Forgotten Historical Charactors

[jason taylor]

These are two Central Asian Warlords in the Russian Civil War, one more likable then another. Both of them had a certain character which is rather more attractive at a distance. Both have implications for Gurps: Cliffhangers.

The Mad Baron

One of the most curious figures in history. He was a White Russian aristocrat who converted to Lamaism although of European descent. But he made is reputation by other means then contemplation. Some say he was a descendent of Baltic Crusaders and his family According to one version he was made insane by a saber slash in some forgotten foray. According to another the Reds killed his family and made him crazy for revenge. He could be called a pre-fascist but that over complicates things. His political beliefs were so simple, one hardly gives them the dignity; he was really a serial killer with a lot of power. He had a fanatical hatred for Jews and Bolsheviks-to him they were probably the same thing. However given the fate of any other in his power one might wonder if there was much to choose. He thought he was the succussor to Ghenghis Khan, destined to revive the Mongol Empire. In many ways he lived up to his delusion.
When he was in Mongolia he gathered up a following of local natives and runaway White soldiery. From their he set upon a campaign of killing, rape, and pillage. This lasted for some months until he was finnally supressed by the Red Army. In a way he was a throwback to another era, a conquering warlord leading personally from horseback. Nothing like it was seen in Europe in that day or after. He could be compared to Lawrence except Lawrence had a somewhat greater gift for compassion, to say the least. The Mad Baron is not a NICE person but he is a colorful one, and would make a good villain. "Unfortunately"(from a GM's point of view, obviously) he did not have the cunning to make a challenging one, but he makes up for it by the things he might do to the PC's if they cross him. The PCs might play foreign observers-perhaps the best role is as British agents assigned undercover to his army to keep tabs on him.


In game terms he would have Bloodlust, Intolerance(Jews and Bolshiviks), Fanatic(himself), Delusion(I am the succussor to Ghenghis Khan), and sadism. He would also have Quirk(converted to Lamaism) and skill(horsemanship, fencing, etc).


Enver Pasha:

Enver Pasha was one of the few people to die exactly as appropriate for them . He was to wicked to die of old age but had to much panache to die by the gallows. He is a more mellow form of villain then the Mad Baron.
Enver Pasha was a pre-fascist of the turn of the century "Pan" cults(pan teutonism, pan slavism and in his case pan Turk). He was part of the Young Turk conspiracy and during World War I was part of the ruling oligarchy in Turkey. He was also a war criminal-if he did not approve of the Armenian massacre(which is at least possible-he never gave indication of hatred for Armenians that I am aware of, though it is reasonable to think he might have found them inconvenient), he certainly didn't go to much bother to prevent it. Be that as it may at the end of the war he decided to pay tribute to the virtue of prudence and flee to Russia. There he was caught up in various intrigues. He had a convoluted plan to help them in return for help in taking over Turkey perhaps having something to do with subverting British Moslems. The Comintern always was willing to use a disgruntled political exile. However there was a perhaps slightly sordid bit of jealousy for the Comintern's favor between him and the radical Indian Nationalists. When Enver Pasha decided he wasn't getting anywhere, he slipped off to join Islamic Partisans in the East. For awhile he revived their revolt but numbers eventually told. According to one account he died when he was suprised at a campfire. Seeing the vast hordes of enemies around him, he mounted his horse and charged them suicidally, thus dying like a warrior if not like a saint. According to the historian Peter Hopkirk this incident took place near the mythical birthplace of the Turkish race. If so, sometimes poetry will out.
Enver Pasha makes a good villain, and a halfway likable one. He carries with him the wistful nostalgic attraction of a certain class of reactionaries from the early twentieth century that comes of tradition and "lost causedness". He had enough cunning to make him more then a bit of a challenge. While he is best as a "worthy foe" he could conceivably be made the hero if one overlooks the fact that he had more then a bit of unjust blood on his hands. It is easy to do as he never reveled in it in quite the same way the Mad Baron did. Rather he had an "unsqueemishness" that would be more typical of a pre-nineteenth century ruler then a modern Western politician. He would be interesting either as a PC or NPC.

Traits to give him would be Savoire-faire(courtly, military), charisma, CoH(aristocrats), fencing, horsemanship, strategy(land), diplomacy, fanaticism(Pan-turkism), enemy(Armenians), and others

Does anyone else have submissions to this thread?

[fredtheobviouspseudonym]

Rajah Brooke.

Well written up in the late George MacDonald Fraser's "Flashman's Lady".

With no official support he basically made himself ruler of a big chunk of Borneo and ruled it in his own name as a client-state of the British Empire.

Don't know how he did it.

See also http://www.rajahbrooke.com/datesvyn.htm.

[Ed the Coastie]

Oooo...gist for the GURPS Riverworld mill! *G* Let's hear it for "footnote characters"!

*adds Erasmus Darwin -- grandfather of Charles Darwin -- to his list of historical characters to create someday*

EDIT: Here's an interesting PoD for an Infinite Worlds setting...Darwin and Franklin collaborate to develop Darwin's liquid-fuel rocket engine.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Ed the Coastie

Here's an interesting PoD for an Infinite Worlds setting...Darwin and Franklin collaborate

We're talking about Benjamin Franklin (b. 1706, d. 1790) and Charles Darwin (b. 1809, d. 1882), right?

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

We're talking about Benjamin Franklin (b. 1706, d. 1790) and Charles Darwin (b. 1809, d. 1882), right?

Erasmus Darwin, the grandfather.

[quarkstomper]

Not exactly forgotten, but Merian C. Cooper lived an incredible life. He's best known as the director of King Kong, but he had a career to rival Indiana Jones.

He was a pilot during the First World War. On one occasion, when he was shot down by the enemy, he successfully piloted his burning plane to the ground rather than bail out and leave his co-pilot to crash. After the war, he served in Poland helping their struggle for independence against the Soviets. Cooper was captured by the Bolsheviks and managed to escape from a Russian prison and flee on foot back to Poland.

He teamed up with a top newsreel photographer and travelled the world seeking footage that was, in his words, "Distant, Difficult and Dangerous". He spent months with a tribe of nomads trekking across the high country of Persia.

The character of Carl Denham from his most famous movie was in many ways a portrait of Merian Cooper. He was a pulp-era adventurer brought to life.

[Steev]

Well you have to mention Jan Jiska (Jan Ziska).

A one eyed man lead a bunch of peasents (the Hussites) which defeated 3 crusades which were sent by the Catholic church comprising of the finest knights in Western Europe. They defeated another 2 after his death still using his tactics.

Once in a seige he had his good eye shot out by a crossbow bolt and within a few months was back leading his army. He was blind and still did not lose a battle, by the end of his life time the fact that he was coming was enough to break a siege and make the enemy retreat.

He died of plague and it was written "that which no mortal hand could slay was extinguished by the finger of God".

He ordered that when he died he was to be skinned and his skin used to make the Hussite war drum*. The sound of this war drum caused the panicing shout "It is the drum of Jiska" at which point the crusaders fled the field without so much as seeing their enemy.

* this is not true it was merely an intimidating rumour the Hussites spread.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by Steev

Well you have to mention Jan Jiska (Jan Ziska).

I'm not sure that someone who rates a giant equestrian statue in a national capital, and who gets to feature on that nation's banknotes, entirely counts as "forgotten". Great guy, though, certainly.

[MechDrek]

An interesting character would be Victor Franke, a German colonial officer. He comes to life through his diaries and is a sarcastic and sentimental observer of his surroundings. Suffering from stomach ulcers he had to inject morphine to bear the pain and suffered from attacks that left him incapacitated for days. He is deeply attached to his mother and had problems with women - though he wasn't the only Victorian to suffer from that problem.

As the son of a country estate owner he was a good rider and loved animals. His love for living beings also somehow translated into some kind of respect towards the colonized people which makes him a more bearable character than many contemporaries. He still was a racist who beat his "boys" in a fit of anger though he was decent enough to regret it afterwards ...

He became famous for his exploits in the early phase of the Herero Uprising when he rode 250 miles in four days with his company without losing a single man or horse. He saved his adjutant from drowning and led several successful attacks against the Herero. According to the reports he lived up to the image of the officer caring about his men (and horses) but being reckless against himself. He was nauseated by what he considered cruel treatment against animals (especially horses) and even the Herero.

He was not only a devout Catholic (his prayer to Mother Mary written at the outbreak of WW1 where he begs to stave off dishonour from the German people in Namibia is still to be found in the German Archives) but also quite superstitious. His pluck and daring earned him the Pour le Merite and he became for some time a buddy to William II. Franke convinced the Emperor to send a water diviner (von Uslar) to the colony. Somehow the poor man didn't get any vibes and returned to Germany sickened from his colonial experience :)

His harsh and astute observations make his diary an enjoyable read and bring the colonial era to life.

"The Countess is a whore and the Count is incapable of leading his company. The second in command is shagging the Countess and everybody knows it."

"Blumchen is a nice guy even though he reeks from his crotch."

Who doesn't like reading tidbits like these?

[jason taylor]

Marco Sanudo. A Medieval Venetian Swashbuckler who by some feat of intrigue obtained a fief in the Aegean and used it as a plausibly deniable arm of the Venetian State. Has been compared to the White Rajah whom I believe is mentioned above.

Robert Carrey Elizabethan Courtier and Lawman. Kept the Queens Peace on the Scottish borderline and won the respect of both the clans and in Edinburg and London. Mentioned in The Steel Bonnets by George Macdonald Fraser

The Grand Vizier during the battle of Lepanto
I can't remember his name. But he was the sponsor of a failed and forgotten "Zionist" movement during the time. One author blames the failure on the fact that the colonists were bourgiouis rather then trained agriculturalists. But then so were the later Zionists. Probably the later ones were more motivated and the earlier ones were simply uprooted and planted there by an autocratic government.