50 Crazy Facts About the Most Evil Dictators

The world's most cruel, dreaded, and frequently just bizarre people are dictators!

These are the fifty most insane facts about dictators from the past and present.

#50. That’s a Lot of Iron Boots!

In the past, a dictator of some kind, whether a king or a military strongman, dominated nearly every nation. The globe is ruled by democracy now, or is that true? The World Democracy Index estimates that 52 nations still have dictators, making dictatorships shockingly commonplace in modern times. 48 of those are located in either Africa or Asia, which makes up the great majority. Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Belarus are all members of this group. This also ignores the fact that some nations have leaders who truly like treading on the line, while others may have democratically elected leaders who view the rule of law as a strong suggestion and are on the point of going too far.

#49. Your Favorite Dictator?

Your favorite dictator (number 49)Without a doubt, Nayib Bukele of El Salvador is an odd person. He was democratically chosen as the nation's first president of the millennium generation, but ever since then, he has worked to create a cult of personality around himself. He seldom considers public opinion, whether he's adopting the risky cryptocurrency Bitcoin as one of the nation's official currencies or sending the military to the tiny Latin American nation to mercilessly eradicate crime. The eccentric President momentarily changed his Twitter bio to "the coolest dictator in the world" after hearing increasing criticism of his behavior as he consolidates his authority. However, he is hardly the most bizarre tyrant in existence.

#48. The Mercurial Madman

The majority of individuals couldn't locate Tajikistan on a map. Even fewer people are aware of the country's notorious ruler, Emomali Rahmon. He has been the country's absolute dictator for the past 31 years and is well-known for his peculiar decrees. The government was instructed to locate a wife for a teacher who delivered a speech praising him after he requested the government to do so. But he terrorizes the populace more frequently than not. Rahmon said that the objective of a scheme that started when the man was seven years old was a dissident who had been detained on treason charges. And after a video of Rahmon singing karaoke while intoxicated was posted to YouTube, the popular video-sharing website was outlawed in Tajikistan for good. Additionally, being a dictator occasionally allows you to get away with a lot of personal vices.

#47. It’s Good to Be the King

Mswati III, the monarch of the Swazi Royal Family, gained international attention when he renamed Eswatini after the colonial Swaziland. But his family would presumably prefer that he get more recognition for other things. The reigning monarch of Eswatini since 1986, when he assumed power at the age of 18, is well known for his taste in fine things. He continues to live a life of luxury, spending millions annually on sports vehicles and other extravagances. His nation is one of the 10 poorest on the globe while doing this! Mswati III also encourages polygamy and presently has fifteen wives, so it's not only automobiles he likes to acquire. And if there are grievances? Good luck getting them in front of this tyrant. If there is one thing that tyrants frequently share, it is ego.

#46. Required Reading

Another obscure but notorious dictator was Saparmyrat Nyyazow, who, from the time he was appointed by the Soviet Union until his death in 2006, ruled Turkmenistan as an absolute autocrat. He was a dictator with a cult of personality who was renowned for his autobiography, The Ruhnama, which he was especially fond of. The book was obligatory reading in all schools, and government job applicants were tested on it; it was a mixture of state propaganda and self-aggrandizing fantasy. It was even covered in the nation's driving test! That didn't satisfy Nyyazow, though; in an effort to spread his fame among extraterrestrials, he had the book blasted into space in a capsule in 2005. And occasionally, Being better than the last man is all that is necessary.

#45. The Good Dictator?

In 1968, Equatorial Guinea, a former Spanish territory, had recently attained independence and was prepared to hold its first democratic elections. Francisco Macias Nguema won the election, and he made sure he wouldn't have to do so again. He assumed control of the whole government, enacted strict legislation that included a thirty-year prison sentence for criticizing his policies, and began to target the educated. He also enacted weird legislation mandating the execution of anyone wearing glasses. His nephew Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has successfully controlled the country as a dictator for more than 40 years and is mostly uncontested, overthrew him after impoverishing his country and either murdering or sending most of the populace into exile, thinking, "Hey, it might be worse." Additionally, autocrats might start out in the most disadvantaged circumstances.

#44. The Jailbird

Charles Taylor ruled Liberia for six years as a dictator before being overthrown and turning into a renown warlord. Due to his participation in the Sierra Leone Civil War, he was charged with crimes against humanity and subsequently given a fifty-year jail term at the Hague in 2012. However, the former tyrant wouldn't see a significant transformation because, before becoming president of Liberia, he served time in a Massachusetts jail for theft. When he and a number of other prisoners sawed through the prison's bars and escaped to Liberia, where he would wreak con#43. The Bunker Man

#43. The Bunker Man

Everyone was a bit nervous about the possibility of nuclear destruction during the Cold War. This included several nations in the Soviet area that were aware that the boss man might make a mistake and start a nuclear war with the US. Enver Hoxha, the Albanian dictator, didn't want to take any chances. He had one infrastructure project he kept returning to during the course of his 40-year rule, from 1944 to 1985: bunkers, and many of them! There is one bunker for every three people in modern-day Albania, which was built by the country. Many of them were transformed into homeless shelters once the Cold War came to an end; presumably, they won't be used for anything else. He was hardly the only Communist leader to make odd decisions.

#42. Not Fun and Games

Nicolae Ceausescu was one of the most hated and dishonest tyrants in Eastern Europe. The brutally tyrannical regime of the Romanian dictator, who was linked with the Soviet Union, was well-known for interfering heavily in the daily lives of ordinary citizens, with his Secret Police being even more intrusive and repressive than their other Soviet equivalents. He also brutally punished academics, much like many other Communist leaders. This was awful news for academics and authors, but it was also bad news for board game enthusiasts! Scrabble was outlawed by Ceausescu in 1989 because he thought it was "subversive evil" and too intelligent. Because of this, supporters had little choice but to play cards and hatch a plan to topple the government, which was successful before the year was through. He wasn't the only well-known ruler to experience a similar fate.

#41. On Display

In most cases, there is only one option to overthrow an absolute ruler. Benito Mussolini learned that the hard way towards the conclusion of World War II. Mussolini was a brutal fascist who was well-known for his repression of socialists in his nation. He was an ally of Hitler and the sometimes overlooked third pillar of the Axis Powers. Mussolini attempted to flee to Switzerland as the Allies advanced and Italy switched sides in the conflict, but he was seized by communist rebels and sent to an impromptu firing squad the next day. Mussolini's body was displayed upside down because the partisans wanted the world to know about their victory—an even more inhumane demise than that of his friend in the Berlin bunker. However, not every ruler dies the same way.

#40. Last Fascist Standing

Hitler, Mussolini, and the military dictator of Spain, Francisco Franco, were the three fascist leaders in Europe during World War II. Franco decided to abstain from fighting. Because of his mostly neutral stance, Franco was permitted to hold onto power after the Axis Powers were vanquished, and he did so for a further 30 years! Franco was a cruel tyrant who killed his political rivals and suppressed socialist groups, yet he was well-liked by his people. Due to his advanced age, Charles restricted his authority in his latter years and reestablished the monarchy before dying in 1975 and receiving a state funeral. After 35 years of tyranny, many Spaniards still had positive things to say about him. After all, those who obeyed him probably didn't suffer, and those who disobeyed him probably weren't there to complain. However, the final deed of another ruler was more odd.

#39. The Artful Dodger

The military coup led by Augusto Pinochet, the dictator of Chile, against the recently elected socialist president was an unorthodox way for him to start his career. Although he kept up the appearance of a democracy during his seventeen-year tenure, he would never completely consider himself a dictatorship. This required conducting elections and referendums on the constitution while his strongmen executed his adversaries by helicopter. He made a brief effort to organize a coup and was turned down by his own military administration before being finally rejected in a referendum in 1988. In the wake of the incident, he was charged with crimes against humanity and temporarily detained in Britain to face international charges; however, he was eventually freed for medical reasons and returned to Chile, where he would pass away free. But there is one thing we must be clear about: Nothing is more harmful to a tyrant than mockery.

#38. Big Money

Following Zimbabwe's independence, Robert Mugabe seized power and controlled the nation for nearly forty years. While some of his fellow socialists applauded his decolonization initiatives, which included seizing farmland held by white people, his oppressive actions quickly earned him a large number of detractors. Under his leadership, Zimbabwe experienced extreme inflation, which forced the issuance of money in absurd denominations. Mugabe did not like it when people spoke poorly of him, so he tried to shut down an opposition newspaper by imposing high levies on it. In retaliation, the publisher published ads criticizing Mugabe that were printed on trillion-dollar notes! Naturally, certain autocrats are hard to humiliate!

#37. The Good-time Dictator

As Indonesia's first president following independence, Achmed Sukarno wasted no time in putting in place an authoritarian regime. He played a significant role in the Cold War while in power in Indonesia and was pulling the nation closer to the Soviet Union. Sukarno was lured into sexually inappropriate situations with Russian women by the USSR, which then threatened him with the tape in an effort to capitalize on his well-known penchant for women. Instead of being concerned, he asked for extra copies so he could show them to everyone at home and wow them with his prowess in the bedroom. Additionally, some tyrants have odd backgrounds.

#36. The Bad Doctor

Many people thought that Bashar Al-Assad would be better for the country than his father, Hafez, when he succeeded his father as president of Syria. He was, after all, a trained ophthalmologist who had been employed in London. After the deaths of his father and elder brother, Bashar went to Syria to take over the government. He quickly proved to be even more brutal than his father. The harsh ruler watched as his nation descended into a civil war that is still raging today. He has gained notoriety for using chemical weapons on humans and other atrocities. That definitely breaks the Hippocratic Oath. Although many dictators are petty, very few of them are as petty as this one.

#35. The Libya-Switzerland Cold War

Two Libyan individuals were detained by Swiss police officers in July 2008 after they entered a hotel room and assaulted the staff. It was a regular incident except that the individual detained was Muammar al-Gaddafi's son from Libya. In retaliation, the notorious leader detained two Swiss businessmen for an extended period of time after detaining them on fabricated accusations. It led to a protracted impasse between the nations, which got worse when Gaddafi demanded that Switzerland be dissolved during the G8 conference! Despite the absurdity of the proposal, the resulting unrest nearly led to war as Libyan soldiers came dangerously close to seizing the Swiss embassy. Additionally, some of these autocrats are so outrageous that they require more than one entry!

#34. The Pen Pal

The notorious dictator and military commander Manuel Noriega made a fortune off of narcotics trafficking in Panama. His long-standing links to America had all but disappeared under him, and Panama had become a corrupt, dictatorial nation. One American, a young girl from Michigan named Sarah York, who became his pen buddy in the 1980s, was someone he was still close to. About a year before the US invaded Panama and toppled Noriega, the child travelled to Panama with her parents to see her long-distance pal. But his narrative didn't end there.

#33. An Unlikely Haven

Noriega made the decision not to leave office peacefully after being dismissed from it. He ran away from the presidential residence and sought safety at the Vatican Embassy, which was the only location that would accept him. The little nation remains steadfastly impartial in world events, particularly in nations where it wishes to maintain the Church's good reputation. In the embassy, Noriega was hiding, but the US was eager to flush him out. So they used a novel strategy and played loud rock music nonstop for more than a week until Noriega gave in. He was captured, and he would eventually be sent back to Panama to face justice for his crimes. He was tried and imprisoned, where he passed away in 2017. However, no tyrant has displeased the US as much as this one.

#32. The Cuban Revolutionary

One of the most recognizable personalities of the Cold War was the cigar-smoking communist dictator Fidel Castro, who was viewed by Americans as the crazy adversary of the US and who contributed to the outbreak of the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was an American hero less than ten years ago, nevertheless! Top American journalists interviewed the Cuban revolutionary who overthrew dictator Fulgencio Batista, and he even met with variety show host Ed Sullivan, who compared him to George Washington! Of course, this was before Castro identified himself as a Marxist and began a series of decades-long confrontations with US presidents. And that may result in some intriguing situations.

#31. Assassination Nation?

One Cuban official said they had found 634 attempts to murder the Cuban despot, despite the United States spending years attempting to assassinate Castro. The majority of them employed conventional strategies, while several targeted Castro's unique weaknesses. There were plots to either poison or rig his cigars with explosives, since he loved cigars! They made preparations to contaminate his wet suit with deadly viruses, as they were aware that he was a frequent scuba diver. However, none of these strategies were successful, and the Cuban leader would hold the presidency for more than fifty years. But everything may have turned out quite differently.

#30. The Autocrat Sportsman?

Rumors circulated that Castro was a very good baseball player and was considered a Cuban pitching prodigy, which prompted the question: Would Castro's rule have been prevented by a Major League tryout? Castro was a skilled pitcher who made an appearance in a minor league baseball game in July 1959—just a short time before he would become a dictator—despite rumors that he had the fastest fastball in the world. Anyone who played him later would probably concede defeat. After all, a dictator's ego is what is most deadly about them. It's likely that you have heard of this infamous tyrant if you grew up in the 1990s.

#29. Brush Your Teeth!

Chairman Mao was well known for his peculiar oral hygiene beliefs and practises. The communist ruler never had his teeth cleaned or flossed. He famously claimed, "A tiger never washes his teeth. Instead, he would just rinse his mouth with tea. Why do tigers have such razor-sharp teeth? Mao's inner circle would frequently grumble in private about his breath. His gums were diseased, which contributed to his infamous foul smell, and his overall dental hygiene was so awful that one of his physicians said his teeth seemed to be painted green.

#28. The Literate Dictator?

Saddam Hussein gained notoriety for a variety of reasons, including the use of chemical weapons and the invasion of Kuwait that sparked the Persian Gulf War. However, he oversaw Iraq's literacy programme in his early years as vice chairman of the Ba'ath Party, and it was so successful that he attracted the attention of the UN! He was recognised by UNESCO for both his public health system and his literacy initiative. His ascent to power in 1979 would be the next time he made headlines, and his literacy initiative would not be remembered by history at that time. He was also occasionally infamously strange.

#27. The Blood Oath

Saddam was not a particularly devout Muslim and was well known for his eccentricity. In Islam, the use of blood is forbidden, especially during rituals. But it didn't stop Saddam from hiring a renowned calligrapher to ink Saddam's own blood to make a Quran! It allegedly took two years and fifty pints of blood to finish, and he ordered it on his 60th birthday. Some people think the entire thing could be a weird exaggeration, but the alleged Blood Quran was thoroughly researched; experts estimate it may have taken nine years of organised blood donations to collect enough blood safely. Even weirder, his demise could have all been the result of a major misunderstanding.

#26. The Beginning of the End

Saddam's choice to invade Kuwait would ultimately lead to his downfall because, after being defeated, he would try to murder former President Bush. This would spark a long-standing resentment that would finally be put to rest when Bush's son invaded Iraq ten years later and overthrew Saddam, which resulted in his death. It's possible that this is what happened since Saddam believed he had permission to attack Kuwait. The US envoy allegedly informed Saddam that the US was not interested in a trade war when he laid out the criteria under which he would attack Kuwait. Most likely, this was merely diplomatic maneuvering, but Saddam interpreted it as authorization for his invasion, and the rest is history. Let's now examine some of history's most notorious autocrats.

#25. The Image of a Dictator

Second in command of the USSR and notorious for advancing Lenin's communist ideas even farther, Joseph Stalin was the country's communist leader. He also promoted the growth of a cult of personality that surrounded him, even going so far as to make it illegal to fire at photographs of either him or Lenin. As it turned out, this worked against him when inmates in one of Stalin's numerous gulags started getting tattoos of Lenin and Stalin in the hopes that they would be spared during the next round of mass executions because the executioners wouldn't want to commit the grave crime of shooting at a picture of one of their great leaders. If eliminating political dissidents meant getting rid of Stalin, he probably wouldn't have cared. However, he didn't truly care about anyone, not even his son, to be fair to him.

#24. The Lost Son

Equality was important under Stalin's regime, or at least that's how he framed it. Whatever the cause, Stalin's oldest son, with whom he had a strained relationship, was serving with other soldiers on the front lines of World War II when he was taken prisoner by the Nazis. The Nazis believed they had the negotiating position necessary to secure the return of one of their esteemed field marshals. Stalin was informed that they had his son, to which he replied, "I will not exchange a Marshall for a Lieutenant." The talks fell through, and Stalin's son was imprisoned by the Nazis and later killed in 1943. Stalin was unpredictable, which made everyone around him fearful.

#23. Quiet!

Stalin was known for being a very private guy, and his bedroom served as his sacred space. Even his closest guards were not allowed entry. He apparently tried this once in a very cruel manner by yelling in agony at his guards from behind the door. Naturally, the guards ignored Stalin's "under no circumstances" order and charged in to save their captain. The other guards quickly realized that when Stalin makes an order, you'd best execute it exactly when they had a fast death as their punishment for their worry. That may have been the final straw for Stalin.

#22. An Ironic Last Act

In 1953, Stalin would be overthrown. He was already unwell, but one night, alone in his room, he experienced a seizure and passed out. The noise within the chamber was heard by his guards, but they all recalled what had occurred to the previous guard who had tried to aid Stalin. They were taking no chances since this may be another test. They waited for him to collapse on the floor in a pool of his own pee the following day after waiting for several hours. He had sustained a serious brain injury and a cerebral haemorrhage. Even though he received the greatest care available in the nation, it was already too late. Three days later, he passed away, putting an especially ignoble end to the terrible dictator's life. He wasn't the only notorious communist leader of the time, either.

#21. The All-Time Champ?

The two most notorious dictators of all time are unquestionably Hitler and Stalin, although neither was necessarily the most deadly. The Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong, who seized power following a brutal civil war, deserves this distinction. One of his innovations was the agricultural revolution, which resulted in a severe famine and gave control of food production to bureaucrats who mismanaged the fields and pushed many educated people into farming professions they were ill-equipped for. As a result, an astounding number of people—at least 40 million, maybe as many as 70 million—died, far outnumbering any of his competitors. Additionally, he had an ego that caused him to act in odd ways. Chairman Mao was a totalitarian ruler who had no subordinates—not even his dentist! He had the strange habit of never cleaning his teeth, only rinsing his mouth with tea and chowing down on the leaves. Needless to say, this wasn't hygienic, and everyone nearby could see that! His teeth first became yellow, then they started to decay and fall off. However, when his dentist advised him to brush, Mao just quipped, "Does a tiger brush his teeth?" His gums also developed a severe infection. Since it was the dictator's teeth, not his, the dentist wasn't going to risk his life to say differently. Additionally, he had some dubious views about how to run his nation.

#19. Get Outta Here!

Because of the great economic hardships he faced in his latter years, Mao considered an extreme solution after plunging China into poverty. Ten million unneeded people, all of whom were women, needed to be removed. Since the nation was too impoverished to support what he considered an "excessive" quantity of women, he suggested moving this enormous population to the United States. Although the plan was never implemented, it was part of a wider pattern of undervaluing women that would eventually result in the One Child Policy and a lack of women that is now impeding China's population growth and might lead to a demographic time bomb that is almost ready to blow! Mao was a legendary petty person.

#18. Dishonored Guest

Despite being natural adversaries of the US, China and the USSR didn't always get along; on his first trip to the USSR, Mao felt embarrassed by Stalin. When Stalin's successor, Nikita Khrushchev, came years later, Mao put him in an un-air-conditioned room during a scorching Beijing summer because he had been treated unfairly as a guest and not as an equal. To make matters worse, he insisted that the two leaders' meeting take place in a swimming pool. The only issue with this is that Khruschev was not a swimmer! The two leaders' alliance had a disastrous beginning. Unsurprisingly, one historical tyrant was more notorious than all the others.

#17. The Disgruntled Artist?

Adolf Hitler, as we all know, was an ambitious artist whose career never took off, which caused him to change his focus to politics. However, the majority of historians today think he was just a fair artist, which makes a lot of the memes about him rather misleading. He was twice turned down by the school of his choice, but he would exact retribution. He submitted an application to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, which was known for being progressive, but when Hitler seized control of Austria at the start of World War II, he would immediately seize control of the institution and force it to adhere to Nazi ideals. And that wasn't the only thing he was prone to overdoing.

#16. Hitler the Plutocrat?

Hitler is typically represented in the media as being a stern, merciless, and humourless individual. He undoubtedly had the characteristics of a tyrant who would commit genocide. He reputedly accumulated a wealth of several billion dollars, much of it taken from his victims and the economies of the nations he conquered, but he also had a taste for the finest things in life. As soon as the money started coming in, he started spending it, frequently on luxuries like champagne and expensive automobiles. While he presented himself as a man of the people and frequently urged the German people to forgo some comforts for the benefit of the country, he actually lived like a king. And although he would ultimately wage war against the United States, It wasn't necessarily everything that he despised.

#15. He’s a Fan

Hitler was aware of the developments coming out of California during the heyday of Hollywood in the years preceding World War II. He is said to have been a fan of one specific director, Walt Disney, whose groundbreaking animated picture "Snow White" allegedly astounded him. The German-American Bund, a powerful pro-Nazi organisation in the US that saw the US and the Nazis as natural partners, reciprocated the favour in the years prior to America's entry into the war, despite the fact that Hitler may have been a fan of certain American items. Up until Pearl Harbour put a stop to such wishful thinking, Hitler was also incredibly fortunate, escaping death a few times.

#14. A Lucky Escape

Hitler enjoyed a cult of personality, but not everyone in his closest circle shared this sentiment. He was becoming seen as dangerous and deranged, and his preoccupation with annihilating Jews was undermining the war effort. That prompted a number of senior military figures to plan to blow him up at a meeting. Everything went smoothly when the bomb was planted, except that Hitler had swapped seats that day, and the device only missed him. Naturally, as a result, the conspirators were all put to death, and the war dragged on until Hitler led Germany to an inescapable loss. However, the bizarreness of today's tyrants is on par with that of their historical forebears.

#13. From Humble Roots

China's current leader, Xi Jinping, has just been unanimously elected President for Life by the party hierarchy. He did not, however, come from a line of leaders; in fact, it's possible that his entire family was disfavored. Under Mao, his father served as vice premier of China but was shortly ousted because of his reputation as a reformer. In addition to losing his job, he was also relegated to being a field worker and, at one point, even lived in a cave. As a result, Xi Jinping developed a strong bond with the farming community and visited Iowa in 1985. Xi is no longer primarily concerned with farming. Instead, he is committed to increasing China's territory, even when none exists.

#12. From the Ground Up

China's aggressiveness in the South China Sea has been one of Xi's distinguishing characteristics during his presidency. The nation has been intruding on international seas and even on other nations' territorial waters while asserting that they have a divine right to the whole South China Sea. They have been enforcing such rights by constructing sand-dune-covered artificial islands on the seafloor. But they're doing much more than simply planting flags and erecting sand dunes; several of these islands are home to military installations, and future plans suggest they could be considering turning some of them into tourism hotspots. And out of necessity, Xi has liberalized China in at least one area.

#11. Let’s Go, Baby!

The one-child policy in China, which harshly penalized families with more than one child, was an effort on the part of previous Chinese governments to combat overpopulation. It worked, perhaps a bit too well. With too few women and an ageing population, China is currently experiencing a severe demographic catastrophe. The one-child policy was therefore completely abandoned during the last few years, and the government is now openly encouraging people to have additional kids. However, because most Chinese families are still hesitant to have big kids—old habits die hard—China's demographic dilemma is beginning to appear quite concerning. He is still seen as a petty tyrant despite being a more sober leader than many of his contemporaries.

#10. Oh, Pooh.

Xi Jinping visited the US in 2013 and was shown in pictures with President Obama. Some caustic Chinese meme artists contrasted the image of the small, portly Xi next to the tall, lanky Obama with one of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. Xi did not find the parallel amusing, and her attempts to stop it simply sparked the creation of additional memes. As a last resort, the government outright banned Winnie the Pooh from China because, as we are well aware, when the government orders individuals to stop generating memes, they unquestionably comply. Since then, China's relationship with Disney has weakened; it is unknown whether this is related to Pooh-gate. But as unpredictable as Xi, is that he is not comparable to another tyrant up north.

#9. It’s Good to Be Vlad

Because of his violent invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is currently the most infamous dictator in the world. He portrays himself as a stern military dictator, but in reality, he enjoys better things in life. Putin is notoriously private about his money, but it's estimated that he has a fortune of approximately $200 billion, making him one of the richest people in the world. Putin asserts that he only makes a little over $100,000 per year, but he has numerous opportunities to increase his wealth since he is acquainted with billionaires and owns stock in Russian companies. When you are unable to earn anything, simply steal it!

#8. Thats…not Super

Is it true that Vladimir Putin stole a Super Bowl ring? Yes, if you ask Robert Kraft. In 2005, when Putin was still the president of Russia and still held high regard around the world, the contentious Patriots owner paid a visit there. The Patriots' most recent Super Bowl ring was shown to Putin, who briefly examined it before placing it in his pocket and leaving. Even though it became a global scandal, the ring is apparently still in Putin's hands. When it was suggested to Kraft that it would probably be in his best interest to just let Putin retain the ring, he ultimately gave up trying to get it back. There is nowhere you can hide when Putin wants to grab you.

#7. A Taste of Poison

As long as they are in your nation, a tyrant can often harm anyone they choose. Putin, though, has become more assertive in his attempts to reach out and poison his adversaries, wherever they may be. First, a well-known Putin regime defector was poisoned with polonium and passed away shortly after. Then his daughter and another one of his enemies were both poisoned, but they both survived. Everyone is aware of the perpetrator, but they lack a means of contacting him to hold him accountable. Putin, though, is quite hostile and behaves accordingly.

#6. Properly Paranoid

In many respects, Putin resembles a mediaeval monarch, even going so far as to have a food taster evaluate his meal before he consumes it. But lately, he's become more suspicious and secretive than ever. Putin is taking no risks since he knows that many of his top military leaders are opposed to the conflict in Ukraine. To ensure that no one could get near enough to harm him, he reportedly even extended the tables at meetings to ludicrous lengths. Seeing him in public has also become increasingly unusual, given how difficult it is to obtain information from Russia. But only one man can claim to be the most peculiar tyrant of the contemporary period.

#5. Like Father…

Since the communist takeover, Kim Jong-Un has ruled North Korea as the third member of the Kim dynasty, and he is perhaps the most unstable of the three. However, he was more concerned with making sure he would carry on his legendary grandfather's legacy than with having plastic surgery to resemble him. Another manifestation of the Kim family's cult of personality is that individuals who don't grieve appropriately on the anniversary of the older Kims' passing may be sent to labor camps. In North Korea, even haircuts are governed by rules.

#4. Making the Cut

Only a few haircuts are permitted for males in North Korea, and you'd best not be seen in public sporting the wrong one. However, just fifteen haircuts were authorised in 2017, and for the first time, Kim Jong-Un's unique hairstyle was left off the list. Because you had to earn that renowned flat-top, it was put off-limits to commoners. However, it appears that the regulation does not apply to visitors because two journalists travelled to North Korea the same year that these tales began to surface solely to receive haircuts. And no one is certain who will come after them.

#3. Father Knows Best?

Although information about Kim Jong-Un's family is kept as secret as everything else about him, it is thought that he is the father of three kids. The oldest is a boy who, unlike his younger sister, is never seen in public. The young daughter frequently appears with her father at public events and during missile inspections. This has sparked rumours that she may become North Korea's future leader, which would be a significant departure from the nation's prior tradition of having solely male presidents. However, given Kim Jong-Un's deteriorating health, this may become significant sooner rather than later. And chances are no one could stop Kim Jong-Un from making it official if his daughter is the next in line. But in some respects, having the upper hand is a good thing.

#2. The Starmaker

North Korea is infamous for its secrecy and only maintains diplomatic ties with a small number of nations. However, Kim Jong-Un has continued to introduce some culture despite this. Despite the fact that it is produced by their treacherous brethren to the south of their border, he is said to like Korean pop music. He apparently put together his own all-girl pop band, the Moranbong Band, which he personally chose. However, if you're anticipating cheery pop songs about men, think again. According to reports, the band has songs with titles like "Do Prosper, Era of the Workers' Party." However, there is a trait that unites all of these autocrats.

#1. Scott-Free

Either a coup attempt or a natural disaster generally brings down a dictator. They often don't have to go through a trial. Only a few world leaders have ever stood trial at the Hague before an international tribunal, and the great majority of them were African leaders. Why does this take place? The Hague: is it biassed? The only way a global leader may appear in court at the Hague is if their nation turns them over, which often only happens when the new leader seeks to oust the old one. This is not a flaw in the law, however; because the Hague lacks the authority to arrest foreign leaders, it is the only way they can visit the courtroom. Therefore, the long arm of the law won't do much harm to the majority of dictators. Do you want to learn about the potentially most insane tyrant in history? Consider reading "The World's Most Murderous Dictator, Pol Pot."