Editing Idi Amin (section)

== Character ==
=== Nicknames ===
Over the course of his career, Amin gained numerous nicknames, many of them derogatory:

* "Big Daddy":<ref name="africa coup">{{Cite web |date=12 January 2017 |title=When Uganda last played Africa Cup, Idi Amin ruled |url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/sports/soccer/when-uganda-last-played-africa-cup-idi-amin-ruled-1683198 |access-date=11 May 2021 |website=Daily Monitor}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sospeter Okero |first=Biching'a |last2=Nyandoro Obara |first2=George |last3=Kebaya |first3=Charles |date=22 September 2019 |editor-last=Mugubi |editor-first=John |editor2-last=Ojwang' |editor2-first=Amos O. |editor3-last=Saxena |editor3-first=Monisha |editor4-last=Wesonga |editor4-first=Robert |editor5-last=Kiptoo |editor5-first=Priscah-Tarus |editor6-last=Nyongesa |editor6-first=Andrew |editor7-last=Sehrawat |editor7-first=Deepa |editor8-last=Mwangi |editor8-first=Evan |editor9-last=[[Hope Eghagha]] |title=Representation of the Big Man Typology in The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin |url=https://www.royalliteglobal.com/njhs/article/view/387 |journal=Nairobi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences |publisher=Royallite Global (Royallite Publishers) |publication-place=Nairobi, Kenya |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=40–56 |issn=2520-4009 |editor10-first=Christopher |editor10-last=Odhiambo}}</ref> affectionate nickname{{sfn|Decker|2014|p=1}}
* ''kijambiya'' ("the [[machete]]"):{{sfn|Decker|2014|p=137}} attributed to Ugandan security forces often murdering their victims with machetes{{sfn|Decker|2014|p=73}}
* "Butcher of Uganda"<ref name="africa coup" />
* "Butcher of Africa"{{sfn|Seftel|2010|p=171}}
* "Butcher of Kampala"<ref name="AP2" />
* "Black Hitler"<ref name="AP2" />
* "Dada": It is disputed whether this was part of Amin's family name or a nickname. Some observers have claimed that it originated as a nickname for Amin's "cowardly" behavior, as it can be translated as "sister", though this has been strongly disputed by others.{{sfn|Decker|2014|p=188}}{{sfn|Leopold|2020|pp=30–31}} Amin's family has stated that "Dada" was simply an alternative name for the [[Lugbara people]] which is occasionally used as a personal name. Researcher Mark Leopold judged this to be more likely than the nickname theory.{{sfn|Leopold|2020|p=31}}
* "Dr. Jaffa":<ref name=":1" /> he earned this nickname in exile in Saudi Arabia due to his daily consumption of oranges, especially after allegedly transitioning to [[fruitarianism]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />

=== Erratic behavior, self-bestowed titles and media portrayal ===
[[File:Idi Amin caricature2.jpg|right|thumb|A 1977 caricature of Amin in military and presidential attire by [[Edmund S. Valtman]]]]
As the years progressed, Amin's behavior became more erratic, unpredictable, and strident. After the United Kingdom broke off all diplomatic relations with his regime in 1977, Amin declared that he had defeated the British, and he conferred on himself the decoration of CBE (Conqueror of the British Empire). His full self-bestowed title ultimately became: {{qi|His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]], [[Military Cross|MC]], CBE, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular}}, in addition to his officially stated claim of being the [[pretender|uncrowned]] [[king of Scotland]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Appiah |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Appiah |url=https://archive.org/details/africanaencyclop00appi |title=Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience |last2=Henry Louis Gates |author-link2=Henry Louis Gates |year=1999 |isbn=9780465000715 |url-access=registration}}</ref> He never received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) or the Military Cross (MC). He conferred a [[Juris Doctor|doctorate of law]] on himself from Makerere University as well as the Victorious Cross (VC), a medal made to emulate the British [[Victoria Cross]].<ref name="Byword" /><ref>Lloyd, Lorna (2007) p.239</ref>

Amin became the subject of rumours, including a widespread belief that he was a [[Human cannibalism|cannibal]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Orizio |first=Riccardo |date=21 August 2003 |title=Idi Amin's Exile Dream |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/21/opinion/idi-amin-s-exile-dream.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090518032643/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/21/opinion/idi-amin-s-exile-dream.html |archive-date=18 May 2009 |access-date=8 August 2009 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Amin reportedly also boasted that he kept the severed heads of political enemies in his freezer, although he said that human flesh was generally "too salty" for his taste.<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 December 2016 |title=Ghost Stories: Idi Amin's torture chambers – IWMF |url=https://www.iwmf.org/reporting/ghost-stories-idi-amins-torture-chambers/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716050341/https://www.iwmf.org/reporting/ghost-stories-idi-amins-torture-chambers/ |archive-date=16 July 2019 |access-date=6 September 2019 |website=International Women's Media Foundation}}</ref>

During Amin's time in power, popular media outside of Uganda often portrayed him as an essentially comic and eccentric figure. [[Julius Harris]] emphasized Amin's allegedly clownish side in ''[[Victory at Entebbe]]'', while [[Yaphet Kotto]] drew more praise for projecting Amin's sinister nature in ''[[Raid on Entebbe (film)|Raid on Entebbe]]''. In a 1977 assessment typical of the time, a ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine article described him as a {{qi|killer and clown, big-hearted buffoon and strutting [[martinet]]}}.<ref name="time">{{Cite magazine |date=28 February 1977 |title=Amin: The Wild Man of Africa |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,918762,00.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309155500/http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,918762,00.html |archive-date=9 March 2017 |access-date=8 August 2009 |magazine=Time}}</ref> The comedy-variety series ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' aired four Amin sketches between 1976 and 1979, including one in which he was an ill-behaved houseguest in exile, and another in which he was a spokesman against [[venereal disease]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Impressions – Idi Amin |url=http://snl.jt.org/imp.php?i=43 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214145150/http://snl.jt.org/imp.php?i=43 |archive-date=14 December 2013 |website=The SNL Archives}}</ref> In 1979, radio host [[Don Imus]] made multiple on-air telephone calls in an attempt to talk to Amin, and later hosted a phony interview with him that was deemed "very dirty".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Columbia Daily Spectator 1 October 1980 — Columbia Spectator |url=http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs19801001-01.2.8& |website=spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu}}</ref> In a ''[[Benny Hill Show]]'' episode transmitted in January 1977, Hill portrayed Amin sitting behind a desk that featured a placard reading "ME TARZAN, U GANDA".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Benny's Place • The Faces of Benny Hill – Page 5 (1977–1978) |url=http://runstop.de/faces05.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528232053/http://runstop.de/faces05.html |archive-date=28 May 2016 |access-date=11 June 2016 |website=runstop.de}}</ref>

The foreign media were often criticized by Ugandan exiles and defectors for emphasizing Amin's self-aggrandizing eccentricities and taste for excess while downplaying or excusing his murderous behavior.<ref name="Kibazo1">{{Cite news |last=Kibazo |first=Joel |date=13 January 2007 |title=A Brute, Not a Buffoon |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/jan/13/comment.uganda |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831000037/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/jan/13/comment.uganda |archive-date=31 August 2013 |access-date=8 August 2009 |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |quote=...{{nbs}}Amin was widely portrayed as a comic figure. Yes, he had expelled the Asians and murdered a few people, but isn't that what was expected of Africa, I used to hear.}}</ref> Other commentators even suggested that Amin had deliberately cultivated his eccentric reputation in the foreign media as an easily parodied buffoon in order to defuse international concern over his administration of Uganda.<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 August 2003 |title=Idi Amin |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1439131/Idi-Amin.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110005614/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1439131/Idi-Amin.html |archive-date=10 January 2018 |access-date=4 April 2018 |work=The Telegraph |location=London |quote=Throughout his disastrous reign, he encouraged the West to cultivate a dangerous ambivalence towards him. His genial grin, penchant for grandiose self-publicity, and ludicrous public statements on international affairs led to his adoption as a comic figure. He was easily parodied{{nbs}}... however, this fascination, verging on affection, for the grotesqueness of the individual occluded the singular plight of his nation.}}</ref> Ugandan soldier and rebel [[Patrick Kimumwe]] argued that Amin's {{qi|clowning conceal[ed] a ruthless extinction of human rights}} in Uganda.{{sfn|Seftel|2010|p=198}} Journalists [[Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey]] wrote, {{qi|facile explanations of Amin's regime, as either a one-man show or a lawless and ruthless band of killers, do not get at the heart of the power structure.}}{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=4}}