Line #2 Main/AnarchyIsChaos


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9	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/evildead_unitedstatesofanarchy.jpg]]
10	[[caption-width-right:350:Join the anarchists today and get a free hoodie and DIY Molotov cocktail set!]]
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12	->'''Evey:''' All this riot and uproar, V... is this Anarchy? Is this the Land of Do-As-You-Please?\
13	'''V:''' No. This is only the land of take-what-you-want. Anarchy means 'without leaders', not 'without order'. With anarchy comes an age of ordnung, of true order, which is to say voluntary order... this age of ordnung will begin when the mad and incoherent cycle of verwirrung that these bulletins reveal has run its course... This is not anarchy, Evey. This is chaos.
14	-->-- ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'''s title character rejecting this trope
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16	A virtually ubiquitous trope, both in fiction and RealLife, is the misconception that anarchists have no beliefs, that anarchy is chaos. While anarchy and chaos are not mutually exclusive (chaos is anarchic, although it often devolves into despotism, but anarchy is not necessarily chaotic) such an un-mindset is properly called [[StrawNihilist nihilism, the belief in nothing]]. However, the actual definition of Anarchism is ''the belief that rulership should not exist'' (as indicated in its Greek roots, an- [no] -arkhos [ruler]). There is much division on the extent and nature of rulership, and what it means.
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18	Chaotic anarchism of this sort is a common element in the StandardPostApocalypticSetting and the FailedState.
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20	When used together with ChaosIsEvil, the result is likely to be BombThrowingAnarchists.
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22	This trope is rare/more likely to be averted in Spanish works since a substantial minority of the population formed an anarchist system during the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar. Some of them are still living and anarchist organizations are slightly more mainstream than in most countries. They ''are'' still a political minority, though.
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24	This page is about the use of this trope in fiction. Discussion of this trope in RealLife can be found in our UsefulNotes on UsefulNotes/{{anarchism}}.
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26	!!Examples:
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28	[[foldercontrol]]
29
30	[[folder:Advertising]]
31	* There's a pizza commercial for one of those "already prepared ready-to-go" pizzas where a guy walks in and asks for a pepperoni pizza and the girl behind the counter turns around, grabs one, and hands it to him. He says something like "No ordering? No waiting? ''There's no rules''!" and begins taking his clothes off. A voice in the background yells "Put your shirt back on!", which he does, still yelling excitedly, [[VerbalBackspace ''There's one rule!"]]
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Anime]]
35	* Averted in ''Anime/PsychoPass'': in Episode 19, Professor Saiga asks Kougami what the definition of anarchy is, and Kougami replies that it is a denial of governing and authority but is intrinsically different from confusion and disorder. He then reaches the logical conclusion that this means that [[BigBad Makishima]] ''cannot'', by definition, be an anarchist because even though his desire to overthrow the [[BigBrotherIsWatching Sibyl System is genuine]], he is bent on causing violence and death wherever he goes and revels in it.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Comic Books]]
39	* Averted outright with the Creator/DCComics character ''ComicBook/{{Anarky}}'', who is in many ways a LighterAndSofter version of the aforementioned V. In one storyline, he is horrified to the point of giving up his big master plan when he is presented with reasonable evidence that anarchy ''will'' lead to chaos and will ultimately resurrect the very governments he is trying to oppose.
40	* ComicBook/{{Carnage}} is described as an anarchist due to his love of chaos, but he's more of a psychopathic nihilist.
41	* ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' is devoted to averting this trope.
42	* In the ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' comics the equivalent to the Chaos Emeralds in the MirrorUniverse Scourge comes from are called "Anarchy Beryl". They are more abundant but relatively weaker than chaos emeralds, because unlike in Sonic's Universe, they were never all gathered and fused together.
43	* ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'' is actually a subversion or inversion, pointing out that "mindless chaos" and "anarchy as a social system" are not, in fact, the same thing. Unfortunately, the peoples' reactions at the end of the comic (and those of [[MisaimedFandom many readers]] as well) demonstrate that not everyone realizes this.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
47	* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''
48	** In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', the Joker clearly links chaos and anarchy together in his speech to [[spoiler: Harvey Dent/Two-Face]] when he tells him, "Introduce a little anarchy, upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos."
49	** The primary antagonist Bane, in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises''. [[spoiler:A subversion, actually. Anarchy's a tool to bring Gotham down, not something he himself believes in. Excepting perhaps the KangarooCourt, he's clearly in charge of the city.]]
50	* ''Film/EscapeVelocity'', in which the villain, a renegade SociopathicSoldier, screams "Anarchy!" at the top of his lungs before killing people.
51	* ''Film/FightClub'': {{Subverted}}. Project Mayhem has elements of the ideology within it, but is highly organized, with a purpose beyond simple havoc. It ultimately turns out they desire to bring down the capitalist system, a goal of most real anarchists. Tyler also appears to be anarcho-primivitist at one point, saying his vision is for a future where humans abandoned civilization and have returned to living as hunter-gatherers.
52	* Intentionally averted in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'', where King Arthur comes across an anarcho-syndicalist commune of literal mud farmers. They are decidedly non-violent, particularly when compared to Arthur himself, but also extremely irritating, screaming [[PoliceBrutality "Help! Help! I'm being repressed!"]] when Arthur grabs one of them in annoyance, yelling at him to shut up.
53	* {{Zigzagged}} in ''Film/NoGodNoMaster'', centering around the investigation of the 1919 Anarchist Bombings, which ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as the name implies]]) were the work of Luigi Galleani and his anarchist followers. On the other hand, it makes very clear that other anarchists did not advocate these actions. In the end, it did nothing for the anarchists but get many thousands of them (violent or not) deported.
54	* Deconstructed in ''Film/ThePurgeUniverse''. While [[Film/ThePurge1 the first film]] plays it straight, later films indicate that violence is ''not'' the logical outcome of an annual government-sanctioned holiday where, for one night, all crime is legal, as most people use the opportunity to hold massive, rowdy parties. The actual goal of the Purge was AnarchoTyranny where [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic the government's most violent supporters]] would be granted license to murder dissidents and minorities with impunity, such that they even send out paramilitaries to kill people and create the image of the Purge as a "murder holiday".
55	* Ricky's children in ''Film/TalladegaNightsTheBalladOfRickyBobby'' appear to hold this view, despite one of them admitting to not knowing what the word means. (And anyway, [[PokeThePoodle the worst thing they do is aim a garden hose through a neighbor's window and spray him in the face]].)
56	* ''Film/XXx'': The antagonists are former Russian intelligence agents turned anarchist terrorists called Anarchy 99, ([[ShapedLikeItself due to leaving their government's service in 1999 and advocating anarchy]]) who want to incite war between different countries by a FalseFlagOperation, creating chaos-ForTheEvulz, apparently.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Literature]]
60	* The science fiction novella ''Anarchaos'' by Donald E. Westlake plays this trope utterly straight, as the title would imply. He posits a world entirely colonized by anarchists, which breaks down within a single generation into, well, [[ShapedLikeItself chaos]] (in the story the world is named Anarchaos ''by the anarchists themselves'', which seems unlikely). It comes off as Westlake having a dislike of anarchism that he's trying to get out with an AuthorTract.
61	* {{Averted\|Trope}} in Creator/EricFrankRussell's short story "...And Then There Were None". In it, an anarchic-libertarian community of Gands (they derive their name from UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi) is pretty orderly, and also utterly pacifistic-they employ passive resistance when the Earth military tries to coerce them.
62	* ''Literature/BrokenRing'': Averted with the elves, though explicitly called anarchists. They have no government, with the only thing resembling it being elders who provide advice and guidance.
63	* {{Averted\|Trope}} or even {{inverted\|Trope}} in ''Literature/TheDispossessed''. Anarres is an anarcho-syndicalist society, and the closest thing they have to a government is the bureaucracy that manages job postings, but they’re peaceful and unchaotic. Much of the plot revolves around Shevek (the main character) fleeing his anarchist people because they've become ''too'' unchaotic, venerating the ideals of their founder as dogma and treating anything that diverges from those ideals as a threat, even something as innocuous as a new style of orchestra music. In other words, the anarchists have become conformists. The only time Anarres comes close to chaos is when a famine occurs: a town full of hungry anarchists might understand intellectually why a train full of food is being shipped right past them to a place that’s worse hit, but they’ve been on starvation rations for weeks and that food is ''right there.''
64	* Extremely prevalent in the Creator/DeanKoontz novel ''Literature/TheFace''. The antagonist apparently thinks that being an anarchist means not just "causing chaos", but "aimlessly causing acts of senseless cruelty", like kidnapping and starving his colleague, trying to assassinate the son of a famous actor, poisoning the neighbor's dogs, gaslighting a schizophrenic by telling him the government is spying on him, exacerbating his girlfriend's anorexia... and [[AuthorTract promoting moral relativism]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking in an English college course]].
65	* Averted in the ''Literature/HostileTakeoverSwann'' trilogy, set on Bakunin, a world of anarcho-socialists (although the hero is more of an anarcho-capitalist) under threat by the imperialistic Confederation.
66	%%* Also averted or inverted in Literature/TheIlluminatusTrilogy.
67	* The ''Literature/KnownSpace'' story "Cloak of Anarchy" posits "anarchy parks" with just one rule: no violence (making them the anarcho-pacifist sort of anarchy). Any time a fight starts (or looks like it might start), floating robots stun all participants, who are then separated. They wake up a few hours later, and it's mentioned that the threat of losing part of your holiday is enough to keep most people in line. Then someone figures out how to make the robots break down, so "just one rule" (anarcho-pacifism) becomes "no rules", which fits the "chaos" definition. It's not pretty.
68	* ''Literature/TheManWhoWasThursday'': The anarchist organization in the book takes this position. It's pointed out that there's a difference between the revolutionary who throws a bomb to kill a king, and the "anarchist" who throws a bomb to kill ''anybody''. [[spoiler: However, all of them turned out not to be anarchists in the end]].
69	* ''Literature/OldKingdom'': In ''Sabriel'', the Kingdom has spent 200 years slowly sliding into chaos after the loss of [[RoyalBlood the royal family]], since the royal family is one of the bloodlines whose very existence is necessary to the Kingdom's stability. Over the last 20 years, in particular, anarchy has reigned since the collapse of the regency. [[spoiler:That the [[OurLichesAreDifferent undead]] BigBad has been actively managing said chaos in order to empower himself and weaken [[FunctionalMagic the Charter]] really does not help things in the slightest.]]
70	* In ''Literature/ThePrideOfParahumans'', Vesta was intended as a peaceful anarchy after independence, but things broke down as the life support infrastructure began to fail and homicide rates skyrocketed until the Protectors' Guilds restored order, [[spoiler:making it more like feudalism]].
71	* In ''Literature/TheWitchlands'', according to the [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary material]], the Republic of Arithuania became the Former Republic of Arithuania because its leaders allowed too much freedom, leading to anarchy and the country disintegrating.
72	[[/folder]]
73
74	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
75	* ''Series/The100'': The 100 are a ''mess'' after Bellamy takes the reins and declares their motto to be [[TeenageWasteland "whatever the hell we want"]]. It takes Wells' and Charlotte's deaths and Murphy's exile to make them realize they need laws.
76	* ''Series/BlackMirror'': Actually {{subverted\|Trope}} in "[[Recap/BlackMirrorTheWaldoMoment The Waldo Moment]]". The idea behind the neutral Waldo party is that it stands for nothing but a cynical "fuck everything" stance to political discourse, and that Waldo is merely a figurehead. In a parliament with no political authority, ''[[DemocracyIsBad public vote alone determines law]]''. As a result, the deepest darkest aspects of human nature quickly rise to the top and society quickly degrades into a barking mad, badly run totalitarian society, all for a foul-mouthed cartoon bear.
77	* In ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'', the motorcycle club is actually very structured. They have a clear hierarchy of power and clearly defined branches of operations. They also have strict rules of operation which include not targeting women and children, protecting the town in which they operate, and looking out for underdogs who are brave enough to approach them. Anyone who disrespects the chain of command or breaks the rules of operation is subject to violent reprisals. The club itself tends to have chaotic results but their planning is shown to premeditated and ordered and all actions have to be brought to a club vote where majority rules. The founders believed not that there should be no rules, but rather that any group that was willing to leave the inherent protections offered by the government's system of rules was entitled to create and live under rules of their own creation.
78	* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E6Legacy Legacy]]" featuring the planet Turkana IV, which was the home of a failed Federation colony that had descended into civil war and then lawlessness of the kind generally associated with anarchy. This being Tasha Yar's home world, from which she'd escaped as a teenager, her sister Ishara Yar helped the crew of the Enterprise retrieve two Federation officers whose escape pod had crashed in the ruins of the colony. While things were no longer so chaotic as Tasha had previously described them, Ishara's explanation for this was that the failing government had adopted the two largest political factions known as the Alliance and the Coalition as its emergency police forces, which backfired spectacularly, leaving them fighting over power. [[HobbesWasRight From a certain point of view]], their violent lives in these two factions' underground strongholds were a ''slight'' improvement over the utter lawlessness that prevailed in Tasha's time, when rape gangs roamed the ruins of the city preying on any victims they could find.
79	* Deconstructed in a ''Series/TheWhitestKidsUKnow'' skit. The anarchists celebrate the destruction of government and are glad that they're free to do whatever they want now. But one of the anarchists is a guy who worked at the nuclear power plant and tells everyone the power plant will melt down and wipe out humanity unless someone maintains it, and he and his team will do that as long as someone gives them food. The leader of the anarchists asks the other to give them food, but someone brings up how are they going to identify who works at the power plant. He suggests giving them shirts that say they work at the power plant, but to make sure the shirts are legitimate, he volunteers to be a shirt inspector. Then the rest of the anarchists kill him because he sounds more like a cop.
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Music]]
83	* The narrator of the Music/SexPistols' most famous hit, "Anarchy in the U.K.", appears to hold no political affiliations, and desires nothing more than a chance to channel his baseless anger into mindless violence.
84	-->''I am an anarchist''\
85	''Don't know what I want''\
86	''But I know how to get it'' \
87	''I wanna destroy passersby''\
88	''Is this the M.P.L.A?''\
89	''Or is this the U.D.A.?''\
90	''Or is this the I.R.A.?''\
91	''I thought it was the U.K.!''
92	* The Music/BlueOysterCult's album ''Music/ClubNinja'' deals with concepts of change and movement, often violent. "When The War Comes" makes a distinction between the three colours of flags - white for surrender and red for revolution, adding the often forgotten Black Flag - historically representing political anarchy. The Anarchists under the Black Flag were the often-forgotten third force in the Russian Revolution (White represented the Tsarists and Red the Communists). The song "Madness To The Method" is about nihilism - mindless destruction for the sake of it, often confused with anarchism.
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94
95	[[folder:Podcast]]
96	* ''Podcast/ItCouldHappenHere'': Both played straight and....averted. While the fall of the US government results in large amounts of chaos in the land, Evans also details how chaos wouldn't necessarily come with a pull out of the US government. He also cites a real-life event during Hurricane Katrina where relief workers were expecting chaos, but ended up finding very little violence and destruction save for the hurricane. The narration details [[SecondPersonNarration your city being abandoned by the US government]], and life becoming....semi-normal afterwards. Until the Dominionist forces show up. He's also aware of real anarchist and libertarian ideas of alternate social orders, saying that he sympathizes with them, going into a bit of detail about how they might be used.
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99	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
100	* Anarchy Championship Wrestling is an army of talent and gifted artists working together to create art out of chaos and passion.
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102
103	[[folder:Religion]]
104	* As far back as the Literature/BookOfJudges in Literature/TheBible, we have this quote: "In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did as he pleased." This isn't depicted as a good thing.
105	[[/folder]]
106
107	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
108	* Averted in ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase''. Posthuman Studios happens to be run by socially progressive transhumanist Anarchists, who put a lot of their politics into the setting, and so the politically anarchist sections of the Solar System (the outer system, mainly) are portrayed a lot more sympathetically than other places, like the [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny the fascist Jovian Republic]] or the MegaCorp-dominated inner system.
109	** The Autonomist Alliance take up most habitats and settlements in the outer system, and while Anarchists of every stripe are represented here, there is an emphasis on [[UsefulNotes/{{Anarchism}} Mutualist Anarchism]].
110	** At the belt, the Randian Anarcho-Capitalist habitat of Extropia has eked out a reputation as a strong minor power, and as an interface between the inner system and outer system. Several habitats have copied their model, making Extropia a de facto influence beyond the walls of their settlement.
111	** Groups of nomadic anarchists who proudly self-entitled themselves as Scum play this trope straight. Unlike outer system Anarchists, who believe in a "rules without rulers" style of governance, Scum have few to no rules. Violence, extreme sexual deviancy, and petty crime are a daily occurrence in their sphere of influence. It takes a certain mindset, and a certain degree of clout and respect to get things done, but the Scum have cobbled together something like a functional society, and the only real constant is that they seem to have a very strong stance on consent; if you're in a Scum flotilla, its understood that nearly anything goes, but they don't appreciate predatory behavior. As said before, it takes a certain mindset, but Scum flotillas are considered the most ''fun'' places to be, and they are seen as something like a traveling carnival of an extreme variety by their neighbors.
112	** The Titanian Commonwealth sidesteps this problem. They are a "techno-socialist" direct democracy with an elected government to run the day-to-day of the government, and they're backed up by a strong and disciplined military and one of the most robust intelligence apparatuses of the setting.
113	* This trope is used InUniverse in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'', where the Camarilla likes to present the Anarchs as adhering to this trope and existing for no other reason than to tear down the order the Camarilla has created. In truth, most Anarchs aren't anarchists and the Anarch rebellion(s) are closer to generational struggles, with newer vampires chafing against the fact [[ImmortalRuler that their elders will never grow old and die and therefore hold an iron grip on senior positions in the Camarilla hierarchy]]. There ''are'' actual anarchists among the Anarchs, but they're the exception more than the rule.
114	[[/folder]]
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116	[[folder:Toys]]
117	* ''STOP vs SCUM'': The [=SCUMs=] ([[FunWithAcronyms Special Coalition Urban Militia]]) attempt to create global anarchy in a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic world]]. As the back cover puts it: "city by city they slice through urban lands, stealing and profiting from the chaos and terror they bring".
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:Video Games]]
121	* As hinted at in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' and elaborated on in the short story ''Rightful King'', ultimately [[BigBad Raul Menendez]] is an Anarchist in the traditional sense of the word; he's against both big government and big capitalism, with the motto of "less power, less problems". Ironically being a wealthy man himself [[{{Hypocrite}} he is part of the so called 1% that the 99% seeks to overthrow]], a good deal of his plan being funded by drug money. If the man does want change, it's certainly ''not'' change we can believe in.
122	* The period if you hold a revolution or your government falls in ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' is called Anarchy. All civilization activity comes to a halt - no tax collection, no scientific research, no trade income, and (in most cases) no building. All cities go to civil unrest, and it's generally a good way to open yourself up to being conquered.
123	* ''VideoGame/{{Elite}}'' features star systems with different government classifications, one of which is Anarchy. Anarchic systems tend to be the most infested with SpacePirates out of all of them. These systems can be very profitable to bounty hunters, as most ships will be wanted ''somewhere'', and the Kill Warrant Scanner is built precisely to detect where. ''Videogame/EliteDangerous'' makes it clear that 'Anarchist' factions are more like mobs, cartels, and pirates than actual anarchists.
124	* The ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'' universe and its spin-offs plays a bit with this trope:
125	** The Calendar Council and the Liberation of Night are anarchists, seeking to overthrow worldly governments and [[spoiler:the destruction of the Judgements to free existence from their unjust Natural Law]]. It's uncertain exactly what, if anything, their ideal society would look like, but both clearly want an end-state that is more than simply all against all. The Calendar Council also has a kind of hierarchy with leaders, but one based more on veterancy and merit than the societies they fight against.
126	** The Iron Republic in ''Fallen London'' and ''VideoGame/SunlessSea'' is a republic free of laws -- ''all'' laws -- [[RealityIsOutToLunch where the rules of reality are decided by consensus]], and things not everyone agrees on tend to act as they please. What, if any, ruling system the Republic has beyond mob rule is unknown, but calling the result 'chaotic' would be a major understatement.
127	** Eleutheria in ''VideoGame/SunlessSkies'' is more restrained: [[spoiler:As a result of The Halved, [[RealityIsOutToLunch the normal laws of the Judgements do not hold sway there]]]], and the region's major port of Pan is anarchic and divided between several factions [[spoiler:who cannot survive the Judgements' lights elsewhere]], with an AuthorityInNameOnly being the chief negotiator whenever the parliament of Pan cannot decide things among themselves. Despite this Pan has a functioning society, and it is possible for a sky captain to safely retire there with no major issue.
128	* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'':
129	** Subverted with Vault 21, who was designed to have no authority figure, with the rules being that everything was decided through a gambling session. This Vault was actually one of the few that was opened up near-completely unscathed. Provided that having part of your home filled with concrete (because one guy was BornLucky, beat ''everyone'' at Blackjack, bought the vault and didn't want people tunneling into it) doesn't really count as a major problem.
130	** Depending on how you play, the Wild Card ending can be a straight example, or an aversion. If you didn't kill the fiends, powder gangers, or upgrade the securitrons, the Mojave will be engulfed in chaos and death. But if you make sure to help as many people as possible, deal with the most dangerous groups, and upgrade to the securitrons, it will be relatively smooth.
131	* ''VideoGame/HeartsOfIronIV'':
132	** ''La Résistance'' expansion adds the ability to turn Republican Spain into an anarchist defense council, in case the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar ends in victory for the Catalonian anarchists. National stability drops to zero, but they get bonuses that compensate or cancel the negative effects of this. The anarchist focus tree branch leads to the goal of converting other nations to anarchism, while the rest of the world targets you unless busy with another war.
133	** Subverted in ''VideoGame/KaiserreichLegacyOfTheWeltkrieg'' with Syndicalism; the most prominent strain of revolutionary leftism in the setting which is inspired more by anarchist thinkers like Proudhon or Kropotkin than Marx or Engels. Its major criticism ([[RedScare except by capitalist nations]]) is its overly-bureaucratic nature, with other leftists arguing it's either too chaotic or ''too authoritarian''.
134	** ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'' zig-zags this:
135	*** Played straight by the world during [[NonstandardGameOver thermonuclear war]]. The map slowly turns black as the bombs fall, representing the downfall of law, order, and civilization in the face of nuclear apocalypse.
136	*** In older versions of the game (before the ''After Midnight'' update of March 2021), this was also played straight by Russia after the collapse of [[TheCaligula Taboritsky's]] [[TheNecrocracy Holy Russian Empire]]. It's the same "turning black" map effect but localized in Russia - that is, the collapse is so severe that it is the same as if Russia was ''nuked'' to kingdom come. [[FridgeHorror The post-Taboritsky anarchy's ideology was Ultranationalism]], not Libertarian Socialism like other anarchy zones. You had mechanised infantry, state-of-the-art small arms, artillery and chemical weapons in the hands of roving warbands of indoctrinated fanatics who were thoroughly desensitized to endless killing.
137	*** Downplayed by Orenburg. While the anarchic communes around Orenburg can maintain organization on the village level, they have a hard time communicating with each other and the city and resist any attempts of centralization, which makes them vulnerable to external threats, such as Dirlewanger's bandits and Lysenko's minions.
138	*** Defied by the Siberian Black Army, who are practically Anarchy Is ''Order''. Not only are their communes much more organized, they are also quite militaristic, with the army being a major component of the communities. It's to the point where some are beginning to fear a possible military takeover and the end of anarchism. [[spoiler:Their worst fears are realized if Ivan Stepanov succeeds in his MilitaryCoup, replacing the Libertarian Socialist Siberian Soviet with the Despotist Siberian Security Council and making the Free Territory anarchist InNameOnly.]]
139	* [[BombThrowingAnarchists Havik]] from ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1'' genuinely believes in this principle as part of [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity his insane, borderline incoherent ideological obsession with chaos]]. In his mind, all those that inhabit the realms [[WithUsOrAgainstUs are either oppressors that need to be destroyed and the oppressed that need to be liberated]], assuming that all authorities are corrupt (regardless of how demonstrably [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure reasonable]] or [[BigGood benevolent]] they may be) and that ''any'' form of revolt against them is a good thing, ostensibly to allow people to live in "complete freedom", but very transparently denying them any of their safety or peace, evidently [[LackOfEmpathy having no interest in life beyond a demonstration of his rhetoric]]. His most vile act in the game is [[spoiler:flooding the capital city of Seido --he considers it a grand victory towards his goals of achieving widespread freedom due to having successfully killed the oppressive government, [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist conveniently ignoring that he's also just killed its entire civilian population as well]]. It's clear that to him, the distinction between "lack of governance" and "total destructive free-for-all" likely doesn't register.]]
140	* Averted in ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns: Dragonfall''. The game is set in the Flux State -- an anarchic future Berlin. The city has been divided into numerous ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiez Kieze]]'', and some have managed to gather into local communes that maintain social order and the same amenities as a more traditional community. In other kieze, most people live in [=SINless=] poverty with an uncertain future, though there's no complete breakdown of law and order with gangs of criminals ruling the streets. The game takes time to explore several facets of anarchist philosophy, and [[TheMessiah Monica]] or an overly altruistic player may even be criticized by Lucky Strike for making everyone dependent on you and thus becoming a 'ruler' to your Kiez.
141	* The Data Angels of ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'' have all the trappings of an anarchist society, and while the decentralised society isn't constantly fighting itself, it ''does'' take a hefty penalty to Police so if things start going wrong, it's much harder to keep the people in control.
142	** The Nautilus Pirates might be considered a downplayed example. Their society is a violent trainwreck of individualistic captains butting heads, but it functions... just very badly, taking hefty penalties to efficiency due to the lack of long-term planning.
143	* Inverted and subverted in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' -- abandoning the Empire and joining or forming a guild are presented with all the trappings of anarchy (everyone lives according to their own laws, don't have to join a guild if they want to make their own one-man guild, don't have to appoint a leader, and the only "authority" had is presented as people following directions out of admiration or respect rather than because they are an authority figure. The Five "Master" Guilds are just be the five largest or most productive guilds and have no authority over other guilds, and the Don doesn't seem to have any official authority- he's someone everyone respects and obeys out of that, but it's also stated that he's just another guild member if not one with a lot of supporters), but the Guilds are the Order to the Empire's Chaos. The guilds are also constantly presented as being in the right.
144	* Averted by the Ma-non in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'', who are a truly anarchist society, with no ruling body or centralized decision-making process whatsoever. They have just come to the collective realization that actions which benefit the whole ultimately advance themselves too, and highly value equivalent exchange in their dealings. There are a handful of Ma-Non who exploit their own system to get ahead, but they're also aware that every race has a few bad eggs.
145	-->'''Ma-non''': So, he asked us to "TakeMeToYourLeader", right? Which was kind of hard considering we don't really have a leader? Even those three you spoke to when you first met us, they aren't our representatives or anything? They just happened to be the ones outside the ship at the time, you know?
146	[[/folder]]
147
148	[[folder:Webcomics]]
149	* ''Webcomic/{{SSDD}}'' (which may or may not be an example of WriterOnBoard in regards to anarchism):
150	** The part of the timeline set in the future features (among other super-governments) the Anarchist Collective, which sort of [[ZigZaggedTrope goes back and forth]]. Officially, there are only two laws, "do not profit at the expense of another anarchist" (which can be interpreted to cover anything from scams to murder), and "there are no other laws". The officials in charge are referred to as "Advisers" who don't put out laws so much as "suggestions"; you can technically break them without any sort of official penalty, but since the only difference between local police, angry crowd and lynch mob is how organized they are... the Collective does have a rather [[BloodKnight intimidating]] military, and a [[KillSat secret weapon]], though. They still come off as ALighterShadeOfGrey compared to the other prominent factions, largely because things like freedom of speech are SeriousBusiness to them. There's also a reference to "true anarchists" who live in the wasteland between cities, taking potshots at passing vehicles.
151	** Meanwhile, in the present-day timeline we have Norman. He might be an AxCrazy {{pyromaniac}} and MadBomber with an acute case of ComedicSociopathy and an aversion to anything resembling work, but he still shows occasional signs of HiddenDepths, and anarchism clearly means a lot more to him than an excuse to set fire to things.
152	* ''Big Head Press'' has featured several comic series. These depict fantasy civilizations Past, present and future largely using an anarcho-capitalist system. Scott Bieser is the writer for these series, and appears to partially advocate those systems. But they are all too silly to be taken seriously. So it is hardly a manifesto.
153	* Defied in ''Webcomic/ExistentialComics'', which takes glee in having anarchists (usually represented by Kropotkin, Bakunin and Goldman) show up and forming mutual aid societies and distributing goods and education freely -- while still wearing punk clothing. The strips featuring anarchists usually either end [[WeAREStrugglingTogether with them splitting up due to sectarian differences]] or being beaten up by the police.
154	[[/folder]]
155
156	[[folder:Web Original]]
157	* This is one of the main pro-democracy arguments on ''WebVideo/TwitchPlaysPokemon''.
158	* Surprisingly subverted in the LetsPlay/{{Yogscast}} miniseries ''WebVideo/{{Cornerstone}}''. In Week 6, the group collectively decided they'd go without a mayor and leave the usual teams of people to do as they wanted for that session. They did surprisingly well, with LetsPlay/HatFilms expanding the base significantly, LetsPlay/{{Sips}} and LetsPlay/{{Sjin}} building a basic farm, LetsPlay/DuncanJones, LetsPlay/KimRichards and LetsPlay/HannahRutherford all harvesting rubber to make jetpacks and LetsPlay/{{Strippin}} and Benji working on Railcraft.
159	[[/folder]]
160
161	[[folder:Western Animation]]
162	* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', the brief moment when the goblins don't have a King turns into this.
163	* When ComicBook/{{Anarky}} appeared in ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'', the nuanced, sophisticated, complex philosophy of the comic book character [[{{Flanderization}} was discarded]] in favor of a particularly fatuous version of AnarchyIsChaos.
164	* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''. The villain Zaheer believes in a philosophy that is like anarchism. He sees that people will never be truly free until all governments have been brought down. When confronted with the fact that this would lead to chaos, he is okay with that since he sees the natural order as disorder. He goes back and forth between [[VillainHasAPoint having a good point]] about what bad leaders (like the thoroughly horrible [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Earth Queen]], the [[ObstructiveBureaucrat incompetent President Raiko]], and [[EvilOverlord Fire Lord Ozai and his predecessors]]) have caused and saying "yes, it would be total chaos, and that would rock!" In the end, while not one tear was shed when he [[spoiler: airbended the oxygen away from the Earth Queen, suffocating her to death, the extensive riots and looting that grip Ba Sing Se immediately after her assassination prove that, yes, eliminating a leader like that will indeed plunge a kingdom into chaos. The subsequent Book shows [[EvilPowerVacuum a brutal dictator acting to repair the damage caused]], making Zaheer feel incredibly guilty about what he'd done.]]
165	** There is also a nicely subtle takedown of Zaheer's philosophy in the way he is defeated. While Zaheer believes that airbenders should abandon their attachments in favor of true freedom, which [[spoiler: grants him the power of flight, he is defeated by the new Air Nation as they act in a coordinated fashion to create a tornado.]]
166	* In ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'', Star's teacher Skullnick lets Star in charge of a school field trip. Being tired of her teacher's rules, she removes them all. Skullnick warns that "no rules leads to anarchy," and that anarchy does indeed lead into chaos as Star's classmates get into dangerous situations from messing around.
167	[[/folder]]

Context Main / AnarchyIsChaos