Alternative Persons of the Year

Longtime president of the Liberal Democratic Party who was the longest-serving Prime Minister of Japan when he announced he would step down and allow the LDP to choose his successor

2018 Georgia Gubernatorial candidate who has championed an effort to expand voting rights, voter education, and participation in elections

New Zealand Prime Minister whose name was invoked at a US presidential debate by Marianne Williamson, and who later was celebrated for leading one of the world's best responses to the Coronavirus

South Korean film director behind Snowpiercer, Okja, and Parasite, which became the first film not in English to win Best Picture

American actor famous for his lead role in Black Panther who passed away in 2020

Scientific lead of the Coronavirus team at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who partnered with Moderna to produce one of the first certified vaccines

Governor of New York who produced regular coronavirus briefings that many Americans turned to as a source of updates on the virus

Director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, leading figure on Trump's White House Coronavirus Task Force, and future Chief Medical Advisor for the Biden administration

Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives personality with frosted tips who raised over 20 million dollars for restaurant workers who lost their jobs due to COVID

Minnesota man who was murdered, setting off one of the largest string of civil rights protests in US history

Trio of women who founded Black Lives Matter

UK Prime Minister whose country finally completed its divorce from the EU

Hong Kong entrepreneur who is one of the largest contributors to the pro-democracy movement, and whose newspaper is the largest regular pro-democracy publication in Hong Kong. He was arrested in 2020 for what appeared to be political charges.

Chinese opthalmologist who was deemed a "whistleblower" for being one of the first to publicly raise awareness of the outbreak of COVID. He was admonished by Wuhan police for this information leak, and died of COVID in February

Centrist French President whose new pension plan was the subject of the Yellow Vest protests across France

US Senate Majority Leader who gained a reputation for not holding votes on many pieces of legislation

British Army Officer who raised over 30 million pounds for COVID relief in celebration of his 100th birthday

American businessman who became the world's richest man, and whose SpaceX company led the first American-launched missions to the ISS since 2011

Husband-Wife team who started BioNTech, which worked with Pfizer to produce an mRNA-based COVID vaccine

Beloved Canadian-American game show host who died of cancer

President of Taiwan who was re-elected despite opposition from Beijing and the CCP, almost saw Taiwan made a member of the WHO, and presided over one of the world's best responses to COVID

Belarusian pro-democracy leader who ran against Alexander Lukashenko on a platform of freeing political prisoners and establishing free and fair elections

US President who ordered a strike on Iranian General Soleimani, was acquitted of his impeachment, and was criticized for his insufficient COVID response

Trio of Hong Kong activists who were jailed for their role in organizing pro-democracy protests in 2019

Chinese head of state, who may or may not resemble Winnie the Pooh, and who was criticized for pressuring the WHO to keep some information about COVID under wraps