Historical Who Am I Riddles

[Cookiegod]

Edit: I forgot about Pyrrhus! Could it be him? His elephants made enemies tremble. He fell at Argos, did any non-great Alexander fail in Peloponnes? I will tentatively guess Pyrrhus.

By the gods! This is what I get for not rereading the posts directly before replying. Good that I just went through the last posts again! I hadn't seen your edit because I was distracted as I was travelling, but you're correct! Pyrrhos it is!

Elephants are the beasts, realms he was at war with simultaneously include Rome, Carthage, Seleucids, Antigonos, and some smaller realms. He was a ginger and his name pretty much means that, hence why seing "red".
Tribe is the Molossans. Whilst it's a bit hyperbolic in that he had a number of weak successors follow in his footsteps, the end result was nevertheless first the loss of Molossan supremacy in Epirus and later they got hunted into extinction by the Romans.

His career got started as a hostage, his invasion of Italy (like that of one of his predecessors, Alexander the I. of Epirus) ended in failure, and like Alexander of Epirus he died in a battle. As I said in my later hints, like Alexander primarily was meant as a hint as to where (I hoped you guys would immediately zoom in on the hellenic era and those who had an extensive interest in the rise of Rome or like to read unit descriptions in EB would know him), and that the how did not happen at the same place as Alexander had failed. "I shattered the foe, and shattered myself" should be obvious from his tactic and strategic decisions with a very odd mix of brilliance and ineptitude. Like my ineptitude. Sorry again guys! Moth got a rep and it's his turn!

[Ältester der Motten]

Oh, so I got it right after all! Nice!

I will take a while to figure out my riddle and then edit this post with it.

Edit: I think guessing this one will be trivial for some, but very hard for the rest. Please do your best!

Slave to warrior,
only one in distant lands,
lord's death, my exile.

[Sar1n]

Yasuke is first to come in mind. Black slave to a missionary in Japan, ended up stranded there after his master's death and entered service of Oda Nobunaga as a warrior.

[Ältester der Motten]

Damn, I thought it might have been to easy. Yasuke it is!

Although I'm sure he was a present to Nobunaga by Jesuit missionaries. After Nobunaga's death he entered his son's service. After his death, he was exiled back to the missionaries by the new xenophobe government.

[Sar1n]

I'm tired and got stuck trying to make the riddle somewhat rhyme....so I'll post it tomorrow if you don't mind.

[Sar1n]

Isn't perfect, but should be good enough...

Brief candle that lit my people's pyre,
my place I found among steel and fire.
Some call me traitor, my actions sin
but enslaved I was by my own kin.
Chains couldn't take my birth and ken
that helped deliver my kin to bitter end.
And though it was grasped by foreigner's hand
my sleeping fury watches over the land.

Who am I?

[Ältester der Motten]

I know Suur Tõll from Estonian legend is supposed to come back to life to help his island in times of need, and I guess the foreigners could be the Teutonic Knights, though that would not be true anymore and there are sepculations his name points to an old German noble house from the region anyway. Or the Russians/Soviet Union? Also no treason. Anyway I don't think it's him, but I'll throw it out as a guess anyway.

I'm wondering if steel and fire is already a hint as a reference to Ogniem i mieczem.

[Sar1n]

That's way off.

[Ältester der Motten]

I thought so. II gues she might be an American Aboriginal chieftain or something.

[Sar1n]

Don't get too stuck on the last two lines, they were added just in case this turns to be too ambiguous...which it shouldn't. You'll know what it means when you get the right person.

[Sar1n]

Time for first hint: the last two lines refer to the dormant volcano named after this person.

[Ältester der Motten]

I couldn't find any volcanos named after national heroes yet, but I did find underwater volcanos named after Lord of the Rings.

[Sar1n]

This person is definitely controversial. Hero, victim, traitor...

[Sar1n]

I thought so. II gues she might be an American Aboriginal chieftain or something.

Well, since it's obvious that a hint is necessary, let's use this. You're on to something here.

[Sar1n]

Is everyone stumped or nobody trying?

Okay...steel and fire refers to, somewhat poetically, to the company into which this person was forced...

[Kilo11]

I am still thinking about it. It's late for me now though, so I'm going to have to come back to this in the morning, when my brain is firing on all cylinders again.

[Sar1n]

A big hint.

For the first time in this thread (yes, I checked), the answer is a member of the fairer sex.

[Abdülmecid I]

That's indeed helpful. Is it Malinche, Cortez' concubine and interpreter that played a crucial role in the conquest of the Aztec empire? Apparently there is a volcano named after her in Mexico, whose existence (the volcano's, not Mexico's) I was admittedly unaware of.

[Sar1n]

Indeed. Malinche (though that was probably a bastardization of her name), christened Marina. A noblewoman from one of the city states within Aztec sphere of influence, she was either sold to slavery by her own family or kidnapped, and ended up being one of women given to Cortez by the city state Tabasco as tribute after their defeat. Conquistadors quickly recognized her ability to translate into court Nahuatl and knowledge of local politics, both of which proved invaluable in forming alliances that brought down the Aztec Empire, and for that she was held in high esteem by them. But she did not live much longer than that, died before reaching 30, thus the "brief candle".

[Abdülmecid I]

At first, I instinctively thought of St. Helena... Anyway, let's stay on the topic of Hispanic America (sort of).

In times of turmoil,
I quit my home's soil
crossed an ocean to fight for the crown,
bringing pesky rebels down.
And yet always a fox too sly,
from a nefarious conspiracy I never shy.

The plan my people to betray,
almost went astray,
but then I lied,
and the man who asked too many questions died.

With my red beret,
the column of victory I will erect,
as my competitors die like flies,
under the executioner's eyes
and the pilot's cries.

Speaking of flies and eyes,
is my eyesight loose
or are these trees coming way to close?

Hint: The bold word is not used randomly.