Vlad the Impaler
The real Dracula earned his reputation through shocking brutality aimed at defending his homeland. During the 1460s, this Wallachian prince impaled thousands—sometimes 20,000 in a single day—to terrify Ottoman invaders. His forests of stakes traumatized even hardened enemies. Though ruthless, his tactics stemmed from determination to protect Wallachia from foreign domination. Ottoman chronicles record that Sultan Mehmed II, a conqueror himself, retreated in horror upon witnessing Vlad’s handiwork.
