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Our guy in his various forms.
Alright, after an MB Removal (that went well), an MB Discussion (that I'll probably have to come back to when December/January hits), and a few other small bits of activity on the wiki, I finally have an MB proposal, for a rather odd candidate. As I wrote his EP on TV Tropes, a good chunk of this will be copy and pasted from it. Also, do be warned for whoever else watches the video in question, this article does contain spoilers, specifically for the biggest reveal and the twist ending.
What's the work?[]
Possible History is a Dutch channel which, as the name suggests, specializes in alternate histories. The channel has many scenarios, but here, I'll be only looking at one-What if Stalin Commanded Zombies?. The scenario, which is a Halloween special (hence the outlandish topic), covers exactly that-in 1942, Stalin attains a legion of zombi-sorry, supersoldiers, under his command, and promptly goes on a bloody rampage with them against Germany, then the Allies, and eventually the Japanese and Chinese. However, how he got the zombies is where our candidate comes in-the mad monk himself.
Who is the candidate and what does he do?[]
Grigori Rasputin is the Mad Monk, Russia's Greatest Love Machine, and, in this timeline, a genuine occult wizard. Rasputin evidently foresaw or at least expected his death, and prepared accordingly by trapping his soul in a book with a black hand. The Bolsheviks overturned his house and found the book, sending it to a book burning due to not knowing its true nature and all pages. However, the book disappears just as the flames light up, and since no one noticed or cared about one book among dozens, no one paid any real attention to its vanishing.
Two decades later, in 1941, the book reappears-on Stalin's desk as he was fuming over the German invasion and closed his eyes for a second. Suspicious at first of someone having entered his room, before realizing it was impossible, Stalin reads the first pages of the book, with (unbeknownst to Stalin) Rasputin saying only in this book can victory be found. After finding the other pages empty and returning to the first, Stalin finds a new message saying that "the Book" aligns with Stalin's cause and that the denial of the Book's presence means Russia will fall into anarchy. Stalin asks what the Book can offer him, and Rasputin promises eternal life and an undead army. Rasputin then aids Stalin in creating a supersoldier (read: zombie), with Stalin accidentally creating several due to the supersoldier converting the German prisoners it was trained on, and unleashing them upon the Germans after finding out he can command them.
Continuing to progress against Germany and even invading most of Scandinavia, Stalin asks Rasputin how he can achieve eternal life, and Rasputin informs Stalin that he must sacrifice more souls, and further manipulates him by saying he'll end up like Tsar Nicholas if he stops now. Stalin eventually notices the book has grown around the time the Germans and allies team up to stop him and his supersoldiers, but thinks nothing of it. As Stalin first feeds his own men to the zombie horde after being unable to push and then invades China and the Japanese territories in Asia to convert the populous locals into zombies, the book only grows, with Stalin eventually taking notice right when it starts growing by the second. As Rasputin asks him to close his eyes, however, Stalin hesitates, and Rasputin declares aloud "TO LATE!" before the book disintegrates.
Stalin never did find out who was actually speaking to him, and he never would-for Rasputin's plan worked, and Stalin's body was his alone now. Quickly retreating from the West and East, Rasputin grows out his hair, begins drinking, starts denouncing Bolshevism, and makes jokes about declaring himself Tsar over the next few weeks. One day, he orders his advisors to meet-with them realizing to late the door is locked and the zombies are outside the window, for Rasputin has already begun designing new variants of zombies to staff the bureaucracy. Even though it had taken a decade or three longer than he originally planned (implicitly because of the book burning), all was well for the Mad Monk. Not only would Russia be his alone, but aquatic zombies were coming to the shores of America and Europe-with the Europeans and Americans to busy counterattacking in Europe to know what's about to happen.
Roll credits.
Is Rasputin Magnificent?[]
I'd say yes-he's a master manipulator who plays Stalin like a fiddle despite his plants being screwed up, manages to trick the Soviet leadership into being offed by his zombies, created the zombies himself using rituals, and tricked the allies into advancing so that their homelands are defenseless against his newly made aquatic hordes. As for personal magnificence, I do think he has enough, given he's a play on the typical tropes about Rasputin and has a nice Machiavellian aura in my eyes.
Is Rasputin a Bastard?[]
Now this is why this is a discussion.
Just kidding!
Yeah, no, Rasputin is easily evil enough-his plan relies on the consumption of millions of souls (likely hundreds of millions given what happened in China), he continues said war to achieve total domination even after hijacking Stalin, he offs Stalin's inner circle, and he's vaguely implied to have killed Tsar Nicholas.
However, I don't think he's to evil. His plans are not only unrealistic and fitting for the Halloween special mood, but are done so he can gain power, not needless cruelty. Also, the zombies look like this, being a mix of Wojak's and StarvHarv's HE, so that downplays how horrific the crimes they do are in my eyes.
Mitigating Factors?[]
Nah-he's not overly petty, not needlessly sadistic, only arrogant when he's on the edge of winning, and avoids being a villain sue to his plans being complicated by his overly long disappearance and somewhat by Stalin's ineptitude, both of which he has to overcome.
Verdict?[]
In my eyes, a pretty easy yes to Rasputin.