Top 10 Most Evil Leaders in History

I want the worst of the worst. Give me the most evil, heartless, and inhumane leaders in history.

The Top Ten

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 to April 30, 1945) was a German politician of Austrian descent who led the Nazi Party from 1921, served as Chancellor of Germany from 1933, and held the position of Führer from 1934. As dictator of Nazi Germany, he reversed the Treaty of Versailles, initiated World War II... read more

In my time reading about history, I've come up with the term "superdictator." This term implies that the dictator in question committed so many atrocities that they earn a title above dictator. Besides Stalin, Hitler perfectly fits this term. Not only was he responsible for the humiliation and later slaughter of 11 million innocent lives, but he also started a pointless conflict driven by his own anger.
I'm glad Germany has made a clean slate ever since the Third Reich because they deserve it after such a horrific leader.

I strongly agree that he was the most evil person in the world. He started the Holocaust. He hated Jews, Gypsies, people with disabilities, homosexuality, and many more.
If I were in Germany at his time, I would have been killed because I'm deaf. I'm absolutely disgusted by Hitler and his beliefs of "perfect Germans." He thought that he could abuse his power. Over 6 million Jews were killed, thanks to Hitler.
Joseph Stalin

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was a Georgian revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death on March 5, 1953. He held the title of General Secretary of the Communist Party's Central Committee, which gave him effective control over the Soviet state. His rule was marked by rapid... read more

Anyone who didn't agree with the communist ruling was sent to the Gulag or tortured and executed. One survivor recounts that a woman walked into a prison torture chamber and found her husband in a chair, with his feet burned so severely that the skin had been peeled off. Additionally, his eyes had been gouged out and his lips cut off.
I do know that Nazi scientists conducted experiments on twins in concentration camps and attempted to change the eye color of prisoners.
After all I've read about World War II, I have to say that Josef Stalin was the worst. Remember, he also disliked Jews and sent them to the Gulag. It didn't matter who you were. If you didn't agree with Soviet rule, you would be tortured or killed. Stalin allowed the KGB to kill people he saw as threats because he wanted to rule the Soviet Union.
When his wife died, nobody could see any reaction from Stalin. He didn't cry, he didn't get angry. When his own son was captured by the Germans, he didn't even try to negotiate. He told the Germans that he didn't negotiate with fascists.
Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary and founding father of the People's Republic of China, which he governed as Chairman of the Communist Party of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976.... read more

Historians argue about the number of deaths to attribute to Mao, but the number is most likely 70 million. Mao killed people just to solve China's problems. He did not talk badly about them or even care about them. On the other hand, Hitler was all about eliminating the less desirable people from his Germany. The world knew but did not really stop him. Mao just straight killed people through famine, labor, or execution.
He was cunning. I wish more people would learn about him and see that he was just straight-up evil.

Mao Zedong was never a good leader at all. After his Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward, he murdered over 60 million Chinese people. Yet, China still sees this guy as their godly hero, and many portraits of him are displayed throughout the country. Mao killed people through famine, labor camps, torture, or maybe even executions. He was a cunning and ruthless leader, who still has his name honored throughout China.
Pol Pot

Pol Pot, born Saloth Sar, was a Cambodian revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until 1997. From 1963 to 1981, he served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea. He was responsible for policies that led to the deaths of approximately two million people during the Cambodian... read more

He takes my number one spot, simply due to the fact that no one under his control was safe. The life expectancy at one point under his regime was only 18 years old. He ordered the slaughter of anyone he saw as "intellectual." This included people who wore glasses, artists, and others. He forced every citizen to wear black clothes, and you can imagine how he accomplished that.
Not to mention how he oversaw the profoundly violent genocide of the Cham people of Cambodia. He didn't kill as many people as Hitler or other evil leaders, but since he was in charge of far fewer people, he is proportionally far worse.

Believing in communism, Pol Pot turned Cambodia back 200 years with his misguided Khmer Rouge and maniacal ideas. He led a genocide that resulted in the deaths of 2 million innocent people and didn't face any real punishment for it.
Anyone who didn't comply with his communist-related laws was sent to labor camps, where they worked relentlessly for at least 10 hours a day. If they committed "political" crimes, they were either sent to death camps, executed, or tortured.
He spread lies and propaganda throughout his country, isolated his people from the outside world, convinced them that they were the only "real" country, and claimed that if they dared leave Cambodia, they would suffer a fate worse than death.
If this guy isn't worse than Min Aung Hlaing, then I don't know who is.
Vlad the Impaler

Vlad III, also known as "Vlad the Impaler" or "Vlad Dracula", was born in 1431 and served as a Romanian monarch. He ruled the principality of Wallachia three separate times before his death in either 1476 or 1477. Vlad is most famous for his reputation as a brutal and authoritarian ruler, especially... read more

This man was not a terrible monster in the way most of these crazy, power-hungry people were. He was a sad, sad man bent on revenge for his treatment after witnessing the atrocities of war and valiantly saving his people from slaughter. Coming home crippled his battle-torn mind.
Think of this: we have soldiers today coming back from war scarred for life without physical injury, and we use weapons that either blow people up or tear through them from a distance. Now, imagine having to go into battle with the weapons of that time and the mental damage that would cause after war with no morals. He also had almost no crime during his reign.
Muhammad

Muhammad ibn Abdullah (570 AD - 632 AD) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader who founded Islam, one of the world's major monotheistic religions. According to Islamic belief, he was the final prophet, tasked with confirming the teachings of earlier prophets such as Adam, Abraham, Moses... read more

Not a leader of a state but a religious leader and a self-proclaimed prophet, and definitely a dangerous one.
It is well archived and known that the people of Mecca were not interested in what Muhammad had to say and banished him from Mecca because they did not want to convert to Islam and did not believe what he had to say.
He would later return with a band of followers that he acquired and forced Islam on Mecca via brute force. Violence would then prevail and Muhammad would succeed in forcing Islam on the Middle East, North Africa, and much of Spain, even attempting to convert Gaul via violence, but the Gauls (French) pushed them back.
The Quran clearly stated, among other things, slay the non-believer wherever he may lay, i.e., kill the non-believer (the infidel). The Quran continually preaches that Allah will not be content until all the world is Muslim and that everyone should be converted. Violence is continually promoted as a viable means to achieve this feat. Then and only then do Muslims want peace (but even then there will be bloodshed between the Sunni and the Shia).
Also, take a look at what Muhammad and consequently Muslims throughout history have to say about the treatment of women. Disgusting.
Kim Jong-il

Kim Jong-il (born Yuri Irsenovich Kim. February 16, 1941 - December 17, 2011) was a North Korean politician who served as the second Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from 1994 until his death in 2011. He succeeded his father, Kim Il-sung, the country's founding leader, and... read more

Way more evil than his son. He had hundreds of innocent people executed to set a warning for those whom he feared might revolt against his Jucheist ideas.
Not to mention, he ruined the economy and did nothing about the Korean famine.

At least his nephew executed him, so now there is one less stupid baby instead of two.

I am from South Korea, and I hate him. I always wondered why he is even trying to fight with the whole world. He is idiotic enough to try to fight one on one million.
Osama bin Laden

Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (Arabic: أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن, romanized: Usāma bin Muḥammad bin ʿAwaḍ bin Lādin, March 10, 1957 to May 2, 2011) was a stateless terrorist born in Saudi Arabia. He founded al-Qaeda, the organization that claimed responsibility for the September 11 attacks... read more

I wonder why this one is seventh. Surely his level of evilness is equal to, if not more than, Hitler? And why is Obama third? He might not have been a good president, but he's definitely not as evil as Hitler or bin Laden, who were responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent people. A moron such as bin Laden should be in the top three.

He started everything Americans, Middle Easterners, and Europeans see today as terrorism, hate, and disaster. Without him, the likelihood of a random girl in a hijab being called a terrorist would be nearly incomprehensible. ISIS's creation wouldn't have come close to starting. Iconic parts of the U.S. would still be here. And millions of people from around the globe would still be alive.
Ivan the Terrible

Ivan IV Vasilyevich, commonly known as Ivan the Terrible or Ivan the Fearsome, was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547. He later became the Tsar of All Rus' and ruled in that capacity until his death in 1584. Ivan was the first ruler formally crowned as Tsar, and his title was adopted by subsequent... read more

The worst leader of Russia. Unlike Stalin, Ivan actually killed people for no reason other than he was bored.
As a child, he threw puppies off towers for fun. Now, he is known as a terrible man, even by Russians. This just goes to show how sadistic this monster was.

He was terrible. He beat his pregnant daughter-in-law, causing a miscarriage. When his son heard of this, he confronted Ivan, but Ivan killed him. He also invaded the city called Novgorod and ordered 500 to 1000 people to be tortured to death in front of him each day. This included being skinned, disemboweled, boiled, fried, and beaten to death.
60,000 people were killed, not to mention the thousands of people that were killed on other occasions. He forced hundreds of parents to watch their children be tortured and killed.
Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017, becoming the first African-American to hold the office. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a U.S. Senator from Illinois (2005 to 2008) and as an Illinois state senator... read more

At least Stalin had the decency not to pretend to rule with an iron fist. Anybody who knows how economics really work will tell you that he was the worst at actually leading this country. His only claim to fame is being president while Osama bin Laden was killed.
But let me ask you this: what would have happened to his chances of being re-elected if we found out he let bin Laden get away? At least Bush didn't blame Clinton for his failures. Obama can't even go one day without blaming his failures on everybody else. As a typical Democrat, he'll get away with it all and be called great for screwing our country, economy, and freedoms.

The Newcomers

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Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi
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Mullah Omar

Mullah Muhammad Omar was an Afghan militant leader and cleric who founded the Taliban in 1994. During the Third Afghan Civil War, the Taliban fought the Northern Alliance and took control of most of Afghanistan, establishing the First Islamic Emirate. Omar served as Supreme Leader from 1996.... read more

The Contenders

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving from July 16, 1979, until April 9, 2003. A leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and later the Baghdad-based Ba'ath Party - Iraq Region, which espoused Ba'athism, a mix of Arab nationalism and socialism... read more

Saddam may not have killed as many as Stalin or Hitler did, but when he killed people, he asked his mercenaries to do it in the most brutal ways. Burn, bury them alive, acid pools, throw them off the third floor. Besides, when you commit a "sin" against the great leader, not only will you be executed, but your father and uncles will suffer the same fate.

Actually, Saddam didn't have nukes. Read a newspaper, geez! While he didn't have WMDs, he did use gas attacks, under the guise of testing them, in an attempt to wipe out the Kurdish people who populate northern Iraq. He was a monster, and I'm glad he's dead.
Kim Jong-un

Kim Jong-un (born January 8, 1983) is a North Korean politician who has served as Supreme Leader of North Korea since December 2011 and as Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea since April 2012. He's the third leader in the Kim dynasty, following his father Kim Jong-il and his grandfather Kim Il-sung... read more

Kim Jong-un destroyed his own economy and spreads propaganda throughout his country as if it were hot news. He executes defectors and people who make the slightest mistakes. He forced people to cry at his father's funeral and assassinated his older brother, fearing that his brother would take the heir instead of him.
He compelled people to believe that he is a god who can control everything based on his moods. He also formed a "pleasure squad" where he forced 2000 attractive women to have sex with him and his top officials. Additionally, he made his people believe that the US is the poorest country in the world, named his country the "Hermit Kingdom," and much more.

Actual dictator. After the Holocaust, we said, "Never again." But he is literally putting North Koreans into camps for simple things like having dust on the president's portraits.
He is an actual rat. How do people think he is great?
Hideki Tojo

Hideki Tōjō was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 27th Prime Minister of Japan, serving from October 17, 1941, to July 22, 1944. He also led the Imperial Rule Assistance Association during World War II. As Prime Minister, he authorized the attack on Pearl Harbor, which brought the United... read more

He was the real leader of Japan. All the blame is put on the emperor, but it was really the prime minister who gave all the orders to the soldiers, such as in the war against China.
Idi Amin

Idi Amin Dada was a Ugandan politician and military officer who served as President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He was born in either Koboko or Kampala to a Kakwa father and a Lugbara mother. In 1946, he joined the King's African Rifles, a regiment of the British colonial army.

This guy would chop up his enemies or people he had punished, keep their remains in his fridge as trophies, and laugh at them. If anything, he should be up there next to Vlad the Impaler.

This man was truly Satanic. He even ate the meat of his victims. Can you just imagine the way those people were tormented by being treated as animals for food?

Executed people and stored their bodies in fridges so he could laugh at them. Not to mention, he was also a cannibal, had no regard for the Ugandan people, and executed at least 500,000 people during his brutal reign.
Dick Cheney

Richard Bruce Cheney, commonly known as Dick Cheney, was an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He previously held roles such as White House Chief of Staff under President Gerald Ford and Secretary... read more

He pushed for war with his own agenda and let Bush take the heat for it. He manipulated Bush like a puppet and made millions from selling arms to the US military.

Talk about conflict of interest. He is and always will be an enemy to the freedom of people everywhere, including the Constitution of the US. He manipulated Bush and the military-industrial complex to his own design.
Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan (c. 1162 - August 18, 1227), born Temüjin, was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death. He united the Mongol tribes and launched a series of military campaigns that conquered vast territories across Asia and into... read more

He slaughtered more people than Hitler. When he was attacking the Shah tribe, there was a moat around their castle his horses could not get around, so he made a bridge of his drowned captives.

How is this absolute menace to society ranked less bad than Muhammad, who was literally just a controversial religious figure?

He killed people using the lead sprinkler, which involved pouring molten metal or silver in the victims' eyes or ears.
Fidel Castro

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, known as Fidel Castro (August 13, 1926 - November 25, 2016), was a Cuban politician and revolutionary. He governed the Republic of Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party... read more

Castro has to be one of the best liars in history, like Trump, but much more skilled at convincing others to ignore the evidence at hand. He killed some 18 percent of the population to take power (getting rid of another 4 percent by exiling them) and had any book that promoted freedom of thought burned. A true monster, based on his actions.

This guy enslaved Cubans, lied to America in every way possible, and was not a good ally to Nikita Khrushchev either. He managed to fail many of Khrushchev's tasks, and the FBI tried to assassinate him over 600 times. You know Castro's a monster if his assassination attempts number over 100.
Hillary Clinton

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013, as a United States Senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and as First Lady of the United States from 1993 to... read more
Attila the Hun

Attila (died March 453), often called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death. He led invasions into the Eastern and Western Roman Empires and was one of the most feared enemies of Rome. His campaigns significantly shaped the geopolitical dynamics of fifth-century Europe.
Leopold II

Leopold II (9 April 1835-17 December 1909) was the second King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909. He was also the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. His administration in the Congo was characterized by atrocities and systematic brutality that resulted in millions of deaths... read more

Ignoring suffering or being willingly ignorant of things done in your name. It's all the same in the end. Leopold is responsible for so much pain it places him in the realm of evil.
If nothing else, Leopold made the idea of evil plundering imperialism a fact - something that was best left a hyperbolic phrase.

He devastated the people of the Congo by enslaving and exploiting a free people. Easily as evil as Hitler and caused the death of millions. He cut off children's hands and tormented the women so that the men would work harder. King Leopold was brutal.
Bashar al-Assad

Bashar Hafez al-Assad, born on July 11, 1965, is a Syrian politician who served as the 19th President of Syria from July 17, 2000, until December 8, 2024, when his government was overthrown by Syrian rebels. He was also the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces, General Secretary of the ruling... read more
Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is an Israeli politician serving as the 9th and current Prime Minister of Israel, a position he has held since 2009. He previously served as Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999. Netanyahu is the longest-serving Prime Minister in Israeli history.

How can someone live with themselves knowing they killed so many innocent people? This beast has no heart.

This guy is literally a demon and looks like one too. Free Palestine.
Kim il Sung

Kim Il-sung was the first Supreme Leader of North Korea, serving from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the title of Premier from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to 1994. Kim established a one-party state and laid the foundations for the Kim dynasty that continues... read more

Father of a troubled nation, was a puppet for Stalin, tried to take over South Korea, and killed over a million people.

The one who started what's really wrong about the world.
Benito Mussolini

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the country as Prime Minister from 1922 until he was ousted in 1943. He ruled constitutionally until 1925, when he established a legal dictatorship. Mussolini allied Italy with Nazi... read more

Didn't know how to fight for Hitler and always disappointed Hitler in every way. Mussolini would be the worst ally to have in a global war as he doesn't know how to lead an army and even threw away the Italian fleet. He was greedy and started war with Greece who wanted to be neutral. Mussolini got what he deserved and died for cowardice in war.

Fascist freak who eyed an invasion in Northern Africa. He was also an ally for Hitler and created an ideology (Fascism) that doesn't even work!
Nero

Nero, born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus on December 15, 37 AD, and died on June 9, 68 AD, was the last Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius, who named him heir and successor. Nero became emperor with the support of the Praetorian Guard and is remembered... read more

This guy was almost as bad as Caligula. He was ruthless and murderous. You must be evil to kick your pregnant wife to death and try to kill your own mother. In fact, he was so evil that he crucified Christians and burned them alive. Now, that's just evil! He would not think twice about killing someone or beating them to a bloody pulp!

He killed innocent people! He was a no-good, dirty bastard that should have been burned at the stake, twice!

Why is he only #30? He's basically Hitler before the existence of the actual Hitler.