Historical Hero Upgrade: Difference between revisions

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther| Martin Luther] gets this a lot. Everyone knows the old story: [[From Nobody to Nightmare| An obscure, low-ranking monk]] in the small German town of Wittenberg became embittered and distrustful of a Church he felt had lost its way. His faith faltered as he saw greed and corruption consume the leaders of his once-proud religion. So on All-Hallows Eve of 1517, [[Sudden Principled Stand| he had enough]], and in broad daylight, boldly marched up the door of his church and nailed a document detailing [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninety-five_Theses 95 grievances], accusing his own superiors of acts he found inexcusable, most involving sales of indulgences, which was basically exchanging divine forgiveness for money. While it initially led to his excommunication and exile, [[You Cannot Kill an Idea| his small voice struck a small spark in the congregation that became a roaring fire]], leading to the Protestant Reformation that would change the world. Only problem is, as heroic and dramatic as it sounds, that’s likely not how it happened. For starters, the key event - Luther nailing the grievances to the church door - was first reported by someone who could not possibly have witnessed it, and was not made public until after Luther died. And speaking of which, even on his deathbed, Luther never expressed true disdain for his faith, and considered himself a loyal Catholic to the end; he was not known to have mentioned or wrote of the key event personally. While he did indeed write the document detailing the 95 thesis, they were likely presented in the form of a polite letter to his superiors with his concerns included.

* Matthias Corvinus ruled Hungary with an iron fist. He was known for imprisoning the nobles who crowned him king, and instituting high taxes to maintain his army of [[Elite Mooks]]. Despite this, he is known as Hungary's greatest and most iconic folk hero, for his sense of justice and his rumoured habit of mingling with the common folk. The fact that the kingdom of Hungary was living it's golden age during his rule, and practically died with him, also helps his case.

** In ''[[The Winds of War and War and Remembrance]]'' this is subverted; he is generally portrayed well but he is not "a saint" except in the sense that real saints are often recorded as having rather curious lives. FDR is something of a [[Manipulative Bastard]] who plays with Victor by alternately offering a combat command which he keeps postponing, and appealing to Victor's idealism to do the job FDR says is most important. Aside from that [[The Government]] is miserly about giving passports to refugees, and strands evidence of atrocities in red tape. And while it is not clear who is to blame for that, FDR ''is'' the President...

 

* Date Masamune is played like this in many works. In real life, he may as well be categorized with ''Oushuu's [[Oda Nobunaga]]'', he killed his brother to rise to power (his nagging mother constantly opposed him and promoted his brother for clan leader) and betrayed the alliance with the other clans without much discussion (and conquering them). He also showed little respect to Hideyoshi when he was called to join the attack on Odawara (and late to come to boot!). But in ''[[Samurai Deeper Kyo]],'' he ends up becoming Kyo's ally, though he may be rude and brash (aka Bontenmaru). And in ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'', he becomes the [[Badass]] [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] hero with a somewhat charming personality and several [[Pet the Dog]] moments (seen with [[Battle Butler|Kojuurou]] and [[Morality Pet|Itsuki]], or [[All There in the Manual|in the Drama CD]], [[The Woobie|Oichi]])

** This one is averted in Koei's Warriors series. In ''[[Samurai Warriors]] 2'', he comes off as a jerk, but hides a lot of ambitions that are beneficial for Japan. But in ''[[Warriors Orochi]]'', he becomes Orochi's henchman and is pretty much loyal to him and has no qualms on bringing chaos into the world. Maybe that's his true nature.