Real Life Ta'veren in the past couple centuries

[Ozzie_aiel]

Hitler definately, with so many attempts on his life failing, the pattern (of the Dark One) had to be protecting him.

 

Nelson Mandela, went from prisoner in a harsh, racist regime to the president of the country

 

Ned Kelly, an Australian outlaw who has become such a major part of aussie culture.

 

[JimboSlice]

The problem with this thread is that it is just a list of people who have done something with their lives. None of them were truely influential on the grand scale of the characters of the wheel of time. The only one i have seen that fits is Jesus.

 

Maybe someone like Teddy Roosevelt or ben Franklin would work. Supposedly everyone had huge man crushes on them. Winston Churchill wasn't a bad suggestion.

[TNine]

The biggest thing with ta'veren is how the people around them seem to follow their command naturally, and how they seem to be protected by nature itself. I would say that Gandhi, Martin Luther King, or Mandela might be ta'veren. The great conquerors (Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great) are definitely up there. Maybe some political figures (like Hitler or FDR).

[Edgetho]

Otto von Bismark would be up there. He was the driving force behind the unification of Germany, and Lord knows how that turned the first half of the 20th century on it's head. 

[Dane Sparks]

I apologise for heading outside the set boundaries of time!

 

I believe Qin Shi Huang would fit the mould of a ta'veren. He united all of China during the Warring States Period and the concept of tian xia; "all under heaven" is commonly attributed to his rule as Emperor. Imperial China flourished for nearly two thousand years after his death.

[pamela]

William Shakespeare.

[Ozzie_aiel]

Not all Taveren are as powerful as Rand, Mat and Perrin. I think we're told they're even more powerful than Hawkwing. Most taveren would be there to do certain things. Influential leaders, those whose words and deeds have shaped nations and cultures. Jesus would be a taveren of Rand-like power, Mohammod and Buddha wouldn't be far away from him either. Lesser taveren would be people like Bismark, Washington, Churchill etc

[Viperswhip]

Doesn't part of being a Taveren mean things kind of work out for you when they shouldn't? A la George Bush Jr. How do you get a second presidency without being Taveren? I don't know. I think Obama must be one as well, just to be non-partisan about it.

[Ozzie_aiel]

Thats not taveren, thats a good campaign manager.

[driedraspberry]

Cyrus the Great definitely.

 

Giaus Marius and Augustus for Rome. 

Pericles. Maybe even Alcibiades.

[Whizbang]

Has anyone mentioned J.K. Rowling? If rags to richer-than-the-queen is an indicator of ta'veren, then she is. And she definitely has affected the world, though whether that affect can be considered "pattern changing" or just within the normal realm of possibilities can be debated.

[Ozzie_aiel]

True, she took the generic fantasy recipe and turned herself into the first billionaire author (meaning her boks have made her over a billion bucks). And shes concidered the one who got millions of kids to pick up books and start reading.