Grigori Efimovich Rasputin , The healer.

                                          Grigori Efimovich Rasputin

Gregory Rasputin was a "holy man" from Siberia. He gained a reputation for being a healer and a prophet of sorts at an early age. Later on in his life, he spent time in Nicholas II's court, advising the tsar and the tsaritsa about major decisions for Russia, as well as saving Alexei's life on many occasions. Alexei was a hemophiliac, and Rasputin stopped Alexei's continual bleeding when it started. Rasputin developed a very negative reputation in the years between his death and today. He is widely-regarded as a very insane man with tremendous charisma and charm (some suggest this charisma stems from his manic disturbances). It is known that he had tremendous influence over tsar Nicholas II and the tsaritsa, Alexandra. Rasputin came to be known to the royal family through the Russian Orthodox Church. Earlier in his childhood, he had gained a reputation as a prophet, as one who could see the truth in the past, present, and in the future. When a young man in Siberia, he is shown in the film to have claimed in church one day that he had seen the Mother of Christ, Mary, and could describe her beauty and radiance. At first, the minister scrutinized him for this claim, but soon fell for Rasputin’s charismatic lure. Once Rasputin became famous enough in the Orthodox Church, the tsar would be informed, as the tsar was the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Rasputin soon had nearly everyone around him convinced that he was a holy man, a person endowed with special powers by the Creator, and when tsar Nicholas II was searching and ready to try almost anything to heal is son, Alexei, someone summoned Father Rasputin. Rasputin was charismatic, defiant of critics, and individually styled. He could convince and influence people easily, and had a magnetic personality for many of the people he came in contact with. He ignored those who opposed him and his practices, which created problems for him later on in his stay at the palace. He was extremely unpredictable and erratic with human relationships of all kinds, and was what many consider a very real danger to a great many people. Many professionals today believe strongly that he had many mental imbalances to deal with, likely a serious case requiring institutionalization. He could be comforting to those he was closer to, however, as is apparent in Alexei's almost commensalist dependence on Rasputin. During his time with the royal family, he displayed no lack of input when it came to political matters. One attribute which was positive for him, but very negative for those who were against him was his high tolerance for: several different kinds of poisons, bullet rounds, axe blows to the skull, and finally, drowning. It is thought by several scholars that after all these attempts at ending Rasputin's life, his murderers were so untrusting of his true and final death, that they resorted to dismembering his remains just to be absolutely certain of his demise!