Darth Wiki / Never Again

"BELIEVE ME, NEVER AGAIN!"

— Heimlich, in the Triumphant Reprise of the title number

A fanmade Jukebox Musical script for a fanmade Jukebox Musical production centered around the songs of the heavy metal band Disturbed. Set during the Holocaust, it tells the story of Heimlich Ritter, a kindhearted Nazi Protagonist, and his best friend Bruno Murdoch. Together, they try to prevent the Final Solution once and for all by organizing... Hitler's reformation?

Needless to say, Hilarity Ensues.

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Never Again provides examples of:

• An Aesop: Violence can't always solve everything. Also, EVERYBODY has redeeming qualities (at least, according to Heimlich).
• Alas, Poor Villain: Hitler, had he killed himself.
• All of the Other Reindeer: HEIMLICH. Throughout the whole musical. No one but Bruno understands him, and he is bullied by Hitler and the other Nazis for being in love with Devon (a Jew!). This all changes after "Another Way to Die," however.
• All-Loving Hero: Even after Hitler murders Devon, Heimlich still thinks he's a great leader, and even believes that Hitler can be redeemed. He succeeds in reformation.
  • Additionally, he LOVES Jews. He even comforts a Jew at the start of the musical, and his girlfriend is a Jew.
• Alternate History: It's revealed by the end of the musical. In this version, Hitler and the Nazis are reformed and Germany — NAZI Germany, mind you — joins the ALLIES.
• Angry Mob Song: "Ten Thousand Fists." In this case, the Nazis are angry at Heimlich and Bruno.
• Artistic License – History: In Real Life, if you were a Nazi and you disobeyed a direct order from Adolf Hitler (especially if that order was kill all the Jews in Europe), you wouldn't just be kicked out of the Nazi Party. You'd be killed.
  • There is very little evidence that suggests that Hitler was friends with Jews in his youth. If he was, then the Jew probably wouldn't be named Gustav Dreyfuss.
  • Hitler did NOT invade Poland by himself, of course. Additionally, he invaded Poland FIRST, and then came up with Action T4.
  • There are no forests in Berlin.
  • Adolf Hitler did NOT create the concentration camps in 1939. He wasn't even killing JEWS in 1939. He was keeping the Jews in ghettos, however. How Devon managed to escape capture is a mystery.
  • If a Nazi had a Jewish girlfriend, they would be kicked out of the party.
• Being Evil Sucks: By the second act, the other Nazis, as well as Hitler, have finally realized this. Heimlich and Bruno knew it from the beginning.
• Berserk Button: DO NOT MESS WITH DEVON. You will be brought down by a Gentle Giant of a Nazi.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Heimlich isn't anything like the other Nazis and is as sweet as anything. But mess with him, and he will rebel against you.
  • Same goes for Bruno.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Heimlich, again.
• Big Bad: Adolf Hitler, and yet Heimlich never thinks he's evil.
• Bookends: The second act begins and ends with the title song.
  • For the entire musical, it begins and ends with the soldiers all doing the Hitler salute.
• Brainwashed: The Nazis are revealed to be this.
• Breakout Character: Heimlich.
• Break the Cutie: This happens to Heimlich after Devon is supposedly killed by Hitler.
• Brief Accent Imitation: The other Nazis do an impression of Heimlich's thick German accent.
• BSoD Song: "Save Our Last Goodbye." It's Heimlich's goodbye to Devon after the latter is seemingly killed.
  • Hitler gets a ballad version of "The Vengeful One," in which he deeply regrets the Jewish genocide and nearly kills himself.
• Burning with Anger: Hitler did this a LOT. Heimlich only did it ONCE: "I rage again, dispelling my anger..."
• Burn the Witch!!: "Burn her alive, inside..."
• Calling the Old Man Out: Heimlich does it when Devon seemingly dies. Bruno does it TWICE. And then THE ENTIRE PARTY does it, in song form, during "Who Taught You How to Hate." Guess who they all direct it at.
• Cerebus Rollercoaster: THE MUSICAL ITSELF. Hitler provides the drama; Heimlich and Bruno the comedy. ALL SET TO DISTURBED MUSIC.
• Character Development: HITLER. MY GOD, HITLER. He FINALLY has a Heel–Face Turn after "Who Taught You How to Hate."
• Character Tics: Heimlich's German accent. He's the only Nazi to have it.
• A Chat with Satan: "Inside the Fire." Satan here being Adolf Hitler.
• Chekhov's Gunman: That Jew that Heimlich and Bruno comfort at the start of the musical? Yeah, by the end, he is on FDR's Cabinet and rejects the entire War Guilt Clause.
• The Conscience: Heimlich to Hitler, figuratively. In literal terms, he has an extremely hidden one who begs with him not to kill Jews. He has denied that this part of him exists for 25 YEARS...!!
• The Cover Changes the Meaning: The ballad version of "The Vengeful One"? Yeah, that's both sung by and directed at Hitler.
• Cry for the Devil: Throughout the entire musical we see Hitler as, well, Hitler. Then the sad music starts, the childhood flashback begins, and we see a young Hitler playing with Gustav Dreyfuss- a Jew- and then the flashback fades as Hitler finally rediscovers who he once was... Yeah. No wonder he was Driven to Suicide.
• Crowd Song: "Immortalized," "Another Way to Die," and "Who Taught You How to Hate."
• Curious Qualms of Conscience: Hitler denies its existence, but he has a conscience. As revealed in the second act.
  • "And whispered in the sound... of silence..."
• Deal with the Devil: "Inside the Fire." Heimlich doesn't accept it.
• Death Song: "Prayer," "Inside the Fire," "Save Our Last Goodbye," and "The Animal."
• Defector from Decadence: Heimlich and Bruno are both against Aktion T4. They're also both Nazis- who later on rebel against Hitler. Peacefully.
• Disney Death: Devon. And later, due to cyanide masks being out of stock, EVERY SINGLE JEW.
  • And then Hitler.
• Distant Duet: "Sacrifice."
• Driven to Suicide: It happens with Hitler, who, out of deep regret, holds up a gun after "Vengeful One" and almost shoots himself. Thankfully, the other Nazis talk him out of it.
  • Also, in "Inside the Fire," Hitler tries to make a deal with Heimlich that he will have to kill himself in order to see Devon again. Thankfully, Heimlich does not accept the deal.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: A song in which the main Knight Templar antagonist, who is an authority figure to the main protagonist, sings a Villain Song about his desire to kill the female lead, who is part of a race that the antagonist considers inferior. Now where have we seen that before...? Oh right:
• Easily Forgiven: HITLER. AND HOW.
• The Eleven O'Clock Number: "THE VENGEFUL ONE." Big time.
• Embodiment of Vice: Hitler. Duh.
• Establishing Character Moment: The VERY first thing Heimlich says when Hitler announces he'll kill all the Jews in Europe: "Don't you sink zat's a bit of a bad idea...?" Oh, and then he goes on to COMFORT A JEW. THAT SHOWS HIS CHARACTER.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Hitler says this word-for-word when the entire Nazi party rebels against him.
  • Additionally, this is, in-universe, the reason why Adolf Hitler became an Anti-Semite: his Jewish friend, Gustav Dreyfuss, refused his acceptance to the Vienna Art School because he believed that Hitler wasn't his friend anymore. To Hitler, this felt like the ultimate betrayal, and he was so overcome with rage that he read a whole book on Anti-Semitism.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: Expect Heimlich to love the Fuhrer no matter what, even if he seemingly KILLS his Jewish girlfriend.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Hitler has a CONSCIENCE that he has refused to listen to for nearly 2 decades.
• Evil Feels Good: Hitler's initial belief before his Heel–Face Turn.
• Final Solution: This IS a Holocaust Rock Opera, after all.
• Flashback: Hitler has one in Act Two, and it turns out he wasn't always the evil dictator that you know him as...
• Foreshadowing: This line from Hitler:
  Hitler: [in shock] What if my entire party rebels against the things I've done?
• Friendship Song: "The Light."
• Freudian Excuse: All of the Nazis had been brainwashed by Hitler when they came into power. EXCEPT Heimlich and Bruno... who were against Hitler's plans the whole time.
• Funetik Aksent: Heimlich, in ze script for ze musical production.
• Good Feels Good: What the Nazis eventually realize. And later, what Hitler realizes.
• Grief Song: "Save Our Last Goodbye." Doubles as a BSOD Song.
• Heel–Face Turn: First the Nazi Party, then HITLER.
• Heel–Race Turn: The entire PARTY gets this in "Another Way to Die."
• Heel Realization: The other Nazis get this in "Another Way to Die" when Heimlich makes them all grow consciences. Then Hitler gets it... and falls into a HUGE Villainous BSoD, gets a BSoD Song, nearly kills himself, and insists that he is deserving of death. We never thought we'd say this, but poor Fuhrer, indeed.
• The Hero Dies: Subverted. Devon is the heroine, and she gets revived.
• "The Hero Sucks" Song: "Prayer."
• Heroic BSoD: Heimlich gets this after Devon dies. "I'm Alive" breaks him out of it.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Hitler. He has an extremely hidden conscience, but due to his philosophies and the fact that he never got to be an artist has never bothered to listen to it for 2 decades until the Nazi Party turns against him. Secretly, he deeply regrets what he's done to the Jews, but denies his regret and his conscience even existing.
• "I Am Becoming" Song: "The Vengeful One"/"Indestructible."
• "I Am" Song: "I'm an indestructible master of war...!" As sung by Heimlich.
• Incredibly Long Note: "Be immortalized!!!!!!"
  • Also "Just drop the judgement and all of your pseudo-involvement in my liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiife!!"
    • Then there's "Prayer," "The Light," "I'm Alive," "Inside the Fire," "The Animal," "Deify," "Who Taught You How to Hate," "The Vengeful One," and "Indestructible." IN THAT ORDER.
• Interrupted Suicide: "Vait! My Fuhrer! Don't do it!" Said by Heimlich before Hitler is about to kill himself.
• Ironic Echo: "CONSCIENCE!! COME BACK TO ME, CONSCIENCE!!" The first time it's said, Hitler is trying to get answers regarding his Conscience's vision. The second time, it's a My God, What Have I Done? moment in which he finally accepts its existence.
• Irony: It's revealed that Hitler became who he did due to his Jewish best friend from childhood rejecting both his friendship and his admission to the Vienna Art School. In the end, it is that very thing- rejection by Gustav Dreyfuss, this time of Hitler's plan- that allows the Nazi leader to finally have an epiphany about the Jews. The first word he says upon this happening? "CONSCIENCE!!!!"
• Irrelevant Act Opener: "Never Again," despite being about the Jews' hatred of the Holocaust, has nothing to do with Heimlich or Bruno, nor does it really have anything to do with the main plot. It does, however, get a Triumphant Reprise.
• It's All My Fault: Said by Hitler when he finally has his Heel–Face Turn and accepts his conscience's existence.
• "I Want" Song: Heimlich's "Just Stop," in which he sings about how he 1): wants to see Hitler end his prejudice and 2): wants TO BE THE BEST IN THE WORLD!!!!!
  • Devon also has one in "Land of Confusion," during which she pleads to the Nazis that what they are doing is the wrong thing. It's her version of "God Help the Outcasts."
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The Nazis, secretly. Turns out they weren't evil- they'd been brainwashed by the Fuhrer into thinking the Jews were horrible people. In reality, all of them have had relations with Jews. And then, due to a flashback, Hitler becomes this.
• Jukebox Musical: The entire soundtrack is set to Disturbed music.
• Kill Him Already!: "KILL THE FUHRER! KILL THE FUHRER!"
• Knight Templar: Hitler. Before the reformation.
• Massive Multiplayer Ensemble Number: "Tyrant." In it, the Nazis decide to kill Hitler, while Heimlich and Bruno beg them to stop and give Hitler a chance to make amends. Meanwhile, Hitler is contemplating whether his friendship with Gustav Dreyfuss can be resolved, and Devon prays for Germany to be saved.
• Meaningful Name: Heimlich's last name, Ritter, is German for "knight," and it implies his kindhearted personality as well as him being a Nazi Protagonist.
• Minion with an F in Evil: HEIMLICH. By far. His line about him being an "Anti Nazi-Nazi" sums it all up. Bruno also counts.
• Motor Mouth: Heimlich. He will NOT. STOP. TALKING.
• Morality Pet: Heimlich and the Conscience to Hitler.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: Despite EVERYTHING that Hitler did to Heimlich, Devon, and the Jews, Heimlich STILL feels no ill will towards him. Why? Because he's a Nazi, of course!
• My God, What Have I Done?: The Nazi Party gets this in "Another Way to Die" after realizing they were friends with Jews who they seemingly killed. Yes, the entire Nazi party.
  • Oh, and then HITLER gets it. BIG TIME.
• Nazi Protagonist: Of course.
• Never Hurt an Innocent: Bruno believes this. So much so that he frees a group of Jews after Hitler lies to him and Heimlich.
• No One Could Survive That!: After Devon is revealed to be alive and well, Hitler proclaims that she was deserving of death, and vows to kill her again.
• Now What??: At the end of the musical, Heimlich asks Hitler what they should do about the war. This question is then answered by Hitler: they'll be joining the Allies. Heimlich and everyone else is delighted.
• Oh, Crap!: Hitler gets this reaction when he sees that Devon is actually alive and well.
• Only Mostly Dead: Devon.
• Opening Chorus: "Immortalized."
• Perpetual Smiler: Heimlich. With a few notable exceptions...
• Power Trio: Heimlich, Devon, and Bruno.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Turns out the Nazis were this all along. They never wanted to believe that the Jews were horrible people, but Hitler brainwashed them. Now it's their job to think so.
• Purity Personified: Heimlich. Of course it had to be Heimlich.
• The Reveal:
  • Every single Nazi in the Party? Yeah, they all used to be friends with Jews until Hitler brainwashed them into thinking otherwise.
  • And speaking of him, there's actually another reveal: that he used to be friends with Jews himself. The flashback in Act Two is what allows him to have his Heel–Face Turn in the end.
• Rousseau Was Right: Heimlich and Bruno's belief. It's outlined in Heimlich's 5 philosophies.
• This Is a Work of Fiction: "THE FOLLOWING MUSICAL IS FICTIONAL AND WAS NOT INTENDED TO PRESENT THE HOLOCAUST WITH AN OPTIMISTIC LIGHT. NOR WAS IT INTENDED TO CHANGE YOUR OPINION ABOUT ADOLF HITLER OR PRESENT ADOLF HITLER AS A GOOD PERSON. WE ALL KNOW THE HOLOCAUST WAS A HORRIBLE TRAGEDY AND THAT HITLER DID TERRIBLE THINGS. IF YOU READ THIS SCRIPT OR WATCH THIS MUSICAL AND ARE OFFENDED BY ANYTHING SEEN, WE SINCERELY APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE."
• Title Drop: "I implore you... LET ZIS HAPPEN NEFER AGAIN!"
• Tragic Villain: As this musical reveals, there's a reason Hitler is who he is. What happens in the Act Two flashback will make you pity him.
• Triumphant Reprise: Of "Never Again," celebrating the Nazis' reformation and them joining the Allies, while also hoping that things like what happened in the Holocaust never happen again.
• Turn the Other Cheek: Heimlich does this all the time. He forgives HITLER- his own commanding officer- for everything that he did to the Jews after finding out that he was friends with one of them. He never refers to anything Hitler did as unforgivable, nor does he tell Hitler he hates him.
• Undying Loyalty: Even if Heimlich and Bruno are nothing like Hitler and the other Nazis and disapprove of Hitler's plans, they are still loyal Nazis who would never want to see their ruler dead.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: HITLER. The reason he became who he did was due to rejected admission to art school by his Jewish friend from childhood, Gustav Dreyfuss. To add insult to injury, Gustav also rejected their friendship, because when Hitler left for Vienna, Gustav thought he had left without saying goodbye. This angered Hitler so much that when he got home, he read a book on Anti-Semitism immediately. And in-universe, Mein Kampf was SPECIFICALLY written with Gustav in mind.

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