The battles of the past define the present. This is Shield's High.

Who's the greatest monster in history? Some names will come up right away. Hitler, Stalin,

now, Pol Pot, but that takes the question in a very specific direction. I didn't say real

monsters, did I? And then again, those are also all figures in the 20th century. Now because

of the industrialized scale of the slaughter in the 20th century, clearly by sheer numbers,

those evil doers will be in something of a category by themselves. Although if you look

at the body count of, say, Genghis Khan, it would rival, including innocent women and children

anything done by the evil doers of the 20th century. And is it really possible that all

of the worst, most fearsome evil doers in history were alive in a one century period? In fact,

doing their deeds within decades of each other probably not.

But let's return to the question. Those are all real people. And when some people think

monster, something very different comes to mind. The Loch Ness Monster, the abominable

snowman, the wolf man, monster conjures up horror stories of recent decades and myths

and legends of the past. Now, what if I told you there was a figure in the actual past

who was a very real monster in both senses, a remorseless bloodthirsty killer on a massive

scale, as well as being the basis for one of the most enduring monster myths, monster

legends of all time, as well as believe it or not, being a national folk hero in Romania,

a talented military commander, a Christian crusader against the jihad, an exceptional

builder and administrator, and a man who founded what became the capital of Romania with the

city of Bucharest. Well, all I have to do is say one word to answer this for you. Dracula.

I know what your mind goes to when you hear that word, right? And elegantly dressed count

with a thick, Romanian accent and slicked back hair with two prominent fangs who wants to

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