Line #1 Main/PiggybackingOnHitler


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11	[[quoteright:320:[[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_1.gif]]]]
12	[[caption-width-right:320:The rest is history... AlternateHistory. In the annals of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler is but a footnote to his DragonAscendant.]]
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14	->''"You are a fool. You think we're equals because I allow you to participate in this struggle. You fight to control nations -- we dominate entire worlds... we extend our will across time."''
15	-->-- '''Vosk''', ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''
16
17	A villain joins the Nazis during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, impresses UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler enough to get his own squadron/unit, then uses these resources for his own gain. This villain often sees Hitler as just another obstacle to overcome later. This trope also works if you substitute Hitler/Nazis with any other historical dictators (UsefulNotes/JosephStalin, Kim Jong-Il, Pol Pot, etc.) or {{Evil Colonialist}}s (such as UsefulNotes/HernanCortez, UsefulNotes/FranciscoPizarro, etc.), but those examples are less prevalent without HistoricalVillainUpgrade.
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19	Expect StupidJetpackHitler or {{Ghostapo}} if the villain in question comes from the future or has access to mystical powers.
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21	Compare/contrast with DragonWithAnAgenda; here you don't need to be TheDragon, and with this trope you get an instantly recognizable yardstick of evil for the villain to compare himself to and to rob of funds. Contrast with WeDidntStartTheFuhrer, which is when Hitler himself was some sort of eldritch or alien creature.
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24	!!Examples Involving Hitler:
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26	[[foldercontrol]]
27
28	[[folder:Comic Books]]
29	* In ''ComicBook/AtomicRobo'', Robo's arch-nemesis (or at least ''one'' of his arch-nemeses) Baron Von Helsingard uses this trope to seek ultimate power, and gains quite a following in the process. And later in the series, two leading members of Hitler's Weird Science division are revealed to be secretly working for the cloned brain of Helsingard all along.
30	* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': Ra's al Ghul allied with the Nazis to further [[EcoTerrorist his goal]] of [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans wiping out 90% of the human race]] to stave off {{overpopulation\|Crisis}}, including taking part in the Holocaust. According to a later {{retcon}}, one of his own daughters and her family were among the victims -- she survived, they did not, and she was rather upset with him for it.
31	* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'':
32	** The Red Skull was personally trained by UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler and, having GoneHorriblyRight in that regard, made no secret to the Führer that he had ambitions of his own, but was willing to bide his time. Though interestingly, he actually respected and liked Hitler enough to never actually move against him. After all, the Skull knew that Hitler intended to retire after the war was won, and thus he could just wait and be his successor. This was not the case in the movies, of course.
33	** This is also the case for HYDRA (which the Red Skull wasn't originally part of in the comics), most notably in the ''Captain America: Hail HYDRA!'' miniseries, which establishes HYDRA as an AncientConspiracy whose goals happened to coincide with the Nazis at the time.
34	* Inverted in ''ComicBook/FlashGordonZeitgeist'' where Ming The Merciless making Hitler his representative on Earth and backing the Nazis with alien technology.
35	* Rasputin in ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'' got Hitler to back his Project Ragna-Rok with the claim that it would change the course of the war. He turned most of the Nazi scientists assigned to him into disciples who were fully aware that his real plan was to bring about the apocalypse. Technically he didn't even lie, as an apocalypse would definitely change the war.
36	* Herr Kleiser in ''ComicBook/TheUltimates''. He was ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's chief nemesis during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, but was actually [[spoiler:an alien known as a Chitauri (a.k.a. a Skrull) that ate the real Kleiser and impersonated him, backing Hitler by giving the Nazis advanced weaponry. Really, this was just a scheme to soften the Earth up for a full-scale invasion]].
37	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'':
38	** While Hitler was at the time a current figure rather than a historical one every one of Wondy's early villains were allied with/working with him or other Axis powers, the stand out example being Paula von Gunther who it turned out was being forced to work for them as the Nazis were holding her daughter hostage.
39	** ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfWonderWoman2016'': Tomas Byde/The Duke of Deception is here presented as a barely contained Nazi collaborator of immense power. Priscilla Rich/Cheetah is on the other hand a much more eager Nazi ally, with far more blood lust, power hunger and disregard for the sanctity of life than Byde.
40	* The ''ComicBook/XMen'' villain Mister Sinister was a doctor in Auschwitz performing unethical human experiments and looking out for mutants. He used his real name, Nathan Essex, but was nicknamed Film/{{Nosferatu}} and he scared even the Nazis. Magneto remembers him and recalls that he used to [[AffablyEvil give candy to kids]] in exchange for blood samples. That's a real detail based on UsefulNotes/JosefMengele, who would hand out sweets to the children he was about to kill and dissect.
41	[[/folder]]
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43	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
44	* In ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', the Red Skull (Johann Schmidt) sets up HYDRA like this. It's not until his Nazi allies notice that Berlin is on his list of targets that they [[OhCrap realize]] he isn't exactly on their side. It later turns out (in ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'') that HYDRA [[spoiler:is actually an ancient cult much older and more powerful than the Nazis that manages to vastly outlive them]].
45	* Rasputin in ''Film/Hellboy2004''. With the Second World War turning against them, the Nazis provide Rasputin with the resources and technology to open a portal to summon [[EldritchAbomination the Ogdru Jahad]] to fight for them, unaware Rasputin intends to let them start the apocalypse instead.
46	-->'''SS General:''' Five years of construction and research, Grigori! ''Five years''! The Fuhrer doesn't look kindly on failure!\
47	'''Rasputin:''' There will be no failure, General. I promised Herr Hitler a miracle...I'll deliver one!
48	* ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' films like this trope.
49	** First was Belloq in ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', then Walter Donovan in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''.
50	--->'''Donovan:''' The Nazis want to write themselves into the Grail legend, take on the world. Well, they're welcome to it. But I want the Grail itself, the cup that gives everlasting life. Hitler can have the world, but he can't take it with him. I'm going to be drinking my own health after he's gone the way of the dodo.
51	** Elsa, meanwhile, claims to have sided with the Nazis simply to get the Grail. Although as Indy bluntly chews her out on, she's already been corrupted into a Nazi.
52	* Played with in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''. Sebastian Shaw, alias Klaus Schmidt, jumped on the Nazi bandwagon mainly because it would further his research of mutation; however, he holds one of Nazism's tenets (MasterRace and all that stuff) in very high esteem, and later [[ANaziByAnyOtherName adapts the ideology for mutant use]].
53	[[/folder]]
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55	[[folder:Literature]]
56	* ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'': In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresTimewyrmExodus Timewyrm: Exodus]]'', the War Lords do this. This results in an alternate timeline where [[GodwinsLawOfTimeTravel the Nazis win the war.]]
57	* In the backstory of ''Literature/FateApocrypha'', Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia allied with the Nazis in order to take the Holy Grail from Fuyuki, Japan during the Third Holy Grail War that occurred during the time of World War II. Apparently, the idea of a supposedly-omnipotent wish-granting device was quite tempting. While they failed to make the Holy Grail properly manifest, they did succeed in successfully stealing the Greater Grail mechanism that was key to the ritual and would allow them to start another Holy Grail War at a later date to try again. En-route back to Germany, however, Darnic [[ManipulativeBastard betrayed and killed the entire unit in order to take the Greater Grail back to his homeland of Romania]], where he went underground for the next 60-70 years to set up his next war. Indeed, everything suggests, like the major villains of the ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' films, Darnic didn't care at all about Nazi ideology and just used them as one of many {{Unwitting Pawn}}s for his own gain.
58	* Creator/DeanKoontz's ''[[Literature/DeanKoontzsFrankenstein Frankenstein]]'' novels have this as part of Victor Helios' (a.k.a. Victor Frankenstein's) {{backstory}}. Same example fits under type two, as Victor was also friends with Stalin (and attempted a life-extension operation that resulted in Stalin's insanity).
59	* In ''Literature/APearlForMyMistress'', Eugen von Frenzel is a rather mundane example. He is hardly an ardent National Socialist; however, he panders to Nazi ideas in his research and writing in hope to advance his own academic career.
60	* In the ''Literature/PresidentsVampire'' series, the first book reveals that [[MadScientist Konrad]] worked for Hitler, using concentration camp victims to create ''[[FrankensteinsMonster Unmanschensoldaten]]'' for the German armies. And ever since the war, he's continued to trade his services to other groups for the same reason, not caring who pays him, so long as he gets the support to continue his work.
61	* ''Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant'': Rancid Fines has been trying for over a century to use the [[SummoningArtifact Crystal of the Saints]] to bring back the [[EldritchAbomination Faceless Ones]], so he's teamed up with whoever could provide him with the resources he needs to study the Crystal, including Hitler. In the present day, he tries to get help from the crime boss Christopher Reign, but Reign has [[EvenEvilHasStandards no interest in working with a former Nazi.]] None of Rancid's [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans justifications for working with Hitler]] sway Reign, who decides he'd rather destroy the Crystal and ruin all of Rancid's efforts.
62	[[/folder]]
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64	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
65	* ''Series/TheBoys2019'': Dr. Frederick Vought, the founder of Vought International, was a geneticist ahead of his time, to the point that Hitler appointed him chief physician at Dachau. There, Vought used Jewish prisoners as test subjects for [[SuperSerum Compound V]] until 1944, when he got spirited away to the Allies and started providing them with Supes of their own like Soldier Boy.
66	* In the ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' two-part episode "[[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS04E01E02StormFront Storm Front]]", a race from the 29th century find themselves back in time on 20th-century Earth, during World War II. They side with the Nazis, offering to build advanced weapons in exchange for the resources they need to build a time machine. When the Nazis complain that the Aliens aren't helping them enough, the alien leader (quoted above) lampshades the trope by bluntly stating that the Nazis conquer countries; they conquer ''planets''.
67	[[/folder]]
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69	[[folder:Video Games]]
70	* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'': Hitler was a Templar. Need any more proof that they're the bad guys? Also, taking RefugeInAudacity, this trope applies to the series' versions of Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill, who all colluded with Hitler to arrange the war.
71	* In the ''VideoGame/BloodRayne'' series, this applies to the main villains: the first game was Jurgen Wulf, a Nazi scientist gathering the body parts of the original Devil to empower the Nazis with supernatural aid, while the second game's BigBad was the vampire EvilOverlord Kagan, whom thinks of Hitler as an idiot, but works with him to learn how to build an army. Kagan's EliteMooks even have PuttingOnTheReich uniforms in the present day.
72	* ''VideoGame/GunsGoreAndCannoli'': The sequel reveals that [[spoiler:a NotQuiteDead Frankie is working with the Nazis as one of their top researchers in developing wonderweapons projects, which includes the zombie serum. Through this position, he eventually hopes to succeed Hitler by monopolizing the zombie cure, and lead the Nazis once the tide of the war turns. Unfortunately for him, Vinnie puts an end to his dreams.]]
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Web Animation]]
76	* ''WebAnimation/ZsdavAdventures'': {{Inverted\|Trope}} in ''Kiválasztott 3'' (''Chosen one 3''), one servant of [[UrbanLegendOfZelda Herobrine]] reveals himself to be Adolf Hitler.
77	[[/folder]]
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79	[[folder:Western Animation]]
80	* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' three-parter "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS1E24To26TheSavageTime The Savage Time]]", Vandal Savage in the present builds a time machine and sends [[TimelineAlteringMacGuffin a laptop]] back to himself during World War II, containing future history and schematics for technology. Vandal then joins the Nazis and rapidly rises through the ranks until he usurps Hitler himself, becoming the new Führer. Vandal Savage didn't really care about Nazi ideals; he just wanted to use them to conquer the world for himself.
81	* ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021'': In "[[Recap/WhatIfS1E1WhatIfCaptainCarterWereTheFirstAvenger What If Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?]]", Schmidt, much like in the Sacred Timeline, also sets up HYDRA as a full division under the SS as part of Hitler's war machine, albeit as the Nazi Supernatural Sciences Division rather than as the Deep Science Division. Unlike in the main timeline, however, they don't manage to develop any wonderweapons designs powered by the Tesseract, thanks to discovering it much later, and getting it and Dr. Arnim Zola captured by the Allies before they could do anything with it. Schmidt, following a series of defeats and losing Hitler's favor, ultimately deserts HYDRA from the Nazi cause in 1945, knowing that the Third Reich's own defeat is imminent.
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Real Life]]
85	* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.S._Sturmbrigade_R.O.N.A SS Sturmbrigade RONA]] had been made up from rebellious Soviet people from the Lokot area after the German invasion of 1941 and led by the Russo-Pole [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronislav_Kaminski Bronislav Kaminski]]. Their cruelty, looting and total lack of military competency during the Warsaw Uprising was used by Himmler as a pretext to have [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler the Führer]] execute Kaminski and disband the unit.
86	* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XVth_SS_Cossack_Cavalry_Corps XVth SS Cossack Cavalry Corps]] had been formed by the German high command from anti-Soviet Cossacks to fight partisans under the command of General Helmuth von Pannwitz. They were later forcibly repatriated to the Soviet Union by the Western Allies and faced execution as traitors. (This is used as Alec Trevelyan's FreudianExcuse in ''Film/{{GoldenEye}}'').
87	* A number of conservative factions in Germany supported Hitler because they thought they could control him. [[EvilIsNotAToy This bit them hard]].
88	* During the Munich Crisis in 1938, Poland sided with Nazi Germany to claim the disputed Teschen territory from the Czechs, only to be invaded by the Germans only a year later. The Slovaks and Croats sided with the Nazis to gain independence for their countries. The Finns, Hungarians, and Romanians sided with the Germans to retake lost territories from their neighbors (Russia, Romania, and Russia again, respectively). The list can go on and on.
89	** This extended to the rogue elements ''within'' the Soviet Union such as the Chechens and Ingush peoples that resented being under communist yoke and welcomed the Nazis when they invaded Russia. When the Nazis were routed, [[ThePurge Operation Lentil]] happened.
90	[[/folder]]
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93	!!Examples Involving Other Dictators:
94
95	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
96	* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' has Mac teaming with the Soviet Union, albeit with a far less grandiose goal: [[OnlyInItForTheMoney money]].
97	-->''"Well, what can I say, Jonesy? I'm a capitalist, [[{{Irony}} and they pay]]."''
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Video Games]]
101	* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'':
102	** In the alternate history timeline of ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert'', Kane and his Brotherhood of Nod are using Stalin's Soviet Union to get to power.
103	** In ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2'', Yuri aided the Soviets in their rise to power, but has his own plans. He was using the war as a smokescreen so he can set up his [[MindControlDevice Psychic Dominators]] to mind control the world when the Allies and Soviets aren't looking. There is some implication that he ''was'' genuinely loyal to Stalin in the Red Alert 1 days, who was the one who established the Psi-Corps program, but Stalin's Soviet Union lost before Yuri was in a position to help, and by the time Red Alert 2 starts he's scheming to take over the Soviet Union while the Soviet Union takes over the world, or failing that use the opportunity to set up his own mind control bid for global domination.
104	* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles4'' has a rare fantasy version of this. Heinrich Belgar is a MadScientist who works for [[TheEmpire the East Europan Imperial Alliance]], which is basically Soviet Russia with the warmongering tendencies of Nazi Germany. Belgar openly admits he only joined the Empire because they gave him unlimited funding and are allowing him free reign to do whatever experiments he wishes without any ethical restraints. He doesn't care about their larger goals and is dismissive of their Emperor. One almost gets the feeling that he would have gladly joined TheFederation if they were willing to be less restrictive ethically. [[spoiler:In turn, Forseti does this to Belgar himself, with him joining up with the Empire, and thus Belgar, just for the opportunity to rescue Federation Valkyrias powering the Snow Cruisers. He intends to take the Valkyrias and his sister Leena to a neutral country after this is done.]]
105	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / PiggybackingOnHitler