'''Basic Trope''': Communist characters used as villains.
* '''Straight''': {{General|Ripper}} [[PunnyName Khlebosupov]] is a paranoid JerkAss who [[BadBoss mistreats his underlings]] and plots to start WorldWarIII -- and it's up to [[TuxedoAndMartini Agent Bob]] to stop him.
* '''Exaggerated''':
** General Khlebosupov and all his friends are essentially CommieNazis.
** Everyone in the Soviet bloc, down to the last man, woman, and child, is a deranged Communist fanatic ready to take and carry out any orders, no matter how terrible.
* '''Downplayed''':
** General Khlebosupov and his colleagues are loyal to the Soviet ideal of better living for the working class, [[WellIntentionedExtremist but believe that armed confrontation over it is inevitable.]]
** Despite being portrayed as villains, General Khlebosupov and his clique are at worst, ALighterShadeOfBlack compared to their own enemies like the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive morally bankrupt and tunnel-visioned corporate executives]], [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain deluded and arrogant white supremacists]], [[ThoseWackyNazis the Nazis]], and [[EvilReactionary reactionaries with outdated beliefs willing to kill if it means it keeps the status quo that kept them in power]].
* '''Justified''':
** General Khlebosupov is a head of the military in a state that's famous for its repressive nature even compared to their Eastern Bloc allies.
** General Khlebosupov is in command of one of the [[TheGulag worst Gulags]] in Soviet history.
** The story takes place during the reign of Lenin's Red Terror, the Khmer Rouge, [[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin Stalin]]'s [[ThePurge Purges]], the Holodomor included, the Great Leap Forward, China's modern-day oppression of ethnic minorities, the Hue Massacre, Che Guevara and Fidel Castro's takeover of Cuba, Central/South American left-wing guerilla terrorist attacks, North Korea's totalitarian police state, or [[LongList another real-life Communist atrocity]].
** General Khlebosupov has made a ''lot'' of enemies and he has to be paranoid and be willing to [[MakeAnExampleOfThem make an example]] of his enemies (actual or perceived) just to survive. He is also aware that if [[YouHaveFailedMe if he fucks up EVEN ONCE]], the ''he's'' the one who gets sent to TheGulag or executed.
* '''Inverted''':
** ChummyCommies
** [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Dirty Capitalists]]
** TheSocialDarwinist
** ANaziByAnyOtherName
** ThoseWackyNazis
* '''Subverted''':
** Khlebosupov and his colleagues are imagined to be Dirty Communists in the West, but when Agent Bob meets them, they turn out to be okay people.
** After a major snafu in the espionage world, Bob's agency immediately suspects Khlebosupov, but when Bob contacts him and demands to know what his scheme is this time, [[NotMeThisTime he proves it wasn't his fault]].
** The Communists are the bad guys, but they are {{Noble Demon}}s and/or WellIntentionedExtremist[=s=], with the entire conflict just being GoodVersusGood as two utopian nations ultimately can't share the same space.
** Alice is [[InformedAttribute introduced as a "hardline communist"]], but when the protagonists meet her, she's a [[TheIngenue sweet, innocent, kind]] and [[PerpetualSmiler always smiling]] sweetheart who's maybe a bit of a GranolaGirl but is nothing like the way they described her, even listening to their political views without judging them.
** It is explicitly pointed out that Khlebosupov's ideology is actually ''nothing'' like Marxist communism. He's a power-hungry psycho who pretends to support communism because he thinks the communists will win.
** "But it wasn't real communism!!!"
* '''Double Subverted''':
** At first, that is. In fact, they are at best AffablyEvil, and will gladly kill and even [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]] people in the name of expansion and more power.
** However, he is lying, and the disturbance in espionage circles was caused by his FalseFlagOperation.
** The Communists with good-alignment morality are killed and/or detained to gulags during political purges. Those lucky enough to escape [[HeelFaceTurn defect to the Capitalist]] UsefulNotes/UnitedStates.
** The Communists may have good intentions, and [[NoTrueScotsman deny that Khlebosupov was a true communist]], but when they take power, a similar outcome takes place because of Communism’s failure as an ideology.
** Alice then starts talking about her beliefs, denying the Holodomor, praising Stalin and UsefulNotes/{{Mao|Zedong}}, even praising UsefulNotes/NorthKorea and UsefulNotes/{{Serbia}}n leader Slobodan Milosevic, [[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon all while speaking in a sweet, gentle voice]] and [[DissonantSerenity never once breaking her smile]], which makes it all the more horrifying. [[EvenEvilHasStandards Though she draws the line at Pol Pot and Ne Win]], [[BaitTheDog she still manages to downplay their atrocities.]]
** It's then suggested that this is just the inevitable product of communist ideology.
** "...yeah, it was real communism".
* '''Parodied''':
** General Khlebosupov and his cronies have abandoned personal hygiene because of soap shortages, making them {{literal|Metaphor}}ly [[{{Pun}} "Dirty Communists".]]
** The Communists attack UsefulNotes/{{Boston}}, UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, and UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC [[AnAsskickingChristmas on Christmas Eve]], with an entire army of {{Snowlems}} under the command of General Winter, and it's Agent Bob's job to stop them.
** There's a [[DayOfTheJackboot Communist takeover of the United States]]. To abolish private property, the new regime [[EvilIsPetty steals candy from babies]] and [[ThrewMyBikeOnTheRoof throws kids toys on roofs]].
** The Communists are mostly composed of left-leaning upper-middle-class college kids that often [[StrawmanPolitical make senseless protests about causes they know nothing about]]. They constantly [[SoapboxSadie lecture others about how they're "part of the system" ]] while buying the [[TheManIsStickingItToTheMan most expensive accessories with communist imagery]] and [[PokeThePoodle ranting on Reddit or Twitter about how random people are fascists]]. They're not evil, just obnoxious and insufferable.
* '''Zig-Zagged''':
** The story concerns a conflict between two Communist powers: the [[TheAlliance Workers of the World Alliance]], which [[ChummyCommies averts this trope]], and the [[TheEmpire Vanguard Socialist State]], which [[VillainWithGoodPublicity tries to hide its nature]] under [[PropagandaMachine cheery propaganda]], but ultimately plays the trope [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans disgustingly straight]].
** Agent Bob shows Alice incontrovertible proof that [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn the Soviet Union]], North Korea, UsefulNotes/EastGermany, RedChina, and the other Communist countries were/are really repressive places with bad living standards. She can't deny the evidence and [[HeelFaceTurn becomes a pro-Capitalist democrat]], but then she becomes a more authoritarian capitalist ... and then she comes back around to more democratic socialism...
* '''Averted''':
** The story uses WesternTerrorists backed by {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s as the primary antagonists, with no Communists in sight.
** There is a single supporting character who is a Communist and they do not cause the anti-Communist protagonist any trouble, nor vice versa.
** A country is mentioned to have a Communist government, but no more details are offered vis-à-vis its human rights record.
* '''Enforced''':
** The story is a SpyDrama written by a citizen of the United States or an allied nation at the peak of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. Who else could be a main villain in this case?
** The story is a documentary about any communist dictator, [[ItsPersonal written by a defector whose entire family died in their, so nobody can expect it to paint Communism or Communists in a positive light.]]
** The story is told by someone who fled a communist country due to harsh conditions and brutal oppression. [[AuthorTract He's probably not going to have good things to say about his homeland]].
* '''Lampshaded''': "Didn't you have enough ideologically motivated wrongdoings for today, General?" "[[GratuitousRussian KONESCHNO NYET!]]"[[note]]"Of course not!"[[/note]]
* '''Invoked''': General Khlebosupov is a hardliner jerk who honestly believes that [[HobbesWasRight an iron-fisted dictatorship is the best way to run things]], holds up Stalin and Mao as great role models, and thus tries to make the repressive Communist regime [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans even more horrible to keep people in line]].
* '''Exploited''': ANaziByAnyOtherName, or some other right-winger who aspires to govern as a totalitarian, uses [[RedScare the fear of communists]] [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany to gain political power and establish their own regime.]]
* '''Defied''': [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong Bob goes back in time to warn]] Creator/KarlMarx [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong about the suffering and tyranny his]] ''[[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong Communist Manifesto]]'' [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong will inspire some people to create.]] In order to prevent the atrocities of Stalin, Mao, and their ilk, Marx goes out of his way to write in all his AuthorTract[=s=] that the proletariat's uprising [[VelvetRevolution MUST be completely and utterly non-violent]].
* '''Discussed''':
-->'''Spy Chief Ted''': Darn ... these Commies are always up to no good. You teach them a lesson, Agent Bob.
-->'''Agent Bob''': Will do.
* '''Conversed''': "And again, we see the Commies as the bad guys. Don't the filmmakers know that the Cold War is over?"
* '''Implied''': During the story itself, no Communists appear, but Agent Bob makes no secret of his distaste for them, and it's hinted throughout the plot to be wholly justified.
* '''Deconstructed''':
** The work goes out of its way to show that people in Eastern and Western camps are really no different after all.
** General Khlebosupov is an unrepentantly evil bigwig in the Soviet military apparatus ... except he's a StrawHypocrite whose sole care is for his own power and who has never thought for a second about anything Karl Marx wrote. Most of his compatriots don't mind if he goes too far in his world domination schemes [[KarmicDeath and Agent Bob offs him]].
* '''Reconstructed''':
** However, this does not make Communist regimes any less repressive, despite [[PunchClockVillain being staffed by normal people]].
** The villains like Khlebosupov are in fact TheRemnant or a RenegadeSplinterFaction that consistently threatens world stability [[WeAreStrugglingTogether and the reputation, if not outright existence]] [[ChummyCommies of less oppressive Communist countries]], resulting in the entire world gladly teaming up to fight the Dirty Communists no matter how many times they show up.
* '''Played for Laughs''': The Communists are guilty of nothing more than [[PokeThePoodle tentative and nervous attempts at evil]], but they're still treated like {{Big Bad}}s.
* '''Played for Drama''':
** The Communists killed Bob's family, his LoveInterest Alice, and many of his closest friends.
** The Communists have captured Bob and are letting him worry himself sick about [[ColdBloodedTorture what they'll do to him]]...
* '''Played for Horror''': [[ColdBloodedTorture ...We see what the Communists do to Bob, not to mention their own people, in]] [[TorturePorn excruciating detail.]]
----
Back to DirtyCommunists
----