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“It is a right of nature to glut the soul with vengeance! I shall hurl the first spear at the foe! If any man can stand at rest while Attila fights, he is a dead man!” — Attila the Hun


Attila the Hun, also known simply as Attila, was one of The Damned which Dante must punish or absolve for "The Damned" achievement/trophy. He acts as the host shade of the circle of Violence.

Description[]

"Scourge of the Earth. The feared Emperor of the Huns, who is forever trapped among those who desired to be drenched in the blood of man."

Background[]

Attila was the ruler of the Huns, one of the most feared enemies of the Western Roman Empire since Hannibal Barca of Carthage. Attila was born into the Hunnic royal family in 406 AD. His bloodlust and cruelty were so great that he called himself the "Scourge of God". Attila came to lead the Huns when his uncle mysteriously died, and the first order that he gave was to raid the Eastern Roman Empire. Attila was seen as a force of terror. After he destroyed an enemy settlement, he would often demand protection money from the other peoples of the region.

In the Byzantine Empire, his path of destruction was immense, only stopping at Thermopylae in Greece. At this point, Attila was said to have received a letter from the Roman princess Honoria, asking him to make her his wife. Duly, he asked her brother, Emperor Valentinian III, for Honoria's hand in marriage. Valentinian outright refused to have his sister marry a barbarian. In retaliation, the enraged king of the Huns ravaged the Roman province of Gaul, even decimating an army of Goths and Romans in 451 AD. When Attila made it to the walls of Rome, he was halted not by the Emperor, but by the Pope himself. Pope Leo I told Attila that if his army spared Rome, the Church would give him anything that his heart desired.

Attila was impressed by the Pope's offer and accepted, returning to his Khanate capital in Hungary. However, he felt that Honoria broke her promise and was agitated by this offense. Attila eventually married the great-niece of the Visigoth king, Alaric. In 453 AD, after years of war, one of Attila's arteries burst and the Scourge finally died, choking on his own blood.

Dialogue[]

"The romans call me the Scourge of God!"

"Bleda, my brother. Let us end our feud and rule together!"

How will I kill my brother? Make it look like a hunting accident..."

"I alone will lead the Huns!"

"My tribe rampaged through the Balkans, as far as Thermopylae!"

"I captured more than a hundred cities."

"The Romans will flee from Constantinople before they choose to face me."

"I burned churches and monasteries and slew the faithful in great numbers."

"The Province of Gaul fell before me. The dead could not be counted!"

"I slaughtered the Bishop Nicasius right upon his altar..."

"Raze the city completely! Leave no trace of it behind!"

"I will build a castle on the hill just to watch the city burn!"

*Grabbed by Dante* "Please, I perished by choking on my own blood!"

*Grabbed by Dante* "My humility and simplicity has been chronicled..."

"Mourn me with the blood of-" *Slain by Dante*

*Absolved by Dante* "I praise you, Oh Great One!"

Trivia[]

Attila in the animated film.
  • In The Inferno, Dante and Virgil witness the shade of Attila within the boiling River Phlegethon, suffering for his violence against others.
  • Although described as a fearsome monster by the Romans, Attila was revered by the Turkish, Hungarian and Mongol people around the world and shown to be a benevolent ruler.
  • As Lucifer assumed his second form, he mentioned that he tried to have Attila free him from his prison, only to fail.
Condemned Souls
Pontius Pilate ·  Orpheus ·  Electra ·  Francesca da Polenta ·  Paolo Malatesta ·  Semiramis ·  Ciacco ·  Clodia
Tarpeia ·  Gessius Florus ·  Fulvia ·  Boudica ·  Hecuba ·  Filippo Argenti ·  Emperor Frederick II
Cavalcante de Cavalcanti ·  Farinata degli Uberti ·  Attila the Hun ·  Pietro della Vigna ·  Brunetto Latini
Guido Guerra ·  Thaïs ·  Tiresias ·  Myrrha ·  Fra Alberigo ·  Mordred ·  Count Ugolino
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