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Alexander the Great displayed classic symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder. Acknowledged as a military genius and celebrated for his physical courage and leadership skills, Alexander nevertheless thought in binary terms—you were either with him, or against him. He demonstrated opportunist traits and showed little or no emotion at the loss of his men. Instead, he pursued victory as part of his grandiose vision of life.
Nero, Roman emperor from 54–68 CE, was megalomaniacal, devoid of conscience, and utterly self-centered and incapable of empathy. The last emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty murdered his mother after she objected to his affair with Poppaea Sabina, and was implicated in starting the Great Fire of Rome, an inferno that destroyed three of the city's 14 districts and severely damaged seven more.
English monarch Henry VIII is sometimes referred to as the King of Narcissism. Henry's turbulent mood swings and demand on others is indicative of narcissistic tendencies, disturbing qualities further fueled by his increasing powers. Throughout his reign, Henry pacified his envy and inferiority complex by shouting down advisers and courtiers and making extravagant purchases and acquisitions. And he famously demonstrated his desperation for a male heir by taking six wives, two of whom he had executed.
Adolf Hitler's pathological NPD was apparent in 'Mein Kampf,' his notorious 1925 autobiographical manifesto. As a megalomaniac sadist, the Nazi dictator incited the most destructive global conflict in human history and oversaw the slaughter of millions of people. His lies and false propaganda cultivated the Aryan myth and promoted anti-Semitism. In fact, his was the most damaging example of narcissism ever recorded.
Jim Jones is another individual who wielded a "god complex." His allure was that of a charismatic, dynamic leader who captivated his followers with promises of a jungle utopia. He proclaimed himself messiah of the Peoples Temple, a San Francisco-based evangelist group. But after his remote commune at Jonestown in Guyana was exposed as a cult, Jones ordered over 900 of his disciples to take their own lives, most of whom complied.
Serial killers often display traits of narcissism, such as possession of a grandiose sense of self-importance, sense of entitlement, a preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success and power, and a complete lack of empathy. Ted Bundy was all this and more, a murderous psychopath who killed at least 30 women.
Sources: (National Institutes of Health) (History) (The Guardian) (Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics)
See also: The Menendez brothers: Unraveling a tragic family story
Ambitious and self-serving, Kim Il Sung was a merciless narcissist. He founded North Korea in 1948, and presided pathologically over a dictatorship until his death in 1994. His secretive and antisocial tendencies were carried over by his successor, his son Kim Jong Il, and then by his grandson, Kim Jong Un, who remains supreme leader of a shunned and impoverished nation.
Many psychologists believe some of the positive aspects of NPD—for example, the adoption of a self-confident attitude and the ability to assume positions of leadership—may have driven the success of Napoleon in campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars. In an iconic example of grandiosity, he crowned himself emperor in 1804, after which he set about pursuing more military conquests. However, setbacks throughout the Napoleonic Wars, including the disastrous retreat from Russia in 1812 and the decisive defeat at Waterloo in 1815, further aggravated an already fractious character.
The Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics describes Saddam Hussein's psychology in terms of the syndrome of malignant narcissism. The Iraqi dictator, whose regime was responsible for the deaths of thousands, demonstrated pathological narcissism, antisocial features, paranoid traits, and unconstrained aggression.
By their very nature, dictators tend to be narcissists. Joseph Stalin manifested a psychopathic personality with prominent elements of narcissism, sadism, and paranoia—toxic character traits that led him to become one of the most feared and brutal tyrants of the 20th century.
Eva Perón, the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952, was seen as a narcissist for her perceived, though unofficial, power over the electorate. In his book 'The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity,' author John McManners argues that Perón consciously incorporated aspects of the theology of the Virgin and of Mary Magdalene into her public persona. Wealthy and fashion-conscious, "Evita" also exercised firm management over her husband, President Juan Perón.
Behind the image of Charlie Chaplin's famous Tramp persona lay a far darker character. The actor and filmmaker was an arrogant, combative, and narcissistic egomaniac who had numerous affairs during his marriages, including allegedly with underage girls.
One of the greatest artists of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso has also been described as a misogynistic narcissist. The Spanish co-founder of the Cubist movement certainly had a dark side. Hugely ambitious and competitive, he was a serial philander who once declared that "women are machines for suffering."
Pol Pot's megalomania and narcissistic personality led him to believe he was destined to rule and that his beliefs about his country, Cambodia, were always the correct ones. As a leading member of Cambodia's communist movement, the Khmer Rouge, Pot presided over the deaths of millions in the "Killing Fields," the idea being to annihilate the existing population and create a new age.
The exact year Joan Crawford was born is not known. The Hollywood legend never disclosed her date of birth. It was an early indication, perhaps, of her controlling personality. As an actress, Crawford was known for being demanding and difficult to work with. She was also known for being a perfectionist. But maybe she can be excused for all her faults because it's thought that Crawford not only had NDP, but also suffered from bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and borderline personality disorder, among other mental illnesses.
Josef Mengele, another notorious Nazi, was infamous for his diabolical experiments on inmates at Auschwitz II (Birkenau). "The Angel of Death" was possessed of a "god complex"— a nonclinical name for NDP. Mengele held a conviction that he was completely infallible and could achieve anything he wanted. He never repented for his immoral and criminal acts.
Muammar Gaddafi was afflicted by NDP. He craved to be accepted and adored all his life. And while many in Libya reciprocated, to the outside world he was a dictator whose authoritarian regime systematically violated human rights and financed global terrorism in the region and abroad.
Armed with a viciously narcissistic streak, Reinhard Heydrich was able to formulate the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question" with alarming ease and without a trace of sympathy or emotion. The high-ranking SS official was assassinated in June 1942, five months after chairing the Wannsee Conference where the fate of the Jews was sealed.
You know someone has a problem when Dracula is modeled after them, and not for nothing was Vlad III of Romania known as Vlad the Impaler. The 15th-century Prince of Wallachia was a malignant narcissist. He demonstrated typical NPD traits, including emotional detachment, psychopathy, sadism, and paranoia. And the mass murders that Vlad carried out indiscriminately and brutally, plus his ghastly habit of having his enemies impaled on stakes, only serves to underline his warped and dysfunctional mind.
It's often claimed that presidents and other powerful politicians require a narcissistic personality in order to achieve their goals. Robert Mugabe was once hailed a hero for steering Zimbabwe towards full independence in 1980. But then the rot set in. As president, Mugabe's primary personality patterns while demonstrating conscientiousness, were also found to be compulsive, ambitious, and self-serving. In his later years he was described as a psychopath responsible for eliminating numerous political opponents and leaving his country in ruins.
American journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson gained fame as the founder of the gonzo journalism movement. He later rose to prominence with 'Hell's Angels,' published in 1967, and 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' (1972). But his was a substance-fueled, often violent, life, punctuated by insults and verbal abuse towards family and friends. Feeling trapped by fame and not happy with the way he looked, Thompson took his own life, dying from a single gunshot to the head.
Idi Amin, who served as president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979, is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern world history. NPD part-governed his character, though his mental issues plunged into the psychotic: he reportedly ordered 4,000 disabled people to be thrown into the Nile to be torn apart by crocodiles, and he also confessed to cannibalism.
Mussolini's arrogant posturing—all jutting chin and hands-on-hip stance—helped define his grandiose narcissism. The Italian dictator was the principal founder of fascism, a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement that was ideally suited to individuals with a dangerous, self-serving agenda.
It's been suggested that Edward VIII, later Duke of Windsor, suffered from NPD. His stubborn determination to "marry the woman I love"—Wallis Simpson—cost him a throne and demonstrated an extraordinary disregard for convention. It didn't help matters when he displayed a desire for an alliance with the Nazis, eventually meeting Adolf Hitler and socializing with other high-ranking Third Reich officials.
Caligula, one of ancient Rome's most infamous emperors, was mean, mercurial, and menacing—and that's putting it mildly! History records him as a sadistic tyrant who demanded and received worship as a living god. Indeed, he infamously ordered that important statues of various deities have their heads cut off to be replaced with busts of his own. He then erected a life-sized gold statue of himself in a temple in Rome, and insisted that the statue be dressed in apparel that matched the outfit he himself was wearing each day.
Another star of Hollywood's Golden Age, Lana Turner's narcissistic tendencies became increasingly evident in the 1950s when both critics and audiences began noting parallels between Turner's rocky personal life and the roles she played, for example as the self-centered, single-minded Lora Meredith in 1959's 'Imitation of Life.'
Kate "Ma" Barker was the ruthless matriarch of a family of American criminals who operated across the Midwestern United States in the 1920s and early '30s. Arrogant and domineering, she raised her four sons by pitting them against each other, sowing dissention and disharmony, and demonstrating little if any love or empathy towards her offspring. Inevitably, perhaps, Ma Barker and her sons all met violent and bloody deaths.
Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, suffered from NPD. She was a beautiful and dynamic woman who enjoyed great power in a world dominated by men. But hers was a proud and complex personality and, when defeated, her narcissistic temperament led Cleopatra to take her own life.
Mary, Queen of Scots is believed to have suffered from histrionic personality disorder (HPD), a psychiatric condition characterized by a pattern of exaggerated attention-seeking behavior. However, she also displayed symptoms of NPD in her constant need for praise and thinking she was above everybody else.
Historians have suggested that Herod was a narcissist. A vain, jealous, and power-hungry man, Herod was also an egomaniac, completely obsessed with his own success. He indulged in colossal building projects throughout Judea, and infamously appears in the Bible as the ruler who orders the Massacre of the Innocents.
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance. It's a condition that has afflicted some of the most recognized individuals in world history. And while many people demonstrate narcissistic traits (with some actually able to contribute positively towards society despite their condition), it's those whose NPD has gone hand in hand with more serious psychiatric disorders that history has recorded as being among the most dangerous and unpredictable ever to walk the planet.
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Narcissistic figures throughout history
Some of the most egotistical and dangerous people to ever exist
LIFESTYLE Curiosities
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance. It's a condition that has afflicted some of the most recognized individuals in world history. And while many people demonstrate narcissistic traits (with some actually able to contribute positively towards society despite their condition), it's those whose NPD has gone hand in hand with more serious psychiatric disorders that history has recorded as being among the most dangerous and unpredictable ever to walk the planet.
Intrigued? Click through and discover those who only really cared for themselves.