Everything about history shows that it has a strong preference for making comebacks. The people who experienced this situation lost their previous identities because they underwent prison and exile and war and scandal and were forced to build their new lives from nothing. The group of people understood their environment through observation and they believed that their best chance of survival would come from telling their story before others could share it. The total range of their character development included both gentler character traits and basic personality changes while some characters maintained their complex personalities until their final moments.
Reinhold Messner
Messner became famous as the hard, almost frightening climber who treated Everest like a personal grudge match. He achieved this status after summiting Everest without supplemental oxygen in 1978. He started his new life after conquering all 14 eight-thousanders by dedicating his time to expeditions and museums and environmental efforts. His entire public persona existed beyond his capacity for physical strength.
Malcolm X
The street hustling Detroit Red became a street hustler who developed his street skills from his time in Harlem and prison and his experiences with a world that treated him poorly. His pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964 created new opportunities which transformed him into an international voice for human rights who possessed extensive religious knowledge.
Immanuel Kant
Kant began his academic career by writing about natural science and metaphysics and the mechanics of everything. His development of moral philosophy through his studies in Königsberg transformed him into the philosopher who most people associate with the term "duty."
Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth spent a portion of her childhood life as an obstacle to politicians because she lived as the daughter of a disgraced mother while depending on royal support from her king who could withdraw his favor at any moment. Elizabeth used her uncertain situation as queen to create power for herself by transforming her Virgin Queen identity into a strategic tool which helped her achieve her goals.
Giuseppe Garibaldi
The early life of Garibaldi included multiple unsuccessful revolts together with his time spent in exile and his military missions in South America which should have ended his career but did not. The Redshirts created Garibaldi as their primary representative for Italian unification and 19th century society accepted this depiction.
Mary Shelley
Shelley wrote Frankenstein when she was still too young which should have prevented her from writing more works throughout her life. After she experienced personal tragedy and financial difficulties, she transformed herself into an editor and biographer and serious political author who managed her own career while protecting Percy Bysshe Shelley's posthumous reputation.
Napoleon Bonaparte
He began his career as an artillery officer from Corsica who possessed exceptional skills in transforming military successes into inevitable outcomes. He used his imperial image, which had achieved perfect polish, to return his home country after his exile as a hero instead of a defeated man.
Muhammad Ali
Cassius Clay had become a champion despite his title. Ali understood that public recognition held no value until people defined their true selves. He refused to join the Vietnam War draft which resulted in professional repercussions but he emerged from that experience as more than an athletic celebrity.
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet possessed an exceptional ability to disturb those in positions of authority which resulted in his imprisonment and developed his entire performance skills. Voltaire developed his whole identity through the combination of satire and reason and his critique of religious beliefs.
George Psalmanazar
Psalmanazar executed his most unusual 18th century deception by masquerading as a Formosan native who spoke an artificial language while creating his fictional personal history. He managed to transform himself into a writer and academic after his entire system crashed down.
Ignatius Of Loyola
He started as a nobleman who had received training for warfare and courtroom activities as well as all noble duties. After he suffered his battle wound in 1521, he dedicated his entire military training to religious studies which led him to establish the Jesuit order.
Augustine Of Hippo
Before he became Saint Augustine, he dedicated his life to studying rhetoric while maintaining his persistent desire to learn all aspects of philosophical thought. His conversion turned him into one of Christianity's most important thinkers.
Oscar Wilde
Wilde first achieved mastery of public visibility which made him the most polished expert in London wit and theater and public performances. The entire situation changed after his imprisonment because his manhandled voice emerged as one of his two main vocal styles which formed his public persona.
