User blog:ArmInAss/Ivan Grozny: Profile of a Mass Murderer

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

'''The following fic contains violent accounts, since this is a profile of a ruthless dictator. If you know personalities such as Joseph Stalin, Saddam Hussein, Bashar al-Assad and people like them, be it known that the central character of this fan fic could be listed as par with them.'''

'''The Monster Girl Encyclopedia is an intellectual property of Kenkou Cross and I don’t derive any profit from this fan fiction. Any relationship between characters in this work and real people, dead or alive, are purely coincidental, though I cannot say the same about the central character since he was loosely based on various real-life personalities.'''

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A heroic warrior-king who shielded his people from invasion and a bloodthirsty tyrant who murders hundreds of innocents to achieve his goals: these are two interpretations of the current Tsar of Rossiya, Ivan Vasilievich. But these two views agree on one thing: he is the domino that refuses to fall in the face of the tide of revolution that has been toppling monarchies all across the world.

Ivan Vasilievich is the 20th ruler and descendant of the Vasilievich dynasty, which has ruled the Tsardom of Rossiya. A cruel yet effective despot, while he had driven his nation into an economic, political and military superpower rivaling that of Lescatie, he is also known for his brutal and horrifying repressive tactics in rooting out subversive elements… tactics bordering that of depravity and sanguinary. Impaling criminals and troublemakers, displaying mangled corpses, nails driven through their skulls or necks, eyes gouged out and their own intestines and genitals fed on them are just a few accounts of his outlandishly sadistic and murderous nature. Even mamono, by hearing these accounts, would quickly condemn him as the most evil person to walk the earth, equaled only by the former demon lord.

''King Bergström was exiled. Lady Druella stepped down from power. Ivan, however, is determined to destroy us. He will fight us to the grim end. (He will) make sure that the cost will outstrip our fruits. ''

– an official of the Enlightened Movement in a private interview

It is no surprise that Ivan Vasilievich is known as Ivan Grozny, translated as Ivan the Formidable. Threats and challenges have come and passed, with him surviving and overwhelming them all. From his early years fighting opportunistic boyars and outsiders who want to take the throne, then to ethnic uprisings, and the challenge of monster extremist invasions and provocative Order-aligned military movements, he had passed these hardships, proving that it will take more than just chaos to oust him, and the recent of his staunchest enemies, revolutionaries of the Enlightened Movement, is learning it the hard way.

'' “Could a man be capable of doing such acts? No. He’s a monster.” ''

– an unnamed political fugitive

But what makes him well-known all across the world is his murderous tactics. Ever since the former demon lord, no other tyrant used weapons of mass destruction to maintain himself in power before Ivan. While Ivan justifies his move as an ultimate resort to “keep chaos outside his realm”, the world could only see the horrifying atrocities it only causes against innocents who were caught between his brutality and its intended target. But the most well-known and Ivan’s favorite is impalement of captured rebels and troublemakers, for the excruciating pain it gives to the victim before dying of blood loss, if he was not lucky for not being given a quick death.

This has both good and bad effects. While it induced some people to join the rebels after seeing how atrocious their tsar had become, it also has an important message that if anyone is discovered to be conniving with the rebels they will suffer the same fate, and those who come under his flag or even stay only out of his way would not become candidates for such punishment.

Impalement and fear-mongering is not the only way he enforces his rule. He also has a secret police called the Oprichniki. Clad in black cloaks and riding black horses, they roam the country in search of rebel heads that can be hacked off, as well as traitors and spies, both open and hidden. There is also the Imperial Guard, which is a separate army in its own right, and has state-of-the-art training and equipment. Both of them are the spearhead of the regime in fighting the tsar’s enemies, and rival each other and the royal army on a contest of how many rebels they have killed or captured.

'' When a doctor in an operating room... cuts and cleans and amputates, do we say to him your hands are stained with blood or do we thank him for saving the patient? ''

 – Ivan Vasilievich (att.)

<p class="MsoNormal">Strangely though, despite his atrocities, and rising international feeling against him, as more people are going up against him, so are people that come to support and even fight for him. For many of them, he is a hero, defending the peace and integrity of the nation and people against foreign encroachment and chaos. With the threats of monster extremism, anti-monster sentiment and dreaded lawlessness closing in on the realm, he is seen as the bulwark and the great defense, ready to take on any enemy and making each step closer to his lands a grave cost to whoever does so.

<p class="MsoNormal">Nevertheless, the world is slowly getting together to do something to the chaos that is prevailing throughout the country. The World Coexistence Alliance, an international organization of monster-friendly states for political, economic, cultural and military cooperation had suspended Rossiya’s membership due to its violation of its own peoples’ freedom. Even the Order and Royal Demon Realm had an agreement that neither side shall support or oppose Ivan’s regime, though rumors are leaking out that the former is selling the tsardom weapons to use against monster extremists that are taking advantage of the chaos, and that some researchers of Sabbath are conniving with the regime’s scientists to make monsterization potions that may serve useful in warfare as well. Both sides, and the WCA, are taking serious steps to curb such intolerable acts.

<p class="MsoNormal">Until then, due to the volatility of the situation, it’s unwise to make any prediction further. The victory of the Enlightened Movement or any other anti-government faction remain uncertain, nor if the end is in does sight with Ivan eventually restoring his power throughout the nation but one thing is clear. No matter how high the cost is, neither the regime nor the revolution will yield and the stakes are high enough for them not to consider peace.

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<p class="MsoNormal">LAST NOTES: <p class="MsoNormal">'''And there you have it, a taste of what you may expect on my fan fic series Ivan Grozny. At least you have known what he will become if you have read my first two publications of the series.'''