History is full of extraordinary people whose incredible life stories aren’t just awe-inspiring but sometimes so grand that it is almost unbelievable. Luckily for us, there’s this nifty little (okay, huge!) thread on Reddit asking people to share who, in their opinion, were the toughest people in history so we won’t have to browse pages upon pages of historical material to discover these incredible characters. We don’t say this often, but prepare to be thoroughly amazed by these inspiring people.
What’s even better is that the people on this list aren’t just war generals or historical figures; they come from all walks of life, proving again that any one of us could eventually see ourselves in the pages of history as real-life heroes. A nice thought, isn’t it? Take, for instance, the legendary Arctic explorer who went on many memorable adventures only to find himself near death and snowed in in some hut with nothing but a piece of frozen offal that he used as a chisel to save himself. Or the legendary teenage girl who made it through the Amazon rainforest after a plane crash. Then there’s Harriet Tubman, Mary Vincent, the Tank Man from Tiananmen Square… the list goes on and on and on, and with each submission, we’re falling deeper in awe of how truly incredible people are! Sometimes it’s just the circumstances that made these people into real-life heroes, sometimes, it’s their wit, but most often, it’s determination, grit, and sheer willpower that saw them immortalized in history forever.
Ready to read some of the most incredible life stories there are? If so, then scroll on down below and take a look at the submissions under the toughest people in the world thread. As you’re about to see, these stories are in no particular order, but you can absolutely vote for the person who you deem to be the most incredible, so their name is at the front and center of the list. Lastly, share this article with your friends; who knows, these stories of incredible people might inspire them for something great!
This post may include affiliate links.
"Everyone's mentioning historical figures and people who made the news but I want to nominate my dad's cat who took buckshot to the chest, shattering his leg and leaving gaping wounds in his chest cavity who then played on literal survival mode for a fortnight before making it home, with an infected (gangrenous almost?) hole in his chest. The buckshot just barely missed his heart from the vet's inspection (he got anaesthetic whilst they cleaned up the infection and closed up the entry and exit wounds)
He lived a relatively long and very happy life afterwards with his pegleg and passed on from old age. RIP Puds."
I hope they also found who shot Puds in the first place and gave him all the same injuries.
"Maybe not the most, but definitely an honorable mention: Stanislav Petrov. The man who saved the world from an all-out nuclear war in 1983."
Ah the Russian radar operator that " Saw the Americans lounch a nuclear missile " and thought ( rightly só ), that it was just a Glitch??
"Desmond Doss. An army medic in WWII who was constantly belittled and abused by his battalion and superiors for refusing to use a weapon as it went against his beliefs. Then, when he landed in Okinawa and more than half of his battalion were shredded by Japanese machine gun fire, Desmond Doss crawled through the dirt over the course of several days to as many of his injured allies as he could and dragged them all the way back to the 40ft cliff they had scaled up from, then lowered them to safety. Some of these injured men were lying 15ft from the enemy machine gun itself, and all the while Doss wore his medic helmet, which stood out like a giant bullseye on a battlefield where the Japanese soldiers were ordered to kill doctors first to crush morale. In the end he had saved the lives of 75 men, and survived with an arm fracture from a sniper round and several pieces of shrapnel embedded in his body from when he tried to kick a grenade away from him and his men."
"Definitely Major Hugh Thompson. I'm sure there are people who have done similarly brave things, but not that I know about. In 1968, Thompson managed to stop the My Lai massacre almost single handedly. He arrived after many civilians had already been killed, and couldn't understand how they had died.
After realising his fellow American soldiers were firing on unarmed civilians, he landed his helicopter between the Vietnamese and the soldiers. He then told the troops that if they continued to do what they were doing, he and his crew would open fire on them. After getting back to base, he filed a complaint about what he had witnessed. His complaint was covered up, and he was shunned as a traitor. It wasn't until 1998 that the army acknowledged he did the right thing.
It's common to be brave in war when you know that you'll be lauded as a hero - it's another thing entirely to do it knowing you'll be seen as a traitor. He turned against his troops and country to protect innocent lives, despite what it would cost him, and I think that's about as brave as you can get."
"Mr. Rogers.
Created a television show for children that lasted decades and was copied the world round affecting a billion children. Made the puppets, wrote the songs, wrote the script, ad libbed.
Went up against a senator known for being critical of anything and everything and single-handedly saved PBS.
Was awarded a national medal for his show.
Was the subject of several viral YouTube videos
Was the subject of major motion picture starring a major star
Is still beloved by millions and millions of people decades after his death. Still has a foundation in his name."
"The firemen running up the stairs of the WTC after the attack.
Not a single person, but I think they collectively need to be mentioned. The level of badassery that day was immense."
"Raoul Wallenberg.
During WW2 he posed as a Swedish ambassador and confidently lied through his teeth at Nazis for years to save tens of thousands of Jews from the Holocaust.
There were instances of him flagging down trains bound for death camps, and yelling at the machine-gun-toting SS men that Swedish citizens were on board, handing out homemade fake passport documents to as many Jews as possible as he went. He got away with it for so long because Fascists have a thing for confident authority figures.
The guy was captured by the red army in ‘45 and likely died in a Gulag."
Só did the Portuguese cônsul in Germany which against Salazar's orders ( Portuguese fascist president at the time ) saved over 3000 jews from the nazis, by giving then Portuguese visas, só that they could Glee to Portugal. he died in poverty and Alone in Portugal, but he hás a street with his name in Israel.
"Ba Van Nguyen.
Basically, the US pulled out of Vietnam, leaving this guy and his family to be slaughtered by the Vietcong. So my dude steals a Chinook helicopter, flies it to his house to pick up his wife and kids, invites his neighbors to come along, then flies out to sea to find a ship that will allow him to land. On fumes, he finds a US navy ship, but it's not nearly big enough to land. Over the radio he asks for help and the ship allows him to approach. With precision piloting skills he hovers over the deck of the ship. He then orders the adult to yeet the kids out of the helicopter into the arms of the sailors below. I think there was even a baby. He then orders all the adults to jump. He then files the helicopter out of harms way of the ship. He was wearing a flight suit, which would drag him under water. So he somehow manages to remove the suite while still flying the helicopter. It's my understanding that you need both feet to control a Chinook, so I have no idea how he managed that. Anyway, he crashes the helicopter into the ocean, somehow without dying, and gets rescued onto the ship. Somehow he gets US citizenship for him and his family, and just becomes this humble dude, like somehow none of that was a big deal."
This story is so unbelievably badass, that I had to verify it myself. It's 100%true. Crazy.
"Mary Vincent! She was attacked with an axe in an attempted murder, losing both hands and then dumped off a cliff. She survived and walked almost three miles to go find help. All when she was FIFTEEN.
She’s in an episode of “I Survived” and her story is… unbelievable. She is such a BAMF."
And here I am worrying about a leaking pipe under the sink. This REALLY puts things in perspective. Incredible courage.
Commenter No.1 wrote:
"Helge Meyer, also known as "God's Rambo". A danish special forces officer who bought a 1972 Camaro and turned it into an uparmored beast so he could deliver humanitarian aid in war torn Yugoslavia during the civil war and ethnic cleansing."
cfmdobbie replied:
"Well, you can't mention Helge Meyer without giving some details about the car...
1979 Chevrolet Camaro, metal-reinforced windows, Kevlar panelling, mine-clearing under-structure, stealth paint, infra-red headlights, run-flat tyres, mil-spec GPS and a nitrous system. It was hard to detect, hard to chase and it shrugged off bullets. Oh, and it had a little yellow rubber duck wedged in the front grill."
"Harriet Tubman. She was barely 5 feet tall, experienced "spells" because of a traumatic brain injury, repeatedly snuck into the south to free slaves, was a spy and lead an armed assault during the Civil War."
"Marie Curie. First woman to win a Nobel prize and first person to win TWO Nobel prizes (chemistry and physics), coined the term “radioactivity,” discovered 2 elements (radium and polonium) and ended up dying for her work (from radiation poisoning). Her belongings will still be radioactive for another 1500 years!! Dead set legend."
hers is the only cookbook that you could follow the instructions to the letter, have a perfect reaction, and still kill everyone who tries to eat it.
"Witold Pilecki volunteered to Auschwitz death camp and escaped it to report what was happening there to allies of Poland."
He was executed for high treason in 1948 and shunned until the 1990s, only then his memoirs were discovered. His two kids, Zofia and Andrzej, grew up believing their father was a traitor when in reality, he was a hero. His story is remembered in the Sabaton song Inmate 4859, which was also his prisoner number in Auschwitz, and there's a book about him titled The Volunteer by Jack Fairweather.
"Boudica.
A Celtic queen who lost her kingdom when her husband died and his will was ignored by the Romans. She was flogged and put into slavery, her daughters raped, so she raised an army that very nearly ended the Roman occupation of Britain. She brutally took down almost 80,000 people, either Roman or people who'd succumbed to their rule. You can still see the ruins of Verulamium next to the city of St Albans, and the layer of ash from when the city was burnt to the ground was visible to archeologists excavating the site.
One of the stories of her death was that when the revolt failed, she drank poison to die free."
"Jonas Salk, created a vaccine that saved a billion people world wide and gave it away for free."
And now because of stupid people there is a polio outbreak in the U.S. after it was almost completely eradicated. Same thing is happening with measles as well.
"Martin Luther King Jr. - Won a war against a massive, armed, hyper-violent, state supported enemy army, with no weapons, only an group of well trained, and disciplined, non-violent activist."
"That teenage girl that was the sole survivor of a plane crash and made her way through the Amazon... She’s definitely up there!"
1971: Juliane Koepcke was 17, flying over the Peruvian rainforest with her mother when her plane was hit by lightning. She survived a two-mile fall and found herself alone in the jungle.
Now that being said, her parents were zoologists and they LIVED in the Amazon, so she was equipped to deal with life in the Amazon more then most. Surviving the 2 mile fall from the plane is much more impressive to me! amazon-gir...5a1896.jpg 
"Maurice Hillman. Who? The guy invented more vaccines that anyone, saving billions of people from death and disease."
And to this day he’s a hero to some and a villain to too many idiots.
"Ching Shih. A Chinese prostitute who became a pirate queen and the most successful pirate in history. She led over 800 ships and was never defeated. She issued a ruling that none of her pirates could rape and was from all accounts a great leader and genius businesswoman. Realizing her luck was not going to last forever, she negotiated a surrender with the Chinese government where she and her pirates would take retirement, remaining rich and free.
I heard a This American Life about her, and it blew my mind. She is my idol. I think it's a combo of racism and sexism that we hear about pirates like Bluebeard but we never hear of the far more amazing Ching Shih."
I learned about her! When I was homeschooled I took a class called "Well behaved women rarely make history," it was all about women throughout all of history, and I think she was part of the "infamous women" section!
ParsifalJones wrote:
"Audie Murphy was pretty damned badass."
MisterGoo replied:
"LOL, when I read the first lines of his Wikipedia "at the age of 19 for single-handedly holding off a company of German soldiers for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in France in January 1945, then leading a successful counterattack while wounded and out of ammunition.", I thought "wow, dude must have anger issues..."
Then later in Wikipedia : "As a child, Murphy was a loner with mood swings and an explosive temper.' Ah ah! Called it!"
I recently read about him, and that he earned every award that the military could give him. Then he went on to be a well known western genre actor
"Tank Man of Tiananmen Square."
A hero for sure, sadly we never knew his name and in all likelihood was executed for his actions.
"Ben Salomon. Dude was just a dentist who got drafted into World War II. He was tending to injured soldiers when four Japanese soldiers entered the tent and killed a man he had just saved. This man killed all four of them, then grabbed a machine gun and fired upon the incoming Japanese forces, letting the injured escape. They say when his body was discovered, 98 enemy troops lay dead in front of him. He had been shot 72 times and bayonetted over two dozen times before he died. What a legend."
"MOST badass might be to difficult because badassery of different kinds. But my grandma was the most badass person I knew.
She was a meteorologist who helped design parts for the B-52. She started a town’s newspaper that didn’t have one. She frequently put politicians in their place publicly. She beat up a guy that groped her in broad daylight. She somehow raised my mother and her four wild siblings. She took me to Europe when I was 15. She helped curate many historical sites in the Portland, OR area."
"Peter Freuchen. He was a Danish explorer, journalist, author and anthropologist. He is widely known for his exploration of the arctic circle and discovery of vast areas of Greenland. He was an indigenous rights activist, having married an Inuit woman. He escaped a death warrant issued by the Third Reich for punching nazis. Received an academy award for the best motion picture in 1933. Won the $64,000 question as a contestant on the game show. He wrestled a polar bear and won. And as if this all wasn’t enough, he escaped a near death encounter in a blizzard by fashioning a spade out of his own frozen feces."
The most impressive part is the polar bear. No one survives polar bear attacks! There's a reason the bear safety rhyme ends with "if it's white, goodnight." Like a handful of people have done this ever
"Mad Jack Churchill (no relation) On D-Day, he stormed the beach armed with a broadsword and a longbow. He has the only confirmed kill with a longbow in WWII. At one point he was captured, escaped, and later found playing his bagpipes."
Whelp, what do I do now that I’ve escaped?? …💡! *whips out bagpipes *
"Lyudmila Pavlichenko or “Lady Death” the Soviet WW2 sniper with 309 confirmed kills has to be up there."
Dont forget the " nackt hexen " a group of Russian women, with WW1 planes that would strike Germán positions at night lol, since their planes where old and slow, they would Turn off their engines and glide to their target, gaining the name of " night witches " by the Germán, and of course lol, " the fighting girlfriend " her husband died in the war, She sold everything She owned and bought a T-34 tank, painted a slogan on the sides in white, and went to war with it, She was One of the very few women burried with full military honors in WW2.
"Battle of Stamford Bridge - the lone Norse axeman single-handedly held up the entire English army."
"Simo Häyhä. "The White Death". 500 kills in WW2. Got half his face blown off by an explosive bullet and tried to get back into the war."
scottwax wrote:
"Leonardo Da Vinci. He was so incredibly far ahead of his time."
Commenter No. 2 replied:
"People like Leonardo da Vinci only come by once every few hundred years. The last man who was as ahead of his time as Leonardo was Nikola Tesla."
Handsome_Claptrap addded:
"It's very likely there won't be such a successful scientist ever again, because currently science has become more a cumulative effort rather than single brilliant minds thinking something new."
"Roy Benavidez.
TLDR: jumps out of a helicopter in Vietnam to save a team of soldiers that was ambushed. Not only did he save the living soldiers he also got all of the dead soldiers out too, while he was taking on a lot of injuries. Oh yeah he forgot his rifle when he got on the helicopter he did the first part with just a pistol and a knife. This is a hero."
"Mansa Musa.
Richest man to ever live with a networth thought to be double Bezos, made like 400 schools and temples and in his time, dropped a few billion dollars throughout all of Africa like it was pocket change, and he can do all of this because a king told him to take the throne temporarily then never came back..."
He actually gave out so much gold that the value of gold dropped severely for the next coupe years.
"Robert Smalls. He escaped slavery, stole a Confederate boat, sailed away to freedom, and later served in Congress."
"Teddy Roosevelt.
- Led a scientific expedition into the wilds of the Amazon in 1913
- First president to invite a prominent black man to the White House (Booker T. Washington)
- Resigned cushy Asst Sec of the Navy position to start his own regiment and fight on the ground in the Spanish-American war.
- Was hit in the chest with a bullet in an attempted assassination. After a bit of mayhem securing the shooter, Roosevelt carried on with his speech.
- Started the National Park system, preserving our country's most amazing natural wonders."
Yup, he was a hero ; sadly far too many US citizens decided to take a step back to the 1800's when they ushered in a bigoted, racist, sexist, knuckle dragging, entitled and not very bright shyster who decided that in the interests of the largest economy in the world it would be wonderful to open up its National Parks for exploitation to bloated business interests along with many, many other things that damaged the general US population - although, strangely, not the rich and ultra rich who paradoxically got richer (and, because of his policies, continue to do so ...) ; When will you learn ?
"John Chapman. Fought the taliban for several hours in the freezing cold alone and earned the Medal of Honor."
"Mariya Oktyabrskaya. Her husband was killed in WWII, so she sold all her possessions, bought a T-34 tank, and went into the army.
Edit: technically she sold her possessions, donated the tank and then asked to drive it and was allowed."
Didn’t she name the tank something cool? I think I remember hearing about this
"Lachhinan Gurung, Gurka who held back by himself a force of 200 Japanese in Burma during WW2 for four hours, with one of his hands unusable due to a grenade he tried to throw back (after already doing it with other two already), and screaming "COME AND FIGHT A GURKA!"."
Lets do this properly. Lachhiman Gurung VC was a Nepalese–British Gurkha recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. A grenade landed near Gurung, but he managed to throw it back before it exploded. When another fell in the trench by his foot, he thrust it back. Then a third landed. Gurung went for it, but the device exploded. His comrades were severely injured. Gurung was also badly wounded in the attack, bleeding, blinded in one eye, with a shattered arm and severed fingers. He was also left all alone.
While many would have given up at this point, Lachhiman Gurung fought on. With his good hand destroyed, he fired and reloaded the bolt-action rifle with his left hand. Wave after wave of Japanese attacks were turned back as Gurung shouted, “Come and fight a Gurkha!” The battle with Gurung went on for four more hours. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG_gmcOVQwg&t the-most-b...0c113c.jpg 
"During WWII, Joseph Medicine Crow managed to achieve the four requirements to become a war chief of the crow tribe:
-He took the weapon off an enemy: A German soldier dropped his weapon when he met him in battle.
-He touched an enemy without killing him: Said German soldier began fighting Joseph, he fought back unarmored, defeating him and eventually letting him go.
-He led a succesful war party
-He stole a horse from the enemy: He managed to steal 50 horses from an SS unit.
Joseph Medicine Crow was later awarded in the 90's-2000's for his deeds during the war."
"Jan Žižka.
Don't scroll past. Read about this guy. The ultimate badass.
Lost an eye in a fist fight at a young age. Quickly became one of the most formidable generals the world has ever seen. Anticipated the advent of the tank by 500 years by building armoured carts with cannons on them.
Rode into battle dual-wielding a mace and a sword. Lost his other eye in combat but continued to lead his men. Never lost a single battle in his entire career. He was killed by the plague and it's said that he was so formidable and unkillable that his life had to be extinguished by the hand of God.
When he died his followers started calling themselves "sirotchi" or orphans. His dying wish was that the skin be taken from his back and made into drums so that he could continue to lead his troops into battle."
"The woman who killed the hit man her husband hired to kill her."
"Nancy Wake. So skillled as she was, she was nicknamed "The White Mouse" by the Gestapo due to her elusiveness in avoiding capture. Highly talented in espionage, she worked as a spy for the French Resistance and the Special Operations Executive to take down the Nazis. One of the more highly decorated women from WW2, yet not well known."
"Ada Lovelave, the mother of programming that has affected a billion people or more and whose principles you are currently using now, during a time when women were told they shouldn't learn."
"In 2007 a US Navy SEAL called Mike Day was on tour in Iraq when he was ambushed by 4 Al-Qeada gunmen. He was shot 27 times and hit by grenade shrapnel but amazingly he survived the attack, managed to kill all 4 gunmen and walk out to the extraction point. He spent 2 years in hospital and is now living peacefully with his wife and family.
How can you survive been shot 27 times and not be a baddass?"
"Vasili Arkhipov, the person who stopped the Cuban Missile Crisis from going nuclear."
Where are all the folks who add details to the stories, in the comments? I'm too tired to Google, right now.
"Daniel Inouye.
Senator from Hawaii. WWII vet. Japanese American who had to prove himself every step of the way through the European Theater of Operations. And to me an honest to goodness hero."
crypticmint wrote:
"Alan Turing. singlehandedly saved millions and had to live a miserable life after."
ArchStanton75 replied:
"He was a badass and a genius who deserved a much better life, but his work was not singlehanded. Bletchley Park was a collaboration of heroic geniuses."
My great grandmother worked in bletchley park. she could still do the splits at 96 and remembered morse code on her death bed. RIP mamma.
"Chuck Yeager. Farmer who became first man to break sound barrier. WW2 vet too."
VERY large testicles ... everyone expected his plane to break up at Mach 1. He flew anyway.
"Florida Man.
The legend grows every day."
"Francis Pegahmagabow.
He survived in the trenches of WW1 from start to end.
Three times awarded the Military Medal and seriously wounded, he was an expert marksman and scout, credited with killing 378 Germans and capturing 300 more.
He also would sneak across "No mans land" and into German trenches at night where he would cut off medals from enemy soldiers uniforms while they slept.
After all this he was still treated as a second class citizen by the Canadian government when he returned home."
Jolly_DGSWM wrote:
"Olga of Kiev. Slaughtered all the rulers from the nation that killed her husband and literally burned down an entire village just because she felt like it."
SeekerSpock32 replied:
"I can say this comfortably because she’s dead and can’t get me, but Olga took things exponentially too far. There’s a point where you’re just killing because you like doing it, and Olga reached that point quickly and kept going for quite a while."
I was hoping to see Saint Olga here. Iirc, it wasn't just revenge, but they kept sending people with marriage proposals. Obviously to gain control of her late husbands estate/lands/etc. But this is such a great example of "what part of NO did you misunderstand".
WolfmanCM wrote:
"My grandfather was a p51-d fighter pilot in WWII. He had an impressive career, albeit being shot down three times. The last time he was downed, he foraged and found shelter behind enemy lines. Was taken in by a polish family and recuperated in a barn for six months. When he was finally brought home, he stole a plane and flew it to a base where a girl he had been wiring messages to. He was absolutely hammered and didn’t lock in the landing gear. Bottomed out. Set the plane on fire. Was arrested. The girl ran out, fought through the police and gave him a kiss. She wound up being my grandmother. After an incredibly fantastic and challenging life, he wrote an autobiography called A Piece of Cake. When he told me the story about the love-fueled crash and burn, he offered me another round of blackberry brandy. I was 18 and already wasted. He was 80 and called me a “candy ass” and forced me to go drink for drink. I eventually passed out. At 7 am the next day he woke me up with black cats (small firecrackers) under the bed sheets and told me it was time to gun break one of his horses, Cardiac Kid. “Shoot at me on the horse but try not to hit me”. Still wasted, I saw two of him and made sure not to shoot between them. I also ran over his head with a tractor. He stood right up, dusted off his cowboy hat, and told me not to tell grandma. Dammit, I miss him."
thats-not-funny2 replied:
"Wow that’s uh a lot to unpack there."
"Sir William the Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.
The baddest man alive at a time where only hard men lived long enough to see their hair turn grey. Widely considered the greatest knight to ever walk the face the earth. Defeated over 500 knights in tourney combat. Is the man the code of chivalry is based on. Defeated the greatest knight in France, handily, in a one on one duel at the battle of Lincoln in 1217…. in his 70s. Effectively ruled England off and on through his regencies for decades. Signatory of the Magna Carta.
He gets my vote."
Th3_G3n3r4l wrote:
"That one Mexican lady who hunted down the cartel who killed her daughter. I probably wouldn't consider her the most badass human in history, but she's up there."
missed_sla replied:
"Just so you know, they eventually found and killed her. Her name is Miriam Rodríguez."
"Canadian Rambo AKA Leo Major. Dude liberated an entire town in the Netherlands by himself while injured in WW2."
Actually, this story of him machinegunning Nazi’s by the dozens left and right is probably wrong. He did save Zwolle from being heavily attacked by Allied artillery the next day, when his reconnaissance mission revealed that the Germans had mostly already left.
"Leo Major or the American who shot down a Japanese zero with his pistol while parachuting."
"Aimo Koivunen.
Dude honestly just spit in the reapers face and ski’d away."
He was a Finn, for that fact alone he's going to be harder, tougher and scarier than pretty much anyone on the planet. The additional fact that he took enough amphetamine to kill 10 people and not only survived, but did so without shelter and food whist being hunted by the Nazis, speaks volumes to his stamina, mindset and tenacity - and Finnishness !!
"Honda Tadakatsu. Suffered no injury in the multiple wars he fought during the Sengoku Jidai. He served lord Tokugawa Ieyasu with valour (he was the first Tokugawa shogun). He did not suffer ANY injury not even a paper cut and dies peacefully at his home."
"Francis Barlow. Fought for the Union in the Civil War and got promoted to general. His story is fascinating because he had struggles regarding his masculinity throughout his life. He was born with an especially boyish, fair complexion that persisted well into adulthood. He was made fun of and belittled/potentially (I assume) bullied for this. He was a clever general who was met with some successes and earned respect that was likely denied of him previously. But then tragedy struck when he was in an incredibly bloody battle (forget which) as a bullet hit him in the groin, nearly shattering the very core of his masculinity, which had been under assault seemingly all his life. This is 18th century warfare, no painkillers or anesthesia, only gnashing on tough leather. But he ENDURED and even went back out into battle after some recovery. While we have all the facts, we can only infer the incredible emotional damage this caused someone in his shoes. I want a movie about him so bad.
But also, he took a bullet to the groin to free the slaves. We must never forget this man."
"Dipprasad Pun the Gurkha who took out 15-30 Taliban singlehandedly when surrounded."
"Horatius Cocles of the early Roman republic is also a strong contender. Single handedly holding off an entire army while other soldiers destroyed the bridge he was standing on. He was so effective that the invading Clusium soldiers just resulted in lobbing swords at him to see if it would work.
He eventually got a wound to the arse, called for bridge to be pushed down and jumped into the Tiber, swimming to safety."
Imagen being such a fighter that entire armies strategies are just, chuck stuff and hope someone gets a lucky shot. when someone does, it's up your a*s and you just swim it off.
"Joseph Beyrle. Turned down a scholarship to join the 101st Airborne during WW2, jumped into France before D-Day a few times on missions to help the French resistance, jumped into Normandy on D-Day, got captured, escaped, got captured again, interrogated about his German heritage, escaped again but got on a train to Berlin and was captured again, tortured by the Gestapo, escaped yet again, made his way to Soviet lines, instead of trying to get home he asks to fight alongside the Russians, fights with them for a month, gets wounded, meets Zhukov in the hospital, finally goes home and later gets married in the same church they held his funeral service in cause they thought he was dead. If he isn’t the definition of badass I don’t know what is."
"I'd say Robert Capa is up there.
Born in the slums of Hungary, he changed his name and decepted his way into a photography gig with his girlfriend. After his girlfriend was killed in an accident while riding on a tank in the Spanish civil war he became a little crazy and unafraid of death. He would stand up in the trenches while under fire to take pictures.
He was the only photographer on the first wave on Omaha beach on D-day. Only 6 of the photos he took there survived after a lab technician destroyed most of the negatives by mistake.
He was a friend to the rich and famous of the time, had an affair with Ingrid Bergman. Gambled and drank with Hemingway.
He later saw action all over Europe and was regarded as a lucky charm to the battalions he travelled with due to his lack of fear and apparent invincibility.
He later went to Vietnam at the outbreak of the war (I forget if it was the first or second) and became one I f the first casualties of the war after stepping on a landmine."
"Galvarino. He was a fierce Mapuche warrior that had both of his hands chopped off as punishment when captured by the Spanish during the Arauco war. Rather than slaughter Galvarino, the Spanish sent him back to the Mapuche to send a message, but instead of causing the Mapuche to surrender, it had the opposite effect. Galvarino decided to have two knives lashed to the stumps where his hands used to be. He learned to fight without hands while using the knives as weapons. Less than a month later, Galvarino fought with the Mapuche against the Spanish again. Around 3,000 Mapuche warriors engaged 1,500 of the Spanish on Nov. 30, 1557. at the Battle of Millarapue. Although they didn’t win, Galvarino killed several of the Spanish before the army of 3000 were all killed."
"Smedley Butler was awarded 2 medals of honor then during the depression almost got a bunch of ww1 veterans (who were at the capital wanting their retirement checks earlier then agreed upon) to overthrow the government but then their demands were met and or agreed to/about."
NoLiferBg wrote:
"Napoleon got half of Europe declare war on HIM. Not France, him himself."
ThatOtherFrenchGuy replied:
"Turns out the alliance against Napoleon had one strategy: avoid fighting when he was leading battles but instead try to face his generals. Waterloo is the ultimate (and last) example."
"Rasputin was a scary SOB, and reportedly a helluva hard guy to kill.
May not deserve the top spot, but he's up there on the list, assuming "badass" isn't restricted to good people."
not top spot, BUT: cyanide, shot ing hte chest, shot in the head and tied up and thrown into a river IN RUSSIA, and we think he still tried to escape before drowning.
"The most badass people names are probably forgotten already considering they used to hunt mammoths and Saber tooth tigers with spears, anything after that was thanks to those people."
Ha ha ha..... The very first original badasses.... Right on!!!
"John Paul Jones. Was considered a pirate by the Brits during the Revolution for stealing a ship and helping the Patriots, stole a bunch of money from the French I belive because they swindled him, and then served in the Russian navy to fight the turks. So by some of history the Father of the American Navy is a pirate."
And born and bred Scotsman. Never let it be said that we're not badass!
"Admiral Yi Sun-sin.
He alone stopped the entire Japanese invasion of Korea during the Imjin war. His country, the Joseon Kingdom at that time were riddled with corruption, and they offered little to no resistance to the Japanese when they landed on Korea. It was due to Admiral Yi's constant victory at sea that crippled the Japanese supply lines and forced them to retreat."
"The actual, factual Captain Morgan."
"Blair Paddy Mayne of the SAS. Single handedly destroyed more german aircraft than the RAF during WW2."
My grandfather destroyed more than him. He was the worst mechanic the germans had at their disposal.
looking4astronauts wrote:
"Duncan Hamilton. The man who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans while drunk."
JT_3K replied:
"Seriously though, different times. This was 1953, just two years before the massive crash that took out ~100 spectators in the main grandstand, by some speculation because of fairly similar heroics around tiredness."
Mokumer added:
"I somehow really like the Hamilton family. Duncan's son (who seems to have inherited his father's love for booze) took over his dad's race car busyness that he runs till today and his grandson Archie Hamilton became a racing driver too, although not as successful as his granddad but good enough to race Le Mans at one point, and at present times he races Porsches in the Britisch competition."
"Ned Kelly - the man became a bushranger, ran around with a crew, made himself iron armour with a bucket for a hat, taking 22 bullets to the knees for him to finally be stopped (while in the armour) and his last words were 'such is life.' Absolute legend."
Legend is right. His life was highly romanticised after he was finally killed, making him out to be some kind of folk hero. In reality, he was a mentally unbalanced con man and murderous thug. He has no place on this list.
"Michael Malloy.
This guy survived:
Drinking antifreeze, turpentine, horse liniment, and rat poison.
Eating expired oysters soaked in wood alchohol.
Eating a sandwich made with spoiled sardines, poison, and carpet tacks.
Being dumped outside in the freezing cold and having 5 gallons of water poured into his chest.
Getting ran over by a taxi moving at 45 mph (72 kph).
If that isn't badass, I don't know what is."
For once, why not ask the 'Pandas' their thoughts or nominees for things like this, instead of copying and pasting from other sites? There is little to no originality on this site anymore sadly :(
No one mentioned Miyamoto Musashi. The greatest swordsman in Japanese history. Fought and won sixty duels, most of them with a bokken (wooden practice sword). The dude was a serious badass.
For once, why not ask the 'Pandas' their thoughts or nominees for things like this, instead of copying and pasting from other sites? There is little to no originality on this site anymore sadly :(
No one mentioned Miyamoto Musashi. The greatest swordsman in Japanese history. Fought and won sixty duels, most of them with a bokken (wooden practice sword). The dude was a serious badass.
