Kramer, Seinfeld’s TV neighbour, once suffered of a legendary affliction that made him irresistible to women. The condition was dubbed the Kavorka. But what if one could develop that skill at will? That’s the premise of the pickup artist culture. Here are some examples of men, real and fictional, who have managed to harness the power and knowledge to achieve what the great philosopher named Shaggy once called being Mr. Boombastic.

CALIGULA (real)
As the Penthouse-produced ’70s pornographic movie starring Malcolm McDowell shows, in Ancient Rome — where there were no Barry White albums to put on while making your move — it helped to be Emperor and proclaim yourself a god. Until you got assassinated.

GIACOMO CASANOVA (real)
The equivalent of what bluesmen call the backdoor man, but in Venice during the Renaissance (played onscreen by Heath Ledger). He led a fugitive lifestyle, having been accused of witchcraft, but his reputation for casting a spell on women persists more than two centuries after his death.

DON JUAN (fictional)
His backstory remains murky, since it has been rewritten throughout the ages in operas, poems and novels, but he remains one of the benchmarks when it comes to men and their conquests. His method, if the movie starring Johnny Depp is any gauge: skip the advice of the gurus and go straight to being delusional.

COBRA VERDE (fictional)
As played by Klaus Kinski on the Werner Herzog–directed namesake film, this guy landed his dream job while at the same time getting it on with the boss’ daughter. Then he did it with the middle daughter. And then he threepeated with the youngest one. Then he found out all of them were pregnant. And you thought the vibes at your workplace were bad.

JAMES BOND (fictional)
Do the math: 22 movies at an average of 1.6 Bond girls per film (plus implied off-screen flings). That’s a lot of undercover work for Queen and country. Of course, half of them try to kill him afterwards, so, you know, your mileage may vary.

TOM JONES (real)
Using his psychic powers, the singer can remove any woman’s panties and have them fly across the room and land by his feet — just ask your grandma.

FELA KUTI (real)
Not only did he create a musical genre (Afrobeat), fearlessly voice his opposition to his country’s oppressive dictatorship and spend three quarters of his life wearing only a leopard-print thong, but Kuti also married his 27 wives on the same day. Then he died of AIDS.

LOVERBOY (fictional)
Not the band. Before starring in Grey’s Anatomy, Patrick Dempsey played McLargeThinCrustPepperoni in Loverboy, an ’80s comedy where a clueless pizza delivery boy manages to show that the way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach, by becoming the fave boytoy of a group of desperate housewives. The plot that launched a thousand stroke-mag letters, not one confirmed.

WILT CHAMBERLAIN (real)
Must have been the short-shorts, as this great NBA athlete claimed to have bedded
20,000 women during his lifetime.

FRANK T.J. MACKEY (fictional)
As played by Tom Cruise in Magnolia and said to be inspired by real-life guru Ross Jeffries, he’s the reason a lot of people are either interested in or disgusted by pickup artists and their dark arts.

MYSTERY (real)
Guru, creator of his own method, main character in Neil Strauss’ The Game, star of his own VH1 show, magician — this riddle is wrapped in an enigma and covered in questions. Born Erik James Horvat-Markovic, this son of Toronto constantly makes hard-to-believe boasts about his prowess — when not breaking down into depressive episodes.