10 Worst Narcissists to Have Ever Lived

WatchMojo

These infamous historical figures thought quite highly of themselves. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at historical figures with narcissistic traits that have had the worst effects on society.

Transcript

00:00That day, a new era dawned for France, with Napoleon named First Consul.

00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at historical figures with narcissistic traits

00:10that have had the worst effects on society.

00:13Millions of Germans saw in him the messiah he felt himself to be.

00:19Richard Nixon.

00:20He inadvertently gave the public a front row seat into his psyche.

00:23Nixon probably didn't know about Watergate in advance, but he had sanctioned break-ins

00:28and wiretaps of opponents through his notorious plumbers.

00:32While Nixon put on a front for the public, the tapes he recorded revealed other facets

00:36of his character.

00:37He had a desire to come out on top through any means possible.

00:40This is evidenced by his secretly approving a bombing campaign in Vietnam and invading

00:45Cambodia, culminating in the deaths of thousands of civilians.

00:48Now he could do so with the full might of America's power.

00:52He aimed to bludgeon the communists to the negotiating table by round-the-clock bombing

00:58of Viet Cong sanctuaries in Cambodia.

01:01Another characteristic he displayed was keeping loved ones distant, with some friends confirming

01:05they didn't address him by his first name.

01:07He also showed signs of paranoia towards the media, especially as the Watergate scandal

01:11progressed.

01:12Even after he was caught lying and resigned, he refused to admit any wrongdoing and focused

01:16on his accomplishments instead.

01:18People have got to know whether or not their president's a crook.

01:21Well, I'm not a crook.

01:23Saddam Hussein.

01:24Incessantly seeking authority and a lack of empathy for others are considered core symptoms

01:28of grandiose narcissism.

01:30While those can be applied to several different autocrats, Saddam Hussein incorporated them

01:34into his political career early on.

01:36At just 31, he became the country's second most powerful man, next to President Ahmed

01:42Hassan al-Bakr.

01:44Still little known outside Iraq, Saddam was quick to make an impression when he had the

01:49chance.

01:50He led the regime by purging the Ba'ath Party and executing over 20 men he felt opposed

01:54him.

01:55That eventually escalated into him killing anyone who dared disagree with him.

01:58I saw him throughout my teenage life as the brutal dictator that committed so many crimes

02:03against so many people in Iraq.

02:05His need for complete control didn't end there.

02:07Besides initiating the Gulf War and attempting to eradicate the Kurdish population, he's

02:11suspected of being behind the disappearances of hundreds of thousands of his own citizens.

02:17Saddam tried to homogenize the Iraqi people to create a society that was first and foremost

02:25Iraqi and not representing fragments of the population, ethnic or religious fractions.

02:35His constant abuse of power has led to one of the best examples of overt conceit in a

02:39contemporary leader.

02:40Caligula

02:41Excessive selfishness isn't a contemporary invention.

02:44If you want to be Rome's third emperor, it's Caligula who has come to stand for the corruption,

02:50horror, and excess of Imperial Rome.

02:53It's been speculated that countless figures from ancient history could have been afflicted

02:56with the personality disorder.

02:58There's no better example than Caligula, a Roman emperor whose sense of self was apparently

03:02so inflated that he planned to erect a statue of himself as Zeus.

03:06According to writings from those close to him, his rule was cruel and often violent,

03:10even supposedly forcing multiple people to end their own lives, including one of his

03:13closest allies.

03:14Caligula's time and his charge was defined by remarkable brutality, much of which was

03:21aimed at his own family.

03:23Some have claimed that he had an affinity for ostentatious spectacles, including fights

03:27between horses and humans.

03:28While it's impossible to diagnose him based on what's been left behind, he serves as proof

03:32that these signs have existed in people for millennia.

03:35It's in the story of Caligula that all the elements of tyranny as we now recognize it

03:41come together for the first time.

03:43Benito Mussolini

03:44For some, evidence of self-obsession has been obvious since childhood.

03:48Early on, the infamous Italian prime minister showcased violent tendencies by injuring his

03:52classmates.

03:53The young Mussolini showed signs of violence from a very young age.

03:57When he was just 10, he was actually expelled from school, not for some, you know, student

04:03prank, but for actually stabbing another student.

04:07From there, his poor behavior only escalated.

04:09He had an air of confidence that came through in speeches to his populace, making it easy

04:13to manipulate them into following him.

04:15His innate need for mass dominance led to him attacking several countries and aiding

04:19in the creation of fascism, one of the most insidious ideologies to have been popularized.

04:24Absolutely central to fascist ideology was the state.

04:28So it was to be a very strong state, and one which really was a totalitarian state, a totalitarian

04:35state with complete submission to the state.

04:39It also resulted in the abuse of his own people via a violent police state, which he also

04:43used to permanently silence his detractors.

04:46His grandiosity caused a domino effect that society is still dealing with to this day.

04:50He was also quite aggressive, and he often clashed with teachers and his fellow pupils,

04:55because he had this very sort of proud nature, he was quite grumpy, and he was always pretty

05:00violent.

05:01Jim Jones

05:02Being a cult figurehead requires a self-imposed superiority that is primarily found in some

05:07narcissists.

05:08While several fit the bill, one of the most infamous was Jim Jones, the perpetrator behind

05:11the People's Temple.

05:12At the time, at the height of its power, People's Temple was really looked upon as a marvelous

05:23enterprise.

05:24Convinced he was a god, he led his congregations with intense fervor.

05:28While he presented himself as a kind and accepting man, a darker side lurked just beneath the

05:32surface.

05:33His need for admiration resulted in ridiculous lies, even claims that he had healing powers.

05:37I represent divine principle, divine socialism.

05:40I will not pass away, but I shall stand throughout the endless ages of time.

05:46When skepticism arose, his true nature revealed itself.

05:49Rather than admit his faults, he whisked his remaining followers off to Guyana, using promises

05:54of a peaceful afterlife to continue exploiting them.

05:56Eventually, he spiraled, ending in the deaths of over 900 people, himself included.

06:01This time, Jones served a punch spiked with cyanide.

06:04Alexander the Great

06:05For some historical figures, certain aspects of some conditions are more obvious.

06:09Some individuals' whole lives can be summarized as one long battle for power, especially accomplished

06:13commanders like Alexander the Great.

06:16Alexander's victory sends a very strong message to the rest of the Persians.

06:21They may think this is a young general, an upstart, a child, a boy.

06:27He's a force to be reckoned with.

06:29He displayed other peculiarities from a young age, such as a desire to be more accomplished

06:33than his father and a calculating yet rash attitude.

06:36They led him to unprecedented victories on the battlefield, resulting in him leading

06:39a vast empire by his 30th birthday.

06:42One of the things that is coming out of Alexander's empire is a reframing of the sense of the

06:49globe and how large things are, and they are rewriting the way that they thought the world

06:56looked.

06:57Alexander's charisma played into his success as well, making him both a competent king

07:00and a cruel conqueror.

07:02However, his triumphs only worsened his narcissistic symptoms, and the end of his life was colored

07:06with delusions of grandeur, including a supposed belief that he was a deity.

07:10Alexander believes he's a descendant of the gods.

07:15His mother Olympias claimed that he actually was not the son of Philip, but he's the son

07:22of Zeus himself.

07:24Joseph Stalin

07:25It isn't often that dictators will be more covert in their ambitions, but the ones that

07:28do seem even more threatening.

07:30In terms of ruthlessness, bloodlust, Stalin remains one of the greatest villains of the

07:3720th century.

07:38Joseph Stalin was often portrayed as mediocre and insufficient.

07:41However, that characterization was anything but correct.

07:44He was skilled in the art of deception and manipulated his way into a leadership position

07:48within the Bolshevik movement.

07:49However, his soft-spoken demeanor couldn't mask the true monster underneath.

07:53His abject cruelty was unrelenting, and him gaining even more sway only exacerbated it.

07:57If you didn't play by his rules, you went off to a labor camp, or you were summarily

08:02executed in some fashion.

08:04Under his rule, countless people died, with his horrific gulags alone claiming at least

08:09a million lives.

08:10He was plagued with paranoia towards the end of his life, resulting in the imprisonment

08:13of several doctors, including one whose only crime was suggesting he retire.

08:17This is the enduring mystery of Stalin, the friendly uncle and the man of steel, a titan

08:25of the Second World War, and a monster of the 20th century who got away with it.

08:32Henry VIII

08:34Even those who are born into royalty can be afflicted with excessive self-adulation.

08:37He is Henry VIII, infamous even half a millennium later for his fabled charm and terrible cruelty.

08:44Henry VIII used his immense power for his own benefit countless times, including bringing

08:49about the separation of the Church of England from the wider Catholic denomination over

08:52his simple disagreement.

08:54He also ushered in a new theory that claimed that he and other monarchs were appointed

08:57by a higher power, meaning they couldn't be controlled by external forces.

09:01Henry actually elevates himself beyond kingship and proclaims that he is an emperor of his

09:08own empire.

09:09That's only the tip of the iceberg.

09:11He also struggled in his romantic relationships, often love-bombing his wives before suddenly

09:16cutting them off once the feelings had passed.

09:18That's not even mentioning his extreme reaction to rumors of their alleged adultery, leading

09:22to two of them being executed.

09:23He loved some, hated others.

09:26He even executed a few.

09:27Napoleon Bonaparte

09:28It isn't often that one has an entire ego complex named after them.

09:32Napoleon utilized his ambition to quickly rise within the ranks of the French Revolution

09:36and became revered due to his victories in battle.

09:39What was instrumental to Napoleon's success was his skill as a leader.

09:42He didn't just inspire people, he made them feel that they were taking part in history.

09:47However, it wasn't long before he was clouded with a desire for more.

09:50This led to him planning a coup and declaring himself to be the emperor of the French.

09:54He was prone to rage when things didn't go his way, causing his charming facade to drop.

09:58He could be ruthless at times, even brutal, but he was still one of the greatest men of

10:05all time.

10:06He had to wage several more wars as a way of maintaining his rule, eventually being

10:10exiled twice.

10:11His declining reputation led to the coining of a condition known as the Napoleon Complex,

10:15rewriting his legacy for centuries to come.

10:17Beneath all the propaganda and bravado of Napoleon, there remained a personality who

10:23was prone to fragility.

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10:40Adolf Hitler

10:41He's the ultimate example of what can go wrong when egotistical qualities and unfettered

10:46power combine.

10:47Adolf Hitler was a fanatical leader, a megalomaniac who led his country and many others into the

10:53abyss.

10:54Hitler displayed several traits that are consistent with certain personality disorders, including

10:58his unrepentant fanaticism about those he hated.

11:01This is further evidenced by him positing himself as infallible and causing constant

11:05infighting between those who worked for him.

11:07By keeping his subordinates in a constant state of distrust, he was able to maintain

11:11his unquestioned authority.

11:12Hitler had the willpower of a demon.

11:15If he hadn't, he would never have achieved anything.

11:18He also committed several atrocities in the name of total domination, with goals of expanding

11:22his reign across the globe.

11:24Millions of people died due to him lying about and vilifying them for his own gain, making

11:28him one of the most destructive and purely evil leaders in history.

11:40Which narcissist do you think has done the most damage?

11:42Let us know in the comments below!

12:12And as always, thanks for watching!

12:13See you next time!

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