History PlayingWith / TheSocialDarwinist

** Bob gets crippled, loses his wealth, or otherwise [{BroughtDownToNormal loses the thing that he thinks makes him superior in the first place,]] causing him to [[OriginalPositionFallacy bemoan his initial viewpoint]] or think of ''himself'' as worthless.

** Bob isn't a sociopath who takes matters into his own hands, but supports legalizing Euthanasia and promotes birth control not out of compassion but because of "population control" and "for the good of society as a whole".

** Bob brings up a lengthy BreakingLecture about Survival of the Fittest, even giving the equivalent of an entire class in Evolutionary Biology and the ideology of Nazi Germany, [[HarmlessVillain only to justify]] [[PokeThePoodle stealing candies from babies]].

** Bob points out that much of Social Darwinism is about justifying their positional advantage as some sort of intrinsic merit. But he does believe that there is an intrinsic factor masked by the environment and thus advocates for a society of radically equal starting opportunities and unequal ends so that the 'true merit' can shine through instead. It is still deranged, inhumane, and impractical but avoids many of the common conflations and self-justifications involved in social darwinism.

** Bob, an evolutionary biologist who continuously writes about natural selection and survival of the fittest, gets accused as a Social Darwinist, but rejects the implication and encourages [[AllLovingHero altruism]].

** The reason why Bob is a social darwinist is because he really had to fight[=/=]struggle hard to get what he wanted, which means that he's a SelfMadeMan, but the shady game he was forced to play in order to reach his goals, and the hardships he faced through his struggle, has made him sour and cynical of the world in general.
** Bob only uses social darwinism as an excuse to be a jerk and treat others like shit, and he really doesn't believe in the whole "hard work, strength and intelligence = success and life fulfillment" part of the social darwinist ideology. He only got what he wanted by fooling, luring and using other people who actually should be in charge due to their creativity or hard work, and making life difficult for those who saw through his bullshit.
** Bob's philosophy is specifically shown to be self serving justification of privileged since it is more by social station than any actual merit - let alone heritable merit. Even if the resources were enough to help him succeed he would be the dog that caught the car since the underclasses he despises as weak were the only thing making his lifestyle possible.

** Bob is more Jerkass than outright villain and [[MightMakesRight believes in personal strength above all else,]] and sees no point in fighting unless forced for survival - the weak he believe will die on their own eventually and fighting just to prove your strength is a ploy of the weak to look strong.

* '''Exaggerated''': Bob, a [[ANaziByAnyOtherName racist]] [[EvilOverlord tyrannical]] EvilutionaryBiologist, desires to wipe out those with even the slightest sign of weakness and become the "[[TheUbermensch Ü]][[TransHuman berm]][[UltimateLifeForm ensch]]" [[TheUnfettered through any means]], even if it means causing the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Apocalypse]].

* '''Inverted''': A [[WellIntentionedExtremist villain wants to preserve the poor and the weak]] while it is [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero the heroes]] [[GoodIsNotNice who subscribe]] to Survival of the Fittest.

* '''Exploited''': A ManipulativeBastard uses the Social Darwinist fad to recruit henchmen (particularly the fit and confident ones) for his purposes.

* '''Lampshaded''': "Survival of the fittest, really? [[YouFailBiologyForever You Fail Darwin Forever!]]"

* '''Downplayed''': Bob isn't a sociopath who takes matters into his own hands, but supports legalizing Euthanasia and promotes birth control not out of compassion but because of "population control" and "for the good of society as a whole".

* '''Parodied''': Bob brings up a lengthy BreakingLecture about Survival of the Fittest, even giving the equivalent of an entire class in Evolutionary Biology and the ideology of Nazi Germany, [[HarmlessVillain only to justify]] [[PokeThePoodle stealing candies from babies]].
** Bob is essentially a [[{{scrub}}]] who thinks it is incredibly unfair that he keeps on getting defeated by ZergRushes of cooperating forces of weak amateurs.

%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???
%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???

* '''Inverted''': A [[WellIntentionedExtremist villain wants to preserve the poor and the weak]] while it is the heroes who subscribe to Survival of the Fittest.

** Bob's repulsive Social Darwinist behavior drives away everyone, and thus is even more prone to being wiped out of the gene pool, since in Real Life cooperation is more advantageous for long-term survival than individual strength.

* '''Played For Laughs''': In this universe, {{death is cheap}}, so it doesn't matter that everyone is murdering each other and justifying it with "{{Might Makes Right}}" because the "weak" who get killed for their "weakness" simply resplendent anyway.

* '''Played For Drama''': Bob is proven to be a hypocrite, condemning everyone else as unfit to survive while making constant excuses for his own weaknesses.

* '''Played For Drama''': Bob is proven to be a hypocrite, using unnatural means to prolong his life and become stronger, rather than letting nature take its course.

** Bob, an evolutionary biologist who continuously writes about natural selection and survival of the fittest, gets accused as a Social Darwinist, but rejects the implication and encourages [[TheMessiah altruism]].

* '''Justified''': Bob lived (or [[FreudianExcuse grew up]]) in a [[CrapsackWorld dog-eat-dog environment]] [[StartOfDarkness which warped his philosophy]]. In this world Bob needed to fight hard to get what he wanted, which means that he's a SelfMadeMan, but the shady game he was forced to play in order to reach his [[AmbitionIsEvil ambition has made him sour and cynical]].

** [[LensmanArmsRace Competition drives innovation, and humans have invented a lot of technologies just so that they can survive and kill their opponents]].

** [[LensmanArmsRace Competition drives innovation]].

** Bob only uses social darwinism as an excuse to be a jerk and treat others like shit, and he really doesn't believe in the whole "hard work, strength and intelligence = success" part of the social darwinist ideology. He only got what he wanted by fooling, luring and using other people who actually should be in charge due to their creativity or hard work, and making life difficult for those who saw through his bullshit.

** The reason why Bob is a social darwinist is because he really had to fight[=/=]struggle hard to get what he wanted, which means that he's a SelfMadeMan, but the shady game he was forced to play in order to reach his goals has made him sour and cynical.

** The reason why Bob is a social darwinist is because he really had to fight hard to get what he wanted, which means that he's a SelfMadeMan, but the shady game he was forced to play in order to reach his wishes has made him sour and cynical.

* '''Justified''': Bob lived (or [[FreudianExcuse grew up]]) in a [[CrapsackWorld dog-eat-dog environment]] [[StartOfDarkness which warped his philosophy]].

** Bob eventually goes HeWhoFightsMonsters, and eventually dominates and [[KickTheDog tortures]] said IllGirl, reducing her into a mere plaything, because she's too weak and pathetic in his eyes.
* '''Parodied''': Bob brings up a lengthy HannibalLecture about Survival of the Fittest, even giving the equivalent of an entire class in Biology and the ideology of Nazi Germany, [[HarmlessVillain only to justify]] [[PokeThePoodle stealing candies from babies]].

** The reason why Bob is a social darwinist is because he really had to fight hard to get what he wanted, which means that he's a SelfMadeMan, but the shady game he was forced to play in order to reach his wishes has made him sour and cynical.
** Bob only uses social darwinism as an excuse to be a jerk and treat others like shit, and he really doesn't believe in the whole "hard work, strength and intelligence = success" part of the social darwinist ideology. He only got what he wanted by fooling, luring and using other people who actually should be in charge due to their creativity or hard work, and threating and making life difficult for those who saw through his bullshit.