and the death of his wife in the 1560s, he became even more violent, ordering the Massacre of Novgorod in 1570 - with casualties in the thousands. He also beat his own pregnant daughter-in-law, after which she miscarried, and killed his own son. Ivan IV eventually died on March 18, 1584, leaving his empire to his son Feodor.

Irma Grese

After volunteering for Hitler’s SS, this German woman became a concentration camp guard at 19, working at the likes of Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz. Grese became notorious at these camps, striking terror in the prisoners, who testified against her after World War II. A sadist, she set her dogs on prisoners, sexually assaulted them, and beat them with a whip. She helped select victims for the gas chambers. Following the liberation of her camps, Grese was taken into custody and became a defendant in the Belsen Trial. She was hanged at 22 on December 13, 1945.

Idi Amin

Serving as president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979, Idi Amin was one of the most brutal world leaders of the 20th century. Amin rose through the military ranks and deposed the country’s president in a coup in January 1971. A year and a half after gaining power, Amin expelled most Asians from Uganda. His rule was marked by widespread human rights abuses, corruption, and economic mismanagement. It’s estimated that hundreds of thousands of people were murdered by his regime, which targeted ethnic minorities, political activists, and journalists. Amin eventually became known as the Butcher of Uganda, but he fled the country in 1979 and died in Saudi Arabia in 2003.

Attila the Hun

Between 434 and 445, Attila ruled the Huns with his brother Bleda. Attila may have had his brother killed in 445, and ruled alone for the next eight years. His reign was one of terror, as he built an empire by besieging, pillaging, and massacring the inhabitants of Roman cities across Europe. In 451, Attila invaded Gaul (in modern day France), but was defeated in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains and retreated. His violent incursions left countless dead, and his empire collapsed soon after his death in 453. His burial place is unknown, as those that performed the burial were reportedly slain to protect the secret.

Caligula

This infamous Roman emperor was born Gaius Julius Caesar, but was nicknamed Caligula, meaning Little Boot, as a child. To this day, Caligula’s name is synonymous with tyranny. Contemporaneous sources describe him as an unhinged and unpredictable ruler with a god complex. Narcissistic and cruel, he betrayed allies and family members and had them executed. He extorted his own citizens to pay for his lavish indulgences, and invaded and plundered neighboring regions. He was assassinated in 41 AD at the age of 28. In 54 AD, his nephew, Nero, became emperor and acquired his own reputation for cruelty. As already mentioned, Nero is said to have persecuted early Christians, blaming them for the Great Fire of Rome - which he himself may have started.

Kim Jong-il

Between 1994 and 2011, Kim Jong-il served as supreme leader of North Korea, having inherited the mantle from his father and founder of the country, Kim Il-sung. In 1978, before taking over this role, he had South Korean filmmaker Shin Sang-ok and his wife kidnapped to make propaganda films. Kim fostered a cult of personality around himself, and ran a repressive government that gave considerable power to the military and engaged in countless human rights violations. Known for economic incompetence, Kim arguably prolonged a devastating famine triggered by floods and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Its estimated that this famine alone killed at least half a million people.

Saddam Hussein

Born to a poor family in northern Iraq, Saddam Hussein eventually made his way through the political ranks and helped stage a coup in 1968. After assuming the presidency in 1979, he purged opponents within his own party; hundreds were executed. A year later he invaded Iran, starting a war that cost hundreds of thousands of lives. His invasion of Kuwait in 1990 led to the Gulf War. A brutal, repressive leader, his rule included the use of chemical weapons against Iranians and Kurdish separatists, and a ruthless security apparatus that used torture and execution to suppress opposition. Hussein was eventually found guilty of crimes against humanity and hanged in 2006.

Biljana Plavi

The Bosnian War from 1992 and 1995 saw Serb forces perpetrate horrific ethnic cleansing and mass sexual assaults against Bosnian Muslims. Several leaders were indicted for these atrocities, including President of Serbia Slobodan Miloevi, and former Presidents of Republika Srpska Radovan Karadi and Biljana Plavi. Nicknamed the Iron Lady, Plavi served as Karadi’s vice president before ascending to the presidency herself. Originally a biology professor, she claimed that ethnic cleansing was a natural phenomenon, blaming genetically deformed material. Plavi entered a plea deal and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. She was released in 2009.

Leopold II

The second King of the Belgians is notorious for his creation of the Congo Free State. Under the guise of humanitarian work, Leopold II took control of a large swath of the Congo Basin and ruled it as his own personal colony, using forced labor to amass a fortune in ivory and rubber. His private army, the Force Publique, committed brutal atrocities, including amputating the hands of laborers who did not meet their quotas. Children were not spared. Many died of overwork and malnutrition, while others were killed outright. It’s estimated that Leopold II’s vicious reign killed 10 million people.

Mao Zedong

On October 1, 1949, Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong founded the People’s Republic of China, following a civil war against the Kuomintang, or Chinese Nationalist Party, who retreated to Taiwan. During his rule, Mao persecuted and silenced political opponents, and launched the invasion of Tibet, where Chinese policies have been accused of cultural genocide. He’s remembered for enacting the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. The Great Leap Forward was supposed to industrialize China’s agrarian economy, but resulted in a famine that killed between 15 to 55 million people. As Mao’s power waned, the Cultural Revolution was designed to silence opponents and bolster his power. It saw the persecution and deaths of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, and the destruction of artifacts, erasing much of the country’s history.

Genghis Khan

Born Temüjin, this Mongol ruler was one of the most destructive conquerors in human history. Ruling as the first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1206 to 1227, Genghis Khan led his armies to numerous victories and established a massive empire. By 1300, most of Eurasia was under Mongol control. In order to attain such vast power, the Mongol armies destroyed cities and killed all who stood in their way. In fact, some estimates place the death toll as high as 60 million, which would account for roughly 10% of the entire world’s population at the time. Khan’s conquests spread fear throughout the known world, and his empire continued to grow long after his death in 1227.

Vlad the Impaler

Officially Vlad III, Vlad the Impaler ruled the Romanian region of Wallachia on and off between 1448 and 1477. He earned his famous nickname owing to his penchant for impaling captured soldiers and villagers on poles. Also going by Vlad Dracula, he was ruthless in his political campaigns and plundered territories belonging to both the Transylvanian Saxons and Ottomans. By his own account, Vlad killed 23,884 Turks and Bulgarians. According to some estimates, he is believed to have killed up to 80,000 people during his lifetime. It’s no wonder Bram Stoker drew upon this historical figure in creating his vampire character Count Dracula.

Pol Pot

Born Saloth Sâ in Cambodia in 1925, Pol Pot attended school in France, where he started associating with communism. Returning to Cambodia, he ignited a communist revolution in 1968 with his guerilla army, the Khmer Rouge. They took control in 1975 and went to work re-establishing the country as the agrarian socialist Democratic Kampuchea. Pol Pot’s tyrannical regime built detention centers and targeted intellectuals, political opponents, followers of religion, and ethnic minorities. Torture and executions became commonplace. Many more people were starved and overworked. All told, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge are believed to have caused the deaths of two million people, most through direct violence.

Joseph Stalin

One of the most infamous dictators of the 20th century, Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1953. Stalin subjected his citizens to numerous atrocities while transforming the Soviet Union into a global superpower. He continued to implement Vladimir Lenin’s Gulag system of forced labor camps and eliminated ideological opponents through the Great Purge, which caused the deaths of roughly one million people. Stalin’s rule also resulted in the Soviet famine of the early 1930s, which killed between 5.7 to 8.7 million people. At the outset of World War II, he also co-operated with Hitler, invading Poland with Germany, and offering to join the Axis Powers, until Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

Adolf Hitler

After Germany’s defeat in World War I, the country was forced to disarm and make reparations. Many Germans saw themselves as the victims, a sense of grievance that populist political leader Adolf Hitler rode to power. He was a mesmerizing speaker, using rallies to fire up his supporters and scapegoat the Jewish people to blame for the country’s problems. In 1933, he became Chancellor of Germany, and six years later instigated World War II, which claimed an estimated 70 to 85 million lives. With the help of Heinrich Himmler, he also oversaw the Holocaust, in which six million Jews and other minorities were killed in pogroms, shootings, and concentration camps. Responsible for unprecedented destruction, Hitler is regarded today as the epitome of human evil.

History has no shortage of villains. Who do you think ranks among the worst—and who did we miss? Let us know in the comments below!