As I finished reading Metro 2035, I began to read a book detailing Rasputin’s life and everything he had done during it. Through learning about his exploits and the various types of people he encountered and influenced, I wondered how he could end up becoming the corrupt man he turned into. He was described as a man who wandered from place to place, never settling in one area for long, except for the village which he was from. Despite having a family, he would constantly take month longs trips away from his home which grew his influence as a holy man, leading to his rise to power. Much of the information known about him is not exactly clear, as he was as much of a legend as he was a man, which distorts the truth around him and his character. Many accounts of Rasputin all agree on his rise being greatly assisted by his innate charisma, and his supposed healing of Alexei, the hemophiliac heir to the Romanov throne. We will most likely never know anything completely solid about his beginnings, as he was one of millions of those who originated from Siberia, a vast and frozen part of Russia. His origin only served to increase his mysticism and the stories surrounding him.