| 1 | !!!'''If you were looking for our page on the ''real'' Ku Klux Klan, [[UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan go here]].''' |
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| 5 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks! |
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| 10 | %% Image and caption selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1388431674049375400 |
| 11 | %% Please do not change or remove either without starting a new thread. |
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| 13 | [[quoteright:333:[[ComicBook/{{Bamse}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bamsestinkmvbolicb_4708.jpg]]]] |
| 14 | [[caption-width-right:333:The Klansman costume: when no one is supposed to know you're racist.]] |
| 15 | |
| 16 | ->''"How the hell are we supposed to introduce ourselves?! 'Hello, we're the new death-dealing miltia of white supremacy, we're called the "Ku Klux Klan", affiliated with the "Wip Wap Wop" and the "Bingly Bongly Boo". We're easy to recognize, we're the ones wearing bedsheets and peeking out through the eyeholes of the massive pointy hats we wear over our faces!'"'' |
| 17 | -->-- ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'' |
| 18 | |
| 19 | The UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan (or a facsimile thereof) has appeared a lot in fiction, especially in the DeepSouth. As one of the most well-known hate groups in history, and with their [[IconicOutfit distinctive white robes]], [[InTheHood pointed hoods]] and their ReligionOfEvil, they are commonly found as {{Politically Incorrect Villain}}s, {{The Fundamentalist}}s and sometimes {{Apocalypse Cult}}s. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | They almost always will have [[UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents drawling accents]], [[HairTriggerTemper be hot-tempered]], publicly ranting about [[AbsoluteXenophobe how they want to kill anyone who isn't the same appearance as them]] (often with {{Cluster F Bomb}}s and other slurs), and be [[DumbMuscle as dumb as bricks]] (ironic because [[WickedCultured its earliest members had been classically educated]], and "Ku Klux" itself was inspired by the ancient Greek word for "[[SecretCircleOfSecrets circle]]"). |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Related tropes are ANaziByAnyOtherName, ThoseWackyNazis, {{Ghostapo}}, TheSocialDarwinist, WhiteGangbangers, MalevolentMaskedMen, MysteryCult, RightWingMilitiaFanatic, and UsefulNotes/RebelsWithRepeaters. Since the real life Ku Klux Klan is a real-life group of WesternTerrorists, this trope can also be a sub-trope of WesternTerrorists. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Not to be confused with TheClan, despite the shared pronunciation. |
| 26 | ---- |
| 27 | !!Examples: |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 30 | |
| 31 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 32 | * The Klan feature in ''Manga/BlasterKnuckle'', and are flesh-eating demons that primarily prey upon black people. Victor Freeman, the protagonist of this manga, has to kill them and keep on the move because of the racism of the period and the fact that [[ThisWasHisTrueForm every demon he kills reverts back to human form upon death]]. |
| 33 | * The KKK costumes were worn by [[{{Mook}} Mooks]] serving [[{{Necromancer}} Zaria]] in ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'', although this is more of a case of TheNecrocracy. |
| 34 | * Asclepius from ''Anime/FlipFlappers'' wear outfits that resemble those worn by the KKK, but this is probably a case of UnfortunateCharacterDesign since the organization has little else in common with the KKK apart from its villainous nature. The outfits are more likely intended to evoke the capirote, a traditional Spanish Catholic costume that represents punishment and penance, and which was originally worn by flagellants during the Inquisition. |
| 35 | * Ironically, the traditionally Protestant Ku Klux Klan are one of two major inspirations for the Vatican's Papal Knights in ''{{Manga/Hellsing}}'' (the other being UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar and other Crusades-era knightly orders). Although the pointy hoods and robes actually originated with the Spanish Inquisition. |
| 36 | * The KKK serve a major role in [[spoiler:[[BigBad Enrico Pucci]]'s StartOfDarkness]] in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean''. [[spoiler:Pucci's sister, Perla Pucci, ends up falling in love with a man named Wes Bluemarine, who, as Pucci soon finds out, is his SwitchedAtBirth twin brother, Domenico Pucci. Because Pucci doesn't want his sister engaging in SurpriseIncest, but he is bound by the Catholic seal of confession (since he learned of his relation to Wes when his adoptive mother confessed in church), he hires a private investigator to check up on Wes and Perla. Unbeknownst to Pucci, said private investigator is an undercover Klansman, who believes that Wes, because his adoptive father was black, is a ChocolateBaby. The Klansman then proceeds to call up his peers to lynch Wes, and they hang him. This causes Perla to be DrivenToSuicide, and she throws herself in a river and drowns. Wes, in actuality, survived the lynching, but needless to say, he is ''not'' happy with Pucci inadvertently getting him abused and causing Perla's death, so he attempts to assassinate Pucci with his newly-awakened Weather Report [[FightingSpirit Stand]], with Pucci being forced to remove Wes' memories with his Whitesnake Stand, resulting in Wes becoming a mellow amnesiac known only as Weather Report]]. |
| 37 | * ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' has the Creature Rejection Clan, a minor antagonist group. As if the name wasn't enough of a parallel, they also wear face-concealing uniforms and practice FantasticRacism towards people whose Quirk gives them a non-human appearance. They're targeted by the League of Villains, whose ranks include LizardFolk Spinner, making them {{Asshole Victim}}s who are [[CurbStompBattle easily dispatched]]. |
| 38 | [[/folder]] |
| 39 | |
| 40 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 41 | * Real American from ''ComicBook/AllStarSquadron'' was appearance-wise an EvilCounterpart to Commander Steel wearing a Klan hood, with one of his victims being Amazing Man, who because of his at-the-time matter-mimicking power survives the assault. As it turned out, Real American was actually a robot. |
| 42 | * ''ComicBook/{{Bamse}}'': The adventure ''Något luktar -- men vad?'' (Something smells -- but what?) has Knocke and Smocke trying to drive out a just moved-in family of skunks. They get help from other characters by dressing up as Klansmen in white sheets, nighttime meetings, and carrying torches. |
| 43 | * The ''Comicbook/{{Batman}}'' {{Elseworlds}} comic ''ComicBook/BatmanDarkAllegiances'', written and penciled by Howard Chaykan, featured Bruce Wayne as a self-made industrialist in the late 1930s, going up against the White Legion, who wore Klan hoods with swastikas on their foreheads. The Legion was secretly backed by Senator Pewtie (this universe's version of Two-Face) who, along with the Joker and the Penguin, plotted to assassinate both Franklin Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler, in a bid to install the fascist Pewtie in the White House. |
| 44 | * ''ComicBook/JungleAction1972'' has the ComicBook/BlackPanther face off against the KKK in a memorable storyline. |
| 45 | * The Arctic Nation in the ''ComicBook/{{Blacksad}}'' album of the same name is a mix between this [[ANaziByAnyOtherName and the Nazi Party]]. At the beginning, they wear uniforms resembling Nazi party ones complete with red armbands, and later wear ones resembling those of the KKK. Because this is a WorldOfFunnyAnimals, they're [[FantasticRacism white fur supremacists]]. |
| 46 | * In the ''[[{{ComicBook/Shazam}} Captain Marvel Adventures]]'' story "Captain Marvel and Mr. Tawny's New Home", big game hunter and general wealthy malcontent J.Q. Harsch isn't willing to let Tawky Tawny move into his exclusive suburban neighborhood, so he tries to start a smear campaign against the tiger in the hopes that he'll be frightened away. When that fails, he [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_V40qw_7QTGw/SVHylseO59I/AAAAAAAAAis/Ohv8uBO1ZZ0/s1600/8-12-24cap11.jpg organizes a hooded mob]] of himself and a few hired goons, aiming to terrorize Tawny with clubs and firebrands. Not only does he get quickly captured and arrested when the fire spreads to nearby homes, but Tawny ends up being appointed honorary mayor of the community for his heroism in saving his neighbors. |
| 47 | -->'''Captain Marvel:''' As for you, Harsch, you go to jail for arson! You can be very ''exclusive'' there -- you'll have a cell ''all to yourself!'' |
| 48 | * In ''[[FrancoBelgianComics Chick Bill]]'', one album named ''The Black Friend'' has dealings with the Klan. The deputy of Wood city, Kid Ordinn and a black diplomat tries on infiltrate a city run by the Klan. The diplomat wants to know what happened to his sister when she was shipped to the USA as a slave. [[spoiler:TheReveal show that the regional leader of the Klan has actually fallen in love with the black woman and [[GildedCage secretly kept her safe inside his quarters]]. He also been secretly sabotaging all Klan's activities in the region and gave Kid Ordinn a list of all the chapters' leaders in the country. Unfortunately, when hearing this, Bulldog, the sheriff of Wood city freaks out and decides to burn the list out fear of reprisal from the Klan. [[BitterSweetEnding The narrator comment that this is why the Klan still exists in the next century]].]] |
| 49 | * ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' villain, the Hate-Monger, has a purple costume with an "H" on it, but his hood is suspiciously cone-shaped, and he spreads bigotry wherever he goes, using a combination of rhetoric and mind-control rays. Only natural, since he's (a [[YouClonedHitler clone]] of) Adolf Hitler. |
| 50 | * Klansmen are the main villains of ''ComicBook/{{Incognegro}}''. |
| 51 | * ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'': The Klan are the main antagonists of "A Cowboy In The Cotton", consisting of SubParSupremacist former Southern aristocracy. Luke encounters them after inheriting a cotton plantation, and planning to give the land to the black employees (that is, former slaves), which naturally enrages the Klan. The Daltons also end up in the conflict, although persistently mistake the Klan for an Indian tribe. At one point they even [[VillainousRescue rescue Luke from the Klan]], as well as [[EvilVersusEvil join the fight against them]]. |
| 52 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Nero}}'': A hooded Klan-esque villain appears in ''De Linkadoors'', though he is not represented as racist. In ''De Clo Clo Clan'' and ''De Wraak Van De Grote Clo'', another Klan-esque antagonistic secret society dressed in hoods lives on the North Pole and call themselves ''The Clan''. Once again, not racist. |
| 53 | * Klansmen show up in ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}''. They're hired by a meat magnate, Odin Quincannon, to kill Jesse to prevent him from interfering in his business, but they prove to be an incompetent bunch of morons who fail to provide much of a threat. Jesse even puts out one of their burning crosses with a stream of urine. Odin himself is not a member, but he panders to the Klan to earn their loyalty by constantly spouting racial tirades to the point that even the Klan get tired of it. |
| 54 | -->'''Jesse''': Why is it the greatest champions of the white race always turn out to be the worst examples of it? ''You!'' '''Where the fuck is your chin?''' |
| 55 | * ''[[FrancoBelgianComics Sammy]]'' tells the story of two bodyguards for hire, Sammy and Jack, during the prohibition era. In ''Ku-Klux-Klan'', the duo get lost up in rural South of the USA. When arriving in a town, they come across a racist innkeeper and his friends who desperately wants to join the Klan, but are repeatedly rebuffed by the Klan's leader because of their unworthiness. In a bid to prove his undying loyalty to their cause, [[MadBomber the innkeeper]] blow up his inn, a house, another house and... [[TrashTheSet eventually the whole town]]. [[spoiler:TheReveal shows that the regional Klan are actually all black people posing as Klan members to trail off any would-be members. Sammy and jack promise to keep their secret safe.]] |
| 56 | * In the Creator/ECComics story "Under Cover!" (''Shock [=SuspenStories=]'' #6), a reporter who witnesses a woman captured and flogged to death by the Black Vigilante Society (who are the KKK in all except name and hood color) finds that he is their next target. |
| 57 | * In ''ComicBook/SupermanSmashesTheKlan'', the Clan of the Fiery Cross terrorizes the minority population in Metropolis. |
| 58 | * The klans appear in chapter 4, volume 19 of the Malaysian comic book ''Profession'' ('''Chinese:''' 职业人气王 ''Zhíyè rénqì wáng)'' are different from actual klans. In fact, they believe [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt that the world's destruction is coming]] and their leader will take the entire klan to a "UFO" to escape to Mars, but [[spoiler:they then realize that they've been fooled by their leader thanks to the reporter-provided evidence that proves the leader is a fraud who uses their money for his own spending, and the UFO is just a toy. The leader is then arrested for fraud and the klan is disbanded off-screen later]]. We're [[https://imgur.com/JWidlC7 not]] [[https://imgur.com/xHvrcHp kidding.]] (Those were the original Chinese version, the English translation can be seen [[https://imgur.com/QKaVxn1 here,]] and [[https://imgur.com/P1kygLt here.]]) |
| 59 | * ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' heavily implies that Hooded Justice, the first masked hero, was inspired by, sympathetic to, or even a full-fledged member of the Klan. The connection between the Klan and masked vigilante justice is further underlined by the [[ShowWithinAShow New Frontiersman editorial]] "Honor is Like the Hawk: Sometimes It Must Go Hooded". |
| 60 | [[/folder]] |
| 61 | |
| 62 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 63 | * In the ''Fanfic/EmpathTheLuckiestSmurf'' story "Polaris' Smurfy New Life", Hefty forms a Klan-like band of Smurfs called the Order of the True Smurfs, whose single target of hatred is Polaris Psyche, who is white compared to the Smurfs, although in this story his skin temporarily turns blue because it was a side effect of taking the Long Life Elixir. |
| 64 | [[/folder]] |
| 65 | |
| 66 | [[folder:Film -- Live Action]] |
| 67 | * The plot of the 1998 Ernest Dickerson film ''Ambushed'' starts off when the leader of a Ku Klux Klan lodge is shot dead and his son is taken into police custody. |
| 68 | * ''Film/AmericanHistoryX'': As a joke, the black prisoner Lamont holds up a piece of cloth as a Klansman's hood and mocks the DeepSouth hick stereotype associated with it. Earlier, Derek (a Neo-Nazi) also dismisses them as a bunch of disorganized idiots and claims to have higher standards. In fact, [[IResembleThatRemark that describes his own gang quite well]]. |
| 69 | * ''Film/BadBoysII'' has Mike and Marcus shooting it out with a chapter of the Klan in the movie's first major shootout. |
| 70 | * ''Film/{{The Birth of a Nation|1915}}'' was one of the earliest films ever, and portrayed the KKK as heroes. It garnered widespread controversy as well as critical acclaim, and it's credited with helping spark the revival of the Ku Klux Klan in the 20th century. |
| 71 | * ''Film/BlackkKlansman'' is about a black police officer who infiltrates the local Ku Klux Klan chapter. |
| 72 | * The Creator/HumphreyBogart movie ''Film/BlackLegion'' depicts a particularly violent spin-off of the Klan, known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Legion_(political_movement) the Black Legion]], which was active in Michigan, Ohio and other Midwestern states in the '20s and '30s. |
| 73 | * In ''Film/{{Blanche}}'' (set in 17th century France but heavy on ArtisticLicenseHistory), the leader of Mazarin's death squad is named "Captain KKK", they spread terror and they wear pointy hoods with holes for the eyes. |
| 74 | * In ''Film/BlazingSaddles'', among the many criminals recruited into the outlaw army of the bad guys are a number of Klansmen. The heroes use their sheets to hide in the crowd, but Bart blows his identity when he reveals his black hands. |
| 75 | * The main antagonists of ''Film/BrotherhoodOfDeath'' are the local KKK chapter, pissed that there are black people standing up to their harassment. |
| 76 | * Humorously portrayed in the Richard Pryor comedy ''Film/BustinLoose'', as they end up helping a busload of schoolchildren get out of a mud hole, only to fall face-first into the mud. |
| 77 | * A blink and you’ll miss it moment in ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'' has three Klansmen- two in white, one in red- amid the many monsters in the cubes. |
| 78 | * In Creator/QuentinTarantino's film ''Film/DjangoUnchained'', there's a scene PlayedForLaughs in which a prototype of the Klan, the Regulators led by plantation and slave owner "Big Daddy" Bennett, struggle to get ill-fitting hoods on as they attempt to kill the title character and his partner Dr. King Schultz for killing the Brittle Brothers. They are easily tricked by the heroes and get blown up and sent running, with Django putting a bullet through Big Daddy. |
| 79 | * Klansmen purgers appear as minor antagonists in ''Film/TheFirstPurge''. They are later confronted and killed by Dmitri and his gang. |
| 80 | * Fletch in the movie ''Film/FletchLives'' disguises himself as a member of a local Klan group while he is working on a case in Louisiana about his aunt's lawyer's murder. |
| 81 | * In ''Film/ForrestGump'', Gump says he was named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, although Gump, being Gump, doesn't realize this. (He's also apparently a descendant of Forrest.) |
| 82 | * ''Film/FreeStateOfJones'': The KKK is shown during the Reconstruction years, murdering blacks who try to vote or register others such as Moses. Unfortunately, [[TheBadGuyWins they succeed]] in largely preventing them from voting. |
| 83 | * In ''Film/GrimPrairieTales'', Arthur is recruited in a proto-Klan gang of Southerners to help them murder a black homesteader family. Unbeknownst to him, his daughter sneaks out and sees him participating in the lynching. |
| 84 | * In ''Film/HaroldAndKumarEscapeFromGuantanamoBay'', the titular duo encounters a group of Klansmen engaging in a white power rally. They ambush two of them and [[MuggedForDisguise steal their robes]] in an attempt to hide. HilarityEnsues. |
| 85 | * In ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' the Death Eaters are basically depicted as magical Klansmen; they wear black robes and pointed hoods, whereas [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire the book]] only describes them as masked and hooded. The later films do away with the pointed hood and match the original description quite closely. |
| 86 | * Creator/TylerPerry's ''A Madea Christmas'' features a short gag in which the title character stumbles into a large meeting of Klansmen in a church while trying to find a bathroom; [[OhCrap she immediately flees]]. The Klansmen seem more confused by this than outraged. |
| 87 | * In ''Film/TheManWhoCameBack'', Billy, Amos, the warden and they rest of their posse don white hoods before the ride intro the camp of the former slaves and start shooting them down in their search for Paxton. |
| 88 | * The 1928 film ''Film/TheMatingCall'', made when the Klan was pretty powerful, has as bad guys [[FictionalCounterpart "The Order"]], who wear ''black'' robes, although they do burn crosses. |
| 89 | * Featured prominently in ''Film/MississippiBurning''. |
| 90 | * In ''Film/TheMysteryOfTheHoodedHorsemen'', the Hooded Riders are a gang seeking to take control of the valley through fear and intimidation. They wear black robes with white crosses, and black pointed hoods. |
| 91 | * The Klan appears in ''Film/OBrotherWhereArtThou'' as enemies midway through the movie, as Everett, Pete, and Delmar must rescue their friend Tommy from the Klan. They are generally mocked, and their cross lighting ceremony features a humorous reference to the Winkies in ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''. |
| 92 | ** The Klan is also portrayed as not having the support of the local population. After a politician (who has already annoyed the crowd) lets slip that he's a Klansman, he gets literally ridden out on a rail. This isn't ''entirely'' accurate for Mississippi in the first half of the century, but the movie is set in the 1930s -- by which point the Klan's great popularity of the 1910s and 20s had faded -- so it's not ''entirely'' impossible, either. Couple that with the ''immense'' popularity of the Soggy Bottom Boys, and it's practically reasonable. |
| 93 | * The raunchy high school boys from the second ''Film/{{Porkys}}'' film scheme to get even with some corrupt politicians and Klan members. |
| 94 | * In ''Film/{{Posse}}'', when Papa Joe and Obobo are arrested, the Ku Klux Klan plans to storm the jail and lynch them. They are rescued by Jesse and Father Time DressingAsTheEnemy. |
| 95 | * In ''Film/{{Shaft 2000}}'', a black man named Trey was dining in a mainly "upper class" restaurant and was racially harassed by a {{jerkass}} white diner named Wade. After ignoring the first few public insults, Trey walks over to Wade's table, cuts two holes in his cloth napkin, and puts it on top of Wade's head, where it resembles a KKK hood, to the laughter of some of the onlookers. |
| 96 | * In ''Storm Warning'' (1951), a model goes to a small town to see her recently married sister. Minutes after she gets off the bus, she sees all the lights on the town's main street being suspiciously switched off, and then witnesses the Klan carrying a man out of a local jail and killing him. When she meets her brother-in-law, she recognizes him as a member of the lynch mob. |
| 97 | * In ''Film/TheSymbolOfTheUnconquered'', Barr and Tugi enlist the Ku Klux Klan to drive Eve off her land. |
| 98 | * ''Film/TalesFromTheHood2'': In the AlternateTimeline Henry creates in "The Sacrifice", William Cotton leads a group called the Klan Patrol: an updated version of the slave patrols that existed in the antebellum south, who dress in KKK robes and operate with the full sanction of the law. Cotton and his men beat Mama Bradley and attempt to abduct Henry. |
| 99 | * The Ku Klux Klan plays a pretty big role in ''Film/ATimeToKill''. They support Carl's conviction (he murdered two white rapists who were likely to get a light jail sentence for assaulting and molesting his daughter), and Freddie Lee Cobb (whose grandfather was a Klansmen) enlists their help to sow mayhem. They protest in front of the courthouse, starting a riot with a black crowd, which interupts the court's proceedings. The Grand Wizard is killed, but Freddie and the remaining Klan members continue to intimidate and send death threats to Jake to make him step down as Carl's defense attorney. He doesn't. |
| 100 | [[/folder]] |
| 101 | |
| 102 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 103 | * ''The Clansman'', the 1905 novel by Thomas Dickson, which inspired ''Film/{{The Birth of a Nation|1915}}''. |
| 104 | * A minor enlisted character in ''Literature/{{Destroyermen}}: Crusade'' is described as a "Kard-Karrying Klansman", and is noted to have put on shows in blackface on our Earth. He ends up being lynched by USS ''Walker's'' other enlisted men after [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil raping a Lemurian female]]. |
| 105 | * The Second Klan are prominent antagonists in ''Literature/TheFireNeverDies'', coming to prominence a few years early and clashing with the IWW in 1916 before becoming a powerful faction within the Whites during the [[SecondAmericanCivilWar Second American Revolution]]. Several Klan leaders become generals and thousands of Klansmen are recruited into the US Army, resulting in numerous atrocities like the Huffington Massacres. The Klan even [[spoiler:overthrows the US government after President Wilson has a stroke and Vice-President Marshall tries to surrender to the Reds]]. The Klan is destroyed as a result of the Revolution, although a remnant emerges in South Africa, recruiting from Afrikaners as well as American refugees. |
| 106 | * The father of one of the protagonists in ''Literature/FoolOnTheHill'' was in the (Third) Klan, and brought his son into the children's auxiliary, which is described as not that different from the Cub Scouts... from the perspective of a ten-year-old. Looking back, the college-age protagonist considers it a permanent stain on his character. |
| 107 | * In ''Literature/ForrestGump'', the title character is named (by his mother) for the Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, to whom their family may be related and whom his mother held as a "great man", "cept'n he started up the Ku Klux Klan after the war". A young Forrest Gump apparently encountered a "Grand Exalted Pishposh" setting up a noose in his gun store and scaring him with a tasteless gag; this experience, at least, solidified his agreement with his grandmama that they were "a bunch of no-goods". |
| 108 | -->So whatever else ole General Forrest done, startin' up that Klan thing was not a good idea -- any idiot could tell you that. Nonetheless, that's how I got my name. |
| 109 | * They are featured in ''Literature/GoneWithTheWind'', portrayed as a gentleman's organization needed to protect vulnerable white women from "bad" freed slaves looking to rape, rob and pillage -- a major sequence finds them going out to avenge an attack on Scarlett. |
| 110 | * ''Literature/InterestingTimes'': The book went through several titles, one of them Imperial Wizard (the plot is kicked off by the ImperialChina analogue demanding they be sent a wizard -- Rincewind in this case). |
| 111 | --> "Rincewind and Cohen are having such fun -- that is to say, death and terror attend them at every step -- on the Counterweight Continent and the Forbidden City of the Agatean Empire that it might well end up being called: Imperial Wizard ...which ought to sell well in the US. [[DeepSouth In some States, anyway.]]" |
| 112 | * ''The Klansman'' is a novel by William Bradford Huie, made into a [[Film/TheKlansman 1974 film]] starring Lee Marvin. The novel recounts what happens to an African American man in a small town in the South after a young white woman is sexually assaulted and beaten. Events spiral out of control when a sniper shoots a Ku Klux Klan member at a funeral. |
| 113 | * Langston Hughes' brief and disquieting poem "Ku Klux" is a first person account of being abducted by a group of Klansmen who demand to know "Do you believe in the Great White Race?" |
| 114 | * ''Literature/RollOfThunderHearMyCry'' is about a black family in the 1930s, and they have several encounters with the KKK. |
| 115 | * The Literature/SherlockHolmes story "The Five Orange Pips" features a client who unwittingly inherited secrets belonging to the KKK. Holmes figures out the Klan's game, [[spoiler:but is unable to save his client's life]]. Quite possibly the only work ever to portray the Klan as scarily competent traceless assassins. [[spoiler:Holmes still managed to essentially scare them from returning to land, resulting in them dying at sea, at least, so he got payback.]] |
| 116 | * ''Literature/VictoriaANovelOf4thGenerationWar'' has an unusually positive example for modern fiction, where they appear in a minor role as one of the militias fighting for their local community in a dystopian post-apocalyptic world. What little we see of them paints them as largely sympathetic people merely trying to defend themselves in the midst of chaos, though also as misguided and ultimately largely ineffectual. |
| 117 | * Creator/TheodoreRCogswell's "Literature/YouKnowWillie": Willie [=McCracken=] is a Thrice High Warlock of the local chapter of The Knights of the Flaming Sword. In other words, a klansman. He and his fellow klansmen kill the same African-American twice (the second time was [[KarmicDeath Willie]] after a KarmicTransformation). |
| 118 | [[/folder]] |
| 119 | |
| 120 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 121 | * In a two-part episode of ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', Archie Bunker joins a BrotherhoodOfFunnyHats only to be nonplussed on realizing that he's unknowingly joined the KKK, who are planning to burn a cross in "commie" Michael's front yard. Archie may be racist, but EveryoneHasStandards, and he withdraws his membership on the grounds that he's black, because [[ContinuityNod he once had a blood transfusion from a black woman]]. |
| 122 | * In the pilot movie of ''Series/BarbaryCoast'', government undercover agent Jeff Cable recruits wanted man and casino owner Cash Conover to help him take down a Klansman running a massive extortion scheme. |
| 123 | * On ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'', the Klan are a problem for Nucky Thompson because he gets a lot of his political support from the black community and the black gangster Chalky White is one of Nucky's main associates. In season one, when one of Chalky's people is lynched, Nucky allows him to torture a Klan leader for information. In season two, the Klan has its revenge when they attack Chalky's liquor warehouse and kill four of Chalky's men. When Chalky kills one of the Klansmen in self-defense, Nucky has to pull a lot of strings so Chalky is not tried and executed for murder. However, the Klan has little power in Atlantic City, so they are never too serious a problem for Nucky. |
| 124 | * ''Series/ChappellesShow'' featured the [[BoomerangBigot black white supremacist]] Clayton Bigsby, a BlindBlackGuy who grew up [[YouAreWhatYouHate not knowing he was black]] and became a prominent member of the KKK. |
| 125 | * An episode of ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman'' has a Denver banker bringing them to town and enticing the men to join, in response to Grace and Robert E. buying a house in the middle of town. Things escalate to where he's nearly hanged. |
| 126 | * ''Series/ReservationDogs'': The Order of the Midstreamers are a group of wealthy white men who believe they are the rightful heirs of Indian Territory and its mineral rights. Instead of white hoods, they wear stuffed catfish heads and purple. Their initiation ritual involves stripping naked, having blood poured over their heads, and [[BestialityIsDepraved fucking a beheaded catfish]]. |
| 127 | * ''Series/TheXFiles''. In the episode "[[Recap/TheXFilesS06E19TheUnnatural The Unnatural]]", set in 1947, the Klan is trying to assassinate a talented black baseball player. Eventually it's revealed that the player in question is a shape-shifting alien who decided to stay on Earth and live his life as a human because he fell in love with the game of baseball, and the leader of the Klan is an alien BountyHunter who seeks to kill the "[[CategoryTraitor renegade]]". |
| 128 | * ''Series/TheFactsOfLife''; in one episode, Blair's deceased grandfather had willed a generous bequest to Peekskill to build a school library. After learning that her grandfather was in the Klan, Blair tried to stop the bequest, not wanting her school associated with the Klan. Mrs. Garrett suggested that she should instead enjoy the irony; that after a lifetime of promoting intolerance, her granddad's money would be used to educate. Blair was also afraid of how much of her grandfather's racism may have rubbed off on her. Jo tried to assure her, "You're not a racist. You're just a snob." |
| 129 | * An episode of the Creator/HistoryChannel series ''Series/{{Gangland}}'' featured the Imperial Klans of America. |
| 130 | * The Klan used to be frequent guests on daytime talk shows, especially ''[[Series/TheJerrySpringerShow Jerry Springer]]''. |
| 131 | * There's an episode of ''Series/MorkAndMindy'' in which the eponymous alien meets the Klan. After discovering what they're about, [[KarmicTransformation he uses his alien powers to turn them into people of diverse ethnicities]], which they discover when they remove their hoods. |
| 132 | * On ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', Joy's half-sister [[SassyBlackWoman Liberty]] pays her neighbor to be part of her wrestling act. The neighbor plays [[{{Jobber}} the role of "The Klanimal]]." |
| 133 | * ''Series/TheProfessionals'' has a notorious BannedEpisode (never shown on terrestrial TV in the UK, although broadcast overseas and later on UK satellite channels) called "Klansmen", which has apparent Ku Klux Klan members acting as muscle for a violent landlord against his black tenants. The episode was banned because one of the two protagonists, Bodie, repeatedly expressed extremely racist views himself (which were not endorsed by the plot), and also perhaps because, [[spoiler:in a final shock twist, the evil landlord behind the Klansmen, and some of the hooded Klansmen themselves, turned out to be black]]. |
| 134 | * ''Radio/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'' example cited in "Radio" below was mentioned in ''Series/{{QI}}'', in the fourth series episode "Descendants". |
| 135 | * An episode of ''Series/QuantumLeap'' had Sam leap into a white man secretly assisting black voting registration in 1950s Alabama. The man's father-in-law and several of his friends were all Klan members. The episode ended with Sam (with Al's help) foiling a church bombing that would have killed several innocent children. Then, when the Klan is about to lynch one of the local black leaders anyway, Sam manages to [[ShamingTheMob shame the Klan]] into standing down. |
| 136 | * A hilarious example in the ''Series/Switch1997'' parody of Series/GermanysNextTopModel. The models present Ku Klux Klan costumes to the jury. The jury-member Bruce Darnel, an American Negro and AmbiguouslyGay LargeHam (actual Hoecker in BlackFace) says: ''This makes me feel so hot, I feel ... fire''. Then Heidi Klum (who is married to the (black) rapper Music/{{Seal}}) says: ''I will take this ghost-outfit home, to surprise my husband''. |
| 137 | * ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'' features [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cCiuZanl_4 a sketch]] about how the KKK acquired their distinctive uniforms. |
| 138 | * ''Series/GLOW2017'': when planning ThePilot for the ShowWithinAShow, Welfare Queen and Junkchain are slated to fight the Beat-Down Biddies. The pair worry that two black women beating up a pair of old white ladies won''t go over well, so they get Stacy and Dawn to agree to come out in Klan robes, which provides easy heat to sell the black wrestlers as heroes. |
| 139 | [[/folder]] |
| 140 | |
| 141 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 142 | * "KKK Bitch" by Music/BodyCount from ''[[Music/BodyCountAlbum Body Count]]'' features Music/IceT describing a sexual encounter with a woman whom he learns is the daughter of the Grand Wizard of the UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan. |
| 143 | * Music/ElvisCostello's "Tokyo Storm Warning" mentions a KKK group "stranded at the bar", but being out of their element they're pretty harmless. |
| 144 | * Music/{{Genesis|Band}}: "Ku Klux Klan serve hot soul food / [[Music/TheLambLiesDownOnBroadway and the band plays 'In The Mood']]." |
| 145 | * The old folk singer Richie Havens did a haunting and powerful song called "The Klan", about the titular hate group: |
| 146 | -->''He who rides with the Klan\ |
| 147 | He is a devil, not a man\ |
| 148 | For underneath his white disguise\ |
| 149 | I have looked into his eyes.'' |
| 150 | * Music/TheRamones' hit song "The KKK Took My Baby Away".[[note]]Joey, a [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies liberal]], wrote the song as a TakeThat to the [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies right-wing]] Johnny for stealing his girlfriend.[[/note]] |
| 151 | * The 1996 Music/SocialDistortion' album "White Light, White Heat, White Trash" has some depictions of the Ku Klux Klan in their album art and even mention it in their songs. The album itself touches on the subjects of guilt and shame for humanity. Most notably the song "Don't Drag Me Down". |
| 152 | -->You're eighteen want to be a man\ |
| 153 | Your granddaddy's in the Ku Klux Klan\ |
| 154 | Taking two steps forward and four steps back\ |
| 155 | Gonna go to the White House\ |
| 156 | And paint it black |
| 157 | * The first verse of Music/{{Afroman}}'s "Crazy Rap" (also known as "Colt 45 & 2 Zig Zags") describes Afroman picking up a white woman and having passionate sex with her, not realizing that [[DatingWhatDaddyHates she's the daughter of the Ku Klux Klan's leader]]. Unfortunately, he gets caught by her dad while leaving her place, and gets beaten nearly to death as a result, though he still considers the encounter to have been WorthIt. |
| 158 | [[/folder]] |
| 159 | |
| 160 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 161 | * ''Podcast/STown'': Woodstock, Alabama, was once a hotbed for the Klan, and it still shows. Host Brian Reed finds a disturbing amount of KKK graffiti under the local bridge, and residents throughout the area are rather cavalier about racist remarks. The local lumber mill is suspiciously named "K3 Lumber." The owner has three sons, each with a name beginning with K, but when asked if his company is named for the KKK, he neither confirms nor denies. |
| 162 | [[/folder]] |
| 163 | |
| 164 | [[folder:Professional Wrestling]] |
| 165 | * Ku Klux Klan #1, #2, and #3 of Wrestling/{{AAA}}, Wrestling/{{CMLL}}, and other Mexican promotions. Officially there are only three, but six men have worn the mask in actuality. Ironically, they wear black. There is also an unmasked wrestler named Ku Klux Klan who is not affiliated with the others. |
| 166 | * Fishman, Flama Roja and El Legionario also formed their very own Ku Klux Klan. "The Klan" seems oddly ([[{{Heel}} un]])popular in Mexico. |
| 167 | * Rockin Rebel took up a klan gimmick in Wrestling/{{CZW}} |
| 168 | [[/folder]] |
| 169 | |
| 170 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 171 | * ''Radio/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'' had a famous story arc where the Man of Steel himself took on the "Clan of the Fiery Cross", a [[{{Expy}} thinly-disguised version]] of the Ku Klux Klan. It's credited with hamstringing a revival by making them seem rather silly; this was mostly the work of Stetson Kennedy, a human rights activist who infiltrated the Klan and fed the writers of ''Superman'' detailed information on actual Klan rituals and code words in order to trivialize them. The Klan tried to retaliate with an ineffectual boycott of Kellogg's (one of the show's biggest sponsors), but the damage was already done; kids were playing games of CowboysAndIndians with the kid in the Superman jammies as the cowboy and the kids with white pillowcases over their heads as the Indians. There's even a legend of a Klan member leaving the organization after seeing his children do that. |
| 172 | [[/folder]] |
| 173 | |
| 174 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 175 | * Psychotic racist supervillain White Knight in ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' dresses in something closely resembling a Klan uniform. |
| 176 | * The Humanis Policlub in ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' is a human-supremacist organization that is very Klan-like in its overall manner, including wearing white robes with pointed hoods. They despise all metahumans, but they hold a particular hatred for orks and trolls. Ironically, their headquarters are in Philadelphia, the ''City of Brotherly Love''. |
| 177 | * The manual for ''TabletopGame/SpiritOfTheCentury'' lists the Klan as a possible enemy to use in the game's 1920s setting, with the text noting "Next to [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazis]], is there anyone more satisfying to beat up?" |
| 178 | [[/folder]] |
| 179 | |
| 180 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 181 | * In the climax of ''Theatre/TheForeigner'', by Larry Shue, the Klan attacks Betty's lodge, led by the obviously evil Owen Musser. "This here's the Klan, y'all! Y'all don't fool with the Klan!" Later on, it is revealed [[spoiler:that the Reverend David Lee, who was engaged to Betty's guest Catherine, was working with Owen, and only wanted Catherine for her money]]. |
| 182 | -->'''Charlie''': He was...Sheethead?\ |
| 183 | '''Catherine''': Yep, [[PrecisionFStrike he was a shithead]]. |
| 184 | * In Clare Boothe's play ''Theatre/KissTheBoysGoodBye'', SouthernBelle Cindy Lou is asked if her Senator father is a Klan member with "a nice new white shirt laid out in the attic somewhere," and she indignantly replies: "Oh, cos he hasn't got a ''new'' one. -- He has my Granddaddy's which is seventy-five years old." |
| 185 | [[/folder]] |
| 186 | |
| 187 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 188 | * The Fraternal Order of the Raven in ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' is a [[NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed Klan-like]] group that wear blue robes and hoods and revere John Wilkes Booth as a hero and patron saint, referring to UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln as a traitor for freeing America's slaves. What makes them worse is that they're sanctioned by the government of Columbia. |
| 189 | * The human enemies from ''VideoGame/{{Bloodhound}}'' somehow includes Klan members, wearing the traditional pointy white masks, and attacks you with automatic weapons. |
| 190 | * The cult in ''VideoGame/{{Dusk}}'' takes several cues from the KKK. The members wear robes and pointed hoods, there's an elite mook called the "Grand Wizard", and there are two bosses named the "Duke Brothers" (possibly a reference to David Duke; a real life Klan leader). |
| 191 | * ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' has the "Happy-Happyists", a cult which wants to paint the world blue. They wear robes similar to the KKK's robes, but in blue. In the English-localized version, large pom-poms were added to the tip of their masks to further differentiate them from KKK outfits. |
| 192 | * In ''VideoGame/LiberalCrimeSquad'', the Ku Klux Klan is referenced in a free speech-related new story (Free speech advocates fight to allow a supremacist rally to take place, complete with ASCIIArt representing the KKK), and if one of your activists is judged by a very conservative jury, the game informs you of the mess you are in by saying "Three of the jurors are members of the KKK". |
| 193 | * ''VideoGame/MafiaIII'' has an organization called the "Southern Union", which is basically the Klan in all but name. [[LampshadeHanging This is even called out in the game.]] |
| 194 | * ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'', the Klan makes up a large part of [[PresidentEvil President Yockey]]'s support base. Yockey returns the favor when he gets elected, by allowing them to get away with hate crimes scot-free. |
| 195 | * In ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'', they appear during random encounters where they [[SubParSupremacist make fools of themselves]] and the player can kill them without repercussion ([[ExplosiveStupidity when they don't do it to themselves first]]). Their presence is a [[ArtisticLicenseHistory bit anachronistic]] considering the group was banned during the time period, though their presence can be justified with them acting clandestinely (and [[StupidCrooks not being too bright about being caught]]) and the setting itself being AlternateHistory. |
| 196 | * In ''VideoGame/RuneScape'', there's a hate group known as Humans Against Monsters, or [[FunWithAcronyms HAM]] for short. This group is made up of people who believe that "monsters" (such as ogres and goblins) are inferior to humans. HAM's ultimate goal is to [[FinalSolution wipe out]] all monsters from the world. They wear pinkish purple colored robes. They act as the villains for most of the Cave Goblin story arc, where they try to wipe out a tribe of peaceful goblins who have been discovered living in caverns beneath Lumbridge. A member of HAM also turns out to be responsible for a curse causing ogres to rise as zombies from their burial grounds in the "Zogre Flesh Eaters" quest. He gets punished by being turned into an ogre himself. |
| 197 | * The Klan make a minor but still significant appearance in ''VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus'', where they are accepted by the Nazis in [[spoiler: a post-World War 2 America where the Nazis won]]. Notably, they aren't treated with any special privileges by the Nazis, and instead are just as scared of them as pretty much everyone else. This is a [[ArtisticLicenseHistory departure from history]]; in reality, the Klan and the Nazis [[EvilVersusEvil hated each other]] (though these days, some Klan groups and some Neo-Nazi groups get along much better). |
| 198 | [[/folder]] |
| 199 | |
| 200 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 201 | * ''WebVideo/HellsingUltimateAbridged'' takes the above Hellsing example and runs with it by making some of the "volunteer" knights ''actual'' Klan members. Enrico Maxwell can barely tolerate having them on his side, [[EvenEvilHasStandards and straight up tells their leader, Jed Forrest that he "needs to chill" when he starts taking his plan to usurp Pope Francis and make the Catholic Church more fundamentalist as a reason to lynch black people]]. Jed later gets unceremoniously headshot by Alucard promptly before he deals with the other knights and Millennium both. |
| 202 | * WebVideo/TheDebbieAndCarrieShow: [[spoiler: Nicolas Owen once tried to lead a group of masked men called the Order of the White Skull in a protest in front of the Tuscany Tavern, an Italian restaurant, opposing "woke ideology". It didn't end well for him.]] |
| 203 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl9yLmRxZgY&ab_channel=vewn Vewn's Bunnyrabbit]] includes the Klan torturing a black girl in a bunny costume. For some twisted reason, [[spoiler:[[BoomerangBigot her (also-black) father is one of the Klansmen]] and is actively torturing his own daughter]]. |
| 204 | * The ''WebAnimation/QueerDuck'' episode "Ku Klux Klan & Ollie" has Queer Duck attacked by a group of Klansmen led by Jerry Falwell. |
| 205 | [[/folder]] |
| 206 | |
| 207 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 208 | * ''WesternAnimation/CatDog'': A thinly-veiled parody occurs with the "Cat Club", where its members plot to destroy all dogs and even wear fish over the heads like masks. |
| 209 | * ''Series/TheColbertReport'' had an animated segment on one episode called ''Laser Klan'', featuring a group of actionized Klansfolk working for the President (Obama) to defend the nation against an alien invasion. |
| 210 | * ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'': In "Freaks and Greeks", one of the many 'pranks' that Captain Hero plays on his new Greek fratboy neighbors [[note]]In actuality, just an immigrant family who want nothing to do with him[[/note]] includes burning a cross outside their front lawn while he, Wooldoor, and Xander wear Klan robes and yell antisemitic battle cries, [[SoundtrackDissonance with the song "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper playing in the background.]] |
| 211 | -->'''Captain Hero:''' Your kind ain't welcome here no more. |
| 212 | * The KKK is often mocked in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. |
| 213 | ** One cutaway gag shows how [[Series/AllInTheFamily the Bunkers]] got [[Series/TheJeffersons the Jeffersons]] to move away from the neighborhood: by dressing up as klansmen and burning a cross on their lawn. |
| 214 | --->'''Edith:''' Archie, I can't see through my sheet!\ |
| 215 | '''Archie:''' Edith, would you stifle yourself? We're supposed to be [[{{Malaproper}} incognitus]]! |
| 216 | * Appear several times in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', most notably in "Chef Goes Nanners" and Cartman's ghost costume in "Pinkeye" resembles a KKK robe, much to Chef's dismay. |
| 217 | -->'''Chef:''' What the hell's wrong with you boy?!\ |
| 218 | '''Cartman:''' I'm trying to get candy! |
| 219 | ** It's not his fault. He had come to school in an UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler costume, and a disapproving Principal Victoria tried to cover that up with a [[BedsheetGhost ghost sheet]] but [[DiggingYourselfDeeper left the tip of the hood pointed]]. |
| 220 | ** In another episode, the town is set upon by rich people (who just so happen to be black), and the rank-and-file residents try to get rid of them. Mr. Garrison proposes dressing up like [[BedsheetGhost ghosts]] and burning "lower-case Ts", for "Time to leave", on their lawns. In both cases, the rich people [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike see these displays as exactly what Garrison intended them to be.]] |
| 221 | [[/folder]] |
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