History UsefulNotes / GenghisKhan

He's mentioned far more in Chinese and ''especially'' Central Asian stories and culture than in Western Europe, the latter was spared much of his wrath, save for sporadic raids that begin in the 1240s. In Western European (and by extension North American) culture, [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation he is either shown as]] a tolerant and just ruler who helped bring order in a chaotic period, or as a [[BarbarianTribe ruthless barbarian who slaughtered swathes of innocents for personal gain]]. While it's easy to cherry-pick his deeds to make him look unambiguously like one or the other, the truth is a mixture of the two. He was a revolutionary conqueror in Asia for the time in that he allowed almost total freedom of religion, did not impose on the cultures of the defeated, and established a vast and effective trade and postal network that were of great benefits to most parts of Asia - particularly given the long disintegration and decline of the Southern Song dynasty under the strain of fighting their [[ForeverWar fifty-year stalemate war]] with the Jin dynasty founded by the Jurchens (a Tungusic tribe ancestral to the Manchus who had taken the entire north China plain from them, thus the 'Southern' Song). On the other hand, [[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill he was absolutely ruthless]] to anyone who dared to resist his [[TheHorde Mongol hordes]]. He was noted to have used early forms of biological warfare [[note]]While this was done knowingly, the expansion of his empire may have unknowingly played a part in introducing the Black Death pandemic to Europe more than a century after his death. [[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/did-black-death-rampage-across-world-more-century-previously-thought-180977331/ This hypothesis in 2021]] suggests that the marmots brought by the Mongols to the Tian Shan area during the conquest of the Kara-Khitai circa 1216 picked up a strain of plague; when the Mongols besieged Baghdad in 1258, the hypothesis is that marmots with the plague managed to infect rodents in Baghdad, laying the seeds for future devastation.[[/note]], used living prisoners as {{human shield}}s, and massacred civilian populations as punishment for resistance. The Iranian plateau lost three-quarters of its population during his conquest and didn't fully recover until the mid-20th century. Entire cities were leveled to the ground [[MakeAnExampleOfThem as examples]]; to this day, some areas in Central Asia are disproportionately populated compared to their surroundings thanks to these ''13th century'' tactics.

* ''Film/TheConqueror'', an unfortunate 1956 movie where the part of Genghis Khan is [[WhatTheHellCastingAgency played by]] Creator/JohnWayne. Also unfortunate in that it was filmed downwind from a nuclear testing site, leading to the possibly-exaggerated story that an unusually-high number of people involved in the film - including Wayne himself - developed cancer in the following years.

TropeNamer for the GenghisGambit.

* ''Film/TheConqueror'', an unfortunate 1956 movie where the part of Genghis Khan is played by [[WhatTheHellCastingAgency John Wayne]].

* FieryRedhead: He was red-haired and violent according to Mongol and Kazakh folk tales, generally depicted as black or brown haired by Western accounts. An exception would have to be Film/Mongol, which is actually a joint Russo-Kazakh-German film which is noted to be the only half-way historically accurate depiction of his life, where Genghis is played as a kid by Odnyam Odsuran, a red-haired child actor of Mongol descent. (Of course, Creator/TadanobuAsano, the guy who played adult Genghis, was black-haired and Japanese and didn't look a a thing like him except for the beard and hairstyle.)

* FieryRedhead: He was red-haired and violent according to Mongol and Kazakh folk tales, generally depicted as black or brown haired by Western accounts. An exception would have to be Mongol, which is actually a joint Russo-Kazakh-German film which is noted to be the only half-way historically accurate depiction of his life, where Genghis is played as a kid by Odnyam Odsuran, a red-haired child actor of Mongol descent. (Of course, Creator/TadanobuAsano, the guy who played adult Genghis, was black-haired and Japanese and didn't look a a thing like him except for the beard and hairstyle.)

* The third episode of ''WesternAnimation/TimeWarpTrio'', "You Can't, But Genghis Khan", has a surprisingly benevolent portrayal. The boys wind up in Mongolia due to the magic book accidentally homing in on a Mongolian Barbeque menu. There they meet and befriend a young Temüjin, nicknaming him "TJ", alongside his future wife, Börte. The pair help the trio in finding the magic book to get them back home, whilst the trio help them against some of "TJ's" early enemies after they kill his father.

* The third episode of ''WesternAnimation/TimeWarpTrio'', "You Can't, But Genghis Khan", the boys wind up in Mongolia due to the book homing in on a Mongolian Barbeque menu. There they meet and befriend a young Temüjin, nicknaming him "TJ", alongside his future wife Börte. The pair help the trio in finding the magic book to get them back home, whilst they help them against some of "TJ's" early enemies.

He's mentioned far more in Chinese and ''especially'' Central Asian stories and culture than in Western Europe, the latter having had very little if anything to do with him. In Western European (and by extension North American) culture, [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation he is either shown as]] a tolerant and just ruler who helped bring order in a chaotic period, or as a [[BarbarianTribe ruthless barbarian who slaughtered swathes of innocents for personal gain]]. While it's easy to cherry-pick his deeds to make him look unambiguously like one or the other, the truth is a mixture of the two. He was a revolutionary conqueror in Asia for the time in that he allowed almost total freedom of religion, did not impose on the cultures of the defeated, and established a vast and effective trade and postal network that were of great benefits to most parts of Asia - particularly given the long disintegration and decline of the Southern Song dynasty under the strain of fighting their [[ForeverWar fifty-year stalemate war]] with the Jin dynasty founded by the Jurchens (a Tungusic tribe ancestral to the Manchus who had taken the entire north China plain from them, thus the 'Southern' Song). On the other hand, [[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill he was absolutely ruthless]] to anyone who dared to resist his [[TheHorde Mongol hordes]]. He was noted to have used early forms of biological warfare [[note]]While this was done knowingly, the expansion of his empire may have unknowingly played a part in introducing the Black Death pandemic to Europe more than a century after his death. [[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/did-black-death-rampage-across-world-more-century-previously-thought-180977331/ This hypothesis in 2021]] suggests that the marmots brought by the Mongols to the Tian Shan area during the conquest of the Kara-Khitai circa 1216 picked up a strain of plague; when the Mongols besieged Baghdad in 1258, the hypothesis is that marmots with the plague managed to infect rodents in Baghdad, laying the seeds for future devastation.[[/note]], used living prisoners as {{human shield}}s, and massacred civilian populations as punishment for resistance. The Iranian plateau lost three-quarters of its population during his conquest and didn't fully recover until the mid-20th century. Entire cities were leveled to the ground [[MakeAnExampleOfThem as examples]]; to this day, some areas in Central Asia are disproportionately populated compared to their surroundings thanks to these ''13th century'' tactics.

Undoubtedly one of the greatest conquerors who ever lived, this guy did the impossible. He united the UsefulNotes/{{Mongol|ia}}s. After accomplishing that, he began the conquest of the rest of Asia, then expanding westwards until his armies clashed with both Muslim and Christian forces. The military strategy and laws he laid down allowed the [[FamilyBusiness next generation to expand the empire]]. During the height of the Mongol conquests, the Mongol armies reached all the way to Austria in Europe and Egypt in North Africa. When the dust settled, the Mongol Empire ruled over 17% of all land on earth, from Ukraine to Korea, the largest contiguous land empire in history. At its height, over 100 million people were subject to the Mongol Empire, which the core population, that being the Mongols themselves, only ever numbered to approximately one million. He and his people were [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szxPar0BcMo truly]] [[WebVideo/CrashCourse exceptional]].

Undoubtedly one of the greatest conquerors who ever lived, this guy did the impossible. He united the UsefulNotes/{{Mongol|ia}}s. After accomplishing that, he began the conquest of the rest of Asia and made it look easy. The military strategy and laws he laid down allowed the [[FamilyBusiness next generation to expand the empire]] until it ruled over 17% of all land on earth, from Ukraine to Korea, the largest contiguous land empire in history. He and his people were [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szxPar0BcMo truly]] [[WebVideo/CrashCourse exceptional]].

* The usual leader of Mongolia in ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'', and while aggressive, not as warlike as the Aztecs, Zulus or Huns. In ''Civilization V'', he gets a combat bonus against City States, and a speed buff to all mounted units. The [=AI=] flavouring does take the City State attack bonus to heart, so you might not get along with him if you're allied with many city states. He's among the most [[UndyingLoyalty loyal leaders if you get on his good side]].

* BadassFamily: Where to begin? Him, Ogodei, Kublai, Hulagu, Batu, Tokhtamysh and possibly [[UsefulNotes/TimurTheLame Tamerlane]] are only the tip of the Iceberg.
* BadassPacifist: His son Jochi and grandson Kublai for a very loose TechnicalPacifist, but in comparison to most of their family's BloodKnight they had a particular emphasis on culture and administration while not really valuing WarIsGlorious. But Jochi was a competent military commander and Kublai was so effective he put down several civil wars, finished the conquest of China, defeated Burma and vassalized Korea. Kublai's elder brother Mongke had a similar temperament; although he was a more straightforward conqueror, he was the first Mongol Great Khan to order his troops to spare anyone they didn't absolutely ''have'' to kill to win a battle. (As it happens, Mongke's relationship with Kublai was probably the closest between two brothers among the four sons of Tolui; the pair frequently worked side-by-side during Mongke's reign, as he devoted most of his personal attention to the campaigns in China.)
* BerserkButton: As the Khwarezmian dynasty that ruled Iran at the time found out, you '''SHOULD NOT''' [[ShootTheMessenger kill the Khan's messengers]], and you absolutely should not, '''UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE''', harm the diplomats he sends in a very reasonable attempt of demanding punishment for killing said messengers.

* EnemyMine: The UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire had pragmatically good relations with the Khans and got some assistance against the Latin Empire.

* GenerationXerox: Many of his descendants were competent conquerors and rulers in their own right.

* ImmortalityThroughMemory: Near the end of his life, Genghis Khan wrote a letter to the Taoist monk, Qiu Chuji, to ask him to visit and teach him the secret to immortality. Qiu Chuji wrote back, in which he told Genghis that, after everything he's achieved, Genghis is destined to be remembered by people forever, making him immortal through that.
* LastChanceToQuit: Despite his well-earned reputation for [[RapePillageAndBurn country-spanning destruction]], Genghis was remarkably fair when it came to offering enemy towns and cities terms of surrender. Unless the ruler or people had done something unforgivable, he would always give them the option to surrender. As in, immediately and without even a hint of resistance. If one Mongol soldier was harmed, the town would be destroyed, the defenders massacred, and people enslaved. More than that, by symbolically offering the Mongols food and water for their horses, the Mongols made it clear that the vanquished were not just defeated but ''under their protection''.
** Definitely a strategic decision, as well as a moral one. After the first few towns are obliterated and survivors bring word of the choice given to them, your enemy is far more likely to surrender rather than risk annihilation, making your conquest far easier.

* RedBaron: Few people even know his real name was Temujin. Genghis Khan is actually a title meaning something like "king of the universe". [[SarcasmMode He was a really humble guy like that.]]
** Russia tended to call the Mongols Tartars under their centuries of Mongol rule, though the Tartars were Turkic tribes allied with the Khans.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: About as reasonable as most rulers in the Medieval period, and in some ways even more so. In addition to the above information, he introduced the idea of merit advancement in his army. Instead of relying on nobles to lead his troops, he chose the best, no matter what class. A large percentage of his upper echelon were commoners. Several generals were supposedly slaves when they joined. Others were ''enemy soldiers'' who changed sides after being conquered. He also mixed up groups of recruits when they joined, both as a way to ensure loyalty to the army rather than neighbors, and as a way to ensure peace among the troops. He instituted pensions and a welfare system to take care of the widows and orphaned children of his soldiers. He also required all nobility and military commanders to learn to read.
* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: Genghis Khan '''hated''' traitors. There are many known instances of him having traitors killed in brutal ways, even when said traitors were betraying their leader 'to him'. "Don't betray your Khan" was a universal rule to Genghis Khan, even when said Khan wasn't himself.
* ShootTheMessenger: Averted. Not only did he ''not'' kill messengers, he crushed the Khwarazmians for killing his messengers, a practice that spread to the rest of the Mongols even after his death.
* TheScourgeOfGod: His quote about being "The punishment of God" sent to chastise the Khwarazmians for killing his emissaries, and much like Attila the Hun many centuries before him, he was probably imagined to have been this by his many, ''many'' victims. However, this specific quote comes from a historical record written by a Persian chronicler that was born 20 years after Genghis Khan had already died, so he had no way of witnessing this particular incident, meaning that it's perfectly plausible that this would have been an embellishment.
%%* The Unifier: He united the feuding Mongol tribes into a single horde and conquering his way from Manchuria to the Caspian Sea. - Rogue Launched Trope
* AVillainNamedKhan: His notoriety presumably did a lot to establish "Khan" as a fearsome name for bad guys.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Was very close friends with Jamukha Gurkhan for much of his early life. They had a falling out when Temujin tried to be Great Khan. He eventually gave him a quick and honorable death, only at Jamukha's insistence that only one of them could live, and punished the men who betrayed him to Genghis.

* ShootTheMessenger: Averted '''HARD'''. Not only did he ''not'' kill messengers, he crushed the Khwarazmians for killing his messengers, a practice that spread to the rest of the Mongols even after his death.

Genghis Khan's dynasty only ever commissioned one major historical text, ''The Secret History of the Mongols'' written not long after Genghis Khan's death for the royal family. The original Mongolian manuscript was lost, but the text survived through an early Chinese translation. Only in the 20th Century did further translations (including English) finally become available. While it contains some folkloric exaggerations, it is generally considered a [[WartsAndAll fairly honest account]] rather than the sort of glorified flattery one might expect, and is considered a major authority on the details of Genghis Khan's life. Probably indirectly responsible for a fair bit of recent re-evaluations of the Mongols as more than bloodthirsty barbarians.

The Mongols themselves only ever commissioned one major historical text, the ''Secret History of the Mongols'' written not long after Genghis Khan's death for the royal family. The original Mongolian script incarnation was lost but the text itself survived in transcribed form with Chinese characters. Only in the 20th Century did English translations (among others) finally become available. It has folklore elements but is considered actually pretty honest next to the sort of glorified flattery one might expect from such a work and is the now a major authority on details of Genghis Khan's life. Probably indirectly responsible for a fair bit of recent re-evaluations of the Mongols as more than bloodthirsty barbarians.

* He has [[Recap/AgeOfEmpiresIIGenghisKhan a campaign]] in ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII''. He's also a HeroUnit, altough it appears only at the first minutes of the first level and he isn't playable. However, he is the strongest Hero Unit, with 300 Health, 25 attack, 2/2 armor, 5 of range and he's a Horse Archer. There's a reason why the "Blood" type Multiplayer Scenarios has him as the last unit that you unlock.

* TheRedBaron: Few people even know his real name was Temujin. Genghis Khan is actually a title meaning something like "king of the universe". [[SarcasmMode He was a really humble guy like that.]]

* TheScourgeOfGod: His quote about being "The punishment of God" sent to chastize the Khwarazmians for killing his emissaries, and much like Attila the Hun many centuries before him, he was probably imagined to have been this by his many, ''many'' victims. However, this specific quote comes from a historical record written by a Persian chronicler that was born 20 years after Genghis Khan had already died, so he had no way of witnessing this particular incident, meaning that it's perfectly plausible that this would have been an embellishment.

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* EnemyMine: UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire had pragmatically good relations with the Khans and got some assistance against the Latin Empire.

* EnemyMine: UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire had pragmatically good relations with the Khans and got some assist against the Latin Empire.

* BerserkButton: As the Khwarezmian dynasty that ruled Iran at the time found out, you '''SHOULD NOT''' [[ShootTheMessenger kill the Khan's messengers]], and you absolutely should not, '''UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE''', [[TooDumbToLive harm the diplomats he sends in a very reasonable attempt of demanding punishment for killing said messengers]].
* EnemyMine: The [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Byzantine Empire]] had pragmatically good relations with the Khans and got some assist against the Latin Empire.

* BadassBeard: Statues, coinage, books, posthumous portraits - the only thing they each have in common is giving Chinggis a massive beard. Justified, given that Mongolia is amongst the coldest places on Earth so keeping a beard would have been practical.

* He has a campaign in ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII''. He's also a HeroUnit, altough it appears only at the first minutes of the first level and he isn't playable. However, he is the strongest Hero Unit, with 300 Health, 25 attack, 2/2 armor, 5 of range and he's a Horse Archer. There's a reason why the "Blood" type Multiplayer Scenarios has him as the last unit that you unlock.

* TheUnifier: He united the feuding Mongol tribes into a single horde and conquering his way from Manchuria to the Caspian Sea.