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* ''[[UsefulNotes/IvanTheTerrible Ivan IV the Terrible]]'' (1533-1584). Of this guy, legends abound, but let's start with hard facts. First, he was the first ruler of Russia who used "Tsar" as his coronation title, claiming imperial status. Second, his cognomen (Russian: Grozny) does not mead "very bad": in Old Russian, it meant "awesome", as in, "worthy of awe". Or "Very badass", if you wish. Third, he wasn't an epitome of sadism and bloodthirstiness; it's true that he started the [[SincerityMode proud Russian tradition]] of having a StateSec, but his body count isn't much different from that of his European contemporaries. It just wasn't a good time to be a believer in sanctity of human life.
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* ''[[UsefulNotes/IvanTheTerrible Ivan IV the Terrible]]'' (1533-1584). Of this guy, legends abound, but let's start with hard facts. First, he was the first ruler of Russia who used "Tsar" as his coronation title, claiming imperial status. Second, his cognomen (Russian: Grozny) does not mead "very bad": in Old Russian, it meant "awesome", as in, "worthy of awe". Or "Very badass", if you wish. Though "terrifying" would also apply. Third, he wasn't an epitome of sadism and bloodthirstiness; it's true that he started the [[SincerityMode proud Russian tradition]] of having a StateSec, but his body count isn't much different from that of his European contemporaries. It just wasn't a good time to be a believer in sanctity of human life. Fourth, he created what we now consider the Russian nation. The other Rus' principalities had either collapsed, been absorbed by Moscow or in the case of Kiev itself by the UsefulNotes/PolishLithuanianCommonwealth, so with Moscow being the last principality standing, Ivan elevated it to the rank of Tsardom (Empire) and declared it the nation of ''all'' Rus', hence the name Russia.
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* TheCaligula: Most of them treat their subordinates and partners like crap, leading to various peasant revolts throughout Russian history and eventually the Russian Revolution.
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* TheCaligula: Most All of them treat their subordinates subjects and partners like crap, leading to various peasant revolts throughout Russian history and eventually the Russian Revolution.
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* ''Nicholas II the Bloody'' (or the Martyr, or the Spineless, depending on who you ask) (1894-1917). The guy about whom opinions differ. Ask communists, and you will hear a lot of ramblings of how bloody and reactionary he was. Ask monarchists, and you will hear a lot of ramblings on how perfect he was. What remains a hard fact is that he was weak-willed and not very smart, which led to UsefulNotes/RomanovsAndRevolutions.
[[/index]]
[[/index]]
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* ''Nicholas II the Bloody'' (or the Martyr, or the Spineless, depending on who you ask) (1894-1917). The guy about whom opinions differ. Ask communists, and you will hear a lot of ramblings of how bloody and reactionary he was. Ask monarchists, and you will hear a lot of ramblings on how perfect he was. What remains a hard fact is that he was weak-willed and not very smart, which led to UsefulNotes/RomanovsAndRevolutions.
[[/index]]the [[UsefulNotes/RomanovsAndRevolutions Russian]] [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober Revolutions]].
[[/index]]
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* ''Ivan III the Great'' (1462-1505) was the founder of Russia itself, as differentiated from Kievan Rus, which was not exactly Russia and not exactly Ukraine. He was the one who openly defied the Mongols and created Russia as an independent realm. No wonder historians call him the Great. This was done by slowly accumulating power, a lot of political jockeying and no real battles, something that would look good in a series like "Game of Thrones" but wasn't exactly the stuff of epic legends at the time. A legacy of Ivan the Great was the Muscovite "Idea of the Third Rome"; according to it, when the Byzantine Empire fell to the Turks, Russia succeeded it as the leader of the true (Orthodox) Christendom. Because of that, Russia between the two Greats (Ivan and Peter) did everything to imitate the Byzantine Empire. The still-existing Russian Coat of Arms is a Byzantine two-headed eagle.
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* ''Ivan III the Great'' (1462-1505) was the founder of Russia itself, as differentiated from Kievan Rus, which was not exactly Russia and not exactly Ukraine. He was the one who openly defied the Mongols and created Russia as an independent realm. No wonder historians call him the Great. This was done by slowly accumulating power, a lot of political jockeying and no real battles, something that would look good in a series like "Game of Thrones" ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' but wasn't exactly the stuff of epic legends at the time. A legacy of Ivan the Great was the Muscovite "Idea of the Third Rome"; according to it, when the Byzantine Empire fell to the Turks, Russia succeeded it as the leader of the true (Orthodox) Christendom. Because of that, Russia between the two Greats (Ivan and Peter) did everything to imitate the Byzantine Empire. The still-existing Russian Coat of Arms is a Byzantine two-headed eagle.
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* TheGreatestHistoryNeverTold: Most media usually covers the reigns of Ivan The Terrible, Peter The Great,Catherine The Great, and Nicholas II.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
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* TheCaligula: Most of them treat their lower subordinates/partners like crap, leading to various peasant revolts throughout Russian history and eventually the Russian Revolution.
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* TheCaligula: Most of them treat their lower subordinates/partners subordinates and partners like crap, leading to various peasant revolts throughout Russian history and eventually the Russian Revolution.
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* HistoricalVillainUpgrade / HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Russian Czars will be depicted worse than they actually while ignoring their accomplishments, while others while depicted greatly without mentioning their worst aspects.
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* HistoricalVillainUpgrade / HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Russian Czars will be depicted worse than they actually were while ignoring their accomplishments, while others while depicted greatly without mentioning their worst aspects.
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!!Tropes as portrayed in fiction:
* TheCaligula: Most of them treat their lower subordinates/partners like crap, leading to various peasant revolts throughout Russian history and eventually the Russian Revolution.
* EvilChancellor: A tsar will usually deal with nobles or barons who want absolute power themselves.
* TheGreatestHistoryNeverTold: Most media usually covers the reigns of Ivan The Terrible, Peter The Great,Catherine The Great, and Nicholas II.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade / HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Russian Czars will be depicted worse than they actually while ignoring their accomplishments, while others while depicted greatly without mentioning their worst aspects.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Many such as Peter The Great and Catherine The Great will pursue enlightenment ideals and want to modernize Russia while being absolute rulers who want to increase systems against the Enlightenment such as Feudalism.
* {{Irony}}: Russian czars would support the Enlightenment ideals while being absolute monarchs. Eventually Enlightenment ideals would influence the end of the Russian tsardom and the replacement of a liberal state and then a communist one.
----
* TheCaligula: Most of them treat their lower subordinates/partners like crap, leading to various peasant revolts throughout Russian history and eventually the Russian Revolution.
* EvilChancellor: A tsar will usually deal with nobles or barons who want absolute power themselves.
* TheGreatestHistoryNeverTold: Most media usually covers the reigns of Ivan The Terrible, Peter The Great,Catherine The Great, and Nicholas II.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade / HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Russian Czars will be depicted worse than they actually while ignoring their accomplishments, while others while depicted greatly without mentioning their worst aspects.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Many such as Peter The Great and Catherine The Great will pursue enlightenment ideals and want to modernize Russia while being absolute rulers who want to increase systems against the Enlightenment such as Feudalism.
* {{Irony}}: Russian czars would support the Enlightenment ideals while being absolute monarchs. Eventually Enlightenment ideals would influence the end of the Russian tsardom and the replacement of a liberal state and then a communist one.
----
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* ''Alexander II the Liberator'' (1855-1881). The liberal Tsar who abolished serfdom (essentially slavery at the time). He was a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln and justifiably felt a kindred spirit in him, which led to him supporting the Northern war effort in the USA. However, his reforms weren't radical enough for a group of anti-capitalist revolutionaries who sent an assassin to kill him. Repeatedly. The sixth attempt was successful. His last, never-implemented reform was meant to be transforming Russia into a constitutional monarchy, with the intention of ending autocracy in Russia forever. [[DownerEnding 140 years later, the monarchy is long gone from Russia but autocracy is still going strong.]]
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* ''Alexander II the Liberator'' (1855-1881). The liberal Tsar who abolished serfdom (essentially slavery at the time).time)[[note]]While he was fairly liberal in Russia proper and in Finland, he was a lot worse in his other holdings, ranging from brutally suppressing uprisings to outlawing even speaking Polish anywhere in the Russian Empire outside of Poland (where it was only allowed in private conversation) to ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circassian_genocide genocide]]''[[/note]]. He was a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln and justifiably felt a kindred spirit in him, which led to him supporting the Northern war effort in the USA. However, his reforms weren't radical enough for a group of anti-capitalist revolutionaries who sent an assassin to kill him. Repeatedly. The sixth attempt was successful. His last, never-implemented reform was meant to be transforming Russia into a constitutional monarchy, with the intention of ending autocracy in Russia forever. [[DownerEnding 140 years later, the monarchy is long gone from Russia but autocracy is still going strong.]]
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* ''Alexander I'' the Blessed (1801-1825). A day before he succeeded his father Paul, he said: "My reign will be the same as my grandma's". And he kept true to his word: his reign was also mildly liberal but not much threatening to the remnants of the Russian feudalism. One important thing he did was to allow land-owners to give their serfs freedom. The other important achievement of his was presiding over the army that defeated Napoleon Bonaparte. He was known to be eccentric and mercurial especially towards the end of his life (with some even considering him to be schizophrenic at worst), holding contradictory opinions and random narratives about himself which randomly switches depending on his mood or other factors, greatly complicating his domestic rule and foreign policy.
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* ''Alexander I'' the Blessed (1801-1825). A day before he succeeded his father Paul, he said: "My reign will be the same as my grandma's". And he kept true to his word: his reign was also mildly liberal but not much threatening to the remnants of the Russian feudalism. One important thing he did was to allow land-owners to give their serfs freedom. The other important achievement of his was presiding over the army that defeated Napoleon Bonaparte. He was known to be eccentric and mercurial mercurial, especially towards the end of his life (with some even considering him to be schizophrenic at worst), speculating he was possibly schizophrenic), holding contradictory opinions and random narratives about himself which randomly switches depending on his mood or other factors, greatly complicating his domestic rule and foreign policy.diplomacy. To note, he rolled back almost as many of his reforms as he had passed them, switched his and Russia's position with France among neutrality, opposition, and alliance no less than four times during the Napoleonic Wars between 1804 and 1812, threw out the Allies' war plans in 1814 to march on Paris with his army as a matter of 'personal honour', and even embarrassed and outraged all the other allied monarchs and diplomats by acknowledging Napoleon as a fellow monarch and accepting his surrender as an equal where the other members of the Sixth Coalition - especially Britain - had refused to as a matter of principle.
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* ''Alexander I'' the Blessed (1801-1825). A day before he succeeded his father Paul, he said: "My reign will be the same as my grandma's". And he kept true to his word: his reign was also mildly liberal but not much threatening to the remnants of the Russian feudalism. One important thing he did was to allow land-owners to give their serfs freedom. The other important achievement of his was presiding over the army that defeated Napoleon Bonaparte.
to:
* ''Alexander I'' the Blessed (1801-1825). A day before he succeeded his father Paul, he said: "My reign will be the same as my grandma's". And he kept true to his word: his reign was also mildly liberal but not much threatening to the remnants of the Russian feudalism. One important thing he did was to allow land-owners to give their serfs freedom. The other important achievement of his was presiding over the army that defeated Napoleon Bonaparte. He was known to be eccentric and mercurial especially towards the end of his life (with some even considering him to be schizophrenic at worst), holding contradictory opinions and random narratives about himself which randomly switches depending on his mood or other factors, greatly complicating his domestic rule and foreign policy.
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* ''Alexis Mikhailovich the Most Serene'' (1645-1676). Now this Tsar was important. He was very similar to Ivan III: an adept at political jockeying and getting what he wanted without bloodshed. His age was remembered by historians the "The Age of Rebellions" (Russian: Buntashny Vek), but he managed to deal with all those rebellions without compromising the stability of the realm. The Church went into a bloody schism in his age, but he managed to keep a straight face and lead his country right through it. The taxation reforms caused riots, but his Streltsy (Musketmen) quelled them. However, the greatest threat to his rule was the rebellion of Stepan Razin, an anarchist Cossack pirate leader who is still a folk hero among Russians. Alexis was jovial, [[AdiposeRex fat]], cat-loving and absolutely unflappable in his attempts to preserve the conservative, Byzantine Russian state against the tides of the coming Age of Enlightenment.
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* ''Alexis Mikhailovich the Most Serene'' (1645-1676). Now this Tsar was important. He was very similar to Ivan III: an adept at political jockeying and getting what he wanted without bloodshed. His age was remembered by historians as the "The Age of Rebellions" (Russian: Buntashny Vek), but he managed to deal with all those rebellions without compromising the stability of the realm. The Church went into a bloody schism in his age, but he managed to keep a straight face and lead his country right through it. The taxation reforms caused riots, but his Streltsy (Musketmen) quelled them. However, the greatest threat to his rule was the rebellion of Stepan Razin, an anarchist Cossack pirate leader who is still a folk hero among Russians. Alexis was jovial, [[AdiposeRex fat]], cat-loving and absolutely unflappable in his attempts to preserve the conservative, Byzantine Russian state against the tides of the coming Age of Enlightenment.
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* ''Alexander II the Liberator'' (1855-1881). The liberal Tsar who abolished serfdom (essentially slavery at the time). He was a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln and justifiably felt a kindred spirit in him, which led to him supporting the Northern war effort in the USA. However, his reforms weren't radical enough for a group of anti-capitalist revolutionaries who sent an assassin to kill him. Repeatedly. The sixth attempt was successful. His last, never-implemented reform was meant to be transforming Russia into a constitutional monarchy, with the intention of ending autocracy in Russia forever. [[DownerEnding Nearly 140 years later, the monarchy is long gone from Russia but autocracy is still going strong.]]
to:
* ''Alexander II the Liberator'' (1855-1881). The liberal Tsar who abolished serfdom (essentially slavery at the time). He was a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln and justifiably felt a kindred spirit in him, which led to him supporting the Northern war effort in the USA. However, his reforms weren't radical enough for a group of anti-capitalist revolutionaries who sent an assassin to kill him. Repeatedly. The sixth attempt was successful. His last, never-implemented reform was meant to be transforming Russia into a constitutional monarchy, with the intention of ending autocracy in Russia forever. [[DownerEnding Nearly 140 years later, the monarchy is long gone from Russia but autocracy is still going strong.]]
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* ''Anna Ioannovna the Bloody'' (1730-1740). A particularly infamous Empress and daughter of the aforementioned Ivan V, she was invited by the High Privy Council, a group of aristocrats formed after Peter II's death, as a figurehead ruler of Russia. She deceived the Council, tore the Conditions by which she was meant to rule, and took the supreme power. During her reign, German favourites such as Duke Ernst Biren, held all the reins of power in Russia.
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* ''Anna Ioannovna the Bloody'' Ioannovna'' (1730-1740). A particularly infamous Empress and daughter of the aforementioned Ivan V, she was invited by the High Privy Council, a group of aristocrats formed after Peter II's death, as a figurehead ruler of Russia. She deceived the Council, tore the Conditions by which she was meant to rule, and took the supreme power. During her reign, German favourites such as Duke Ernst Biren, held all the reins of power in Russia.
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