In silent cinema, the idea of a madman who believes he is Napoleon Bonaparte became a stock comedy figure, and this 1904 Edison short was a remake of an earlier Biograph film. The trope came from real cases in the 19th century. When Napoleon's body was returned to Paris for burial in December 1840, the director of a Paris asylum admitted fourteen men who claimed to be the emperor, all within a day. Doctors of the period saw such delusions of grandeur as a recognisable form of mental illness. The belief that you are a famous historical figure became one of the most familiar patterns in psychiatric case records.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.