We ranked 10 of the most evil leaders in history and compared them to the dark wizards (and witch) of the wizarding world. The rank was based on how evil they are and their area of influence at the height of their power, also the number of people they killed and the amount of money they amassed.
We ranked these evil leaders based on these dark lord levels: from Herpo the Foul (Level 1) who invented the incantation and created the first Horcrux; Morgan le Fay (Level 2), the dark witch who was the opponent of Merlin; Voldemort (Level 3), the dark lord who created seven Horcruxes to make himself immortal up to Grindelwald (Level 4), the dark lord who conquered much of Europe.
Top 10: Kim Il-sung
Dark Lord Level: Herpo the Foul (Level 1)
In 1948, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was founded, with Kim as its premier. In the summer of 1950, Kim led an invasion into the south looking to unify the country under northern control, thereby initiating the Korean War. American and additional United Nations military forces got involved in the conflict, with casualties from all sides, including civilian deaths, eventually reaching 1 million. The war ceased at a stalemate with a signed armistice in July 1953.
As head of state, Kim continued to have an agitative relationship with South Korea, with North Korea becoming known as a highly controlled, oppressive country whose people were allowed no contact with the West. Under a propaganda-based social fabric, Kim aimed to foster the concept of economic self-reliance and came to be known as “Great Leader.” He was elected president of the country in late 1972, taking on a domestic policy that focused on militarization and industrialization. *1
Top 9: Fidel Castro
Dark Lord Level: Herpo the Foul (Level 1)
Beginning in 1958 Castro and his forces began a campaign of guerrilla warfare which led to the overthrow of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. As the country’s new leader, Castro implemented communist domestic policies and initiated military and economic relations with the Soviet Union that led to strained relations with the United States that culminated in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Under Castro, improvements were made to health care and education, while he maintained a dictatorial control over the country and brutally persecuted or imprisoned anyone thought to be enemies of the regime. Thousands of dissidents were killed or died trying to flee the dictatorship. Castro was also responsible for fomenting communist revolutions in countries around the world. However, the 1991 collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and its negative impact on Cuba’s economy led Castro to relax some restrictions over time. In failing health, Fidel Castro officially handed over power to his brother Raúl Castro in 2008, but still wielded some political influence in Cuba and abroad. Fidel Castro died on November 25, 2016 at the age of 90. *2
Top 8: Ferdinand Marcos
Dark Lord Level: Herpo the Foul (Level 1)
Ferdinand Marcos’ wife, Imelda, became a powerful figure after martial law was decreed in 1972, often appointing her relatives to lucrative governmental and industrial positions (while accumulating upward of 1,000 pairs of shoes and several Manhattan skyscrapers). These acts were akin to Marcos’ state-imposed “crony capitalism,” by which private businesses were seized by the government and handed over to friends and relatives of regime members. Indicative of the entire Marcos administration, these acts would eventually lead to economic troubles for the Philippines and further civil unrest.
To this end, on August 21, 1983, Benigno Aquino Jr. returned from his long exile to offer the Philippine people a new face of hope. Unfortunately, he was shot dead by his military escort as he stepped off the plane in Manila. The assassination was seen as the work of the government and ignited massive countrywide protests. An independent commission appointed by Marcos concluded a year later that high military officers were responsible for Aquino’s assassination, although it has since been suggested that Marcos or even his wife had ordered the killing. *3
He was overthrown in a People Power Revolution.
Top 7: Benito Mussolini
Dark Lord Level: Morgana le Fay (Level 2)
Born in 1883 in Dovia di Predappio, Forlì, Italy, Benito Mussolini was an ardent socialist as a youth, following in his father’s political footsteps, but was expelled by the party for his support of World War I. In 1919, he created the Fascist Party, eventually making himself dictator and holding all the power in Italy.
In 1942, at the Casablanca Conference, Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt devised a plan to take Italy out of the war and force Germany to move its troops to the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union. Allied forces secured a beachhead in Sicily and began marching up the Italian peninsula. With pressure mounting, Mussolini was forced to resign and arrested; German commandos later rescued him. Mussolini then moved his government to northern Italy, hoping to regain his influence. On June 4, 1944, Rome was liberated by Allied forces, who marched on to take control of Italy.
He overextended his forces during World War II and was eventually killed by his own people, on April 28, 1945, in Mezzegra, Italy. *4
Top 6: Donald Trump
Dark Lord Level: Morgana le Fay (Level 2)
Real estate developer Donald John Trump was born in 1946, in Queens, New York. In 1971, he became involved in large, profitable building projects in Manhattan. In 1980, he opened the Grand Hyatt, which made him the city’s best-known developer. In 2004, Trump began starring in the hit NBC reality series The Apprentice, which also spawned the offshoot The Celebrity Apprentice. Trump turned his aunttention to politics, and in 2015 he announced his candidacy for president of the United States on the Republican ticket. After winning a majority of the primaries and caucuses, Trump became the official Republican candidate for president on July 19, 2016. That November, Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States when he defeated Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. *5
Top 5: Mao Zedong
Dark Lord Level: Voldemort (Level 3)
Born on December 26, 1893, in Shaoshan, Hunan Province, China, Mao Tse-tung served as chairman of the People’s Republic of China from 1949 to 1959, and led the Chinese Communist Party from 1935 until his death. Mao’s “Great Leap Forward” and the Cultural Revolution were ill-conceived and had disastrous consequences, but many of his goals, including stressing China’s self-reliance, were generally laudable.
In 1972, to further solidify his place in Chinese history, Mao Tse-tung met with United States President Richard Nixon, a gesture that eased tensions between the two countries and elevated China’s prominence as a world player. During the meetings, it became apparent that Mao’s health was deteriorating, and not much was accomplished because Mao was not always clear in his statements or intentions. *6
Top 4: Vladimir Putin
Dark Lord Level: Voldemort (Level 3)
In 1999, Russian president Boris Yeltsin dismissed his prime minister and promoted former KGB officer Vladimir Putin in his place. In December 1999, Yeltsin resigned, appointing Putin president, and he was re-elected in 2004. In April 2005, he made a historic visit to Israel—the first visit there by any Kremlin leader. Putin could not run for the presidency again in 2008, but was appointed prime minister by his successor, Dmitry Medvedev. Putin was re-elected to the presidency in March 2012. In 2014, he was reportedly nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. *7
Top 3: Adolf Hitler
Dark Lord Level: Grindelwald (Level 4)
Born in Austria in 1889, Adolf Hitler rose to power in German politics as leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party, also known as the Nazi Party. Hitler was chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, serving as a dictator for the bulk of his time in power. His policies precipitated World War II and the genocide perpetrated against Jewish communities known as the Holocaust. With defeat on the horizon, Hitler committed suicide with wife Eva Braun on April 30, 1945, in his Berlin bunker.
Hitler’s political programs had brought about a world war, leaving behind a devastated and impoverished Eastern and Central Europe, including Germany. His policies inflicted human suffering on an unprecedented scale and resulted in the death of tens of millions of people, including more than 20 million in the Soviet Union. Hitler’s defeat marked the end of Germany’s dominance in European history and the defeat of fascism. A new ideological global conflict, the Cold War, emerged in the aftermath of the devastating violence of World War II. *8
Top 2: Joseph Stalin
Dark Lord Level: Grindelwald (Level 4)
Born on December 18, 1879, in Gori, Georgia, Joseph Stalin rose to power as General Secretary of the Communist Party, becoming a Soviet dictator upon Vladimir Lenin’s death. Stalin forced rapid industrialization and the collectivization of agricultural land, resulting in millions dying from famine while others were sent to camps. His Red Army helped defeat Nazi Germany during WWII.
Stalin suffered another foreign policy defeat after he encouraged North Korean Communist leader Kim Il Sung to invade South Korea, believing the United States would not interfere. Earlier, he had ordered the Soviet representative to the United Nations to boycott the Security Council because it refused to accept the newly formed Communist People’s Republic of China into the United Nations. When the resolution to support South Korea came to a vote in the Security Council, the Soviet Union was unable to use its veto. *9
Top 1: Hideki Tojo
Dark Lord Level: Grindelwald (Level 4)
Tōjō Hideki, (born December 30, 1884, Tokyo, Japan—died December 23, 1948, Tokyo) soldier and statesman who was prime minister of Japan (1941–44) during most of the Pacific theatre portion of World War II and who was subsequently tried and executed for war crimes.
On September 11, 1945, after Japan’s formal surrender, Tōjō shot himself in a suicide attempt, but he was nursed back to health and on April 29, 1946, with other Japanese wartime leaders, was indicted for war crimes before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo. At the trial he was found guilty and then hanged. Tōjō’s legacy continued, as he was one of those convicted of war crimes who also had been included among Japan’s military dead commemorated in the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. Periodic visits to the shrine by various Japanese prime ministers and other government officials have sparked strong protests from China, South Korea, and other countries that were under Japanese occupation during the war. *10
*1: (http://www.biography.com/people/kim-il-sung-9364759#the-korean-war)
*2: (http://www.biography.com/people/fidel-castro-9241487)
*3: (http://www.biography.com/people/ferdinand-marcos-9398625#state-of-the-regime-and-downfall)
*4: (http://www.biography.com/people/benito-mussolini-9419443#italys-defeat-and-mussolinis-demise)
*5: (http://www.biography.com/people/donald-trump-9511238)
*6 : (http://www.biography.com/people/mao-tse-tung-9398142#a-revolutionary-legacy)
*7: (http://www.biography.com/people/vladimir-putin-9448807#personal-life)
*8: (http://www.biography.com/people/adolf-hitler-9340144#death-and-legacy)
*9: (http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-stalin-9491723#communist-party-leader)
*10: (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tojo-Hideki)
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