We’ve all seen the Hollywood “wire-fu” and the Chuck Norris white-boy karate. Everybody knows about the Segal arm snap and the Van Damme ballerina kick. Even the popular modern mixed martial arts combat sports are dominated by a fairly rigid set of styles that often result in grueling grappling matches, methodically paced Brazilian jiujitsu, and run-of-the-mill hybrid kickboxing.

But there are many other fighting styles. What about the moves too brutal for the ring and too ugly for the screen? What about the age-old deadly arts that have stood the test of time without being bastardized, glamorized, and regurgitated by seekers of profit and fame? Here are several examples of hardcore martial arts that you won’t see taught in strip malls to anyone who has a few extra bucks a month.

10Bokator

Bokator is a Cambodian martial art that dates back to the armies of Angkor, who dominated the battlefields of Indochina over 1700 years ago. “Bokator” translates as “pounding a lion”, referring to an ancient legend telling of a Bokator practitioner who found himself toe-to-toe with a man-eating lion. As the story goes, the warrior killed the bloodthirsty beast with a single, perfectly placed knee strike.

Like many other Asian martial art styles, Bokator is based on the movements and mannerisms of various animals, such as eagles, cranes, horses, snakes, and, of course, lions. What sets it apart from the others is its brutality and battlefield practicality. Boasting a catalogue of over 10,000 techniques such as elbow and knee strikes, joint locks, throws, and submissions, Bokator is a deep and very complex art form, giving fighters endless options for engagement.

9Rough and Tumble

This one is a lot more intense than it sounds. In fact, they should have called it “maim and kill”, since that was the main goal in mind when this system of fighting was developed during the 18th and 19th centuries in the southern United States. The term “gouging” was also used to describe this fighting style due to the fact that one of its most prolific techniques was eye gouging, and not the classic Three Stooges finger poke either.

Rough and Tumble fighters emphasized maximum disfigurement and a no-holds-barred ferocity that can be challenged by very few others. Some were even said to have filed their teeth into razor-sharp weapons, which they would then use to bite off the ears, noses, lips, and fingers of their opponents. And since the genitals were fair game, many fighters literally lost their manhood in these cold-blooded confrontations. This heartless brutality is the main reason why Rough and Tumble isn’t often talked about or practiced in these “civilized” modern times.

And since most of the techniques were never officially codified and cannot even be practiced without the extreme danger of life-altering injury, they have been largely ignored by the majority of the modern martial arts community. It seems nowadays that most people, even those who love to fight, are just not quite hardcore enough for the eye-gouging, neck-biting, genital-ripping fun that is Rough and Tumble.

8Bakom

A product of the poverty-stricken shantytowns of Lima, Peru, Bakom is a dangerously ruthless martial art that teaches not only to quickly disable and/or kill your opponent, but also to use deception and other so-called “less than honorable” tactics, such as the use of hidden weapons.

Founded in the 1980s by a former Marine and ex-convict, Roberto Puch Bezada, Bakom is officially classified as a modern hybrid martial art, incorporating various elements of jujutsu with Vale Tudo-style street fighting. Common techniques include bone-snapping arm locks, merciless chokeholds, and precision strikes at the vital organs, all at a breakneck pace designed to overwhelm opponents before they have time to realize how much trouble they’re in. The result is a blitzkrieg of beat-down that nobody wants to see heading their way.

7Lerdrit

Lerdrit is a modern derivation of the traditional Thai fighting techniques currently practiced by the elite commandos of the Thai Royal Army. The basic principles of Lerdrit are similar to those of its predecessors (Muay Thai, Muay Boran). However, there are a few key differences that kick it up by a whole new factor of awesomeness.

Fighters are taught to attack without warning, immediately take their opponents to the ground, and finish the fight quickly with one of the many devastating kill strikes, such as a boot to the throat or elbows to the temple, all while minimizing risk of injury by using the “hard” parts of the body, such as knees, palms, shins, and (the aforementioned classic) the elbow. As with all military fighting systems, Lerdrit’s goal is radical and specifically designed for life or death situations. It’s not just about kicking ass; it’s about taking lives.

6Dambe

Based on the ancient boxing traditions of Egypt, Dambe is a deadly striking art developed by the Hausa people of West Africa, many of whom traveled the land as butchers, moving from village to village performing combat ceremonies and taking on any challengers.

The primary weapon in Dambe is the strong-side fist, also known as the spear, which is wrapped in a piece of cloth covered by tightly knotted cord, while the fighter’s favored leg is wrapped in a thick chain. It’s as if kicking people in the face just wasn’t quite hardcore enough for the butchers of West Africa. They had to start wrapping their legs in jagged metal to really get their blood going.

Interesting side-note: Many of the modern-day Dambe fighting companies who travel the land performing for villages engage in the ritualistic smoking of marijuana before bouts.

5Systema

Let’s face it—just to survive in Russia, one must be at least a little bit crazy. It’s no surprise, then, that Systema (the official martial art of the infamous Russian Spetsnaz) is such a cold and efficient way of opening a proverbial can on any capitalist pigs that refuse to get with the program.

Systema focuses on controlling the important parts of the body—the elbows, neck, knees, waist, ankles, and shoulders, through pressure points and critical hits. The root philosophies of the system are based on the laws of biomechanics and anatomy, with much of the training focusing on studying the natural weaknesses of the human form so that one may manipulate them at will.

Another unique characteristic of Systema is that it doesn’t just focus on unarmed, one-on-one combat, as do many other martial arts. Instead, it teaches the practitioner how to deal with multiple opponents coming from all angles with a variety of weapons. Because hey, what’s more badass than knocking out an overly muscled thug? Well, knocking out five or six overly muscled thugs.

4Jailhouse Rock

Jailhouse Rock (JHR) is one of only two martial arts that are indigenous to the United States. Created within the cutthroat world of (you guessed it) America’s prison system, JHR is a prime example of no-frills brawling developed by men who literally have nothing better to do than work out and fight.

JHR’s is notable for its brutal training methods, one of which is known as 52 pick-up. A deck of cards are scattered about the floor and trainees are made to pick them all up in order while being beaten mercilessly by three or more others.

3Kalari Payat

Indigenous to the southern Indian state of Kerala, Kalari Payat is commonly recognized as the oldest fighting system in existence and predecessor to some of the most popular martial arts in the world. Oral tradition claims that it was created by an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, who is also described as the “Preserver of The Universe” and who was said to have a “universal form that was beyond the ordinary limits of human perception”.

Kalari Payat has many variations and sub-types, each specializing in different facets of both armed and unarmed combat. One of the most notable is Marma Arti (hitting the vital spots), which, in the hands of a master, can instantly paralyze or kill with a single, well-placed strike to any one of the 108 nerve points that are considered to be lethally vulnerable. And, as if they’re so deadly that it makes them feel guilty, the masters of this powerful art also study the Siddha medical system, which stems from the same ancient teachings.

2Silat

Developed by the ruthless headhunting tribes of Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, Silat is a collective word for hundreds of different styles of combat, including grappling, striking, joint manipulation, throws, and the use of bladed weaponry.

The earliest evidence of Silat being taught in its present form is found in Sumatra. There, according to legend, a woman created the combat system based on observing wild animals, much like many other Asian martial arts. Today, Silat is employed by several military groups throughout the Malay Archipelago and surrounding lands, and by the notorious pirate clans of the South China Sea.

1Okichitaw

One of the few remaining examples of Native American martial arts, Okichitaw is based on the fighting techniques of the Plains Cree First Nations. Founded by George J. Lepine, a student of judo, tae kwan do, and hapkido who also mastered the gunstock war club and tomahawk-throwing techniques, Okichitaw is a hybrid art that combines the ravenous fury of the Native American fighting spirit with the tried-and-true methods of popular Asian styles.

The techniques taught in Okichitaw often assume the possession of a weapon. Much like aikido, even if the practitioner is empty-handed, his/her strikes are performed as if a weapon is being used. For instance, the hands are used like tomahawks, while kicks jab at a distance like spears. Knife techniques are also very prevalent within the codified systems of Okichitaw. After all, what’s the use of learning a badass Native American combat art if it doesn’t teach you how best to scalp a white man?

When most people think of strange medical conditions, what comes to mind is Tourette’s syndrome or albinism. But the world of ailments is seemingly infinite—just when you think you’ve heard it all, there comes.

10 Stone Man’s Disease

Medically known as fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), Stone Man’s Disease is one of the rarest, most incapacitating genetic conditions. True to its common name, bone tissue begins to grow where muscles, tendons, and other connective tissues should be, effectively restricting movement. Individuals with FOP may even grow a second skeleton that will eventually turn them into living statues. Because the heart and other organs are made up of a different kind of muscle, they do not grow bone tissue.

Around the world, there have only been 800 confirmed cases, and there is no known cure or treatment other than painkillers. Those with FOP experience flare-ups randomly or following physical trauma—even something as small as an injection can cause bone to begin growing. But there is cause to remain hopeful. In 2006, the FOP gene was discovered, and clinical trials are currently active.

9 Progressive Lipodystrophy

Sometimes called reverse Benjamin Button syndrome, lipodystrophy makes sufferers look old beyond their years. In the case of 15-year-old Zara Hartshorn, she was once mistaken for the mother of her older, 16-year-old sister. But how? Inherited by a gene mutation or acquired through medications, autoimmune mechanisms, or other unidentified processes, lipodystrophy is characterized by the loss of fat tissue from beneath the skin. Most commonly, fat loss occurs in the face, followed by the neck, upper extremities, and trunk. This can cause dents, folds, and wrinkles in the skin.

So far, only 200 cases have been reported worldwide, mainly affecting women. There is no cure or treatment for lipodystrophy, besides insulin, face-lifts, or collagen injections (which eventually fade).

8 Geographic Tongue

Around two to three percent of the general population has map-like shapes that form on the tongue, hence the name of the condition. Because parts of the tongue are missing papillae, or tiny, finger-like projections, patches appear that look like smooth islands. The flat pattern on the tongue also changes quickly from day to day, depending on where the papillae have healed.

Geographic tongue is a harmless condition, with very few to no symptoms, though some people experience tongue discomfort or sensitivity to spicy foods. And the cause itself is a mystery. Several studies provide conflicting data on the link between geographical tongue and other diseases such as diabetes. However, there is the possibility of a genetic link, as it tends to run in families.

7 Gastroschisis

Now, instead of missing body parts, how about having most of your insides on the outside? Gastroschisis is a birth defect that prevents normal organ development. Typically, the abdomen will close around the organs as the fetus ages, but in these cases, the abdominal wall doesn’t do this correctly. Because of this, some of the fetus’s organs end up stuck outside its body.

In the United States alone, the chance of gastroschisis is 3.73 per 10,000 live births. In young mothers, the risk is increased. But while the survival rate was once just 50 percent, infants born with gastroschisis today have an 85–90 percent survival rate and few complications in adult life.

6 Xeroderma Pigmentosum

This genetic condition is responsible for an increase in sucky vampire jokes, as those affected by xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) have extreme sensitivity to ultraviolet light. A mutation that interferes with the repair of DNA is the cause of the condition. Symptoms usually first appear in early childhood, marked by severe sunburn after just a few minutes of exposure. Freckling of the face and exposed skin is common, as well as dry skin and changes in skin color.

Unfortunately, individuals with XP have a high chance of developing skin cancer. Without proper protection, nearly half of all children with XP develop some type of skin cancer by the age of 10. The eyes also become bloodshot, hazy, and irritated from UV exposure.

There are eight different types of XP, each with its own severity and symptoms. It is estimated that only one in 250,000 people in Europe and the US has XP.

5 Chiari Malformation

Those with Chiari malformation have a brain that’s too big for their skull. Their brain tissue, usually the cerebellum, pushes into the spinal canal. How rare is it? Just one percent of the US population has Chiari malformation, and it’s diagnosed not only in kids, but also adults. There are currently four discovered types—I, II, III, and IV. Type I is the most common and least severe while Type IV is the rarest and most severe, causing neurological problems that are often fatal. Not everyone with Chiari malformation shows symptoms—some show no symptoms until much later in childhood or adult life, and these are typically excessive headaches. For many, surgical decompression of the skull is necessary.

4 Alopecia Areata

This is an autoimmune disease where the immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles on the head, resulting in patchy hair loss. Alopecia areata (AA) has two other forms. Alopecia totalis is the complete loss of hair on the scalp. Alopecia universalis is the rarest form of AA, which attacks all hair follicles, including head hair, eyebrows, leg hair, lashes, and so on. Strangely, in all three forms, hair can regrow randomly and unpredictably.

Even though it affects about 2 percent of the population, there is no cure or treatment, and no symptoms are reported other than itchy, sensitive skin during the early stages of AA.

3 Nail-Patella Syndrome

Does the thought of looking down at your fingers and seeing no nails send shivers up your spine? Those with Nail-Patella Syndrome (NPS) often have no nails, or nails that grow abnormally, split in half, or simply grow away from the nail bed. Another symptom is skeletal abnormalities that limit movement, the most extreme being the deformation or complete absence of the kneecap. Even stranger is the presence of iliac horns—small, flaring protrusions on the pelvic bone that can sometimes be felt through the skin.

At least one in every 50,000 people has NPS, but the symptoms are so diverse that it can make diagnosis very difficult, even within a family who share the condition.

2 Hereditary Sensory Neuropathy Type I

This disease is so rare that its prevalence is simply an estimate: two cases per one million people. Those with hereditary sensory neuropathy type 1 (HSN) suffer from a loss of sensation, usually in the legs, feet, arms, and hands. The ability to sense pain and temperature is affected, sometimes to the point where it is absent. Because HSN causes a loss of pain sensations, it is not unheard of for those with it to suffer from random fractures and even necrosis, which results in dead body tissue. People with HSN may even break their limbs or bite off a chunk of their tongue without feeling the slightest bit of pain. Not being able to feel pain can be life-threatening in many situations, and because injuries and wounds might be left untreated, ulcers and infections are common.

1 Myotonia Congenita

Have you heard about fainting goats? Cute, fluffy, and helpless. But they’re not the only fainting mammals in the animal kingdom. People can also suffer from myotonia congenita, the disease that affects myotonic goats. A genetic mutation, myotonia congenita affects the flow of chloride ions, which are responsible for letting the muscle know when to contract and when to release. This results in muscle stiffness after voluntary contractions, normally after long periods of rest, and can affect muscles in the legs, arms, jaws, and diaphragm. There is no cure, and treatment is only offered for the worst cases. Exercise and gentle movement after resting can help stiff muscles, but despite the occasional embarrassment, those diagnosed tend to live long, happy lives.

L.A. is currently a teaching assistant at Michigan State University where she studies serious gaming and human computer interactions. Her hobbies include gaming, writing, reading, and occasionally stick-figure drawings.

Organizations are often a way for like-minded individuals to get together and discuss the topics which interest them. They may also begin with loftier goals, and they may even work toward them to the benefit of others. Or these groups may end up as little more than social clubs for their members.

Sometimes, these societies take on negative connotations, with nefarious plans to influence worldwide politics being a common accusation leveled against them. Other times, they’re just a way to engage in some fun-filled activities. Here are ten odd organizations of which you’ve probably never heard.

10 The Alfalfa Club

Founded by four men at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC, the Alfalfa Club derives its name from the plant. To be more specific, the name comes from the plant’s roots, since they “will allegedly do anything for a drink.”^[1] In addition, a possibly apocryphal story tells that it was created in 1913 to celebrate Robert E. Lee’s birthday. A society made up of only super-wealthy or super-influential people, it boasts around 200 members, with vacancies only opening up when a current member dies. New members must be invited.

As for what they actually do, it seems they exist solely to throw an annual banquet dinner on the last Saturday of January. The president of the United States is traditionally invited to give a speech, with some of them coming more than once. In 2009, at his first invite, President Barack Obama said the following: “This dinner began almost 100 years ago as a way to celebrate the birthday of General Robert E. Lee. If he were here with us tonight, the General would be 202 years old. And very confused.”

For the first 80 or so years, the Alfalfa Club refused to admit women into the ranks, a decision which was changed in 1994, after President Bill Clinton boycotted in protest.

9 The Dill Pickle Club

Though it has since disbanded, the Dill Pickle Club was formed in 1914 and was the brainchild of a man named Archibald “Jack” Jones. Jones was a Canadian organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World, a union dedicated to protecting workers. After leaving the group because of an argument over their tactics, he decided to start a society for people to discuss labor and societal issues.^[2]

Some of the most famous figures in Chicago’s history were patrons, including Upton Sinclair and Clarence Darrow. Once Prohibition began, it also became a speakeasy, increasingly popular with younger people, especially those in college. Performance, whether artistic or musical, only added to the appeal of the Dill Pickle Club. However, by the early 1930s, Jones decided to no longer pay protection money to the mob, and the group was subsequently shut down by the police.

The spirit of the group can be summed up by its entrance signage: the word “Danger” and, written on the door, “Step High, Stoop Low, Leave Your Dignity Outside.”

8 The UK Roundabout Appreciation Society

A relatively obscure British organization, the UK Roundabout Appreciation Society (UKRAS) does exactly what it says on the tin: They are a society which appreciates roundabouts.^[3] Operating under the belief that nothing but straight roads leads to unsightly boredom, they propose installing roundabouts wherever possible, as well as using the land in the middle of the roundabout to place a piece of art, a monument, or even a windmill. In fact, a roundabout with a working windmill was named the best in Britain by UKRAS.

Founded by Kevin Beresford, after the success of a calendar called “Best of British Roundabouts” he printed in 2003, the group goes out of their way to photograph the most interesting roundabouts they find. Fun fact: Beresford’s nickname is “Lord of the Rings.”

7 The Trap Door Spiders

In 1943, American scientist and writer John D. Clark got married to an opera singer. Unfortunately, his friends, chief among them writer Fletcher Pratt, disliked her; Pratt’s disdain for the new Mrs. Clark was so bad that he started a male-only club in order to hang out with Mr. Clark alone.^[4] Thus, the Trap Door Spiders were born. They derived their name from the actions of the trapdoor spider, which pulls a door closed whenever it enters its burrow in order to keep its enemies out. (The chief enemy was Mrs. Clark.)

The original group was about 20 members, all male, and they met once a month to have dinner and discuss topics of the day. (Women could be invited as guests but only by the host of the dinner.) Like some of the other organizations on this list, a common way to become a member was to be voted in after an existing member died. Some of the most prominent science fiction writers of their day were members, with Isaac Asimov, Martin Gardner, and L. Sprague de Camp being some of the more famous attendees. (In fact, Asimov’s fictional group the Black Widowers was modeled after the Trap Door Spiders.)

6 The Seven Society

An incredibly secretive group, the University of Virginia’s Seven Society and its origins are shrouded in mystery. They have a logo which is the number seven, surrounded by the signs for alpha, omega, and infinity. (The first official sighting of the symbol was in 1905, in UVA’s yearbook Corks & Curls.) As for its members, no one is sure who is in the club, and they are only revealed after their deaths, when a banner appears at a member’s funeral. (The University Chapel bells, donated by the Seven Society, will also toll in a pattern based around the number seven.)

Their only real public presence is the fact they seem to be incredibly generous, often giving away money in extravagant ways.^[5] During the commencement address in 1947, a small explosion took place near the stage, with a check for $177,777.77 floating to the ground. (The money was used to establish an interest-free loan fund for any student, faculty, or staff member who found themselves in financial trouble.) Other donations included $77.77 to install a drinking fountain in 1955 and $14,777.77 in 2008 to start a fund for student-submitted ideas for improving UVA.

5 The Gormogons

Officially known as the Ancient and Noble Order of the Gormogons, this particular secret society sprang up in 1724, when an article in London’s Daily Post described their appearance in the city.^[6] They claimed to have come from the Chinese, millennia in the past, and their goal seemed to be to set themselves up as anti-Freemasons. In fact, if a former Freemason wished to join the group, he had to first renounce the Masonic Order.

Since they left no paperwork or writings of any kind, the origins and practices of the Gormogons are all but surely lost to history. One theory is that the group was the creation of Andrew Michael Ramsay, an ardent Freemason otherwise known as the Chevalier Ramsay. Whatever the truth, they disappeared in 1738, the very same year Pope Clement XII published his bull against Freemasonry.

4 The Trilateral Commission

Finally! Our first secretive, pulling-the-levers-of-global-politics, conspiracy-laden group. Founded in 1973 by David Rockefeller, allegedly after his fellow members in the infamous Bilderberg Group refused to include Japanese members in the club, the Trilateral Commission was designed to foster cooperation between the leaders of Japan, Europe, Canada, and the United States. Rockefeller, as well as the other co-founders, saw problems with the status quo, believing the various countries that make up the Trilateral Commission would benefit from a focus on solving their common problems.^[7]

Originally, the group was only going to be around for three years, a triennium, but their work has been subsequently extended for additional periods up to the present day. Since its creation, the various regions have been grown to include countries such as China, India, and Mexico. Conspiracy theorists often point to the group, as they do with similar organizations, as leading the charge for a worldwide government or economic system. (This is probably due to the fact that many of the most prominent political or private industry leaders have been or are members of the group.)

3 The Durham University Assassins’ Society

Durham University, located in North East England, is home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Durham Castle) and, perhaps a bit less well-known, the Durham University Assassins’ Society (DUAS). Founded in 1996, DUAS is one of the oldest, as well as one of the most active, assassins’ societies in the world.^[8] They run a number of different “games” throughout the school year, ranging in duration from a few hours to a few weeks. The “games” consist of players attempting to “kill” other players, normally with a Nerf gun or a cardboard knife.

DUAS even gives out awards to its members, many of them relatively silly, such as the Stephen King Award for Best Narration, which, one year, went to Millie Power for using poetry in her kill reports. In addition, there are an incredible amount of rules, with amazing specificity, with which members play the “games.”

2 Uttar Pradesh Association Of Dead People

In 1975, a man named Lal Bihari applied for a bank loan in his home district of Uttar Pradesh, India, only to be denied. When he asked for the reason, the bank told him he must have been lying about his identity because Lal Bihari had been declared dead. So began an 18-year journey to prove he wasn’t really dead. (It turned out that his uncle had bribed an official in order to take over Bihari’s share of his ancestral farmland.)

After making little to no headway, Bihari sought out others like him. He eventually found a large underground collection of people and decided to form the Uttar Pradesh Association of Dead People. Their main goal is to force the government to recognize they are alive, something which often goes hand in hand with reinstating land which was illegally taken from them by corrupt politicians and crooked family members.^[9] In addition to attracting thousands of fellow Indians to his group, Bihari also received the Ig Noble Peace Prize in 2003.

1 The Hemlock Society

Founded in 1980 by Derek Humphry in his Santa Monica garage, the Hemlock Society became one of the largest right-to-die organizations in the US. Their overriding philosophy was that people should be allowed to legally end their own lives, through the use of doctor-prescribed medication.^[10] (They did not believe in suicide for emotional reasons, just for those with terminal or untreatable illnesses.) Though they never officially helped anyone commit suicide, various members have helped in the past with other members. (Some people dispute this claim, citing descriptions of poisons and lethal levels found in past literature.)

Their name is derived from the story of the Greek philosopher Socrates’s death, in which he drank poison hemlock. Membership levels in the group plateaued in the 1990s before other like-minded groups sprang up, and the levels began to decline. In 2003, perhaps feeling as if a rebranding was in order, the group changed its name to End of Life Choices, before merging with a new organization called Compassion & Choices a year later. (They also got rid of their old motto: “Good life, good death.”)

Most people have wondered what happens after death, and there is no shortage of questions about what, if anything, follows the cessation of bodily function. Is there an afterlife? Will Elvis be there? Will my pets find me?

If the following list is anything to go by, you can be sure that you will meet little Nemo, Doggo, or Kitty again! Hopefully, they won’t be scary like the black dog of Newgate Prison or run around in circles like the chicken ghost of Pond Square. Whatever happens in the Great Hereafter, pray you don’t meet any of these devilish creatures . . . 

10 The Ghost Bear
The Tower Of London

The ghost of a bear is said to haunt the Martin Tower at the Tower of London, where the Crown Jewels were once held. One night in 1816, a guard on duty saw a huge bear and lunged at it with his bayonet. At the time, the Tower had its own menagerie that was later moved to the London Zoo and Regent’s Park in the 1830s. He could have thought one of the great bears being held in the menagerie had escaped!

The bayonet went through the bear and was plunged so deep into the wood of the door behind that it took two men to remove it. The apparition faded away after the guard attacked it. The guard fainted from shock and died two days later.^[1]

9 The Phantom Horse Of Bryn-Y-Maen
North Wales

A white horse haunts the back roads of the town of Bryn-y-maen in North Wales. It was seen on two separate occasions by different people, first by a man driving the back roads to avoid being stopped by the police, as his car wasn’t taxed. Dawn had broken, and he was driving toward a dip in the road. Suddenly, a huge white horse came over the hedge, and he thought it would crash through the bonnet of his car: “It filled the windscreen!”^[2] The car spun as he slammed on the brakes, but as he did, the horse vanished.

On the second occasion, a young couple were driving the same road and approaching the dip. Again, the white horse came over the hedge but disappeared as they hit the brakes. A possible explanation, or at least a clue, that has been offered is an account of a large horse skull being found when the road was being repaired, but no one has been able to corroborate this.

8 The Chicken Ghost Of Pond Square
London

One extremely cold day in 1626, Sir Francis Bacon was passing Pond Square in his carriage with a friend. Bacon was arguing his new idea of preserving food, whereby instead of salting meat, it might be possible to keep it so cold that it did not deteriorate. His friend, the king’s physician, didn’t agree, but nevertheless, Bacon obtained a chicken at a local Highgate farm, plucked and cleaned it, and packed it with snow, inside and out. Unfortunately for Bacon, his foray into the cold turned into a bout of pneumonia, which finished him off.

Soon after his death, news of a half-plucked chicken running around at Pond Square was reported. The chicken would allegedly vanish when anyone tried to approach it, and sightings continued throughout the years. For example, in World War II, wardens tried to capture it, but it ran through a wall to escape. Around the same time, a passerby heard what sounded like a coach and horses, but nothing was there to be seen except for a chicken running around in circles. It was also seen in the 1970s by a couple stealing a goodnight kiss in a nearby doorway.^[3]

7 The Merrivale Pigs
Dartmoor

A phantom sow and her piglets have been haunting Merripit Hill for 200 years, as the legend goes.^[4] On misty nights when walking the roads, you might stumble across them making their way to Cator Gate, starving and searching for food. As legend has it, the sow and piglets knew that if they traveled to Cator Gate, they would find a dead horse to eat, but upon their arrival, the horse had already been picked clean by crows.

The pigs are said to speak, too! The piglets cry out, “Skin an’ bones, skin an’ bones!” to which the sow replies, “Let ‘un lie, let ‘un lie.” Back they go, then, over the moor searching for food, only appearing once more when the night is foggy and dark.

6 The White Rabbit Of Thetford Warren Lodge
Norfolk

Thetford Warren Lodge was built on the Brecks, an ancient and wild landscape in Norfolk where prehistoric farmers once kept sheep and rabbits. The lodge was built in the 1400s by nearby monks in Cluniac priory as a residence for the warrener, the man in charge of maintaining and catching rabbits on the Brecks for food and their skins. The Brecks are filled with small rabbit burrows.

One enormous white rabbit with glowing red eyes is said to haunt the lodge and is an omen of death to whoever is unlucky enough to see it.^[5] Perhaps it has something to do with the old leper hospital of St Margaret close by, which was raided for silver and burned to the ground in 1304.

5 The Black Dog Of Newgate Prison
London

Newgate Prison once stood by the Old Bailey and was home to a supernatural hound that was an omen of bad luck.^[6] A prison inmate first wrote about the hound in 1596 and recounted that during a terrible famine in London, the prison inmates had turned to cannibalism to stay alive. A scholar was imprisoned at this time, having been accused of witchcraft, and no sooner had he arrived than he was overpowered by the stronger men and eaten.

Shortly afterward, the inmates began seeing a large, black dog roaming the dark corridors, and one by one, each man who had eaten the scholar was hunted down and torn apart by the beast. When the number had dwindled to only a handful of remaining men who had eaten the scholar, they were deranged with fear and broke out of the prison to escape. It is said that no man really escaped, however, and those last murderers were found by the dog and met the same fate as their fellow inmates.

4 The Demon Cat Of Capitol Hill
Washington, DC

The Capitol Building in Washington, DC, has witnessed some incredible history being made, but some might say not so incredible as the demon cat said to walk the halls at night. During the post-Civil War era, the night watchmen began seeing a black cat that would grow in size as it walked toward them.^[7] One man said that it grew to be as big as a tiger, and when it leaped at him to attack, he brought up his arms in fear of being savaged. But when he fell down and didn’t feel the weight of the cat, he lowered his arms and realized it had disappeared.

Could such stories be just the drunken ramblings of the night watchmen, who were probably just reprobate friends of powerful men who needed an easy job? You might think so, except that when concrete was poured to replace some flooring after a gas explosion in 1898, six to eight perfect paw prints were found indented in it.

3 The Black Cat Of The Hellfire Club
Ireland

Just outside of Dublin in the Wicklow mountains is the Hellfire Club, a hunting lodge that was placed right on top of an ancient burial mound. It’s said that Speaker Conolly, the builder of the lodge, used the standing stone from the cairn as the lintel. The club itself, founded by Richard Parsons in 1735, was known for Satanism and the members practicing black magic. Cats (and some say servants) were sacrificed to the Devil.

One famous story tells of a local visitor to the area went one night to see the lodge, the place that had such an intriguing and mysterious reputation. He was found dead the next morning, and his host thought with horror that he must have been murdered at the Hellfire Club during the night. He went with the local priest to find out what had happened. When they arrived at the Hellfire Club, they found a great banquet laid out and a black cat stalking the room. It was huge, and its ears were shaped like horns. The priest threw holy water over the cat, an act which tore it into pieces. When the priest went outside, he found the dead man’s host lying on the grass with his neck and face scratched deeply by what could only be powerful claws.^[8]

2 The Ghost Dog Of Airth Castle
Scotland

Airth Castle dates back centuries and has an even older graveyard just outside. As if that wasn’t enough, the place is packed full of ghosts! One of the most famous is a dog that will nip at your ankles if you’re not watching out for him.^[9] Maybe little Rex belonged to one of the children who burned to death with their nanny in the 1800s, or could he have been the groundsman’s little helper?

1 The Owl At Arundel Castle
Sussex

Arundel Castle officially opened on Christmas Day in 1067. Home to many royals and noblemen, it has been connected to such famous faces as Richard the Lionheart and King Henry II.

As well as a respectable amount of ghosts of the human variety, one apparition sometimes seen is a white owl that flies around the windows of the castle.^[10] Every time it has been seen, someone who lived in the castle or was linked to the building and its inhabitants died under mysterious circumstances. Hedwig never got this kind of press!

Alexa is a writer and lumberjack from Dublin, Ireland.

How can one express the complex emotion of love?

A broad range of art forms have been used for this very purpose. There’s no doubt you’ve heard the romantic tale of the Taj Mahal, a mausoleum built by an emperor for his favorite wife who died giving birth to their 14th child. It’s both achingly stunning and depressing. A teardrop glistening on the cheek of time, as the poets say.

This domed symbol of love, however, isn’t the only grand romantic gesture made through art. From Picasso to the simple farmer, men have wooed women by whatever means are at their disposal. Art and creativity are as varied as people.

10 A Lopsided Portrait In A Ring

Most women would be revolted at the gift of a misshapen, Frankenstein-esque portrait of themselves embedded in a ring, but Pablo Picasso could get away with it. He painted his lover, Dora Maar, surrounded by flowers on a ring that he designed.

It was an apology gift after they had a dramatic fight one night along the River Seine. He was sore because she had convinced him to sell a painting for a mere ruby ring. So she yanked it from his hand and threw it into the river in a rage.

That ring was never recovered, but Picasso did present her with this work of art as an apology. Their affair was tumultuous and eventually ended. But she kept the ring until her dying day in 1997.^[1]

9 Performance Art With A Twist

Life and love don’t always go as planned, but the journey is always poetic. Two lovers, Marina Abramovic and Ulay, wanted to be the first couple to walk the Great Wall of China, each beginning at opposite ends and meeting in the middle. When they finally reached each other, they planned to marry on the spot.

It was many years later that the Chinese government finally gave permission for this powerful art performance that pushed the boundaries of convention. In 1988, they went through with the project. They called the piece, simply, The Lovers. It took three months to reach each other. She began her journey on the side with the mountains, and he walked from the Gobi Desert. When they finally embraced, they wept.

At this point, there had been numerous infidelities. Layers of resentment had built up to a breaking point. Instead of marrying at that meeting, they broke off the relationship in a surprising twist. The idealized romantic gesture had turned a corner. The Lovers demonstrated the course of a real human relationship. As often happens in art, the meaning changed halfway along.^[2]

8 A Good Old-Fashioned Sonnet

Sonnets from the Portuguese was never intended for publication by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. She wrote them for Robert Browning, and the sonnets described their entire intimate relationship from start to finish.

After they were married, he insisted that she publish the collection. They threw the word “Portuguese” in the title to shift the focus from an autobiographical nature. He told her that they were the best sonnets since Shakespeare.

Still, they remain some of the most famous love poems from the Victorian Age. The first line of “Sonnet 43,” for example, is one that you probably don’t know that you know: “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”^[3]

7 A Protest Of Love . . . For Love

There was an art movement of “happenings” in the 1960s, and one such performance took the form of a “Bed-in for Peace.” John Lennon and Yoko Ono decided to spend their honeymoon in bed, surrounded by protest signs, at the Hilton in Amsterdam. The Vietnam War had been raging for 14 years at this point. So, what did they have to lose?

The global press was in the bedroom 12 hours every day with cameras rolling and peace discussion flowing. Yoko Ono said, “[As an alternative to war,] everybody should just stay in bed and enjoy the spring.”

She was an artist in her own right who was involved with the Fluxus movement, which created art from everyday life. Lennon and Ono used their honeymoon to spread their message to “make love, not war.” As of 2016, the suite in which their performance took place could be rented for $2,400 per night.^[4]

6 A Surprising Symphony

For seven years, Richard Wagner, the famous composer of the Romantic period, had an affair with the married Cosima von Bulow. Finally, she divorced and they were able to marry in 1870. In that first year, Wagner composed a tender serenade for Cosima in secret.

This gift of love surprised her on Christmas morning at sunrise as it was played by a small ensemble on the winding staircase outside her bedroom. It was also Cosima’s birthday. She wrote in her diary:

As I awoke, my ear caught a sound which swelled further and further; no longer could I imagine myself to be dreaming, music was sounding, and what music! As it died away, Richard came into my room with the five children and offered me the score of the symphonic birthday poem—I was in tears, but so was the whole house.^[5]

5 The Acting Role Of A Lifetime

She was a fiery redheaded actress with an unparalleled sense of humor, and he was a devilishly handsome Cuban musician who performed at a nightclub. That’s right, we’re talking about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

After a six-month courtship, they were married. Then CBS wanted to transfer her I Love Lucy persona from radio to television. She insisted that the spouse be changed to her real-life husband, Desi. Executives weren’t convinced that was a good idea. Arnaz had a strong Cuban accent, and they were certain he wouldn’t appeal to a wide audience. Lucille Ball wouldn’t take no for an answer, of course.

They toured together in a vaudeville act to show that they could win over the hearts of the masses. She was correct. And this acting role gave Desi the opportunity of a lifetime to star in a hit show for six seasons with 40 million viewers tuning in each week. Lucille’s romantic gesture of artistic opportunity was above and beyond the gift of a lifetime.^[6]

4 A Thoughtful Invention

In the early 1900s, an architect from Wisconsin named John W. Hammes had a brilliant idea to make his wife’s chores a little easier in the kitchen. “Happy wife, happy life,” as they say. He wanted the kitchen cleanup to be a smoother process, so he had an epiphany. He went immediately to his basement and started brainstorming designs for his invention.

Finally in 1927, he invented the first garbage disposal. These early prototypes were called “electric pigs.” After being granted a patent, he started selling them in 1938.^[7]

3 A Song Written For His Best Friend’s Wife

In the 1960s, Eric Clapton and George Harrison were good friends. It’s common knowledge that Eric fell in love with George’s first wife, Pattie Boyd. She was the muse for George’s song “Something.”

Then Eric wrote a song for her that she happened to like even more, and it won her over. Pattie said, “We met secretly at a flat in South Kensington. Eric had asked me to come because he wanted me to listen to a new number he had written. [ . . . ] He . . . played me the most powerful, moving song I had ever heard. It was ‘Layla.’ ”

It was later the same night when George confronted them and asked what was going on. Eric responded, “I have to tell you, man, that I’m in love with your wife.” What followed was perhaps the most epic rock duel in history. (Eric won.)

Pattie ended up with another classic song written for her by Eric called “Wonderful Tonight.”^[8]

2 Graffiti

In England, graffiti isn’t the taboo art form that it is in the USA. For example, Banksy’s art is adored and protected all over the country. When a man asks a woman to marry him by spray-painting a brick wall in Ohio, he’s arrested and fined. When the same thing happened in Sheffield, England, the spray-painted proposal was admired and untouched for more than 10 years on a bridge along the skyline.

Recently, the words were even immortalized by the city in bright, neon lights: “I Love You Will U Marry Me.” The street artist finally stepped forward and admitted that he had done it. Although he was afraid of heights, he wanted to illustrate his love as boldly as he knew how. In neon permanence, this demonstration of love glows on.^[9]

1 A Secret Clearing

When his wife’s heart gave out, farmer Winston Howes was grief-stricken. In a final act of love, he planted thousands of oak trees near his farmhouse but kept a heart-shaped meadow open in the middle. He made sure that the heart pointed toward his wife’s birthplace. Howes said, “I sometimes go down there, just to sit and think about things. It is a lovely and lasting tribute.”

For years, this special meadow remained a family secret. Then one day, a man in a hot-air balloon flew overhead and took a photograph of the heart-shaped field. It’s designed so perfectly between the trees that you can even see it on Google Maps. Howes even planted daffodils that bloom every year in the spring.^[10]

Depending on which side you’re on, a rebellion can be seen as a struggle of the oppressed, trying to free themselves from (sometimes literal) bondage. Or it’s the highest form of treason, and the rebels are nothing but monsters who kill anyone who disagrees with them. Either way, here is a list of ten lesser-known rebellions.

10 The Helots’ Rebellion
464–462 BC

It’s not clear where the helots (ancient Spartan slaves) came from, but they were most likely ancient Laconians and Messenians. They were eventually subjugated by the Spartans and were kept as slaves since at least the eighth century BC. However, a massive earthquake hit in 464 BC and killed an extremely large number of Spartans. Seeing an opportunity, the helots rebelled, fighting against their masters for two years.

Eventually, the Spartans asked the Athenians for help, but they soon sent them home, fearing that the more democratically inclined Athenians might help free some of the helots. The rebellion was eventually crushed, and the helots were put under brutal restrictions until they were eventually freed—the Messenian helots in 370 BC and the Laconian helots in the second century BC.

9 The Red Eyebrow Rebellion
AD 17–27

In AD 17, floods had ravaged the provinces around China’s lower Yellow River, and many of the peasants began to form bandit groups in order to survive. Another reason for their rebellion was that many farmers had to become tenant farmers (people who have to pay to farm their own land) because they couldn’t pay back their creditors. Painting their faces with red war paint to resemble demons, they called themselves the Red Eyebrows and were quite successful in fighting off the forces sent by the Xin dynasty. (Ironically, Wang Mang, the ruling emperor, had usurped the throne from the Han dynasty.)

A large army was sent to defeat them, which it did at first, until the Red Eyebrows crushed them in AD 23. Declaring a 14-year-old boy of the Han dynasty as emperor, they actually had to fight another rebel group, the Greenwood Army, in order to capture the throne. Liu Xiu, a different member of the Han dynasty, declared himself emperor and was able to defeat the Red Eyebrows. In a rare act of benevolence, Xiu offered extremely gentle conditions for surrender, which were quickly accepted.

8 The Hogen Rebellion
1156

After the death of Japanese emperor Konoe in 1155, a power struggle erupted, mainly between the former emperor Sutoku and his half-brother, the newly-appointed Emperor Goshirakawa. Angered at his loss of power, Sutoku allied himself with some other political enemies of the emperor, and they marched their army on Kyoto. On July 28, 1156, Sutoku and his forces arrived in the city and decided to wait until the next morning to begin their attack.

However, Goshirakawa’s army decided to attack during the night, eventually repelling their enemy and forcing Sutoku to retreat. Many of the rebellion’s leaders were either killed in battle or executed shortly after, except for Sutoku, who was exiled. Many historians believe this was the first step in a series which culminated in the first samurai-led government in Japan’s history.

7 The Battle Of The Golden Spurs
1302

In 1302, the peasants of Flanders (in present-day Belgium) rebelled against the French forces occupying their lands. As a larger force traveled from France under the command of Count Robert II of Artois, they butchered any civilians they came across, women and children included, which further angered the Flemish people. When the battle began on July 11, it seemed as if the French would be victorious, as their army of over 10,000 men was going up against a poorly armed local militia of about 8,000.

However, the Flemish had prepared for this battle and had dug ditches and streams to hamper the movement of the French cavalry. Count Robert II led the infantry and would have won the battle had he not retreated to allow the cavalry to finish the job. When most of them were butchered by the Flemish, the count tried to repel their attack but was unsuccessful. He was later killed in the battle.

The battle gets its name because of the spurs which the Flemish took from the dead Frenchmen. It was also the first example of how infantry could easily defeat cavalry and set a precedent for future battles during the Middle Ages. In the end, the French would defeat Flanders in their war, allowing the county to remain independent but not without paying a substantial financial cost.

6 The Cornish Rebellion
1497

Near the end of the 15th century, poverty was rampant in Cornwall, especially among tin workers and other laborers. When Henry VII became king, he wished to fight the Scottish, who were terrorizing the border and amassing an army. In order to fund the potential war, he instituted a new tax, which was too much for the people of Cornwall. Led by Michael Joseph, a blacksmith, and Thomas Flamank, a lawyer, the Cornish people raised an army of 15,000 men and marched on London, remaining almost completely nonviolent. (They did kill a tax collector in Taunton.)

When they reached present-day Deptford, they were met by the king’s army. Outnumbered nearly two to one, the poorly trained Cornish army fought bravely, but the English army thoroughly defeated them, killing up to 2,000 men and capturing Joseph and Flamank. The two leaders were hanged, drawn, and quartered, and their heads were placed on pikes on London Bridge to serve as a warning. (Being hung first meant they were granted the “king’s mercy.”) As punishment, Henry VII imposed even harsher taxes on the Cornish as well as a series of fines.

5 The Morisco Revolt
1568–1571

Also known as the Rebellion of the Alpujarras, the Morisco Revolt was an uprising by the Moors of Spain. Angered by a series of laws restricting their faith, language, and clothing, the ex-Muslims of Granada rebelled. When it first began, the army was only 4,000-strong, but by 1570, over 25,000 soldiers fought against King Phillip II and his men, utilizing guerilla tactics against the Spanish forces.

The Moors were led by Aben Humeya, who was assassinated by his troops and replaced by Aben Aboo, who suffered the exact same fate. More than 20,000 men were sent to fight the Moriscos, and the former Muslims were eventually defeated in 1571. As many as 80,000 were expelled from Spain in 1609 by King Phillip III.

4 Bacon’s Rebellion
1676–1677

Fueled by dissent due to declining tobacco prices, a rising cost of living, and recent attacks by the Doeg and Susquehanaug tribes, Virginian settlers banded together to rebel against the governor, Sir William Berkeley. (The Susquehanaug were also attacked because the settlers thought they were behind earlier attacks, which were really perpetrated by the Doeg.)

Led by Nathaniel Bacon, the ragtag army looted loyalist properties and burned the capital building. The rebellion would have likely continued for some time had Bacon not mysteriously and suddenly died in October 1676, leaving behind a disorganized mess of rebels who continued fighting until the following year. Troops from England were eventually dispatched, but they didn’t arrive until after the rebellion was over.

3 Dos De Mayo Uprising
1808

On May 2, 1808, Napoleon’s army had been occupying Madrid since March and had tricked King Fernando VII into abdicating. He was replaced with Napoleon’s brother, Joseph. Madrid had 55,000 French soldiers stationed, and they were needed when the civilians rose up, thinking the French were going to kill the royal family. After a few hours of vicious urban fighting, the rebellion was crushed, mostly owing to the military superiority enjoyed by the French army.

Desperate to display complete control, Joaquim Murat, the French marshal, issued a decree stating that any person with a weapon would be shot. A number of other strict measures were enforced, leading to the execution of hundreds of prisoners. Due to the severity of the French response, Spain unified against their occupiers, driving the French out in the Peninsular War.

2 Pernambucan Revolt
1817

Fed up with Portuguese rule, the people of Brazil temporarily formed a country known as Pernambuco. Located in Northeastern Brazil, it was home to many low-wage workers, who struggled under the taxes imposed by the monarchy. They marched on the capital and even managed to take it over. They declared that they had founded an independent nation, going so far as to come up with their own flag.

However, the whole thing was crushed fairly quickly, and the leaders were executed. In total, the revolution only lasted 74 days. To try to prevent similar rebellions, the Portuguese cut the rebels’ heads and hands off and dragged their corpses to the cemetery with horses.

1 The Red River Rebellion
1869–1870

The Metis people of Canada’s Red River Colony were worried about their land rights when Canadian annexationist William McDougall was appointed as the territory’s first lieutenant governor. (They had already been at odds with the Hudson’s Bay Company, which had been running the colony.) When the government began doling out parcels of native Metis land, Louis Riel, a Metis himself, organized his people into a fighting force and fought against the Canadian government, seizing Fort Garry, outside of Winnipeg.

Riel fled before he could be captured. A treaty was drawn up, which created the province of Manitoba and was supposed to grant land to the Metis people. But it was mismanaged, and the Metis settled further west, where they again fought against the government in the North-West Rebellion, also led by Riel. This time, he was captured and executed.

Jihad is associated with Islamist terrorist groups killing innocent people and blowing things up until everyone in a nation or region converts to Islam and accepts sharia law. As we are about to find out, this is just an abused and unacceptable interpretation of jihad, and there have been some other odd uses of the concept, as well.

Jihad itself actually means struggling or striving and not necessarily a holy war, as many terrorist groups make it seem. Jihad primarily refers to the internal battle of a Muslim striving to be a better Muslim. It does not entail Muslims waging wars against other religions.^[1]

10 Sexual Jihad

Sexual jihad (jihad al-nikah) refers to the temporary marriage between men engaged in fighting jihad and random women. This sort of jihad is fairly new and controversial.

Sexual jihad was first mentioned in March 2013, when Mohamad al-Arefe, an imam at the mosque of the Saudi naval academy, tweeted that single, divorced, and widowed women over the age of 14 could marry fighters engaged in the Syrian war in temporary marriages that only lasted for hours. Al-Arefe later denied sending the tweet, claiming his account was hacked.

However, it was too late, as other radical Islamist scholars issued fatwas supporting it. One even mentioned that married women could secretly leave their husbands to engage in sexual jihad. Other scholars denounced sexual jihad and equated it to adultery. One claimed sexual jihad was an invention of Jews, Americans, and Arabians.

Nevertheless, several groups sprang up on Twitter and offered women the opportunity to become sexual jihadists. Most of the women who signed up ended up with fighters in the Islamic State, Free Syrian Army, and other belligerents involved in the war.

The women did not spend all their time in between the sheets. They were trained in weapon use and allowed to join noncombat units. They also cooked, cared for wounded fighters, and engaged in social media propaganda.^[2]

9 Love Jihad

Religion is a hot topic in India, where Muslims and Hindus do not always get along. Interreligious marriage is often controversial. One Hindu-Muslim marriage even led to a Supreme Court case.

A few years ago, a Hindu woman named Akhila Asokan converted to Islam, changed her name to Hadiya Jahan, and married a Muslim man. Her family claimed she was a brainwashed victim of love jihad and requested that the courts declare the marriage illegal.

In India, “love jihad” is a phrase promoted by radical Hindus who frequently accuse Muslim men of seducing Hindu women and coercing them to convert to Islam with the offer of marriage. Muslims claim the radicals are just being paranoid and that there is no such thing as love jihad.

In 2018, the case reached the Supreme Court of India, where the marriage was declared legal after Hadiya testified that she was not forced to convert to Islam. Hadiya added that her parents had kept her in “unlawful custody” and insisted that she wanted to be with her husband.^[3]

8 Hidden Camera Jihad

Hidden Camera Jihad was a video aired by Al-Zawraa TV in Iraq. The television station sprang up after the fall of Saddam’s government, starting off as an entertainment channel before it delved into mocking US forces in Iraq. Hidden Camera Jihad showed real-life footage of insurgent attacks on US forces, complete with laugh tracks, sound effects, and insulting captions to make it seem like a comedy.

Al-Zawraa TV also aired pro-insurgent songs and videos, urging attacks against US forces. Its controversial nature led to its ban in November 2006. However, its owners only moved shop to a new location outside Iraq, from which they continued to broadcast to Iraqi, Middle Eastern, North African, and European viewers via satellite.^[4]

7 Offensive And Defensive Jihad

Offensive and defensive jihad are the most controversial and well-known sorts of jihad. An offensive jihad happens when Muslims launch attacks against their enemies. Defensive jihad occurs when Muslims fight to protect themselves from attacks launched by their enemies.

However, the concept of offensive jihad is controversial in Islam, where it has been exploited by terrorist organizations hiding under the guise of religion to start wars and justify acts of terrorism. Many Islamic teachers have condemned it for this reason.

Islamic teachers say offensive jihad is only permitted when Muslims believe they are about to be attacked, making it a sort of preemptive strike. Muslims are not permitted to be the aggressors. The Quran itself condemns Muslims launching attacks against non-Muslims.^[5]

6 Water Jihad

Water jihad is unique to India and Pakistan. The two countries have difficulty coming to agreement over issues of common interest, such as water supplies. Both countries experience massive floods that sometimes leave thousands dead and tens of thousands homeless.

Each country has blamed the other for the deaths caused by such floods. Pakistan has often accused India of mismanaging its dams to deliberately cause flooding in Pakistan. Some in Pakistan have even referred to this supposed mismanagement as “water jihad” waged against it by India.^[6]

In 2010, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist group infamous for the deadly November 2008 terrorist attacks that killed around 170 people in Mumbai, threatened to wage water jihad against India. Hafiz Saeed issued the threat on television, promising to attack India over claims that the country had built dams to stop water from reaching Pakistan.

5 Anti-Soviet Jihad

On December 24, 1979, 30,000 troops from the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in an effort to keep the communist government of the country in power. This would mark the beginning of the Soviet-Afghan War. The war would drag on until the Soviet Union pulled out in February 1989.

Their enemies were the US-backed anti-communist militias referred to as mujahideen, a term for someone engaging in jihad. The mujahideen claimed they were engaged in anti-Soviet jihad, which was considered a form of defensive jihad.

The mujahideen were no match for the Soviets. They fled the cities and retreated to the countryside, where they gained the upper hand against the Soviet military via guerilla tactics. The war quickly became a stalemate, and Soviets retreated in February 1989 after failing to expel the mujahideen from the countryside.

Interestingly, the communist government of Afghanistan president Mohammed Najibullah remained in power until 1992, after the collapse of the Soviet Union had left him without money and weapons. After his government collapsed as well, Afghanistan fell into civil war after the mujahideen could not agree on a new leader with the remnants of Najibullah’s government.

Mujahideen groups like the Taliban took over the capital, while more radical groups would later become the bedrock of terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

Abdullah Anas, who actively fought in the anti-Soviet jihad, claimed Afghanistan fell into civil war after the fall of the communist government because the mujahideen failed to realize that they were part of a larger political conflict—the Cold War. The Soviet Union backed the Afghanistan communist government, while Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States backed the mujahideen.^[7]

4 Population Jihad

Population jihad is another controversy from India. As mentioned earlier, Hindus and Muslims in India do not always get along. In 2015, Hindu nationalists Pravin Togadia (pictured above) and Sakshi Maharaj accused Indian Muslims of engaging in population jihad.

The duo made the accusations after census data showed that India’s Muslim population was increasing, while its Hindu population was falling. The men claimed that Muslims were deliberately having many children in an attempt to surpass the population of Hindus in India.

Togadia and Maharaj claimed that the population jihad was a part of a grand plan to turn India into a Muslim nation. Togadia suggested that the government curb the population jihad by limiting Muslim couples to only two children. He added that any child born after these two should be denied jobs, education, and government support.^[8]

3 Economic Jihad

Economic jihad is Iran’s method of escaping the series of international sanctions imposed on it since 2006. Economic jihad is promoted by Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who even declared the year 2011 “the year of economic jihad.”

As part of this economic jihad, Khamanei suggested that the Iranian government only sell its oil to selected customers, improve its exports of gas and other oil products, exploit different channels to export its oil, allow the private sector participate in the sales of its oil, and consider bartering its oil for other goods it needed.

Khamanei also suggested that the Iranian government diversify the economy, reduce the nation’s energy requirements, increase taxes, increase domestic production to reduce imports, and find more foreign investors and importers for crucial items.^[9]

2 Media Jihad

Media jihad was a form of jihad promoted by the Islamic State in its heyday. The group called on Muslims around the world to begin online campaigns to support its cause and demoralize the enemy. It also encouraged Muslims to republish works made by the Islamic State media team and distribute them to the public.

Media jihad was first mentioned in an article in the Islamic State’s Youth of the Caliphate magazine. The magazine often praised fighters and encouraged more attacks against their enemies. One article was titled “Media Jihad,” in which editors called on Muslims to buy phones and laptops to spread terrorist propaganda on the Internet and social media.^[10]

1 Humanitarian Jihad

Terrorists claiming to be jihadists often engage in a radical form of offensive jihad. However, these terrorists sometimes dump their guns to offer humanitarian services to Muslims in need. They call this humanitarian jihad. This sort of jihad is controversial since it could be a cover for other intentions.

An instance of humanitarian jihad occurred after a devastating earthquake killed tens of thousands of people in Kashmir in 2005. A local terrorist group fighting for the transfer of the India-controlled Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan dropped its weapons to offer humanitarian services to people affected by the earthquake. Fighters from the group distributed food and water, unearthed people buried under the rubble, buried the dead, and even set up a hospital.

Another case of humanitarian jihad sprang up during the ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya by the Myanmar government. This time, it was from Front Pembela Islam (“Islamic Defenders Front”), a controversial group that could be a terrorist organization or a religious police group, depending on who you ask.

Front Pembela Islam offered humanitarian jihad services to Royingya Muslims. However, it also called for 1,200 “mujahidin volunteers” from its home nation of Indonesia and, for unclear reasons, requested that they have some “martial ability” and be ready to die for Rakhine state.^[11]

The recent Scottish independence referendum ended with a defeat for the nationalists, but the mere fact that it was held at all shows how far European secession movements have come in recent years. Even while the European Union has promoted greater integration across the continent, a wide variety of regions and ethnic minorities have begun to press their claims for independence. While would-be states like Catalonia, Flanders, and Scotland are well-known, Europe boasts a bewildering array of wannabe countries—the European Free Alliance links over 40 nationalist movements, and there are many more outside of it.

10Galicia

Galicia is an autonomous region in northwest Spain, on the border with Portugal. Galicians consider themselves to be a distinct ethnic and cultural group, and the Spanish government recognizes them as a historical nationality within Spain. But for many in Galicia, that’s just not enough and there are plenty of nationalist and separatist parties on the regional political scene. Most of them act jointly as part of the Bloque Nacionalista Galego (BNG), which works for further devolution of power from the central government to the regional assembly. Many BNG members also seek eventual complete independence from Spain, hoping to form a new republic within the European Union. Following a split within the BNG, independence is also espoused by the rising left-wing radical Alternativa Galega de Esquerda (AGE).

Despite the strong cultural identity of the Galician people, the electoral performance of the BNG has typically been relatively modest. Meanwhile, AGE has made impressive gains, winning 14 percent of the vote in the 2012 regional elections, but remains something of a fringe party. With this in mind, it seems that the dream of Galician independence is unlikely to become a reality within the next few years—but it certainly isn’t dead either.

9The Aland Islands

An archipelago of tiny islands in the Baltic Sea, Aland has already obtained a surprising amount of autonomy while officially remaining part of Finland. Although the islands only have around 28,000 inhabitants, approximately 0.5 percent of the total Finnish population, they have their own parliament, which has extensive powers—including the right to veto any attempt to limit those powers by the central Finnish government. Regional citizenship is required to own land or vote in local elections. Aland is also the only region of Finland to have a single official language—Swedish.

Under the Act on the Autonomy of Aland, the islands are also completely demilitarized, have their own police force and postage stamps, and can issue their own passports. The islands were able to obtain this level of autonomy after Finland declared independence in 1917. At the time, Aland islanders voted overwhelmingly to leave and join Sweden. Finland refused to give up sovereignty and the League of Nations ruled that Helsinki could keep the islands as long as they were granted significant rights and protections.

The subsequent compromise has lasted for almost a century and it seems hard to believe that Aland will ever separate from Finland. However, some islanders complain that the Finnish government has not kept its promises and that it has become increasingly hard to do business in Swedish. Alands Framtid (Future of Aland), a local political party which seeks full independence for the islands as a sovereign microstate, reached almost 10 percent of the vote in the most recent regional elections.

8The Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands are an archipelago of 18 beautiful islands in the North Atlantic. Located roughly halfway between Scotland and Iceland, they’re majestically isolated from all of their neighbors. Ruled by Denmark since the 14th century, the islands are currently a self-governing nation under the Danish crown.

National sentiment has a long history in the Faroes—they first tried to hold an independence referendum in the chaos following the end of World War II. Although the secessionists won by a small margin (48.7 percent of the vote, compared to 47.2 percent against), the Danish parliament opposed independence, arguing that a majority had not voted for it. Further confusing matters, the Danish prime minister supported the secessionists and announced that the islands would be granted independence. Two days of confusion followed, until the King of Denmark annulled the referendum and dissolved the Faroese parliament. New elections were held, but this time the parties that favored association with Denmark managed a narrow win and negotiated home rule for the islands.

The independence question subsided until 2011, when a proposed Faroese constitution proved controversial. The Danish government claimed the document, which would have put even more powers in Faroese hands, was “incompatible” with Denmark’s own constitution, telling the islands to chose between withdrawing the document or immediate independence.

For fairly practical reasons, the Faroese government chose to withdraw the draft. According to a prominent local politician, the islands are still too dependent on Danish subsidies to consider full independence. In the meantime, pro-independence parties have a majority in the local parliament and are doubtless waiting for the moment when they can afford to govern without outside financial support.

7Corsica

Corsicans proudly claim that they’ve been ruled many times, but never conquered. Although the island has been a region of France for hundreds of years, its people still don’t consider themselves French, Italian, or anything else. They’re simply Corsicans.

The island first proclaimed its independence back in the 18th century, forming a republic which lasted for 14 years before it was annexed by France in 1769. Often neglected by the French state, the island saw an upsurge of nationalism in the second half of the 20th century, when several separatist movements were founded. Perhaps the most infamous is the National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC), a militant group which has carried out bombings, bank robberies, extortion, and arson in the name of independence. A separate nationalist group was responsible for the 1998 assassination of the top-ranking French official on the island.

In recent decades, the French government has granted more autonomy to the island and backed programs to protect the Corsican language, undermining local support for the nationalists. Nevertheless, the fight for Corsican independence continues, with the FLNC claiming responsibility for sporadic bombings over the past decade.

6Sardinia

Unlike their Corsican neighbors, the nationalist movement on the Italian island of Sardinia has sought independence through non-violent means. This model has huge support from the Sardinian people. According to a 2014 poll conducted by the universities of Cagliari and Edinburgh, a whopping 87 percent of Sardinians want further powers for the island’s local government, while around 41 percent are in favor of full independence immediately.

However, so far this support has failed to translate into electoral success for pro-independence parties. In the 2014 elections, pro-sovereignty parties only took around 18 percent of the total vote, while the pro-independence candidate for regional President came third with only 10.8 percent of the votes. In fact, one of the largest pro-independence blocs was left without any seats in the local parliament at all, due to a law which requires coalitions to secure at least 10 percent of the total vote in order to be eligible for candidates to be elected.

However, the independence movement is far from dead, with supporters claiming an online referendum should be held. One newly founded group is even suggesting the island should secede from Italy and join Switzerland instead.

5Transdniestria

Located between Romania and Ukraine, Moldova is a tiny state about the size of Maryland. Since 1990, around 10 percent of its territory has formed an even tinier breakaway state known as Transdniestria, or Transnistria, or the Pridnestrovskaya Moldavskaya Respublika.

Moldova was part of the Soviet Union, gaining independence as the USSR began to split up in the early 1990s. But the Russian-speakers of Transdniestria didn’t want to be a minority in a Romanian-speaking country and refused to join the new state. Tensions simmered until 1992, when an armed conflict broke out. Russian military support for the secessionists meant that Moldova was unable to impose its authority on Transdniestria, and the region has been a de facto state ever since.

Nowadays, Transdniestria has its own constitution, flag, national anthem, coat of arms, government, parliament, currency, and military—the only thing it lacks is international recognition. In fact, Transdniestria has never been recognized by a single member state of the United Nations, and is thus officially still considered part of Moldova. Transdniestria has attempted to shore up its position with continued independence referendums, the last being held in 2006. A massive 97 percent of voters supported independence, with the possibility of free association with Russia, but even the referendum hasn’t been recognized by other countries yet.

4South Tyrol

A mountainous geographical region based on a former province of the Austrian Empire, Tyrol is currently split between Austria and Italy, with South Tyrol as an autonomous province of Italy with a large German-speaking population. Under Benito Mussolini, the fascist government tried to Italianize South Tyrol by banning the use of the German language, but such policies actually increased local identity, culminating in a series of bombings carried out by the South Tyrolean Liberation Committee in the 1960s (the organization no longer exists and the current secessionist movement espouses non-violence).

These days, the province is autonomous enough that only 10 percent of taxes raised there go to the central government. Despite this, there is widespread support for political parties advocating reunification with Austria. Until this can be organized, they believe that the province should secede and form an interim Free State of South Tyrol. Such parties usually control around a third of the South Tyrolean Provincial Council, although their popularity varies depending on the political climate.

3Venice

During a weekend when the eyes of the world were focused on the Russian-backed referendum in Crimea, a referendum for independence from Italy went almost unnoticed. An estimated two million residents of the Italian region Veneto, whose capital is Venice, voted overwhelmingly to declare independence and reform the ancient Venetian Republic. The referendum was conducted online, using digital ID numbers to identify eligible voters. A massive 89 percent voted in favor of secession, surprising pollsters, who had previously estimated only around 65 percent were in favor.

The Italian government refused to recognize the referendum, saying that it was not organized by any official body and consequently open to manipulation, but it’s undeniable that nationalist movements have strong support within the region. Veneto is one of Italy’s richest regions, and locals feel that they don’t get much as they give from the government, complaining that most of their taxes go to subsidize poorer regions of Southern Italy. The referendum won’t result in immediate independence, but it’s hard to believe the issue will simply go away either.

2North Cyprus

A large island in the Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus has long been split between a Greek majority and a Turkish minority. When the country became a member of the European Union back in 2004, they made it without the Turkish north, which has effectively long been an independent country. The issue dates back to 1974, when the Cypriot National Guard, with support from the Greek Junta, attempted a putsch with the goal of making Cyprus part of Greece. In response, Turkey launched an invasion, claiming the coup violated a treaty signed between the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey.

The Turkish invasion eventually resulted in the island being split in two, with the dividing line passing right through the capital of Nicosia. The northern third became the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1983. The new republic has never been widely recognized or accepted into the UN and remains heavily economically dependent on Turkey. This dependence, as well as the possibility of a Cypriot entrance into the EU, sparked hopes for reunification. In 2004, a referendum was held proposing to merge the island into a federated state. In the north, the Turks approved of the plan, while the vast majority of Greeks rejected the proposal. As a result, Cyprus remains split to this day.

1Republika Srpska

In English, Republika Srpska means “Serbian Republic,” but is not to be confused with the Republic of Serbia, since it is actually one of two entities comprising Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since the 1990s, the tiny Balkan country has been split between the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska. Bosniaks and Croats make up the majority in the former, while Serbs are dominant in the latter.

Republika Srpska was founded during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, right after the referendum on independence in Bosnia and Herzegovina. While most of the Bosnian parliament proclaimed the new republic, ethnic Serbian deputies refused to support the secession and held their own assembly in the city of Banja Luka, forming their own state in response. The infamous Bosnian War quickly followed.

After the war, Republika Srpska became an autonomous entity within Bosnia, but many Bosnian Serbs still hoped to form an independent state, which would eventually merge with Serbia. The success of Kosovo’s independence movement fueled these dreams, with Serbian leaders claiming that if Kosovo had the right to separate from Serbia, then they had the right to separate from Bosnia and Herzegovina as well. Although still part of Bosnia, Republika Srpska has recently sent their own representative to Brussels, the seat of the European Union. Nobody from the EU attended the ceremony marking the event, but it created even more tension with Bosniak officials and sent yet another hint that the Serbs see their future as lying outside of Bosnia.

Petar Todorovski is a freelance writer.

I was inspired to create this list by all those disturbing movie fans who are sick of being recommended A Clockwork Orange, Midsommar, and a Serbian Film. We’ve been there. We’ve done that. It’s time for some original content.

Top 10 Harrowing Depictions of Insanity In Movies

If you’re looking for violence, gore, or just over-all creepy then you’ve come to the right place. We’ve searched high and low for the most out-there movies that will make you squirm and cringe to your heart’s content.

WARNING: The selected trailers contain disturbing footage. We advise discretion when viewing if there is a risk that a child will see or hear the content.

10Slaughtered Vomit Dolls, 2006, Lucifer Valentine

This is definitely a bold start to our list. Prepare yourself for a surreal, vile, exploitation horror. Slaughtered Vomit Dolls is the story of a teenage stripper-turned-prostitute, Angela Aberdeen, with severe bulimia. As her bulimia gets worse she starts to suffer from hellish hallucinations and satanic nightmare. She begins to experience visions of the deaths of her friends, other strippers, and others around her.

If you have a weak stomach I would suggest skipping this film, but who am I kidding? You’re here for that exact reason! If you’ve yet to be properly grossed out by a movie, then this is the perfect start.^[1]

9Sick: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist, 1997, Kirby Dick

If you want a real life story that will make you laugh, squirm, and maybe even cry, then Sick: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist is the film for you. Sick is a documentary about Bob, an artist and performer with cystic fibrosis. He is also a sadomasochist. To him, BDSM is a type of therapy used to regain control over his body that he feels he has lost his handle over. This film is a nice break from the gore and violence that this genre is usually known for. Flanagan’s agreement to participate in this project under the condition that his death would also be included in the final product just adds to the oddness of the production. It is an intense and weirdly human experience that will leave you shocked as the credits roll.^[2]

8 The 120 Days of Sodom, 1975, Pier Paolo Pasolini

This World War II horror drama is not for the faint-of-heart. When eighteen teenagers are rounded up by fascist libertines, they are forced to endure one hundred and twenty days of mental, physical, and sexual torture. This film contains intense scenes of degradation and torture, sexual violence, and high impact violence.

This is consuming piece of media that has been the subject of much discussion. Not only is it a shocking film, but it is also deep set political themes. So if you like a little politics in your horror then this movie is right for you.^[3]

7Guinea Pig: Flower of Flesh and Blood, 1985, Hideshi Hino

This film is the second installment of the Guinea Pig series, and it is arguably the most disturbing. It’s most notable for the several controversies surrounding the film. It is said to have inspired real life serial killer, Tsutomu Miyazaki, who abducted and murdered four girls in Japan. It also sparked controversy in the U.S. when actor and lunatic Charlie Sheen became convinced that it was an actual snuff film and reported it to the FBI. It is worth watching just for the conspiracies that surround it. This short film revolves around an unknown assailant dressed as a samurai. He kidnaps a woman and takes her back to his home where he proceeds to dismember her. She is arranged into a flower of flesh and blood (Hey! That’s the title!). It is a vile masterpiece that will have even the most avid disturbing movie fans flinching at the sight of it.^[4]

6The Snowtown Murders, 2011, Justin Kurzel

Nothing fills movie goers with anticipation more than seeing ‘based on true events’ before the film begins to roll. This is part of what makes The Snowtown Murders such an alarming movie to watch. This retelling of the most notorious serial murders in Australia is filled with incest, pedophilia, murder, and more. All of which make it hard to watch. Jamie, a 16-year-old boy, is taken in by his mother’s boyfriend. They form a self-appointed ‘neighborhood watch’ going after pedophiles and homosexuals. Violence under the guise of vigilantism eventually leads to a spree of violent physical abuse and murder. This is a tale of manipulation and family corruption. Crikey . . .^[5]

10 Shocking Documentaries That Ruined Reputations And Careers

5I Spit on Your Grave, 1978, Meir Zarchi

If revenge is your cup of tea, then you are going to love I Spit on Your Grave. This movie garnered controversy for its graphic depiction of gang-rape which takes up 30 minutes of the movie’s run time. The aspiring writer who is left for dead by her four rapists systematically hunts each of them down. The writer got his inspiration from an actual rape that occurred in New York City. It is all out revenge porn. Propellor disembowelment included!^[6]

4Visitor Q, 2001, Takashi Miike

Released in the same year as the much better known Ichi the Killer (see bonus item), Visitor Q is just as focused on sexual deviance and violence. At the center of this film is the story of a perverted family whose lives intertwine with a mysterious stranger.

This movie contain explicit sexual scenes, incest, and intense violence. The fact that it is filmed in a ‘home movie’ style just adds to the creepiness and uncomfortable nature of this film.^[7]

3Michael, 2011, Markus Schleinzer and Kathrin Resetarits

Michael is a slice of life film . . . If you consider slice of life to be five months following the life of a pedophile keeping a 10-year-old, Wolfgang, in his basement. It is a deeply distressing piece of work that leaves viewers in utter suspense and horror. The relationship between Michael and Wolfgang is depicted almost like a father and son, which makes knowing the truth all the more horrifying. The cliffhanger ending leaves viewers shocked and deeply distressed.^[8]

2Murder-Set-Pieces, 2004, Nick Palumbo

Fashion photographer by day, rapist and murderer by night, Murder-Set-Pieces follows a German serial killer in America. The Photographer’s demented childhood plagues him into adulthood, leading him to commit unspeakable acts of violence. He lures girls under the guise of them modeling for him. Instead he proceedes to rape, torture, and kill them. All while photographing the whole graphic experience. The utter brutality of this movie is what makes it notorious, It is also why it has been censored in several countries as well as banned in the UK (which is always a promising sign for a disturbing film fan).^[9]

1Vase de Notes (Wedding Trough), 1974, Thierry Zéno

Saving the most disturbing for last . . . This is the oldest film on this list but it is certainly not the tamest in any way. Wedding Trough is a film that has been given many other (very accurate) names. A mentally handicapped farmer falls in love with his pig. He rapes and impregnates the sow, and when the mutant piglets are born he hangs them. This film relies heavily on shock value and grotesque imagery to disturb the audience.

This movie contains real and simulated animal killings, zoophilia, and coprophagia. It is a volatile creation that might even make the most seasoned disturbing film viewer gag.^[10]

+8MM, 1999, Joel Schemacher

This, and the following bonus item, are added simply because they are too disturbing to ignore on a list like this. They are the close-contenders that missed out on appearing in the top 10 due to the fact that they are too well known in the disturbing genre.

It is rare to see household names in a disturbing films list, but we find both Nicholas Cage and Joaquin Phoenix in this next flick. 8MM is the story of a private investigator, Tom Welles, hired by a widow who discovers a ‘snuff film’ amongst her late husband’s possessions. Welles is tasked with discovering whether or not the film is authentic. It is a mystery thriller that plays heavily on the emotional disturbance and inner conflicts of the characters. While this film is more tame than some of the other picks on this list, the subject matter is still extremely eerie. This is a high quality film that is often overlooked by beginners to the disturbing film genre. It is a definite “must-see” – even for those with weaker temperaments who will manage it better than other films on this list.^[11]

++ Ichi the Killer, 2001, Takashi Miike

This is probably the most well known film featured here, which it should be because it is a truly excellent film. It also makes for the second mention of Takashi Miike (see item 4). Unfortunately, it is still often missing from other disturbing movie lists. Ichi the Killer follows Kakihara, a sadomasochistic enforcer for the yakuza. He comes into contact with Ichi while searching for his missing boss. Ichi, being the psychotic killer that he is, inflicts pain on Kakihara that he could only dream of. If you are looking for a movie about sexual deviance, anarchy, and graphic violence, Ichi the Killer is my best recommendation—in fact, if it weren’t so famous it would be the first item on this list.

This film is particularly notorious for being outright banned in several countries. Besides just the graphic content, the neon retro visuals are also what make this film particularly enjoyable to watch. It is a fluorescent spatter of adrenaline and violence.^[12]

10 Creepiest Photos Of Victims Taken By Serial Killers [DISTURBING]

Catapults and crossbows have a certain simple mechanical charm that just can’t be matched by the most advanced missiles and rifles of today. Swords and shields also conjure up images of a bygone age of chivalry and honor when combat was fought face-to-face between individuals who’d dedicated their lives and reputations to their abilities on the field of battle.

We spend so much time wrapped up in these stereotypes that we often forget that, just like now, warfare in the past was constantly changing. Armies were always trying new tactics and new weapons to get one over on the enemy.

One of the greatest examples of this was the Battle of Agincourt. The English army, made up primarily of peasant soldiers with longbows, destroyed the noble French knights with their armor-piercing bodkin arrows. Then the English laid into the French in a melee, using mallets to negate the French armor or just stabbing knives through the holes in their plate mail.

But ancient warfare was full of weapons even wilder and more interesting than this as people from cultures around the world devised unique ways to hurt their enemies. Here are 10 crazy ancient weapons you’ve probably never heard of.

10 Man Catcher

One of the strangest weapons in history was more commonly used in city streets rather than on the field of battle: the man catcher. Interestingly, it was one of the few medieval weapons that was designed specifically to incapacitate an opponent without killing or injuring him.

While some man catchers had spikes on them, which were clearly designed to cause injury, the vast majority were simply a wooden shaft with a two-pronged blunted fork at the end. They were used by the night watchmen and guards of medieval towns to pin down the limbs of troublemakers or criminals. This restrained them until help arrived or they calmed down.^[1]

The man catcher was occasionally employed on the field of battle, though this was much less frequent. These man catchers were more elaborate, often featuring sharpened spikes and spring-loaded doors to trap victims’ limbs.

They were sometimes used to drag foes from their horses, but such a move would have taken considerable skill. They were more commonly used to seize wealthy nobles and take them prisoner. When the battle was over, they could be ransomed for a large amount of money.

There are no concrete sources on when man catchers were first employed, but they were used throughout the Middle Ages across the world—from Europe to Japan. They continued as a law enforcement tool well into the 1600s.

9 Bagh Nakh

The bagh nakh (“tiger’s claw”) was an unusual weapon invented in India. Although no one knows for sure when it first appeared, it grew in popularity after being adopted by the Nihang Sikh warriors sometime after 1500.

In short, it was a form of knuckle duster, easily concealed in the palm and made up of four or five metal claws that were used to slash at the opponent. Nihang Sikhs often carried them in their turbans as concealed weapons but also fought with them in battle on occasion.

They were also employed as weapons of underhanded attack and even assassination. Famously, a bagh nakh was used in the meeting between General Afzhal Khan and Emperor Shivaji.

Both men had agreed to meet unarmed, but Shivaji brought armor and a bagh nakh with him just in case. When Khan attacked Shivaji unexpectedly, Shivaji killed Khan with a bagh nakh and saved his own life.^[2]

8 Caltrop

Despite being a relatively obscure weapon even today, the caltrop has been employed with considerable success for at least 2,000 years. In its basic form, a caltrop is a piece of iron fashioned into four equally long points.

It is assembled so that if it is dropped on the ground, a point faces straight up. This innovation made them relatively easy to quickly scatter over a wide area because no skill was required to lay them.

The first account of caltrop use comes from the Roman Empire when Roman writers discussed the use of murex ferreus (“jagged things of iron”) to disrupt the horse-drawn chariots used by various cultures across Europe at the time. They were used as early as the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC, but accounts that may feature caltrops date as far back as Alexander’s campaigns in Persia around 331 BC.

It was employed across the world—from Japan, where the spikes were rarely longer than 2.5 centimeters (1 in), to India, where large, elaborate caltrops were used to halt the charges of war elephants.

Their use declined with the invention of gunpowder, but they were still employed on rare occasions. In fact, they are still deployed today. They were used as antipersonnel weapons in the Korean War to prevent ambushes and have been used into the 21st century to neutralize vehicles.^[3]

7 Bill Hook

Evolving from the agricultural bill hook, the martial bill hook (sometimes called the “English bill” or just the “bill”) was a relatively common weapon in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Its flexibility and simple construction made it the weapon of choice of many poor soldiers or drafted peasants.

Its design varied significantly across Europe, but it was consistently a multipurpose weapon. Its broad, curved head could be used to slash in a similar fashion to a glaive, while the small hook on the end could catch the edges of armor plate and drag opponents to the ground or off their mounts. Later, bill hooks also had a long spike on top that allowed them to be used as spears or pikes if needed.

They fell out of fashion across Europe in the 1500s, replaced by the pike and arquebus. Despite this, professional soldiers in England stuck with the old bill and bow combination as late as the Battle of Flodden, by which time the Scots had long abandoned the bill hook. Examples of English bills have even been found in Jamestown, suggesting that they were still in use as late as 1607.^[4]

6 Lantern Shield

At the dawn of the Renaissance, Italy was the place to be. Whether you were interested in art, science, or engineering, the world’s best and brightest were gathered in the Italian states, where their work was supported by wealthy princes and merchants.

The best—and most outlandishly styled—armor was made in Italy, especially in Milan. Europe’s richest and most fashion-conscious all had their armor made by Italian smiths.

It should be no surprise then that one of the strangest and most elaborate shields in human history was designed in Renaissance Italy. At the time, there was a strong dueling culture among the country’s youth. Many young men would go out after dark to cause trouble on the streets or to take part in prearranged duels. Cue the invention of the lantern shield.

At first, lantern shields were simply shields that had a hook or other secure place to fasten a lantern so that those who dueled after dark could still see. The concept developed over time, however, and by the height of the Renaissance, the most advanced lantern shields had all kinds of features: serrated gauntlets designed to catch and break an opponent’s sword, spikes that jutted out of the shield’s front, and even sword blades that were forged into the shield, making it a weapon in itself.^[5]

Their strangest feature, however, was a small flap covered by a piece of leather. The user mounted a lantern behind this flap. According to dueling practice books from the time, these lantern flaps could be used to blind an opponent in a pinch, temporarily putting them out of action.

5 Fletched Javelin

Most of us know that javelins were commonly used across the Greek and Roman worlds. However, many don’t know that javelins were used well into the medieval period and beyond.

In fact, medieval javelins were more advanced than their ancient counterparts and were a lot more accurate. These special medieval weapons, often called fletched javelins, had feather fletchings at the bottom of their shafts which steadied the javelin in flight.

They resembled giant arrows and appeared semi-regularly in medieval artwork. They were also built differently from regular javelins, with crafters using lighter, less durable wood but larger and heavier heads to cause more damage on impact. They found considerably more use in the early medieval period, which then declined as the popularity of the longbow and crossbow grew.

The fletched javelin was also used in other parts of the world. In the Americas, native cultures used a special kind of sling known as an atlatl. This wooden tool could be used to launch a fletched javelin with twice the strength of a regular throw just by flicking the wrist. A similar leather sling was used by the ancient Greeks to launch javelins, but that stopped well before the Middle Ages.^[6]

There isn’t an exact term for these medieval javelins, though they are most commonly referred to as either fletched javelins or war darts. As they are thrown and have fletchings, they are technically darts. They probably wouldn’t be accepted by your local darts club, though.

4 Chakram

Throwing knives features prominently in our television and video games, but the Indian equivalent, a battle quoit, is even more bizarre. A sharpened metal disc, the chakram, or chakkar, is effectively a war frisbee.

It has been used by the nomadic Akali Nihang Sikhs for hundreds of years, though the oldest accounts of its use date back more than 2,000 years. They can vary significantly in size, from little wider than a hand to over 0.6 meters (2 ft) wide.

They can be thrown in many ways. The most common technique is to spin the disc on the finger and quickly release it, though underarm throws—which launch the disc vertically—are also well known. They can be thrown on the move and, for extra force, by using diagonal throws that build up a lot of speed.^[7]

In battle, they were deployed en masse by soldiers in the back ranks, who launched them high into the air to fall on their enemies’ heads. These weapons were carried into battle on the warrior’s arm, allowing him to carry up to a dozen at a time. However, the largest ones were worn around the neck.

They were also useful in melee combat, cutting any enemy who tried to grapple them. If needed, they could even be used as close-quarters weapons.

3 Net

Nets have been used in warfare by many different cultures for millennia, but they reached the height of their popularity in the gladiatorial arenas of ancient Rome. The gladiator games began as reenactments of real battles, with most gladiators wearing the gear of either Romans or their common enemies. Over time, however, the gladiator games—and the gladiator classes—developed a culture of their own.

Most gladiators wore large, elaborate helmets featuring everything from animal crests to exaggerated trims. While these helmets were impressive, they could also put the fighter at a disadvantage, especially when pitted against a retiarius.

A retiarius was a gladiator who took to the field with a trident and a net. He used his net to catch his opponent’s helmet and drag him down. Retiarii were some of the most popular gladiators in ancient Rome and were frequently fan favorites.

As they required very little armor and their weapons were very cheap, they were also some of the most common. In fact, a gladiator class appeared solely to counter the effectiveness of the retiarii.^[8]

This class, known as the secutor, wore a very basic helmet with no crest so that it couldn’t be caught by the retiarius’s net. The secutor‘s helmet also had small eye holes so that the trident couldn’t be thrust into his eyes.

By the end of the first century AD, this pairing was one of the most popular in the gladiatorial world. It remained so until the decline of the Roman Empire.

2 Khopesh

The khopesh is one of the oldest weapons of war in human history to be made entirely of metal. The first examples were forged in Mesopotamia around 2500 BC. The design quickly spread to Egypt, where it became the favored weapon of the warrior class—and, arguably, the world’s first sword.

Swords as we recognize them today became common in the 16th century BC, but before then, the khopesh dominated the Near East. Whether or not the khopesh is a sword, however, is still debated. It evolved from the sickle, a farm implement, and the axe, which people had started to use in warfare.

The result was a strange-looking, curved weapon with a sharp, axe-like edge and a hefty amount of metal behind it, making it just as good at bashing through armor as it was at slicing. Its sharpened tip meant that it could also be used as a stabbing weapon.^[9]

The khopesh was one of the most advanced weapons of its age, but it was also incredibly expensive to make. Only professional warriors and nobility could afford to own one, so it quickly became a symbol of Egypt’s ruling elite.

As time went on, more and more khopeshes were made with blunted edges, seemingly designed to serve as decorations or as grave goods. By the time the age of pharaohs ended, these weapons were even frequently appearing in the tombs of the mighty rulers themselves.

1 Kpinga

Using a throwing knife requires a fair bit of skill. Of course, the user needs to be able to throw the weapon accurately, which takes practice on its own. But he also needs to judge the distance and work out how to throw the blade so that the sharp end hits the target.

Many cultures around the world have used various innovations to get around this. Like the aforementioned chakram, the Japanese shuriken is deadly no matter which part of the weapon hits the target, while the boomerang has a much larger surface area that can cause damage.

The Azande people of Africa solved this problem in a different way. They made a throwing knife, the kpinga, with multiple blades. The blades are oriented so that the unfortunate enemy will be hit by a sharpened edge no matter how the knife is thrown. They were most commonly thrown overhead, but they could also be thrown sidearm, a low throw which aimed to take out the target’s legs.

The kpinga was a weapon of prestige, a status symbol that was only given to people of wealth and repute—or to professional warriors. The right to produce them belonged to a single clan, the Avongara, and they were sometimes part of the dowry given at a wedding.^[10]

They were so valued that when they were used, warriors were expected to shout that they were throwing their knife to prove they weren’t just discarding it wastefully.