Napoléon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution, and the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the Republic from 11 November 1799 to 18 May 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français) and King of Italy under the name Napoleon I from 18 May 1804 to 6 April 1814, and again briefly from 20 March to 22 June 1815.

Napoleon did little to develop innovative military strategies, but nevertheless he did use the superior quality of the French army (as reformed under the various revolutionary governments) to win many successful campaigns and some surprising victories. His campaigns continue to be studied at military academies all over the Universe and he is generally regarded as one of the greatest commanders to ever live. Over the course of little more than a decade, he fought virtually every European power and acquired control of most of the western and central mainland of Europe by conquest or alliance until his disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812, followed by defeat at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, which led to his abdication several months later and his exile to the island of Elba. He staged a comeback known as the Hundred Days (les Cent Jours), but was again defeated decisively at the Battle of Waterloo in present day Belgium on 18 June 1815, followed shortly afterwards by his surrender to the British and his exile to the island of Saint Helena, where he died six years later.

Aside from his military achievements, Napoleon is also remembered for the establishment of the Napoleonic Code. He is considered by some to have been one of the "enlightened despots."

Napoleon appointed several members of the Bonaparte family and close friends of his as monarchs of countries he conquered and as important government figures (his brother Lucien became France's Minister of Finance). Although their reigns did not survive his downfall, a nephew, Napoleon III, ruled France later in the nineteenth century.

Doctor Who stories
Barbara and Ian met the young Napoleon during a visit to Paris in 1794, when they became involved in the plot by Napoleon and Paul Barras to overthrow Robespierre ("The Reign of Terror"). The Doctor did not meet Napoleon during these events, but he did later, at some point between then and his third incarnation. At that time he advised "Boney" that "an army moves on its stomach." ("Day of the Daleks"). Soldiers from Napoleon's Russian Campaign were kidnapped by the War Lords ("The War Games"). The Third Doctor claimed to have been "a close personal friend" of Horatio Nelson, who defeated Napoleon's fleet at Trafalgar ("The Sea Devils"). During one of his megalomaniac rantings, the newly awakened Davros misquoted Napoleon, as pointed out by the Doctor ("Destiny of the Daleks").

The Expanded Universe

 * While visiting Paris in what was supposed to be Napoleon's reign as Emperor, the First Doctor and Dodo found themselves in an alternate timeline in which France was ruled by the Marquis de Sade ("The Man in the Velvet Mask").


 * Before the Second Doctor's regeneration and exile to Earth, the Time Lords sent him to investigate the activities of the Players in the Napoleonic era, during which time he met several historical figures, including Napoleon, Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington ("World Game").


 * During a visit to Egypt in 1300 BCE with the Fifth Doctor, Peri convinced sculptures to place the face of Elvis Presley on the Sphinx. This anachronism was corrected centuries later when Napoleon's troops shot off the Sphinx's nose ("The Eye of the Scorpion").


 * During a visit to Rio de Janiero in 2080, the Doctor and Turlough encountered a woman, Ileana De Santos, who was turned into a werewolf in 1812 as Napoleon's troops marched on her town ("Loups-Garoux").


 * While fleeing from the Ants, Benny found herself in Egypt in 1798, where she met Vivant Denon, leader of an archaelogical team sent to that country by Napoleon ("Set Piece").


 * The Eighth Doctor met a girl, Dusha, living in Moscow during Napoleon's advance on the city, whom he later found was the emotional half of a Magellan who had been divided and exiled from the future to two different time zones ("Emotional Chemistry").