How Every Notorious Real-Life Antihero Died

Added: 2026-05-13

[00:00:00]Virgulino Ferra Da Silva known as Lampio was born in northeastern Brazil to a poor farming family. By that time, the region was controlled by powerful land owners who used private armies and corrupt police thugs to dominate locals.

[00:00:15]In 1916, Lampio's family got into a land dispute with a powerful local family who had the police in their pocket.

[00:00:23]Eventually, police beat up his father and later killed him in 1921. Lumpio swore revenge and joined the Kangaso bandits, rising quickly through the ranks due to his shooting skills. His group raided towns, kidnapped for ransom, extorted money, assaulted women, and firebranded people. Early on, they mainly targeted wealthy land owners, which gave Lambio support among poorer communities. He maintained a mixed image, attending church, sparing some civilians, and spending stolen money locally. But over time, his methods became more extreme, including torture, mutilation, and public executions, causing him to lose public trust. In July 1938, one of his own men betrayed him and gave away his farm hideout. A police troop armed with machine guns attacked the encamped bandits at Daybreak. In a brief shootout, Lampio, his wife, and nine of his troops were killed. The police beheaded them, preserved the heads, and displayed them publicly in town squares as a warning.

[00:01:27]Salvatore Giuliano rose during the chaos of the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily.

[00:01:33]He became an outlaw after killing a police officer who tried to arrest him for black market food smuggling. Leading his own gang, he frequently attacked police, robbed the wealthy, kidnapped for ransom, and gained influence in politics. Even aligning with the movement for the independence of Sicily, he built an image as a rebel fighting for the poor, earning support among peasants, but was also responsible for over 100 dead policemen during his insurrection acts. His reputation collapsed after the 1947 Portella de la Jinestra massacre, where his group killed 11 civilians, including four children. Though he claimed it was accidental, public support vanished and a $150,000 bounty was placed on him. By 1984, after a failed promise of pardon despite helping political allies and after his mafia compadres ratted him out to the police, Giuliano ordered the hit on mafia boss Santo Feres. Now both the mafia and the law haunted him relentlessly but he still relied on mafia protection while his network was dismantled from within that sealed his fate. In July 1950 his closest lieutenant and cousin Gaspare Pisota under pressure by police turned on him.

[00:02:51]On the morning of July 5th while Juliano was asleep in his Castell Vetrano safe house. Pishota shot him twice killing him instantly. Fulen Devi grew up in poverty in rural India where her family's land was taken by her uncle and cousin by bribing the village leader.

[00:03:10]From childhood she faced abuse, beaten by family, forced into marriage with a man three times her age, and repeatedly violated by her husband, various other people, and even police after her arrest. She was later kidnapped by bandit leader Babu, who abused her until his deputy Vikram killed him, took control, and trained her in weapon use.

[00:03:32]She then carried out raids against higher cast villages and took revenge on those who harmed her, gaining support among lower casts. But after Vikram was killed by rival bandits, she was captured, abused again, but escaped, and formed a new gang focused on even more revenge. This led to the 1981 Bay Massacre where 22 men were executed after her gang failed to find specific targets. Charged with dozens of crimes, she evaded capture until surrendering in 1983, spending 11 years in prison. After her release, she entered politics, was elected to parliament in 1996, and became a symbol for lower casts. But on July 25th, 2001, she was shot nine times in the head and chest outside her home in New Delhi by three gunmen including Sher Singh Rana, a politician seeking revenge for the Baymai killings. Ned Kelly was born into a poor Irish family in rural Victoria, Australia. After his father's death, Ned became responsible for his seven siblings. He later trained under bush ranger Harry Power, learning how to rob, evade law, and survive in the bush. Wrongly accused of horse theft, he served three years of hard labor. After release, he tried to live honestly, but started a horse stealing ring, forming the Kelly gang. In 1878, a clash with a drunk cop led to a scuffle, a gunshot wound to the cop's hand, and his mother's imprisonment. His gang soon ambushed and killed three policemen at Stringybar Creek. Kelly carried out two bold bank robberies where they held hostages but gained sympathy by burning mortgage records and sharing some loot. But as pressure increased and rewards were offered, the gang killed their friend and turned informant Aaron Sheret. Ned then planned to derail a police train, but the plot failed leading to a final shootout in Glenn Rowan. Wearing heavy homemade armor, the gang fought police, but Ned's limbs were unprotected and he was badly wounded. Despite resisting in a final stand, he was shot in the legs and captured. Sentenced to death, public protests and a large petition failed to save him. On November 11th, 1880, he was hanged at age 25. His final words were, "Such is life." Panchcho Via became an outlaw after shooting a man who allegedly assaulted his sister, then fleeing to the mountains. There he became the leader of a bandit group and raided wealthy ranches to steal cattle.

[00:06:13]He became legendary for sometimes risking capture to distribute money to the poor, winning their loyalty and protection, which helped him evade capture. But he was also known for brutal violence. He rose during the Mexican Revolution joining Francisco Mado against dictator Ptherio Diaz and by 1915 commanded one of the strongest armies. Despite his image as a freedom fighter, Via was known to punish towns that opposed him or supported rivals. He carried out executions, looting, and attacks on civilians, including the 1916 raid on Columbus, New Mexico, where eight American soldiers and 10 civilians died. But when his rivals Alvaro Obreon and Venusiano Caransa allied against him, his forces collapsed. In 1920, Via accepted a surrender deal to retire to his hienda, where he lived quietly. But in July 1923, he made a big mistake. He left his entourage of 50 bodyguards at home and only brought a couple on his trip to the neighboring town of Paral to attend a baptism and visit his mistress.

[00:07:23]He never made it back. On his way home on July 20th, 1923, while driving through Paral, a street vendor shouted, "Viva via." That was the signal for his assassins who had rented a house near the street. Seven riflemen opened fire, pumping over 40 shots into the car with dum dum bullets. Via was killed instantly, hit nine times in the head and chest. 3 years later, his tomb was desecrated. His corpse was removed and his head cut off, plus stolen, never to be found. Souvenir hunters also took pieces of the coffin and some of his bones. Fritz Harour was a German scientist known for lifesaving and destructive work. He developed the Hara Bosch process, enabling large-scale fertilizer production that supports a significant share of the global food supply today and helping to sustain billions of people. At the same time, he became known as the father of chemical warfare during World War I, promoting and overseeing the use of chlorine gas.

[00:08:28]First deployed at the second battle of RA, responsible for thousands of excruciating deaths. He defended chemical weapons as a more humane method of killing. His wife, Claraara Imava, a pacifist, shot herself in protest of his work in 1915. He continued his work on the Eastern Front the next day. He received a 1918 Nobel Prize in chemistry even while he was seen as a war criminal by the allies. His earlier research on insecticides tloon a was later developed by others into tuklon b used by the Nazis to kill millions including members of his own family. Although he strongly identified as German, his Jewish background led to persecution after the Nazi rights in 1933, forcing him into exile. While traveling to take a new position in the Middle East on January 29th, 1934, he died of heart failure in Switzerland, aged 65. John Dillinger was an American gangster during the Great Depression, leading a gang responsible for robbing dozens of banks and police stations. At a time when many Americans resented banks, his crimes made him seem like a rebel with rumors that he destroyed debt records of ordinary citizens. He became famous for bold escapes like a jailbreak using a gun carved from wood and colored with shoe polish. This embarrassed the authorities, but in reality, his gang was violent, killing at least 10 people and wounding seven others during their Midwest crime spree, often using civilians as human shields to escape.

[00:10:02]There's also no evidence that Dillinger shared stolen loot with anyone other than his gang. The FBI, led by J. Edgar Hoover soon labeled him public enemy number one. After months on the run, he returned to Chicago where he hid in a brothel run by Anna Kanach, who later tipped off the FBI. On July 22nd, 1934.

[00:10:26]As he left the Biograph Theater after watching a movie, FBI agents ambushed him. He tried to run into an alley, but was shot three times from behind and died instantly. Some onlookers reportedly dipped handkerchiefs and skirts in his blood as souvenirs. Henry Barry Lowry led the Li gang in North Carolina during and after the Civil War made up of Native American black and white members. His rise began after violent conflicts with authorities.

[00:10:57]Between 1864 and 65, he killed one man, accusing him of stealing hogs and another for allegedly mistreating his family. Soon after his father and brother were executed by a militia court for illegal firearm possession. He then took leadership of the gang. Lowry became known as a Robin Hood figure to many targeting wealthy land owners, Confederate supporters, and corrupt officials while sharing loot with poor people. But his group also carried out years of brutal raids and around two dozen killings, mostly targeting wealthy whites, Confederate officials, and those connected to his family's persecution.

[00:11:35]This gained him support from non-white communities, which made him difficult to capture. Declared an outlaw in 1869, a $12,000 bounty was placed on him, sparking a long manhunt. Lowry's response, more revenge killings. In 1871, authorities jailed the gang's wives, but released them after threats of retaliation. In February 1872, shortly after a major robbery, Lowry vanished. Official reports claimed he accidentally shot himself while cleaning his shotgun, but his body was never found. Many believed he escaped into the swamps and either survived in hiding or died there. Some claimed they saw him attending a funeral years later. The massive bounty went unclaimed. Without him, his gang quickly collapsed. Lyndon B. Johnson became the 36th US president after John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

[00:12:29]He is best remembered for pushing through the Civil Rights Act of 1964, even though he knew it would cost the Democratic Party the South for generations. He also signed the Voting Rights Act and Fair Housing Act while launching Medicare, Medicaid, major anti-poverty programs and environmental initiatives. However, his presidency was also defined by the massive escalation of the Vietnam War, which cost the lives of millions of Vietnamese, mostly civilians, and over 58,000 American soldiers. He was also known as aggressive and manipulative, invading personal space, using intimidation, bullying, foul language, racial slurs, and political pressure to get results.

[00:13:14]Some say he was a notorious womanizer, and only motivated by a need to measure up to past presidents, often making decisions based on vanity. After a disappointing 1968 election cycle, he chose not to run again and retired to his Texas ranch. He continued smoking up to 60 cigarettes a day despite severe heart disease. On January 22nd, 1973, while at his ranch, he suffered a massive heart attack. He managed to call the Secret Service for help, but was found unconscious on the floor. He was pronounced dead at age 64.