History Creator / FriedrichNietzsche

* ''The Will to Power'': Again, not actually one of his books, but a collection of his notes; scholars to this day [[SeriousBusiness have serious debates]] whether he had intended to finish this work at all. Either way, the work covers Nietzsche's ideas about the history of nihilism in the West. The subtitle, ''An Attempt at the Revaluation of All Values'', points at the middle part of the work, in which he begins to try to point the way for anyone who might become a proper {{Ubermensch}}. Recent editions take pains to note that ''The Will to Power'' is not really a book, and certainly doesn't meet Nietsche's exacting standards; academic discussions of his work generally regard the book as too compromised to be used as a reliable source. See above, about his [[ThoseWackyNazis wacky]] sister, for details.

* ApatheticCitizens: He thinks humanity is becoming this ever since Plato, Christianity, and the concept of FluffyCloudHeaven became popular. According to him, these fantasies encouraged humans to escape and become apathetic citizens, allowing life to decay because there's always the unrealistic fantasy of forgiveness, and heaven is thought of as more real than life itself. He referred to this as "other-worldliness". However, he also thought that on the other side, modern science is making the Apathetic Citizens syndrome even ''worse''. Science reveals that humans are animals and morality never existed outside of the human imagination, and this revelation encourages everyone to become {{The Hedonist}}s WhileRomeBurns. He called such a citizen the "Last Man" - someone who believes in nothing, takes no risks and makes no sacrifices, but whose only goal is to have a safe and pleasurable life and then a painless death. Fellow existentialist Soren Kierkegaard had similar thoughts, contrasting the aesthetic slaves (hedonists) and the Knight of Infinite Resignation (the Heaven fantasizer), with the non-apathetic highly-creative [[TheAntiNihilist Knight of Faith]].

* BerserkButton: Yeah, don't insult the [[WorthyOpponent Jews]] around Nietzsche. Despite what his MisaimedFandom would have you believe ([[ThoseWackyNazis and there]] [[StrawNihilist are many]]) he'd rip German anti-Semites apart if they neglected the contributions of Jewish culture and philosophy to Europe. [[ProudScholarRaceGuy Well, rip them apart rhetorically anyway.]]

* DumbIsGood: Made a comment or two on the subject, going so far as to note that the more a slave morality dominates, the more synonymous "good" and "dumb" become. As with many things, [[DeconstructedTrope he takes his hammer to the subject,]] arguing that this trope is held true because slave moralists want things to be as peaceful and non frightening as possible, hence why stupidity would be valued over intelligence, as dumb people are considerably less threatening and subversive than intelligent people could be.

* {{Escapism}}: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed.]] He viewed Christianity and many similar faiths as inventing the idea of the FluffyCloudHeaven to soothe the downtrodden and weak in spirit, by denouncing their current state of existence - generally consisting of slavery, suffering, and forced servitude - in favor of a reality wherein their painful life would be made worthwhile, and their masters would suffer judgement in Hell. This obsession of another life would then infect their masters too - those who were previously content and better suited for reality, causing society to whither away due to everyone focusing on the eternal afterlife over ephemeral reality. Hence his tendency to refer to Christianity and alcohol as being similarly intoxicating and self destructive.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: TropeNamer for that insistent pattern in revenge tragedies, and his reaction to Socrates.

* HitlerAteSugar: As noted above, his antisemitic sister and appropriation by the Nazis ruined his reputation for quite some time after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Walter Kaufmann and other philosophers have rehabilitated him to a rather large extent by now, but not completely. It is also quite likely that Nietzsche continues to be misread due to the fact that he [[WhatCouldHaveBeen never got his chance to finish his planned tetralogy on ethics]], of which ''The Antichrist'' was only the first part. Given that Christianity was by far the dominant religion of the day, it makes sense that he would focus on what he termed "slave morality" in his first part of the work; however, the assumption that he therefore would prefer "master morality" does not necessarily follow, and indeed, Kaufmann himself rejected this interpretation.
* InsistentTerminology: Sort of. As he gradually grew disillusioned of German culture, he started emphasizing his (imagined) descent from Polish nobility; by the end of his (sane) life, he insisted that he was entirely Polish.

* VirtueIsWeakness: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted.]] He generally condemned altruism, humility and pity, along with other traditional virtues on the grounds that they stem from a sense of self loathing and self-abasement, helped the disadvantaged at the expense of the healthy, and made life more wearisome for those who followed them, as well as his belief that they were made into virtues specifically because the people who embodied them couldn't emulate the nobility's vitrues and values, but he didn't want people to become TheUnfettered. He admired people who showed bravery, incredible self-discipline and perserverance, and honesty and integrity, preferring virtue in the Machiavellian sense over the moral sense.

[[caption-width-right:300:[-Der Überschnurrbartmensch. [[labelnote:Translation:]]The mustache-man.[[/labelnote]] Despite the resemblance, not [[Series/MythBusters Jamie Hyneman.]]]]-]

* ApatheticCitizens: He thinks humanity is becoming this ever since Plato, Christianity, and the concept of FluffyCloudHeaven became popular. According to him, these fantasies encouraged humans to escape and become apathetic citizens, allowing life to decay because there's always the unrealistic fantasy of forgiveness, and heaven is thought of as more real than life itself. He referred to this as "other-worldliness". However, he also thought that on the other side, modern science is making the Apathetic Citizens syndrome worse. Science reveals that humans are animals and morality never existed outside of the human imagination, and this revelation encouraged everyone to become {{The Hedonist}}s WhileRomeBurns. He called such a citizen the "Last Man" - someone who believes in nothing, takes no risks and makes no sacrifices, but whose only goal is to have a safe and pleasurable life and then a painless death. Fellow existentialist Soren Kierkegaard had similar thoughts, contrasting the aesthetic slaves (hedonists) and the Knight of Infinite Resignation (the Heaven fantasizer), with the non-apathetic highly-creative [[TheAntiNihilist Knight of Faith]].

* ApatheticCitizens: He thinks humanity is becoming this ever since Plato, Christianity, and the concept of FluffyCloudHeaven became popular. According to him, these fantasies encouraged humans to escape and become apathetic citizens, allowing life to decay because there's always the unrealistic fantasy of forgiveness and heaven thought as more real than life itself. He referred to this as "other-worldliness". However, he also thought that on the other side, modern science is making the Apathetic Citizens syndrome worse. Science reveals that humans are animals and morality never existed outside of the human imagination, and this revelation encouraged everyone to become {{The Hedonist}}s WhileRomeBurns. He called such a citizen the "Last Man" - someone who believes in nothing, takes no risks and makes no sacrifices, but whose only goal is to have a safe and pleasurable life and then a painless death. Fellow existentialist Soren Kierkegaard had similar thoughts, contrasting the aesthetic slaves (hedonists) and the Knight of Infinite Resignation (the Heaven fantasizer), with the non-apathetic highly-creative [[TheAntiNihilist Knight of Faith]].

* BeigeProse: [[TakeAThirdOption Manages to be both this]] and PurpleProse at the same time. His energetic, often caustic wit and colourful use of metaphor and imagery makes it easy to get lost in reading his works, but only Thus Spoke Zarathustra runs to the length of a full novel. Every other work with the exception of The Genealogy of Morals deposits his ideas in the form of aphorism or aphoristic prose, which can be read a piece at a time. In his own words, "It is my ambition to say in ten words what others say in a whole book."

* CausticCritic: He's very well known for severely criticising and roasting anything that comes in his attention. He roasted Christianity, Platonism, Socrates, modern philosophy, modern science, Germany itself, and even his former best friend Music/RichardWagner. Ironic, since in real life he's a very introverted NiceGuy.

* {{Escapism}}: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed.]] He viewed Christianity and many similar faiths as inventing the idea of the FluffyCloudHeaven to soothe the downtrodden and weak in spirit, by denouncing their current state of existence - generally consisting of slavery, suffering, and forced servitude - in favour of a reality wherein their painful life would be made worthwhile, and their masters would suffer judgement in Hell. This obsession of another life would then infect their masters too - those who were previously content and better suited for reality, causing society to whither away due to everyone focusing on the eternal afterlife over ephemeral reality. Hence his tendency to refer to Christianity and alcohol as being similarly intoxicating and self destructive.
* EvilVirtues: Nietzsche defined virtue in the original Latin ''virtus'', meaning [[ThePerfectionist Excellence]]. He considered {{Pride}}, {{Ambition|Is Evil}}, Self-Improvement and [[{{Narcissist}} Narcissism]] to be good in cultivating one's own love of life, while condemning altruism, kindness, pity and [[ForHappiness utilitarianism]] to be "Slave Morals" and the path to suicide.

* TheGadfly: Nietzsche is often called a gadfly, apparently sometimes calling himself that (or something similar) at times. Nobody's really sure how many of his (ever-shifting) opinions and proclamations he really believed, and how many were intended to provoke his contemporaries. Some things he did ''absolutely were'' intended as provocations, like the title of ''The Antichrist''. He certainly would appreciate the comparison to Socrates; although he despised Socratic philosophy, he regarded the man himself as a transformative figure and an intellectual match and liked to set himself up as a sort of anti-Socrates for the modern age. And he definitely seemed to find the reactions he provoked amusing, or at least energizing; if his writing is any indication, Nietzsche had a wicked sense of humor. He was not a {{Troll}}, however: his intent was to improve the West, not cruelly annoy it for no reason.

* IronWoobie: Invoked. Nietzsche Was definitely an admirer of people who not only suffered deeply, but took their pains uncomplaining, and even harnessed them to their advantage, in the case of profound art or effective life lessons.

* SlidingScaleOfFreeWillVersusFate: Either '''Neither Free Will or Fate Exists''' or '''BecauseDestinySaysSo'''. He was skeptical of the idea of free will for various reasons, viewing it as a self contradiction, and as an invention of slave morality to make their oppressors feel guilty and worthy of punishment. This was one of the few points he retained from Schopenhauer late in life, as the two were both variations of hard determinists.

* StrawNihilist: The most common ThemeParkVersion of his philosophy, to the point where the trope was [[Administrivia/RenamedTropes originally named "Nietzsche Wannabe"]]. '''Nothing could be further from the truth: Nietzsche was ''not'' a nihilist''' and hated nihilists with a passion. He talks about similar characters, and calls them "Last Men" -- People afraid to make changes and choose their own meaning of life. He is not kind to {{Straw Nihilist}}s.
* TakeThat: So very many. Mostly aimed at what Christianity had become, but nearly every classical philosopher gets some.

* RatedMForManly: His ideal character, and philosophy emphasized personal strength, self-reliance, {{Determinator}} tendencies, {{Magnificent Bastard}}ry, and generally being the pinnacle of physical and mental fortitude.

* {{Escapism}}: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed.]] He viewed Christianity and many similar faiths as inventing the idea of the FluffyCloudHeaven to soothe the downtrodden and weak in spirit, by denouncing their current state of existence - generally consisting of slavery, suffering, and forced servitude - in favour of a reality wherein their painful life would be made worthwhile, and their masters would suffer judgement in Hell. This obsession of another life would then afflict those who were who were content or better suited for reality, causing society to whither away due to everyone focusing on the eternal afterlife over ephemeral reality. Hence his tendency to refer to Christianity and alcohol as being similarly intoxicating and self destructive.

* ApatheticCitizens: He thinks humanity is becoming this ever since Plato, Christianity, and the concept of FluffyCloudHeaven became popular. According to him, these fantasies encouraged humans to escape and become apathetic citizens, allowing life to decay because there's always the unrealistic fantasy of forgiveness and heaven thought as more real than life itself. He referred to this as "other-worldliness". However, he also thought that on the other side, modern science is making the Apathetic Citizens syndrome worse. Science reveals that humans are animals and morality never existed outside of the human imagination, and this revelation encouraged everyone to become {{The Hedonist}}s WhileRomeBurns. He called such a citizen the "Last Man" - someone who takes no risks and makes no sacrifices, but whose only goal is to have a safe and pleasurable life and then a painless death. Fellow existentialist Soren Kierkegaard had similar thoughts, contrasting the aesthetic slaves (hedonists) and the Knight of Infinite Resignation (the Heaven fantasizer), with the non-apathetic highly-creative [[TheAntiNihilist Knight of Faith]].

* ApatheticCitizens: He thinks humanity is becoming this ever since Plato, Christianity, and the concept of FluffyCloudHeaven became popular. According to him, these fantasies encouraged humans to escape and become apathetic citizens, allowing life to decay because there's always the unrealistic fantasy of forgiveness and heaven thought as more real than life itself. He referred to this as "other-worldliness". However, he also thought that on the other side, modern science is making the Apathetic Citizens syndrome worse. Science reveals that humans are animals and morality never existed outside of the human imagination, and this revelation encouraged everyone to become {{The Hedonist}}s WhileRomeBurns. He called such a citizen the "Last Man". Fellow existentialist Soren Kierkegaard had similar thoughts, contrasting the aesthetic slaves (hedonists) and the Knight of Infinite Resignation (the Heaven fantasizer), with the non-apathetic highly-creative [[TheAntiNihilist Knight of Faith]].

* WeUsedToBeFriends: Nietzsche was once a close friend and supported of Music/RichardWagner, and sung the composer's praises in his early writings. When the friendship ended, Nietzsche never wasted an opportunity to attack his former friend as an avatar of everything that he stood against (even devoting an entire short book, ''The Case of Wagner'' to express his animus).

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** Moore used the concept of the real 'superman' on one of his most famous (and darkest) works, his reinterpretation of Miracleman. At the end of the first chapter, on issue one, a chilling page which shows us a close up of Miracleman's face and eye, quotes "Behold... I teach you the superman! He is this lightning! He is this madness!".
* Garth Ennis' ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'' has a lot of Nietzschean influenced ideas sprinkled around in it. This becomes most obvious at the end of the series, when the God Is Death philosophy is taken literally.
* Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster named their character ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' after the Nietzschean term coined in ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra''.

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* ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'' has a whole alien race named after him, the Nietzscheans, who wholeheartedly adhere to a [[ThemeParkVersion particular vision of his beliefs]].
** This is discussed, in that the main representation of this group laments that the Nietzscheans have fallen way short of the values they're supposed to uphold, being little more than arrogant space thugs instead of cultured [[WarriorPoet Warrior Poets]].

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* ''Webcomic/GastroPhobia'': Gastro uses [[http://gastrophobia.com/index.php?date=2008-12-05 a quote]] of his (about the nature of guilt) to get out of trouble.

%%* CausticCritic