Who's your favorite Historical Fiction character(s) you like so much you wish existed and affected history?

Tom Joad from the Gs of Wrath. He was released from prison on parole and returns to his family farm to find it in chaos, dust storms have ruined the harvest and the bank are foreclosing. The Joad family strike out for California with Tom who has to break the terms of the curfew. On the way he strikes out against the economic system that put them and a lot of other people in that situation. He comes across a humanistic character, cares for his family and others suffering from the same problems.