People Discuss All the Historical Figures That Weren't Actually Bad Guys

Author image for Ally Perry
Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Jun 10, 2023 1:30 PM EDT

The more life experience you get, the more you realize how much everything is influenced by PR. One good hit job is enough to ruin a reputation forever, whether or not they actually deserve it. It's a powerful tool that has been make or break for countless individuals over the years, and we don't always see the most truthful side of the story. 

In a lot of ways, history will remember us however it wants to — but there are people out there who value setting the record straight. It's amazing to think how much misremembering goes on when you come across a thread like this AskReddit, which asked Redditors to name those who had been unfairly remembered as the bad guy. There are some compelling examples here, with some extremely interesting backstories. Often, the tale that doesn't get told is one that probably more of us would appreciate if it was the accepted narrative. 

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  • 01
    Font - r/AskReddit u/jamespeech111.1d Join 1 Who is a bad guy in history who actually wasn't a bad guy?
    via jamespeech111
  • 02
    Font - wagwa20011 21h Richard Jewel - initially lauded as a hero and a brave man who ran towards the bomb to help... then the FBI and media turned on him and accused him of doing the bombing himself... because; he was actually just as fucking outlandishly brave and ran toward the bomb to help people, They took his truck for evidence, he had to go into hiding... made a villain by incompetent people... For YEARS... finally exonerated and dies shortly afterward
    via wagwa2001l
  • 03
    Font - gavlegoat 21h That woman who was accused of kidnapping children because her kids didn't have her DNA, but in fact her uterus had different DNA than the rest of her body. : Reply 45.5k ↓ Heart2001 17h Lydia Fairchild. She has chimerism, so her uterus has different DNA from the rest of her body (the DNA of her absorbed twin)
    via gavlegoat
  • 04
    Font - cooshed 21h In the film Titanic the character Murdoch killed someone, took bribes and generally came across as a right shit. He was a real life person who was actually a hero and saved many lives. His living relatives were so disgusted that the VP of Fox travelled to Dalbeattie to personally apologise and presented a £5000 donation to Dalbeattie High School to boost the school's William Murdoch Memorial Prize. : Reply ↑ 9.7k ↓ randologin 16h That movie's initial gross was over $1.8B! Dona
    via cooshed
  • 05
    Font - tindalos 19h 1 Award William Thomas Green Morton died broke defending his discovery of anesthesia. He was a dentist and didn't get much respect from the doctors at the time. IMO one of the most important medical discoveries. ⠀ Reply 44.3k ↓ pdlbean 9h anesthesia is arguably THE most important medical discovery in history. Modern surgery is literally impossible without it.
    via tindalos
  • 06
    Font - Paskyc 23h In brave heart, William Wallace gets betrayed by Robert the Bruce which never happened, he was loyal to the end Reply 4 21.0k ↓ ⠀ Youbettereatthatshit 22h That movie made me so angry. I grew up on it, and loved it for what I assumed was a historically accurate portrayal. Not only is the movie absurdly inaccurate, the real history is arguably more interesting that the movie! There was no need for "artistic restructuring". They could have just dramatized the actual events and it
    via Paskyc
  • 07
    Font - luka297 23h 3 Awards Captain Hazelwood of the Exxon Valdez. He is often pictured on the helm of the Exxon swaying drunkenly going full throttle into the reef talking like a "pirate." What actually happened. Valdez's critical navigation equipment was out of commission, faxs sent to Exxon and Exxon told them to sail instead. Coast guard budget cuts removed vessel tracking in the area. Green and tired crew was on duty, request was made to relief crew. It was denied. XO who was on Conn at the
    via luka297
  • 08
    Font - Hazelwood made a comment that "He needed a drink." Because of how upset he was over the situation. Exxon's PR paid off the media to blame Hazelwood. However Hazelwood was charged with only one charge which was for pollution. He proved he was not a drunkard and retained his captain's license. Even getting offers to sail again which he turned down. The real villains are mass media, False News, and comedians but Exxon's PRs spending power to keep the blame off them. Hazelwood passed away las
    via luka297
  • 09
    Font - B3atrixK1ddo 1d 1 Award A dingo really ate her baby. : Reply 432.5k ↓ Moral-Maverick 23h In Sweden a man was arrested for the murder of his wife but she was actually killed by a moose. They thought he had used a lawnmower to kill her because of the damages on her body. It took a long time for them to write him off as a suspect and it ruined his life. Edit: sources in English are hard to find but there is a book about it in Swedish called "På osannolika skäl" and some documentary. Very few
    via B3atrixK1ddo
  • 10
    Font - GA The-loon 22h 1 Award The McDonald's coffee lady - the woman who sued mcDonalds after she spilled coffee on her lap received 3rd degree burns in her pelvic area. She was hospitalized for 8 days and required a couple years of rehabilitation. The media jumped on the story making it a poster case for frivolous lawsuits. Edit: corrected typos : Reply 46.6k lizarkanosia 17h Omg I vividly remember this story! It was so sad tbh. At first I thought it was stupid too, but then I read she had sev
    via The-loon
  • 11
    Font - JJohnston015 1d Captain Bligh. His mistake was being too soft rather than too harsh. He let his crew slack off while they were waiting to make sure the breadfruit trees would survive transplantation, and they mutinied when he put them back to work. : Reply Absolute hero. 620 cAt_Sofa 19h It should also be mentioned that when his some of his crew mutinied so many of them wanted to be allowed to leave with him on the ship's tiny open launch that even fully laden they would not all be able t
    via JJohnston015
  • 12
    Font - Sphinxofblackkwarts 1d 1 Award Niccolo Machiavelli. Machiavelli didn't invent the idea of lying or ruthlessness. He made an observation about what worked and tried to get a new gig. Now his name is synonymous with "heartless manipulator". ⠀ Reply 413.6k
    via Sphinxofblackkwarts
  • 13
    Font - nocturnalfrolic 23h Tom the cat. Jerry is a menace. ⠀ bunkscudda 21h Reply 45.9k There was a post the other day talking about them and how they are actually working together. As long as jerry keeps running around, the humans think they have a mouse problem so they keep the cat. As long as Tom keeps showing he's making an effort they think he's doing a good job. But they are both in on it and just do it to keep up appearances. There's apparently an episode where they work together to get f
    via nocturnalfrolic
  • 14
    Font - darkhelmet46 1d S 1 Award Nandor the Relentless o : TheSilversky64 21h "Master, you've got to plug the ethernet cable in" "Thank you, Guillermo, I'm familiar with how the Ether works" 1 more reply Reply 46.2k ↓ : 4531 531 The MightyMeatus420 1d "No, I'm pillaging everyone, you included."
    via darkhelmet46
  • 15
    Font - No_Prize9794 21h Pharaoh Cleopatra, she was actually a pretty good ruler with her focusing more on her nation than just abusing her position for her own benefit, there's even some records saying that she wasn't even all that beautiful, she was however very intelligent with stuff like how she learned around 10 different languages Reply 41.1k : menatarms 15h First member of the ptolemaic dynasty to bother learning Egyptian. She did amazing things in managing to actually expand Egypt's terri
    via No_Prize9794
  • 16
    Font - Faniroz 1d Jesus was given vinegar to drink by the Roman. It turns out that the roman military provided their troops with a water/vinegar mixture to drink because it helped them replenish their salt levels after perspiring. So, the only thing the Roman did was to offer Jesus a sip of his own drink rather than making him drink vinegar as punishment or a dig. : Reply 420.8k ↓ Alternative-Mango-52 1d I tried the vinegar - water drink of the Roman legionnaires, and the one that was flavoured
    via Faniroz
  • 17
    Font - saucisse 1d Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle : agnes238 23h Fun fact: keystone studios, where he and Charlie Chaplin filmed much of their work in the teens and twenties, is now a public storage building and i store my random crap in it. I hope to hear ghosts when I go but never do :( gemtasticf1 21h Edit: it's public storage on Glendale avenue in echo park, LA- if anyone wants to check it out! Reply : 125. 5 Awards Of course not, they're silent actors. G 41.4k ↓ : 4744 ↓ 41.7k ↓
    via saucisse
  • 18
    Font - Lordofthepotatoes69 23h A lot of Tudor women come to mind; Katherine Howard, Mary Tudor and Anne Boleyn. Katherine was sexually abused her entire life only for Thomas Culpepper to use it to blackmail and assault her. Almost every man in her life abused or used her and she died a teenage girl. After her death people made up bullshit about her wanting to be married to a rapist and blackmailer. SHE WAS A CHILD. Mary Tudor was horrifically abused by her own father, torn from her mother and pr
    via Lordofthepotatoes69
  • 19
    Font - Anne Boleyn was not a seductress who tried to steal the King. She did not want the king and initially flirted with him to get back at a guy who courted and ditched her. She only agreed to marry Henry because she had to. Even before he met Anne he was looking for a way to end his marriage to Catalina (Catherine) De Aragon. Why? Because the only reason they were Marie was to preserve an alliance with Spain and that fell through and she didn't have a son. None of which was Catalina's fault.
    via Lordofthepotatoes69
  • 20
    Font - Ok-Parsnip4681 1d Hades He barely cheated on his wife and was loyal. He only kidnapped Persephone because Zeus told him to. He's a good father. He doesn't cause death, only what happens after. Also he named his Dog Spot, adorable. People always act like he's evil and malicious. But in all reality he's a sweet guy. ⠀ Reply 46.8k Danger_J_Stranger 23h He barely cheated on his wife In terms of Greek Gods, that's the best we can get
    via Ok-Parsnip4681
  • 21
    Rectangle - sixteen_dollars 1d 1 Award Monica Lewinsky
    via sixteen_dollars
  • 22
    Rectangle - Seinfelds-van 1d Sinéad O'Connor ⠀ Maximum-Tor-1906 21h Reply 42.3k ↓ She was right. The Catholic Church's handling of predator priests was appalling.
    via Seinfelds-van
  • 23
    Font - Tarrybelle 1d Richard III. Demonised by the Tudors, in part due to his curved spine (now confirmed) and their political agendas. He might have been a good King or a bad King/person but it is difficult to determine as the records that followed his death are so incredibly bias.
    via Tarrybelle

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bad guys history askreddit characters good explanation famous people Historical
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