Edward Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American computer professional, former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee, and former contractor for the U.S. government who copied and leaked classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013 without prior authorization. His disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments. On June 21, 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed charges against Snowden of two counts of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and theft of government property. Russian authorities granted him one-year asylum, which was later extended to three years.
Note: Edward Snowden’s principled whistleblowing has fueled important debates over mass surveillance and government secrecy. It’s been three years now. Snowden is still in Russia, but since September 2015 has been an essential voice on Twitter. Check out this Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) article: “3 Years Later, the Snowden Leaks Have Changed How the World Sees NSA Surveillance.”
Donald Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American businessman, politician, television personality, author, and the probable nominee of the Republican Party for President of the United States in the 2016 election. He is chairman of The Trump Organization, which is the principal holding company for his real estate ventures and other business interests. After graduating from college, Trump was given control of his father’s real estate development firm and has since built casinos, golf courses, hotels, a New York City neighborhood, and other real estate properties, many of which bear his name, and founded Trump Entertainment Resorts. Listed by Forbes as one of the world’s wealthiest people, Trump and his businesses, as well as his three marriages, have received prominent media exposure. He hosted The Apprentice, a popular reality television show on NBC, from 2004 to 2015.
Exactly four years ago, on February 29, 2012, I created the 8-bit Purple Squirrel in honor of Leap Year. The story behind that character is one of eye-catching strangeness and an unsettling fear of its existence. The reason for creating 8-bit Donald Trump is kind of the same. This orange-tinted populist con-artist is the absolute worst, and he may be the world’s greatest troll. Trump is a racist, sexist, authoritarian narcissist who represents the culmination of 30 years of antipolitics. And he doesn’t seem to be going away, because evidently America made him unstoppable. Happy Leap Year?
Update: It got even worse. I had to add this 8-bit character to my U.S. president series as #27 of 44.
Deadpool (real name Wade Winston Wilson) is a fictional antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist/writer Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza, the character first appeared in The New Mutants #98 (February 1991). Initially Deadpool was depicted as a supervillain when he made his first appearance in The New Mutants and later in issues of X-Force, but later evolved into his more recognizable antiheroic persona. Deadpool is a disfigured and mentally unstable mercenary with the superhuman ability of an accelerated healing factor and physical prowess. He is known as the “Merc with a Mouth” because of his talkative nature and tendency to break the fourth wall, which is used by writers for humorous effect and running gags.
Billy the Kid, also known as William H. Bonney, was born William Henry McCarty Jr. (November 23, 1859 – July 14, 1881). He was an American frontier gunfighter, thief and murderer who participated in New Mexico’s Lincoln County War. Bonney is known to have killed eight men. After murdering a blacksmith during an altercation in 1877, Bonney became a wanted man in Arizona Territory and joined a group of cattle rustlers in New Mexico. He took part in the Lincoln County War and joined the Regulators, making him a well-known outlaw in the region. After one of many prison escapes, Bonney was ultimately shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner in 1881. Over the next several decades, legends grew that Bonney had not died that night, and a number of men claimed to be him.
Jesse James (September 5, 1847 – April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, guerrilla, gang leader, bank robber, train robber and murderer from the state of Missouri. He was the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang, who were Confederate guerrillas or bushwhackers during the Civil War. They were accused of participating in atrocities committed against Union soldiers, including the Centralia Massacre. After the war, as members of various gangs of outlaws, they robbed banks, stagecoaches and trains. The James brothers were most active as members of their own gang from about 1866 until 1876. In 1882, Jesse James was killed by a member of his own gang who hoped to collect a reward. Already a celebrity when he was alive, James became a legendary figure of the Wild West after his death.
Dr. Crime is the costumed identity of Edward Elmgren, a villain in Marvel’s main universe, Earth-616. Elmgren’s primary weapon was a blow gun that fired darts coated with a lethal poison. In 1941, Elmgren led an expedition into the Amazon looking to find riches, but instead found a concentrated shrinking formula used by an Amazonian tribe to shrink heads. This shrinking formula enabled Elmgren to reduce the size of human beings and their clothes. As Dr. Crime he began administering this liquid using a water pistol. During a battle with Captain America and Bucky, Elmgren attempted to escape by using his own shrinking formula, but was swooped up by a passing eagle and likely carried to his death.
Ice King (or Simon Petrikov) is a main character of Adventure Time, an American animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network. Ice King’s magical abilities are contained in his crown he uses to rule the Ice Kingdom. The series follows the adventures of Finn (voiced by Jeremy Shada), a human boy, and his best friend and adoptive brother Jake (voiced by John DiMaggio), a dog with magical powers to change shape and grow and shrink at will. Finn and Jake live in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo.
Note:Adventure Time launched as a Cartoon Network series on April 5, 2010. It’s been five years of Ooo!
Kim Jong-un is the supreme leader of the ironically named Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea). He is the son of Kim Jong-il (1941-2011) and the grandson of Kim Il-sung (1912-1994). He was officially declared the supreme leader following the state funeral for his father on December 28, 2011. He is the third and youngest son of Kim Jong-il and his consort Ko Yong-hui. From late 2010, Kim Jong-un was viewed as heir apparent to the leadership of the nation, and following his father’s death, he was announced as the “Great Successor” by North Korean state television. Kim was born on January 8, 1983. At 32 years of age, he is the first North Korean leader born after the country’s founding and the world’s youngest head of state.
Vladimir Putin is the current President of Russia. He won a third term in 2012 amid an unprecedented wave of street protests stemming from allegations of widespread vote-rigging in the parliamentary election. Putin previously served as President (2000-2008) and Prime Minister (1999-2000, 2008-2012) of Russia. He served as an officer in the KGB for 16 years, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before retiring to enter politics. Putin joined the administration of President Boris Yeltsin in 1996, and was named Acting President in 1999 when Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned. Many of Putin’s actions are regarded by the domestic opposition and foreign observers as undemocratic. He has cultivated a strongman image (including black belts in Taekwondo and judo) and is a pop icon in Russia with many commercial products named after him. Putin was born on this day in 1952.
Note: In 2014, Russia was excluded from the G8 group as a result of its annexation of Crimea, Ukraine. Earlier in the year, the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, proved to be the most expensive Olympic Games ever, with a wildly overrun budget of $51 billion. The lead-up to the Olympics was marked by controversies over Russia’s problems, including organized crime, state corruption, embezzlement, kickbacks, Putin’s anti-gay campaign, and terrorist threats tied to the insurgency in the North Caucasus. Thank goodness for Putinka vodka, I guess.
Strong Bad is one of the major characters of the Homestar Runner series of animated Flash web cartoons. He is portrayed by Matt Chapman, the principal voice actor and co-founder of the series. Strong Bad sports red boxing gloves and a red lucha libre mask with four laces in the back and a blue diamond in the center. He enjoys pranking the other characters of the series, along with his pet The Cheat and his older brother Strong Mad. Strong Bad’s main segment is Strong Bad Email (2001-2009), in which he answers emails sent to him by fans. Segments have been spun off of his emails, including Trogdor the Burninator and Teen Girl Squad, a comic drawn by Strong Bad about four teenage friends.
P.S.IT’S OVER! Summer is over! Happy autumn equinox. By the way, the Strong Bad character was based on the Strong Bads, a lucha libre-style fighter team from the 1983 arcade video game Tag Team Wrestling. Oh, nostalgia for 1980s entertainment via Flash cartoons of the early 2000s. ARROWED!!!
Tetsuo Shima is the main antagonist of the manga and 1988 anime movie Akira. One of the youngest members of a motorcycle gang in Neo-Tokyo, Tetsuo was once the best friend of leader Shotaro Kaneda. At the beginning of the story, Tetsuo is severely injured in a mysterious motorcycle accident, which causes him to display immense powers, including telekinesis, teleportation, mind-reading and a shield that allows him to breathe in space. Tetsuo’s mental instability increases with the manifestation of his powers. This ultimately drives him insane and destroys his friendship with Kaneda, who becomes his nemesis.
Note: I created 8-bit Tetsuo after the point in the story where he synthesizes an artificial, metal arm to replace his severed right arm. Also, today is 9/11. Last year on September 11, I published my 666th pixel art character, Nero. In 2012, I posted Augusto Pinochet on this day. That’s three villains in a row. But if you go back to 2011, on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I published Captain America. Because, ‘Merica.
Idi Amin Dada was the third President of Uganda, ruling from 1971 to 1979. In 1946, Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King’s African Rifles, serving in Kenya and Uganda. Eventually, Amin held the rank of major general in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its commander before seizing power in the military coup of January 1971. Amin’s rule was characterized by human rights abuses, political repression, ethnic persecution, extrajudicial killings, nepotism, corruption and gross economic mismanagement. The number of people killed as a result of his regime is estimated by international observers and human rights groups to range from 100,000 to 500,000. During his years in power, Amin shifted in allegiance from being a pro-Western ruler enjoying considerable Israeli support to being backed by Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, the Soviet Union and East Germany. Dissent within Uganda and Amin’s attempt to annex the Kagera province of Tanzania in 1978 led to the Uganda-Tanzania War and the demise of his eight-year regime, leading Amin to flee into exile to Libya and Saudi Arabia, where he lived until his death on August 16, 2003.
Barry Bonds is a retired Major League Baseball (MLB) left fielder. During a 22-year baseball career, he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1986-1992) and the San Francisco Giants (1993-2007). He is the son of former MLB All-Star outfielder Bobby Bonds. A 14-time All-Star and 8-time Gold Glove Award-winner, Bonds is considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time. He won the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player Award seven times, including four consecutively, both of which are records. Bonds also holds the MLB records for most career home runs (762), most home runs in a single season (73, set in 2001), most career walks (2,558) and most career intentional walks (688). He led a controversial career, notably as a central figure in baseball’s steroids scandal, in which he was convicted of obstruction of justice during the government’s investigation of BALCO. Bonds was born on this day in 1964.
It seemed fitting to make Bonds my 762nd pixel art character in honor of his 762 career home runs, especially since today is also his birthday. As evidenced by the testimony of my previous MLB pixel art character, Dock Ellis, modern players have always been using performance-enhancing drugs. Greenies and bennies were easy to get and commonly used by the late 1960s, and baseball players weren’t even tested for steroids until 2004. Keeping Bonds out of the Baseball Hall of Fame is a ludicrous double standard by a bunch of pompous old men. I do not endorse cheating by any athlete, but let’s get real here and climb off our high horses. Bonds was one of the most talented hitters and most important figures in the game of baseball, regardless of steroids. In fact, thanks to steroids, he may have grown the biggest head size the game has ever known.
Orenthal James “O. J.” Simpson, also nicknamed “The Juice,” is a retired American football player, broadcaster, actor and convicted felon currently incarcerated in Nevada. Simpson had an 11-year career with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills (1969-1977) and San Francisco 49ers (1978-1979) and was the first professional football player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season (1973). He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. In 1995, he was acquitted of the 1994 murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman after a lengthy and internationally publicized criminal trial, the People v. Simpson. In 1997, a civil court awarded a judgment against Simpson for their wrongful deaths; to date he has paid little of the $33.5 million judgment. In September 2007, Simpson was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada, and charged with numerous felonies, including armed robbery and kidnapping. In 2008, he was found guilty and sentenced to 33 years’ imprisonment, with a minimum of nine years without parole. Simpson was born on this day in 1947.
P.S. Merry Christmas! I enjoyed this forum thread, which addresses King Moonracer’s possible villain status: “Was King Moonracer a fraud?” Indeed. Why was King Moonracer holding the misfit toys hostage for so long? Since he regularly flies around the world collecting unwanted toys, why wasn’t he already collaborating with Santa to find new homes for those toys? Moonracer only thought to contact Santa afterRudolph, Hermey, and Yukon showed up? Really? King Moonracer is very possibly a manipulative cult leader with megalomaniac tendencies who hoards rare, emotionally damaged toys. It seems like the unexpected arrival of visitors to his remote island shamed him into doing the right thing with his sad toy collection.
General Twobabies is a recurring character in the webcomic Left-Handed Toons by Drew Mokris and Justin Boyd, who are right-handed people. General Twobabies, created by Drew, is my favorite character (with Whale! being a close second). Twobabies is actually two babies in an Army general’s uniform. He may be guilty of war crimes, and adorable teething. He has also appeared as Private Twobabies and Senator Threebabies.
Note: Drew also makes Spinnerdisc cartoons and Justin also makes the Invisible Bread webcomic, which I enjoy. Go check them out!
Charles Manson is an American criminal and musician who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the 1969 murders of Hollywood starlet Sharon Tate and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca carried out by members of the group at his instruction. Manson believed the murders would help precipitate an impending apocalyptic race war he called “Helter Skelter.” Before the murders, he was a singer-songwriter on the fringe of the Los Angeles music industry, chiefly through a chance association with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. Manson is serving life imprisonment at Corcoran State Prison in California. Now 79 years old, he was born on this day in 1934.
Kublai Khan was the fifth Khagan (Great Khan) of the Mongol Empire, reigning from 1260 to 1294. He was the grandson of Genghis Khan. If one counts the Mongol Empire at that time as a whole, Kublai’s realm reached from the Pacific Ocean to the Black Sea, from Siberia to modern-day Afghanistan – one-fifth of the world’s inhabited land area. However, Kublai’s real power was limited to China and Mongolia. In 1271, he founded the Yuan Dynasty, which ruled over present-day Mongolia, China and Korea, and assumed the role of Emperor of China. Kublai was born on this day in 1215.
Note: Due to incredibly unlucky timing, Kublai failed to gain power over Japan, despite two Mongol invasion attempts. In 1268, Kublai demanded tribute from Japan, but Kyoto refused. The Mongols invaded Japan in 1274 with 700-800 ships, but a typhoon destroyed their armada. An even larger invasion was attempted in 1281, with a fleet of more than 4,000 ships and 140,000 troops. Stunningly, they met the same disastrous fate, losing up to 75% of their troops and supplies both times. The failed invasions marked the first use of the Japanese word kamikaze (“divine wind”). The massive typhoons also helped perpetuate the Japanese belief that they could not be defeated, which persisted until the end of World War II.
Nero was the fifth Emperor of the Roman Empire, from 54 to 68, and was the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne at age 17. During his reign, Nero focused much of his attention on diplomacy, trade and enhancing cultural life through theaters and athletic games. In 64, most of Rome was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome, which many Romans believed Nero himself had started in order to clear land for his extravagant palatial complex, the Domus Aurea. For this he is infamously known as the Emperor who “fiddled while Rome burned.” Nero is also known for many executions, including that of his mother (and possibly apostles Peter and Paul), and for being the first persecutor of Christians. He reportedly captured Christians to burn them in his garden at night for a source of light. Nero was ultimately driven from the throne and, facing assassination, committed suicide in 68 at age 30.
Note: I saved Nero for my 666th pixel art character because biblical scholars contend that the number of the beast in the Book of Revelation has a specific symbolic correlation to the Emperor Nero, whose Greek name transliterated into Hebrew has the numeric value of 666. Basically it’s a code that identifies Nero as the Antichrist. Also, today is 9/11. Everything is coming together now. Illuminati, what?
Italian explorer and colonizer Christopher Columbus is today’s pixel art character, in honor of his demise on May 20, 1506. If we were to apply ethical standards to his life’s work, Columbus should be wanted for grand theft of the lands populated by the indigenous peoples; for initiating the systematic genocide of 98% of the original Americans; and for crimes against humanity, including the rape, torture, mutilation and enslavement of American Indians.
I previously wrote about the great lie of Columbus when I posted my Sitting Bull pixel art on Columbus Day in 2011. Even though Columbus was a wretched human being and wrong about everything, he was lucky enough to survive his catastrophic miscalculations and find uncharted land before his crews starved to death. No portrait of Columbus drawn or painted from life is known to exist, but I prefer to imagine him with a stupid hat.
Donald Trump – No. 965
Donald Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American businessman, politician, television personality, author, and the probable nominee of the Republican Party for President of the United States in the 2016 election. He is chairman of The Trump Organization, which is the principal holding company for his real estate ventures and other business interests. After graduating from college, Trump was given control of his father’s real estate development firm and has since built casinos, golf courses, hotels, a New York City neighborhood, and other real estate properties, many of which bear his name, and founded Trump Entertainment Resorts. Listed by Forbes as one of the world’s wealthiest people, Trump and his businesses, as well as his three marriages, have received prominent media exposure. He hosted The Apprentice, a popular reality television show on NBC, from 2004 to 2015.
Exactly four years ago, on February 29, 2012, I created the 8-bit Purple Squirrel in honor of Leap Year. The story behind that character is one of eye-catching strangeness and an unsettling fear of its existence. The reason for creating 8-bit Donald Trump is kind of the same. This orange-tinted populist con-artist is the absolute worst, and he may be the world’s greatest troll. Trump is a racist, sexist, authoritarian narcissist who represents the culmination of 30 years of antipolitics. And he doesn’t seem to be going away, because evidently America made him unstoppable. Happy Leap Year?
Update: It got even worse. I had to add this 8-bit character to my U.S. president series as #27 of 44.