Post by creature386 on Nov 15, 2019 23:25:44 GMT 5
In a different forum which has now been shut down (The Sub Parliament), I made a thread about discussing who was the most evil human in history. Since I still find this topic philosophically interesting, here’s a slightly modified copy to preserve it. I didn’t want it to eat up file space on my computer anymore. In this thread, you can nominate people which you think are the most evil person to have ever lived and agree with or dispute the nominees of others.
I believe that morality is subjective and that there is no thing such as good or evil. For this reason, a working definition of „evil“ is in order. „Evil“ is anything that causes harm without preventing an equal or greater number of harm. „Harm“ itself is rather vague. It’s defined as the sort of stuff people would not like to experience. If a person causes excessive harm without good reasons, they are evil.
How can we quantify evil?
Well, there are some parameters.
For one, we can look at the scope of harm a certain person has caused (killing 50 million people is worse than killing 50 thousand).
However, we must also take into account the resources possessed by a person. A ruler of a country with one million peasant citizens just can’t cause as much harm as the dictator of a one billion-people country with advanced technology suitable for mass murder. For this reason, your nominee does not have to be some politician. It can also be a serial killer who made the most of their resources and who would have outdone any politician had they had power. The power someone has is oftentimes decided by destiny, but criminal energy is something people are responsible for. For this reason, I don’t just mention the most famous crimes a politician has committed, but I rather give a list. Listing variety of crimes tells a lot more about the perpetrator.
Next, the person should stand out in some way. Their crimes should be exceptional and unthinkable to anyone but them. Creative torture methods or anything that particularly disgusts you can go here.
Finally, look for any redeeming features. What was the intention behind these actions? Did they serve some greater good? Were they justified from a certain point of view?
Beyond that, did this person ever do anything good? Does this person have loved ones or did they ever show remorse? If so, take this into account. Being clinically insane (being disconnected from reality) can also count as a redeeming factor if the crimes become more understandable in this light.
Here are a bunch of really nasty boyz I’ve found (the „What did he do?“ sections are not intended to be biographies, just lists of crimes):
All information is from Wikipedia. I don’t recommend reading the text for those of you who don’t like vivid descriptions of murder and torture. It only gets worse the closer you get to the end (although the first nine are in no particular order)…
1. Ivan the Terrible
Who was he? The first Tsar of Russia from 1547 to 1584
What did he do? Ivan the Terrible’s iron-fisted dictatorship brought many losses to the Russian people and the Russian economy. He ravaged his country through wars like the Livonian War which he primarily started to increase his own power. In his pursuit of power, he purged Russian aristocrats under a policy called the Oprichnina. His perhaps greatest crime, however, was the Novogrod massacre. When he learned that the people of Novogrod wanted to leave Russia, he built a barricade around their city, tortured thousands of citizens to death and destroyed the surrounding cropland to starve them.
Even in his private life, Ivan was not a pleasant person. He beat his son to death for disobedience and beat his pregnant daughter-in-law for wearing „immodest“ clothing.
Redeeming qualities? Apparently, he was a sincere Christian, if this counts as anything.
2. Joseph Stalin
Who was he? Dictator of the Soviet Union from Lenin’s death in 1924 to his own in 1953
What did he do? Rising from the humble beginnings of an impoverished Georgian family, Stalin joined the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in his youth. He committed robbery and kidnapping to raise funds for its newspaper. After escaping arrest, he joined Lenin’s political movement to transform Russia from a monarchy to a dictatorship. Once Lenin died and Stalin seized power, he wrecked the economy and starved millions of people, sometimes intentionally.
Such intentional starving includes the Holodomor where he caused a famine in the Ukraine, killing between 3 and 7 million people for the „crime“ questioning his authority. During his Great Purge, he imprisoned about a million political opponents and executed at least 700,000. These purges even included high-ranking military figures which mere much more competent than him.
Redeeming qualities? He had daddy issues, if this counts as an excuse. Plus, being a commie, he probably cared for the poor.
In fact, he did help to industrialize Soviet Union.
3. Adolf Hitler
Who was he? Dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945
What did he do? Adolf Hitler was a German dictator best known for committing the perhaps most famous genocide in human history.
During the Reichstagsbrand, he set the German parliament building on fire and then blamed it on the communists, resulting in the mass arrest of communist figures. This false flag enabled him to rise to power and to transform a formerly democratic country into a one-party state. Driven by his irrational hatred of Jews, he gassed and starved 6 million of them in concentration camps as well as roughly 6 million more homosexuals, disabled folks or political opponents.
In his pursuit of Lebensraum for the German people, he started World War II which resulted in 70 to 85 million casualties. Hitler ordered several war crimes such as the extermination of the Soviet people in the Barbarossa Decree.
Listing all of his crimes would take forever. There’s a reason Hitler’s name is associated with pure evil.
Redeeming qualities? Ironically, he probably also has the longest list of redeeming qualities. Like Stalin, he was a victim of child abuse, but he also did good things. Hitler supported animal welfare, had a dog he genuinely loved and improved the German economy and welfare system. Plus, he killed Hitler.
4. Amon Göth
Who was he? SS functionary during the Nazi era and commandant of the KrakĂłw-PĹ‚aszĂłw concentration camp
What did he do? Amon Göth easily stands out as Hitler’s most sadistic commandant (which says a lot).
His favorite morning ritual consisted of shooting concentration camp inmates or feeding them to his dogs just for fun. After killing people, he often demanded to know who their relatives were just to kill them, too, as he did not want to have any „unhappy“ people in his camp. He did such things daily and would often even play classical music in the background just to humiliate his victims. Göth was also incredibly petty as evidenced by the fact that he would kill a Jewish cook if the soup was too hot or that he would kill an entire work team if only one of them had made a mistake.
It says a lot that this guy lost his position in 1944 not because of the allies, but because the Nazi party (!) was disgusted by his mistreatment of prisoners.
Many people criticized the portrayal of Amon Göth in Schindler’s List for being too over-the-top, but Spielberg has actually toned his villainy down.
Redeeming qualities? None that I’m aware of. One of the artistic liberties Schindler’s List took was trying to humanize him.
You could argue that he „only“ killed some 10,000s of people, as opposed to millions like Hitler, depending on what you think of the resource argument.
5. Mao Zedong
Who was he? Chairman of the Communist Party and dictator of China from 1949 to 1976
What did he do? Mao Zedong is arguably the greatest mass murderer in all of human history. In his Great Leap Forward, he caused a famine which resulted in 40 to 70 million deaths. Millions more died from disease. After the failures of the Leap, Mao Zedong launched a Cultural Revolution which resulted in the deaths of 0.5 to 2 million political opponents and damaged China politically as well as economically. Zedong’s methods of persecution were varied and included public humiliation, seizure of property, torture and execution.
Apparently, he also at some point offered to sell 10 million Chinese women to Henry Kissinger, although this was likely a joke.
Redeeming qualities? He improved education and healthcare and increased the life expectancy of the Chinese. Some consider him to be an advocate of women’s rights, but if the story with Kissinger is true, he probably wasn’t.
6. Ted Bundy
Who was he? American serial killer.
What did he do? Bundy is one of the most depraved serial killers in recent history, referring to himself as „the most cold-hearted son of a B**** you'll ever meet“ (even his attorney considered him to be the definition of pure evil). He confessed the murder, kidnapping and rape of over 30 young women (and two 12-year-old girls), although the exact number was likely higher. While he mostly used deception to lure his victims closer before overpowering them with brute force, he also broke in the homes of many victims and kidnapped them while they slept. Bundy decapitated at least 12 of his victims and kept their heads as decorations in his apartment. He also had sex with many of his victims well after they were dead. Many of their corpses were found with clothing or nail polish they had never possessed.
While most politicians in this list at least had some sort of ideological excuse, Bundy did all of the above just because he felt like it.
Redeeming qualities? He volunteered for a suicide hotline and worked as a member of the Crime Prevention Council. Given his nature as a sociopath though, it is likely that he only did this to appear more superficially charming and to attract more victims.
7. Joseph Kony
Who was he? Ugandan warlord and terrorist.
What did he do? Joseph Kony is one of the most terrifying leaders who have never seized governmental power. After having dropped out of school at the age of 15, Kony rose to prominence during the Ugandan Bush War. He created the Lord Resistance Army largely from children he abducted and forced into war. He was basically like Bundy, but on a larger scale, being responsible for the abduction of at least 60,000 children and the deaths of at least 100,000. Besides questionable recruitment practices, his army is responsible for crimes ranging from slaughtering villagers to abducting young girls and using them as rape-slaves. Despite giving the outward appearance of a Christian terrorist organization, it’s clear from their inconsistent ideology that the LRA is little more than a personality cult existing to glorify Kony.
Redeeming qualities? He was clearly insane, as evidenced by claiming to hear voices and all. While not nearly enough to excuse his crimes, it should still be taken into consideration.
8. Pol Pot
Who was he? Communist Cambodian dictator
What did he do? Pol Pot stands out as the most vicious 20th century dictator who did not rule a major power like Russia or Germany. Born as Saloth Sâr, he moved to Paris to study radio electronics. After dropping out of college, Pol Pot became interested in Marxist ideology, despite finding the texts to hard to understand, by his own admission. After rising to power in the Cambodian Civil War, he established a dictatorship known as the Khmer Rouge. Driven by his desire to return to an agricultural Year Zero, he systematically slaughtered all intellectuals (which included everyone wearing glasses), middle class people and political opponents he could lay his hands on. Besides murder, he resorted to intimidation by torturing and experimenting upon political opponents to make an example of them. A popular torture method was when he had his soldiers force hundreds of thousands of people to dig their own graves so that they could be buried alive. The Khmer Rogue was also militantly atheistic and racist, murdering people solely on religious and ethnic grounds. Not even most tankies (Stalin apologists) try to defend this guy.
Redeeming qualities? He used to be a sweet child, apparently.
9. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Who was he? Terrorist and leader of the Islamic State (ISIS)
What did he do? There were many terrorist figureheads of the 21st century for me to choose, but al-Baghdadi struck me as the worst. His backstory is nebulous, so I’ll skip most. He rose to fame during after the Second Iraq War where he founded ISIS from the Iraqi division of Al-Quaeda. ISIS proved to be even more of a nightmare than Al-Quaeda. Following bin Laden’s death, al-Bagdhadi publicly swore revenge and ordered more than 100 attacks, ranging from suicide bombings to raids. He assembled a whole army and seized a region the size of England in which he declared himself to be the Caliph Ibrahim. Under his reign, his soldiers executed and tortured anyone who belonged to the wrong religion, the wrong sect or even the wrong race (some of the beheaded were as young as 6 years old). Al-Baghdadi was also a serial rapist and had many sex slaves which he raped and murdered, including an American hostage. He died in a 2019 suicide bombing and took two children (probably his own) with him into his grave. From his statements, it was clear that he was planning to take over the world at all costs during his lifetime.
Redeeming qualities? Apparently, he used to be a perfectly normal religious scholar who eschewed violence in his youth. A reporter also claims that he showed a kinder and gentler side after banning the execution videos.
Before we go for the worst of the worst, here are those who have barely missed a ranking for themselves. Idi Amin and someone from the North Korean dictator family were considered for the „minor post-WW II dictator“ category, but they could not compete with Pol Pot.
Charles Manson was also considered, but dropped, as I found his record to unimpressive when compared to Bundy. Bin Laden lost to al-Baghdadi in a similar manner.
And now, the most vicious human I have ever heard about:
10. The person who voted for the leopard here.
Who was he? A biased cat fanatic on Carnivora who backs cats over raptors at parity.
What did he do? For starters, a Deinonychus has a much better bite than a leopard and sickle claws! That’s just at parity. When you take into account the Deinonychus' weight advantage (100 kg vs 70 kg), it becomes even more obvious who would win.
Redeeming qualities? Don’t care!!!!
I’ve also heard of a guy named creature386 who tells others not to rant about Carnivora fanboys while doing so himself. Maybe he also qualifies?
Yes, this is a joke thread mainly made to deliver the punchline at the end. Didn’t take that much time considering how I had already made it on another thread. You can still discuss the topic if you like.
Don't be too mean with jokes though.
This thread is now serious. Here is the guidelines for nominees:
1. Pick an individual. You shouldn't nominate groups like the Khmer Rogue, the colonists or the Nazis because within a group, it is always possible to hide and shift responsibilities. A relatively small group, like a team of serial killers (e.g. the Snowtown murderers) is permitted as long as all the perpetrators are named and their role is made clear. It's not as important in joke nominations though.
2. Don't pick anyone you have a personal grudge on. It'll only make you biased.
3. Don't pick people likely to start a flame war. This includes religious figures like Jesus or Muhammad. As much as you may hate them, try someone else.
4. Make sure your nominee stands out in some way. Don't just search for a random 10th century dictator, think what makes this person different from other 10th century dictator. If your nominee is a big name already, not much justification is needed.
5. Any serious nomination must pass a baseline level of heinousness. No matter how seriously you take AVA debates, there's a huge difference between disagreeing with someone in a matchup and murdering them. If your serious nominee is not at least partially responsible for someone's death, torture or abuse, think twice.
6. Preserve a lighthearted mood in joke nominations. If you nominate tardigrade fanboys, laugh with them, not at them.
I believe that morality is subjective and that there is no thing such as good or evil. For this reason, a working definition of „evil“ is in order. „Evil“ is anything that causes harm without preventing an equal or greater number of harm. „Harm“ itself is rather vague. It’s defined as the sort of stuff people would not like to experience. If a person causes excessive harm without good reasons, they are evil.
How can we quantify evil?
Well, there are some parameters.
For one, we can look at the scope of harm a certain person has caused (killing 50 million people is worse than killing 50 thousand).
However, we must also take into account the resources possessed by a person. A ruler of a country with one million peasant citizens just can’t cause as much harm as the dictator of a one billion-people country with advanced technology suitable for mass murder. For this reason, your nominee does not have to be some politician. It can also be a serial killer who made the most of their resources and who would have outdone any politician had they had power. The power someone has is oftentimes decided by destiny, but criminal energy is something people are responsible for. For this reason, I don’t just mention the most famous crimes a politician has committed, but I rather give a list. Listing variety of crimes tells a lot more about the perpetrator.
Next, the person should stand out in some way. Their crimes should be exceptional and unthinkable to anyone but them. Creative torture methods or anything that particularly disgusts you can go here.
Finally, look for any redeeming features. What was the intention behind these actions? Did they serve some greater good? Were they justified from a certain point of view?
Beyond that, did this person ever do anything good? Does this person have loved ones or did they ever show remorse? If so, take this into account. Being clinically insane (being disconnected from reality) can also count as a redeeming factor if the crimes become more understandable in this light.
Here are a bunch of really nasty boyz I’ve found (the „What did he do?“ sections are not intended to be biographies, just lists of crimes):
All information is from Wikipedia. I don’t recommend reading the text for those of you who don’t like vivid descriptions of murder and torture. It only gets worse the closer you get to the end (although the first nine are in no particular order)…
1. Ivan the Terrible
Who was he? The first Tsar of Russia from 1547 to 1584
What did he do? Ivan the Terrible’s iron-fisted dictatorship brought many losses to the Russian people and the Russian economy. He ravaged his country through wars like the Livonian War which he primarily started to increase his own power. In his pursuit of power, he purged Russian aristocrats under a policy called the Oprichnina. His perhaps greatest crime, however, was the Novogrod massacre. When he learned that the people of Novogrod wanted to leave Russia, he built a barricade around their city, tortured thousands of citizens to death and destroyed the surrounding cropland to starve them.
Even in his private life, Ivan was not a pleasant person. He beat his son to death for disobedience and beat his pregnant daughter-in-law for wearing „immodest“ clothing.
Redeeming qualities? Apparently, he was a sincere Christian, if this counts as anything.
2. Joseph Stalin
Who was he? Dictator of the Soviet Union from Lenin’s death in 1924 to his own in 1953
What did he do? Rising from the humble beginnings of an impoverished Georgian family, Stalin joined the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in his youth. He committed robbery and kidnapping to raise funds for its newspaper. After escaping arrest, he joined Lenin’s political movement to transform Russia from a monarchy to a dictatorship. Once Lenin died and Stalin seized power, he wrecked the economy and starved millions of people, sometimes intentionally.
Such intentional starving includes the Holodomor where he caused a famine in the Ukraine, killing between 3 and 7 million people for the „crime“ questioning his authority. During his Great Purge, he imprisoned about a million political opponents and executed at least 700,000. These purges even included high-ranking military figures which mere much more competent than him.
Redeeming qualities? He had daddy issues, if this counts as an excuse. Plus, being a commie, he probably cared for the poor.
In fact, he did help to industrialize Soviet Union.
3. Adolf Hitler
Who was he? Dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945
What did he do? Adolf Hitler was a German dictator best known for committing the perhaps most famous genocide in human history.
During the Reichstagsbrand, he set the German parliament building on fire and then blamed it on the communists, resulting in the mass arrest of communist figures. This false flag enabled him to rise to power and to transform a formerly democratic country into a one-party state. Driven by his irrational hatred of Jews, he gassed and starved 6 million of them in concentration camps as well as roughly 6 million more homosexuals, disabled folks or political opponents.
In his pursuit of Lebensraum for the German people, he started World War II which resulted in 70 to 85 million casualties. Hitler ordered several war crimes such as the extermination of the Soviet people in the Barbarossa Decree.
Listing all of his crimes would take forever. There’s a reason Hitler’s name is associated with pure evil.
Redeeming qualities? Ironically, he probably also has the longest list of redeeming qualities. Like Stalin, he was a victim of child abuse, but he also did good things. Hitler supported animal welfare, had a dog he genuinely loved and improved the German economy and welfare system. Plus, he killed Hitler.
4. Amon Göth
Who was he? SS functionary during the Nazi era and commandant of the KrakĂłw-PĹ‚aszĂłw concentration camp
What did he do? Amon Göth easily stands out as Hitler’s most sadistic commandant (which says a lot).
His favorite morning ritual consisted of shooting concentration camp inmates or feeding them to his dogs just for fun. After killing people, he often demanded to know who their relatives were just to kill them, too, as he did not want to have any „unhappy“ people in his camp. He did such things daily and would often even play classical music in the background just to humiliate his victims. Göth was also incredibly petty as evidenced by the fact that he would kill a Jewish cook if the soup was too hot or that he would kill an entire work team if only one of them had made a mistake.
It says a lot that this guy lost his position in 1944 not because of the allies, but because the Nazi party (!) was disgusted by his mistreatment of prisoners.
Many people criticized the portrayal of Amon Göth in Schindler’s List for being too over-the-top, but Spielberg has actually toned his villainy down.
Redeeming qualities? None that I’m aware of. One of the artistic liberties Schindler’s List took was trying to humanize him.
You could argue that he „only“ killed some 10,000s of people, as opposed to millions like Hitler, depending on what you think of the resource argument.
5. Mao Zedong
Who was he? Chairman of the Communist Party and dictator of China from 1949 to 1976
What did he do? Mao Zedong is arguably the greatest mass murderer in all of human history. In his Great Leap Forward, he caused a famine which resulted in 40 to 70 million deaths. Millions more died from disease. After the failures of the Leap, Mao Zedong launched a Cultural Revolution which resulted in the deaths of 0.5 to 2 million political opponents and damaged China politically as well as economically. Zedong’s methods of persecution were varied and included public humiliation, seizure of property, torture and execution.
Apparently, he also at some point offered to sell 10 million Chinese women to Henry Kissinger, although this was likely a joke.
Redeeming qualities? He improved education and healthcare and increased the life expectancy of the Chinese. Some consider him to be an advocate of women’s rights, but if the story with Kissinger is true, he probably wasn’t.
6. Ted Bundy
Who was he? American serial killer.
What did he do? Bundy is one of the most depraved serial killers in recent history, referring to himself as „the most cold-hearted son of a B**** you'll ever meet“ (even his attorney considered him to be the definition of pure evil). He confessed the murder, kidnapping and rape of over 30 young women (and two 12-year-old girls), although the exact number was likely higher. While he mostly used deception to lure his victims closer before overpowering them with brute force, he also broke in the homes of many victims and kidnapped them while they slept. Bundy decapitated at least 12 of his victims and kept their heads as decorations in his apartment. He also had sex with many of his victims well after they were dead. Many of their corpses were found with clothing or nail polish they had never possessed.
While most politicians in this list at least had some sort of ideological excuse, Bundy did all of the above just because he felt like it.
Redeeming qualities? He volunteered for a suicide hotline and worked as a member of the Crime Prevention Council. Given his nature as a sociopath though, it is likely that he only did this to appear more superficially charming and to attract more victims.
7. Joseph Kony
Who was he? Ugandan warlord and terrorist.
What did he do? Joseph Kony is one of the most terrifying leaders who have never seized governmental power. After having dropped out of school at the age of 15, Kony rose to prominence during the Ugandan Bush War. He created the Lord Resistance Army largely from children he abducted and forced into war. He was basically like Bundy, but on a larger scale, being responsible for the abduction of at least 60,000 children and the deaths of at least 100,000. Besides questionable recruitment practices, his army is responsible for crimes ranging from slaughtering villagers to abducting young girls and using them as rape-slaves. Despite giving the outward appearance of a Christian terrorist organization, it’s clear from their inconsistent ideology that the LRA is little more than a personality cult existing to glorify Kony.
Redeeming qualities? He was clearly insane, as evidenced by claiming to hear voices and all. While not nearly enough to excuse his crimes, it should still be taken into consideration.
8. Pol Pot
Who was he? Communist Cambodian dictator
What did he do? Pol Pot stands out as the most vicious 20th century dictator who did not rule a major power like Russia or Germany. Born as Saloth Sâr, he moved to Paris to study radio electronics. After dropping out of college, Pol Pot became interested in Marxist ideology, despite finding the texts to hard to understand, by his own admission. After rising to power in the Cambodian Civil War, he established a dictatorship known as the Khmer Rouge. Driven by his desire to return to an agricultural Year Zero, he systematically slaughtered all intellectuals (which included everyone wearing glasses), middle class people and political opponents he could lay his hands on. Besides murder, he resorted to intimidation by torturing and experimenting upon political opponents to make an example of them. A popular torture method was when he had his soldiers force hundreds of thousands of people to dig their own graves so that they could be buried alive. The Khmer Rogue was also militantly atheistic and racist, murdering people solely on religious and ethnic grounds. Not even most tankies (Stalin apologists) try to defend this guy.
Redeeming qualities? He used to be a sweet child, apparently.
9. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Who was he? Terrorist and leader of the Islamic State (ISIS)
What did he do? There were many terrorist figureheads of the 21st century for me to choose, but al-Baghdadi struck me as the worst. His backstory is nebulous, so I’ll skip most. He rose to fame during after the Second Iraq War where he founded ISIS from the Iraqi division of Al-Quaeda. ISIS proved to be even more of a nightmare than Al-Quaeda. Following bin Laden’s death, al-Bagdhadi publicly swore revenge and ordered more than 100 attacks, ranging from suicide bombings to raids. He assembled a whole army and seized a region the size of England in which he declared himself to be the Caliph Ibrahim. Under his reign, his soldiers executed and tortured anyone who belonged to the wrong religion, the wrong sect or even the wrong race (some of the beheaded were as young as 6 years old). Al-Baghdadi was also a serial rapist and had many sex slaves which he raped and murdered, including an American hostage. He died in a 2019 suicide bombing and took two children (probably his own) with him into his grave. From his statements, it was clear that he was planning to take over the world at all costs during his lifetime.
Redeeming qualities? Apparently, he used to be a perfectly normal religious scholar who eschewed violence in his youth. A reporter also claims that he showed a kinder and gentler side after banning the execution videos.
Before we go for the worst of the worst, here are those who have barely missed a ranking for themselves. Idi Amin and someone from the North Korean dictator family were considered for the „minor post-WW II dictator“ category, but they could not compete with Pol Pot.
Charles Manson was also considered, but dropped, as I found his record to unimpressive when compared to Bundy. Bin Laden lost to al-Baghdadi in a similar manner.
And now, the most vicious human I have ever heard about:
10. The person who voted for the leopard here.
Who was he? A biased cat fanatic on Carnivora who backs cats over raptors at parity.
What did he do? For starters, a Deinonychus has a much better bite than a leopard and sickle claws! That’s just at parity. When you take into account the Deinonychus' weight advantage (100 kg vs 70 kg), it becomes even more obvious who would win.
Redeeming qualities? Don’t care!!!!
I’ve also heard of a guy named creature386 who tells others not to rant about Carnivora fanboys while doing so himself. Maybe he also qualifies?
Don't be too mean with jokes though.
This thread is now serious. Here is the guidelines for nominees:
1. Pick an individual. You shouldn't nominate groups like the Khmer Rogue, the colonists or the Nazis because within a group, it is always possible to hide and shift responsibilities. A relatively small group, like a team of serial killers (e.g. the Snowtown murderers) is permitted as long as all the perpetrators are named and their role is made clear. It's not as important in joke nominations though.
2. Don't pick anyone you have a personal grudge on. It'll only make you biased.
3. Don't pick people likely to start a flame war. This includes religious figures like Jesus or Muhammad. As much as you may hate them, try someone else.
4. Make sure your nominee stands out in some way. Don't just search for a random 10th century dictator, think what makes this person different from other 10th century dictator. If your nominee is a big name already, not much justification is needed.
5. Any serious nomination must pass a baseline level of heinousness. No matter how seriously you take AVA debates, there's a huge difference between disagreeing with someone in a matchup and murdering them. If your serious nominee is not at least partially responsible for someone's death, torture or abuse, think twice.
6. Preserve a lighthearted mood in joke nominations. If you nominate tardigrade fanboys, laugh with them, not at them.
