Most murderous dictators have one thing in common… testosterone.

Ivan the terrible… testosterone.

Vlad the Impaler…  AKA Count Dracula… sort of… testosterone.

Attila the Hun… yup

Genghis Khan… wait, I might have gotten those images mixed up, nobody knew what they looked like. But the point is, most world-conquering men suffered from TMTS;  Too Much Testosterone Syndrome.

I know, you argue that taking over the world was part of their job description. And it kept all their over-testosterone-supplied soldiers busy so they didn’t kill the guy in charge out of boredom.

Also, they did get famous for doing what they did, so we are partly to blame for making them heroes. It is cool when you leader is conquering the world. You feel important. Unless you are one of the guys he is using to do the conquering. Then it is a lot of dangerous work, for which testosterone comes in handy. Also, all of these empires fell eventually, so it isn’t a good long-term strategy.

Have you ever heard of this guy…

No, you haven’t. Because his name was Edgar, and he was known as: Edgar the Peaceful. Does that look like a guy overburdened with testosterone?

Charles the First of France, supposedly one of the nicest guys ever.

My personal favorite, Gustavus of Sweden. Never lifted a hand in anger. Plus, if your head is shaped like that, that is a good choice of facial hair.

Here is one guy you have heard of, that ruled millions of people, and didn’t believe in violence…

So it is possible to get famous without mass-murdering your way around the countryside. But it isn’t easy.