History’s biggest Badasses
Bernard Freyberg
A fearless New Zealand–born commander famed for leading from the front in both World Wars.
Rank - 173
Adrian Carton de Wiart
A walking catalogue of injuries, Adrian Carton de Wiart charged through the twentieth century’s worst battles with the attitude of a man personally offended by mortality.
Rank - 175
Charles Martel “The Hammer”
Charles Martel was the bastard-turned-kingmaker who stopped an empire with a hammer and accidentally built one of his own.
Rank - 183
Godfrey of Bouillon
Godfrey of Bouillon stormed Jerusalem with holy fire in his eyes and left it bathed in the kind of righteousness that smells like smoke and blood.
Rank - 184
Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck
In the steaming chaos of East Africa, Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck fought the entire British Empire to a standstill with nothing but mosquitoes, discipline, and pure Prussian spite.
Rank - 185
Joan of Arc
A teenage peasant turned holy warlord, Joan of Arc burned her way from battlefield glory to martyrdom and sainthood.
Rank - 186
Maurice De Saxe
Bloated, brilliant, and half-dying, Maurice de Saxe turned Fontenoy into a masterpiece of smoke, steel, and spite—the last waltz of France’s hungover genius.
Rank - 188
Cúchulainn
He died on his feet so Ireland wouldn’t have to—but she did anyway, again and again, just to keep him company.
Rank - 190
Pyrrhus of Epirus
Pyrrhus of Epirus won battles so costly they broke his empire, turning his name into the eternal warning that victory can be the most elegant form of defeat.
Rank - 191
Artemisia I of Caria
Artemisia I of Caria led her boat through the chaos of Salamis, proving that cunning could strike harder than any bronze ram.
Rank - 196
Vercingetorix
Vercingetorix burned his world to save it—and when the ashes settled, even Caesar couldn’t put out the legend.
Rank - 198
Zhao Yun (Zilong, 趙雲)
A lone silver-armored rider carved his legend through chaos—Zhao Yun, the calm storm of a collapsing empire.
Rank - 199