Ten of the most fearsome and deadliest nicknames in history
We sure do hope you aren't bestowing nicknames similar to these on your friends or loved ones.
While nicknames are usually cute endearments we attach to our best friends or cherished loved ones, throughout history we have seen some truly nasty ones, ranging from Ivan the Terrible to Vlad the Impaler.
Humanity tends to get rather creative when it comes to giving historical figures memorable nicknames that keep them etched in history forever. We often grant someone despicable a nickname which is befitting of the horrific acts they carried out during their brief blip in the history of humanity.
Whether it was mass genocide, serial killing, or if you just have an inability to feel pain, here is a list of 10 of the most fearsome nicknames in history, according to Dictionary.com:
1. Ivan the Terrible
Suffering from violent, paranoid delusions, Tsar Ivan the Terrible earned a ghastly reputation for slaughtering his political opponents while suppressing free speech in Russia. His armies once destroyed an entire town, simply because he had a mistaken hunch they were plotting against him. And don’t forget that he ‘accidentally’ killed his own son with a giant walking stick in 1581.
2. Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper’s nickname fuelled his staggering notoriety in London during the late 1800s. London’s rabid press couldn’t help but report all the salacious details of these gruesome murders either. They paid particular attention to how the murderer seemed to rip his poor victims to shreds.
3. The Butcher of Bosnia
The term ‘butcher’ is often attributed to war criminals who commit large-scale slaughter. Take Ratko Mladi? for instance. The combat general was convicted of human rights violations, including genocide against Muslims, after the Bosnian War in the early 1990s.
4. White Death
Simo Häyhä, a Finnish soldier in the Winter War of 1939–1940, is reported to have single-handedly killed upwards of 400 enemy soldiers during three months of battle. Häyhä was called ‘White Death’ because his sniper fire came from deep snow embankments. Opposing forces couldn’t locate his position thanks to his camouflage against the icy white tundra.
5. Vlad the Impaler
He had a nasty habit of cutting people’s heads off and impaling them on spikes. The Wallachian leader used these savage displays to intimidate his opponents and consolidate his political power.
6. Killer Clown
Pennywise from Steven King’s IT might strike fear into your heart, but he’s got nothing on John Wayne Gacy, aka the Killer Clown. Before his gruesome crimes were discovered, Gacy was known as a friendly clown named Pogo who performed at children’s parties and raised money for charity.
7. Ivar the Boneless
While there isn’t enough historical evidence to prove exactly where this bizarre nickname came from, there are some clues. Ancient Nordic poems portray Ivar as a fearless berserker who had a superhuman resilience to pain or injury. Others believe he suffered from a genetic condition that softened his cartilage, making his limbs hyper-flexible.
8. The Grey Man
Albert Fish, known as The Gray Man, is one of American history’s most distinguished maniacs. Fish got his nickname from a frightened witness who described his unruly appearance, saying the infamous kidnapper made strange movements with his hands, and “everything about him seemed faded and grey”.
9. The Zodiac Killer
The Zodiac Killer haunted Northern California for several years, committing a baffling string of murders that remain unsolved today. In mocking letters to the press, he called himself The Zodiac. It’s possible this nickname has nothing to do with astrology at all.
10. Doctor Death
The name is usually attributed to medical personnel who break the Hippocratic oath by purposefully euthanising elderly or sick patients against their will. One such doctor, Jack Kevorkian, spent his entire career advocating the concept of the right to die, which permits terminally ill patients to undergo euthanasia at will.
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