Biggest psychopath in history?

Its Behind You!

Dennis Andrew Nilsen, the Muswell Hill Murderer.

Murdered 15 young men in London, England, between 1978 and 1983. He kept his victims' bodies for a while, before dissecting their remains before burning them or flushing them down the toilet.

steddyeddy

Patrick Bateman.

El Guapo!

steddyeddy wrote: »

Patrick Bateman.

He's a hero!

bnt

realies wrote: »

Genghis Khan

I have to disagree: the Khan was quite rational in what he did, according to surviving records, and managed to get widely-distributed nomadic tribes on his side, some with their own agendas, to agree with what should be done. Some of them were conquered tribes, who chose to join up rather than be wiped out, and who happily kept on waging war against other tribes when the Khan was far away, indisposed, and even after he was dead and his sons were squabbling over the succession.

There was something more going on, the Mongols' genuinely-held sense that they were a master race, superior to all others. Imagine Hitler's "master race" idea writ large - in an age when whole tribes and cities could be wiped off the map and almost no-one would notice. It took decades before anyone in Europe had any real idea what was going on in Asia: the Mongols weren't risking disapproval or punitive action from "global policemen": they were the only bullies on the playground, and that can't all be attributed to one "leader".

steddyeddy

Nero. He kicked to death his pregant wife when she scolded him for coming home late. Later he saw a young boy that reminded him of his late wife, had him castrated and married him.

El Guapo!

steddyeddy wrote: »

Nero. He kicked to death his pregant wife when she scolded him for coming home late. Later he saw a young boy that reminded him of his late wife, had him castrated and married him.

If that's true, then it's one of the most fúcked up things I've ever heard!

Galwayguy35

There were 2 fairly messed up guys caught by the Gardai here in the 1970s. Geoffrey Evans and John Shaw came over here from Britain and murdered 2 women after subjecting them to a horrible ordeal.

Odysseus

steddyeddy wrote: »

Nero. He kicked to death his pregant wife when she scolded him for coming home late. Later he saw a young boy that reminded him of his late wife, had him castrated and married him.

The benefits of a classical education?:)

steddyeddy

Actually now that I think about it, the shankil butchers would be psychopaths and their supporters who claim that they were "nice lads".

Wanderer2010

Bertie Ahern

Higher

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

Bertie Ahern

Its been said multiple times already and isn't even funny anyway.

steddyeddy

Odysseus wrote: »

The benefits of a classical education?:)

I did an elective in ancient rome in college ha ha. I found it very interesting.

orestes

Just being a vicious murdering bastard doesn't make somebody a psychopath. Actually, most vicious murdering bastards aren't even psychopaths at all, and most psychopaths aren't violent at all.

Psychopaty is a personality disorder which isn't even recognised officially by the psychiatric field (anti-social personality disorder is in the DSM but only focuses on behaviour, psychopathy diagnosis requires personality criteria aswell), although psychopaty diagnoses are useful in identifying possible repeat offenders as psychopaths are unable to learn from their mistakes and tend to repeat the same patterns of behaviour. Most psychopaths are not violent and are not insane in the generally understood meaning of what people think when they think of when they think "crazy person" - they aren't delusional or psychotic. They are more likely to be con-artists or businessmen than murderers.

Odysseus

orestes wrote: »

Just being a vicious murdering bastard doesn't make somebody a psychopath. Actually, most vicious murdering bastards aren't even psychopaths at all, and most psychopaths aren't violent at all.

Psychopaty is a personality disorder which isn't even recognised officially by the psychiatric field (anti-social personality disorder is in the DSM but only focuses on behaviour, psychopathy diagnosis requires personality criteria aswell), although psychopaty diagnoses are useful in identifying possible repeat offenders as psychopaths are unable to learn from their mistakes and tend to repeat the same patterns of behaviour. Most psychopaths are not violent and are not insane in the generally understood meaning of what people think when they think of when they think "crazy person" - they aren't delusional or psychotic. They are more likely to be con-artists or businessmen than murderers.

Excellent post, people often run riot with that term, or worse see it as interchangable with psychotic disorders.

Odysseus

steddyeddy wrote: »

I did an elective in ancient rome in college ha ha. I found it very interesting.

I perfer Greek history myself, well I would between my handle here and my profession. Though both are really interesting. I must dig out some Euripides for over the Christmas

GalwayGuy2

The guy he let stay at his house got up the next morning and made breakfast to say thank you. He went to Gacys room to wake him up but he still had the kitchen knife in his hand. Gacy thought he was being attacked and jumped up and stabbed the guy to death.
When he was caught and told his story, he said he orgasmed when he killed him and that was when he realised he enjoyed killing. And it all started from there.
Crazy stuff.

Hmm, I read that first kill story I while ago and I thought there was something dodgy about it. why tell the truth about the orgasm, but why lie lying about the whole innocent breakfast thing?

El Guapo!

GalwayGuy2 wrote: »

Hmm, I read that first kill story I while ago and I thought there was something dodgy about it. why tell the truth about the orgasm, but why lie lying about the whole innocent breakfast thing?

Why makes you think he was lying about that?

dodderangler

Sorry if this is cheating but I googled a bit and found a bloke called Albert Hamilton fish
Look him up
Pretty psychotic bloke
Paedofile , Canibal etc
Pretty sick ba5tard

GalwayGuy2

Why makes you think he was lying about that?

Someone who'd orgasm while killing someone would probably, subconsciously or consciously, fantasize about killing someone, or hurting people. I don't believe that there was this latent kink within him that just awoke when he killed someone, and to "altruistically" bring some one home with that mind set's a bit dodgy.
I think all serial-killers have a control thing, so maybe he came onto him and killed him in a rage. He'd rather not have people know that he was rejected, and maybe there's a bit of "I'm the victim, not the murdered people" going on in his head.
That's just my rather rambling suspicion, but something about the way it was told seemed a bit off (mind you I read it from Wikipedia, so maybe it was put in badly)

Madam_X

orestes wrote: »

Most psychopaths are not violent and are not insane in the generally understood meaning of what people think when they think of when they think "crazy person" - they aren't delusional or psychotic. They are more likely to be con-artists or businessmen than murderers.

Yeh was watching a programme about Ian Brady the other night - a diagnosed psychopath - and my friend and I concluded the traits he possessed would be those of a highly successful business/salesperson.

clairefontaine

orestes wrote: »

Just being a vicious murdering bastard doesn't make somebody a psychopath. Actually, most vicious murdering bastards aren't even psychopaths at all, and most psychopaths aren't violent at all.

Psychopaty is a personality disorder which isn't even recognised officially by the psychiatric field (anti-social personality disorder is in the DSM but only focuses on behaviour, psychopathy diagnosis requires personality criteria aswell), although psychopaty diagnoses are useful in identifying possible repeat offenders as psychopaths are unable to learn from their mistakes and tend to repeat the same patterns of behaviour. Most psychopaths are not violent and are not insane in the generally understood meaning of what people think when they think of when they think "crazy person" - they aren't delusional or psychotic. They are more likely to be con-artists or businessmen than murderers.

Why can't someone just be evil? Do bad deeds always have to be down to a mental illness or personality disorder? And does it add to the stigma of mental illness when cruelty is attributed to mental or personality disorders?

On the other hand calling someone evil or sick doesn't really help get down to the bottom of it does it?

orestes

clairefontaine wrote: »

Why can't someone just be evil? Do bad deeds always have to be down to a mental illness or personality disorder? And does it add to the stigma of mental illness when cruelty is attributed to mental or personality disorders?

On the other hand calling someone evil or sick doesn't really help get down to the bottom of it does it?

Where did I say some people can't just be evil? What I said was that people doing evil things are not necessarily psychopaths.

A "psychopath" is a person diagnosed as fitting a specific set of criteria which cover actions, attitudes, emotions, personal relationships, ability to function in society, and others. Violence or causing others harm is nowhere in the diagnostic criteria for psychopathy, although some psychopaths do happen to be violent. There is no necessary link between psychopathy and harming others.

dodderangler

clairefontaine wrote: »

Why can't someone just be evil? Do bad deeds always have to be down to a mental illness or personality disorder? And does it add to the stigma of mental illness when cruelty is attributed to mental or personality disorders?

On the other hand calling someone evil or sick doesn't really help get down to the bottom of it does it?

Your right in a way but there'd Be a huge difference between being evil and being twisted
Killin millions is pure evil
Torturing someone and taking them apart bit by bit is just twisted

Madam_X

dodderangler wrote: »

Your right in a way but there'd Be a huge difference between being evil and being twisted
Killin millions is pure evil
Torturing someone and taking them apart bit by bit is just twisted

They're both evil and twisted surely. This difference you speak about is just a belief you personally hold.

Capt'n Midnight

Francisco Solano López

up to 90% of male population of Paraguay died in the Paraguayan War

IIRC one in three members of the his army were allowed to execute anyone up to the rank of captain on suspected treason

dodderangler

Madam_X wrote: »

They're both evil and twisted surely. This difference you speak about is just a belief you personally hold.

Yes

Arawn

Madam_X wrote: »

Yeh was watching a programme about Ian Brady the other night - a diagnosed psychopath - and my friend and I concluded the traits he possessed would be those of a highly successful business/salesperson.

I remember reading about a guy who interviewed a load of hugely successful guys and the end result was that they had the traits of psychos.

One guy uused to guy companies and sell them for profit and literally make ghost towns out of places in America, never showed any remorse or anything for what he did

Scruffles

Confab wrote: »

OP mixed up psychopathic and psychotic, so I stopped reading. There's a vast yawning chasm of difference between the two. Besides, non-violent psychopaths (the majority) can do far more harm in the long run.

indeed,though its not a reason to stop reading as majority of people who do mix them up do so through forgetfulness as they sound very familiar or lack of understanding between them both.

am diagnosed with pyschosis and even when was going through very severe episodes woud never choose to do the things that criminal pyschopaths do, theyre nothing like each other apart from the fact the names sound similar and get mixed up easily.

as for the original question...although there is no question that people such as hitler had the widest reign of terror,from own view the dnepropetrovsk boys- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dnepropetrovsk_maniacs
are vile scum of the earth for what they did to animals and a man who had only just beaten cancer but was left disabled by it,they also murdered other people but did not put them through the same torture...absolutely disgusting filth.

albert fish- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Fish
woud be another one,he deliberately picked out vulnerable victims such as disabled people and kids,he was a sadist who stuck loads of needles in himself and whipped his flesh with a 'cat o nine tails'.
very unusual background worth a read anyone who is interested in this stuff.

if anyone wants to understand pyschopathy in a person who isnt a criminal [well,he is an ex crim of fraud] check out sam vankin on youtube,he is diagnosed with both narcisistic pd and anti social pd and there are some good documentaries he has done about it [they focus mostly on the narc side but interesting none the less].

>edit.
just noticed doddleranger has mentioned albert fish to.

Odysseus

clairefontaine wrote: »

Why can't someone just be evil? Do bad deeds always have to be down to a mental illness or personality disorder? And does it add to the stigma of mental illness when cruelty is attributed to mental or personality disorders?

On the other hand calling someone evil or sick doesn't really help get down to the bottom of it does it?

It comes down to the second part of your text for me.

Does evil even exist? How can we measure it? Even say if it is present in a subject? Where did this evil originate in that particular subject?

I'm not saying the Hares psychopathic checklist is perfect but it does attempt to capture something. Classifying someone as evil tells us nothing about the subject.

Not all people who kill are mentally ill or classed as psychopaths; however, with the few I have met there was something present, which in turn explained [not condoned] why the person was that way; and why they acted as they did. It is important for treatment and rehab purposes that we try to understand these acts.

I certainly don't see it as stigma of being mentally ill; that really depends on how that person views mentally ill people. When threads like this come up I generally end up posting something about the difference between a psychosis and those who are classified as being a psychopath, as their generally is some confusion between the two by the general public.

gcgirl

Nidge for grassing Darren